North to Alaska Blog

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Bob, I have a SPOT tracker....if you would like to follow along please send me your email and I will send you the link.

Something that you might consider with your SPOT if you are not subscribed to the SPOT Assist program. Set up the Help/Assist message to send an email to someone you can depend on, like Bob, that says you are broke down or have some other significant problem, and need roadside assistance. This would be in cases where there is no danger to life or limb for which of course you would use the SOS button. Bob could then use the GPS coordinates that are in the email to figure out where you are and call for help for you. I'm sure you will be out of cell range most of the time so this would be one way to get help and send it to the exact right spot. Of course, if someone in the group has a satellite phone then you're all set to deal with an emergency.

I considered doing this for myself when I was on my trip but didn't get it done. Plus I was traveling in either cell range or on a road with traffic so I was not concerned about being stranded in the middle of nowhere.

 

[SpyderAnn01]

We will have a satellite phone in the group, on the way up anyway.

 

[SPYDERGUY1]

AND THE RIDE BEGINS. So Jealous. Enjoy the journey, ride safe, take lot's of pics. All the best.:yes::bowdown:

 

[kbwitt]

CB Radio

QUOTE=SpyderAnn01;994494]have a satellite phone in the group, on the way up anyway.[/QUOTE]

Wife and I mid 60's going alone from Phoenix to the UP of Michigan, so I boughta portable cb that will also hook up to rear antenna I will install on bike. It also has weather station.

We plan on spending a day at Sturgis SD for the Rally. Do you think we will be the only Spyder there?
Will be driving a Pearl White 2014 RTs s6 two up. So waive if you see us. ♡

 

[PrairieSpyder]

Today I went through Estes Park and the Rocky Mountain National Park, then US 40 to Vernal, Utah. In Estes Park, I met a couple on a pretty red 2015 RT. They were on the way home to Texas. (Sorry I can't remember their names, but they said they are on SL.)

Here's some pics of RMNP:

There were some marmots there, a couple of them really close to the look-out:

 

[PrairieSpyder]

6/18 ryde, contionued

Here's another marmot pic:

They look like big rodents.

It was cloudy and cool when I left the hotel. Then it was nice and chilly above the tree-line in the national park. But on the western slope, it got down-right hot. By the time I was at Steamboat Springs, it was in the 90s and really a drain. I had already my a reservation at Vernal (non-refundable) so I pushed on. If I hadn't I'd have stopped sooner.

I think I'll make tomorrow an easier day. I'll stop at the Cycle Gear store near SLC and then decide which direction to head next. After today's heat, I think I'll head north to Idaho. Even if the heat is similar, I won't be ryding into the sun - until I head west again.

 

[jthornton]

Can't remember if I posted the link or not but go to : golakechelan.com...under news there is article # 1 on this adventure...

Kayrl, The article mentions a form to fill out and email to you but there is no link to the form. Do you have a link?

JT

 

[murphybrown]

Thanks so much JT

Kayrl, The article mentions a form to fill out and email to you but there is no link to the form. Do you have a link?

JT

Please PM me your email and I will send a form to you ... looking forward to seeing you guys in Eagle River...:yes::clap:

 

[Bob Denman]

Patti,
FANTASTIC pictures!!! :clap: :2thumbs:

Thanks!! :