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North to Alaska Blog
- Thread starter SpyderAnn01
- Start date
Great place. Just sit back and enjoy the scenery as you share the road. The views are fantastic. At the western end, the Lake McDonald Lodge is nice and at the eastern end, turn north at St Mary's and go back in at Many Glacier. Stay at Many Glacier Lodge -- outstanding. And if you spend a day, take a tour on one of the 1930's restored White Motor Company buses -- the "Gear Jammers". Open top, fantastic tour, perfectly restored buses courtesy of Ford Motor Company.
Bob Denman
New member
I'm so glad to hear that we've still got you! :clap: :2thumbs:PrairieSpyder
New member
:thumbup:
My home shower and bed aren't all that deluxe, but I am anxious to get there. I miss my dog, too!
SpyderAnn01
Active member
Here are a few observations from the trip (if you are Canadian please do not take offense, unless you own a gas station)
Once we got north of Burns Lake, BC my vision of what we would encounter came true. I had it in my head that we would see nothing but wilderness and every 100 or so miles a gas station would magically appear. That is exactly what we found. I do have a problem with Canadian gas stations and they could really learn from their neighbors to the south. It seems that Canada has embraced the credit card "chip" technology, and while this may be more secure, it takes forever to process a transaction. In British Columbia prepayment is required so we each had to either go inside to pay cash or use the pay at the pump feature (not available at most of the stations). If you couldn't pay at the pump you had to go in and leave a credit card or cash, then you had to make a return trip to sign the credit card or get change. Giant waste of time.
I did like that there were frequent Rest Areas along the roads and they were usually clean.
We were warned that we would encounter very slow traffic and tons of RV convoys that would slow us down. I can only remember running into one RV convoy, (does 3 constitute a convoy?) we didn't have to pass them as we were behind the rest of the group that morning and we caught the convoy at the same time we ran into the group at one of the rest areas. That was the day with the most traffic overall, we were going between Tok, AK and Anchorage. Otherwise traffic was minimal.
On the Stewart-Cassiar Highway through British Columbia they must have run out of paint. I would like to take up a collection and send it to their Department of Transportation so that they will paint lines on the roads. With drop offs of 6' on the side of the road it was critical that you know where the center of the road and the shoulder were. Add a little rain and oncoming semi traffic and it made for a very long couple of days riding.
We stayed at some really cute and nice little motels and some not so nice chain motels. We also happened to be there during a heat wave and the air conditioning didn't work at any of the hotels. They did seem to get it fixed though on our return and we slept much better. :roflblack: The Canadians and Alaskans seem to have something against paving their parking lots.
There was a cabin that came with an outhouse that did not have a door. The view was lovely but I did worry about bears. On our return we stayed at a fancy hotel in downtown Prince George. The front counter person told me that our room had a glass wall between the bathroom and the bedroom. She said that if you closed the bathroom door the glass wall would become opaque, so I told her about the outhouse. I think she thought the glass wall was cooler.
The Spyders handled the trip great and I would not hesitate to take mine anywhere.
I need to thank all of the wildlife for making an appearance but for staying safely off the road. A huge thank you to Karyl (Murphybrown) for planning this trip and also to Dwayne and Linda (AK Spyderman & AK Spyderlady) for being tour leaders while we were in Anchorage.
Our group was great and we made some awesome new friends. It was certainly the trip of a lifetime, or at least until the next trip of a lifetime. I'm thinking that the trip to the Owners Event in Quebec will be another epic adventure. Anybody want to join us?
Once we got north of Burns Lake, BC my vision of what we would encounter came true. I had it in my head that we would see nothing but wilderness and every 100 or so miles a gas station would magically appear. That is exactly what we found. I do have a problem with Canadian gas stations and they could really learn from their neighbors to the south. It seems that Canada has embraced the credit card "chip" technology, and while this may be more secure, it takes forever to process a transaction. In British Columbia prepayment is required so we each had to either go inside to pay cash or use the pay at the pump feature (not available at most of the stations). If you couldn't pay at the pump you had to go in and leave a credit card or cash, then you had to make a return trip to sign the credit card or get change. Giant waste of time.
I did like that there were frequent Rest Areas along the roads and they were usually clean.
We were warned that we would encounter very slow traffic and tons of RV convoys that would slow us down. I can only remember running into one RV convoy, (does 3 constitute a convoy?) we didn't have to pass them as we were behind the rest of the group that morning and we caught the convoy at the same time we ran into the group at one of the rest areas. That was the day with the most traffic overall, we were going between Tok, AK and Anchorage. Otherwise traffic was minimal.
On the Stewart-Cassiar Highway through British Columbia they must have run out of paint. I would like to take up a collection and send it to their Department of Transportation so that they will paint lines on the roads. With drop offs of 6' on the side of the road it was critical that you know where the center of the road and the shoulder were. Add a little rain and oncoming semi traffic and it made for a very long couple of days riding.
We stayed at some really cute and nice little motels and some not so nice chain motels. We also happened to be there during a heat wave and the air conditioning didn't work at any of the hotels. They did seem to get it fixed though on our return and we slept much better. :roflblack: The Canadians and Alaskans seem to have something against paving their parking lots.
There was a cabin that came with an outhouse that did not have a door. The view was lovely but I did worry about bears. On our return we stayed at a fancy hotel in downtown Prince George. The front counter person told me that our room had a glass wall between the bathroom and the bedroom. She said that if you closed the bathroom door the glass wall would become opaque, so I told her about the outhouse. I think she thought the glass wall was cooler.
The Spyders handled the trip great and I would not hesitate to take mine anywhere.
I need to thank all of the wildlife for making an appearance but for staying safely off the road. A huge thank you to Karyl (Murphybrown) for planning this trip and also to Dwayne and Linda (AK Spyderman & AK Spyderlady) for being tour leaders while we were in Anchorage.
Our group was great and we made some awesome new friends. It was certainly the trip of a lifetime, or at least until the next trip of a lifetime. I'm thinking that the trip to the Owners Event in Quebec will be another epic adventure. Anybody want to join us?
Last edited:
PW2013STL
Active member
Hi Karl,
Not sure if it's the same place, but we stayed in Chicken Creek RV park. They have rooms behind the store and they have bathrooms and showers, but the water is listed as non potable.
There is a great little restaurant down the road (in Chicken) that is next to the bar/dry goods stores. We shared the blueberry pancakes and it was all we could do to finish them as they are huge.
In Dawson City we stayed at the 5th Ave B&B. I highly recommend it! They have two houses (next to each other) and the owners live upstairs in the corner house where we stayed. It was very quiet as we were the only ones staying in that house. Breakfast was made to order with a choice of pancakes, French toast, or omelet. Plus she had hot muffins, sliced fruit, orange and apple juice.
All very very good.
Les
PrairieSpyder
New member
I went by Muncho Lake yesterday and stopped for fuel at that Lodge. It looked like a nice place.
Today I made it to the eastern/southern end of the Alaska Highway and am at the Days Inn. It's really nice. Two more days in Canada and then I'll be back in the USA!
PW2013STL
Active member
Hi Patty,
It is nice. The food is good, but on the $ side. Kathy and I just had their special and with tip it came to $95 - it did include desert so I guess that's not to bad:yikes:
Les
PrairieSpyder
New member
SS Klondike in Whitehorse
From own the menu at Bee Jays Truck Stop in Watson Lake:
What animal is this?
Saw lots of bison by the road. A French-Canadian guy who had also stayed at the Air Force Lodge in Watson Lake also stopped at the same place for fuel. He said he'd seen a wild-cat.
Finally made it to the eastern/southern end!
From own the menu at Bee Jays Truck Stop in Watson Lake:
What animal is this?
Saw lots of bison by the road. A French-Canadian guy who had also stayed at the Air Force Lodge in Watson Lake also stopped at the same place for fuel. He said he'd seen a wild-cat.
Finally made it to the eastern/southern end!
Attachments
NautiBrit
New member
Looks like our group is attracted to Muncho. We stayed at the Double G at the south end of town and enjoyed a prime rib with all the fixings. We did gas up at the lodge, but it was definitely much classier than our humble abode.
Today, no pics as we raced down I15 from Cocteau to Salt Lake, 605 miles. A huge thank you goes out to Ultimate Seats, way to go Des. If all goes well we should be home tomorrow night.
Today, no pics as we raced down I15 from Cocteau to Salt Lake, 605 miles. A huge thank you goes out to Ultimate Seats, way to go Des. If all goes well we should be home tomorrow night.
SpyderAnn01
Active member
Good thing you guys were not there yesterday. I understand that they had quite a big rain storm yesterday .
SpyderAnn01
Active member
So did you enjoy your stay in Juneau? Did you stay on the ferry or did you get a hotel?
PrairieSpyder
New member
That's also what I was wondering. Being stuck in a place with lodging covered might not be so bad. What did you do there?
PrairieSpyder
New member
I'm not home yet, but as I ryde I think of things/observations that haven't made it into other posts along the way:
Kilometer posts were every km around Whitehorse. Today I noticed they were only every 5 km. Then as I neared Fort St. John, there weren't any at all. I had been using them to judge how far I was from my destination, based on the mileage signs.
One goes many, many, many miles (or km) on the Alaska Highway without seeing any official signs - highway designation, mileage, etc. At one point I realized it had been a long time since I'd seen any signs, I began to think I was in some episode of the Twilight Zone, ryding down an endless 2-lane road, not sure if I was even still on the road I'd started out on.
There is at least one herd of wild horses near Whitehorse. As I neared the turn-off for Mukluk, I saw a horse grazing on the highway right-of-way. I noted the km marker and decided to ask them at Mukluk who they call when someone's livestock gets loose. (At home, we'd call the sheriff's office and they'd move the animals to a pasture and notify the landowner to sort it out with his neighbors.) Then in just a couple km, I saw a young woman on horseback and leading another horse. I stopped and told her about the other horse, thinking she must have been gathering them up. But she said it was a wild horse and not hers. The folks at Mukluk confirmed this and said there are at least one herd of wild horses in the area.
Every time I go by a Subway sign, I think of Dave.
More later as I think of it.
Kilometer posts were every km around Whitehorse. Today I noticed they were only every 5 km. Then as I neared Fort St. John, there weren't any at all. I had been using them to judge how far I was from my destination, based on the mileage signs.
One goes many, many, many miles (or km) on the Alaska Highway without seeing any official signs - highway designation, mileage, etc. At one point I realized it had been a long time since I'd seen any signs, I began to think I was in some episode of the Twilight Zone, ryding down an endless 2-lane road, not sure if I was even still on the road I'd started out on.
There is at least one herd of wild horses near Whitehorse. As I neared the turn-off for Mukluk, I saw a horse grazing on the highway right-of-way. I noted the km marker and decided to ask them at Mukluk who they call when someone's livestock gets loose. (At home, we'd call the sheriff's office and they'd move the animals to a pasture and notify the landowner to sort it out with his neighbors.) Then in just a couple km, I saw a young woman on horseback and leading another horse. I stopped and told her about the other horse, thinking she must have been gathering them up. But she said it was a wild horse and not hers. The folks at Mukluk confirmed this and said there are at least one herd of wild horses in the area.
Every time I go by a Subway sign, I think of Dave.
More later as I think of it.
murphybrown
New member
Chicken AK to Carmack Yukon
IMO Chicken was worth the stop. Gold mining/panning is active and apparently profitable based on a couple large set ups we saw. There is what I label the recreational gold seeker who stays for a short while seeking some fun and a few nuggets to the serious, large seeker who is sluicing tons of rock from the river. Even passed a truck hauling a very large piece of such equipment into a gold camp. The Top of the World road is a very well maintained "primitive" dirt road. We saw lots of caribou poop and pee and eventually after crossing into Yukon spotted them. We learned this is the "local " herd and cannot be hunted..was almost wiped out but is now coming back with about 400 animals in the herd. They are smaller and darker than the northern herds that migrate upwards of 40,000 caribou. Dawson City was reached via a free ferry ride across the Yukon River. The town, like so many of the smaller towns, are doing a good job at building their tourism industry. From there we saw more evidence of river gold mining. 300 miles of dirty, dusty roads. Adventure bikes have nothing on Spyders we can match them in the dirt look!! We are staying at a bed n breakfast that is unique in the breakfast is in your room. Won't make Fodor review. Wonder bread and doz eggs to cook with fruit loops. Clean comfortable utilitarian today our destination will be Watson Lake Air Force motel. With lots of World War 2 history
IMO Chicken was worth the stop. Gold mining/panning is active and apparently profitable based on a couple large set ups we saw. There is what I label the recreational gold seeker who stays for a short while seeking some fun and a few nuggets to the serious, large seeker who is sluicing tons of rock from the river. Even passed a truck hauling a very large piece of such equipment into a gold camp. The Top of the World road is a very well maintained "primitive" dirt road. We saw lots of caribou poop and pee and eventually after crossing into Yukon spotted them. We learned this is the "local " herd and cannot be hunted..was almost wiped out but is now coming back with about 400 animals in the herd. They are smaller and darker than the northern herds that migrate upwards of 40,000 caribou. Dawson City was reached via a free ferry ride across the Yukon River. The town, like so many of the smaller towns, are doing a good job at building their tourism industry. From there we saw more evidence of river gold mining. 300 miles of dirty, dusty roads. Adventure bikes have nothing on Spyders we can match them in the dirt look!! We are staying at a bed n breakfast that is unique in the breakfast is in your room. Won't make Fodor review. Wonder bread and doz eggs to cook with fruit loops. Clean comfortable utilitarian today our destination will be Watson Lake Air Force motel. With lots of World War 2 history
Stayed on Ferry
Round trip taxie was $80 so we stayed on the ferry mostly. Should of had Joe there to fix their engine. Four days to repair was excessive
Round trip taxie was $80 so we stayed on the ferry mostly. Should of had Joe there to fix their engine. Four days to repair was excessive
And the location where the Alaska State Ferry docks is 13 miles outside of town -- a long taxi ride. Only the mega cruise ships get to dock downtown right where you want to be.
SpyderAnn01
Active member
Round trip taxie was $80 so we stayed on the ferry mostly. Should of had Joe there to fix their engine. Four days to repair was excessive
They must get their parts from Can-Am. :roflblack:
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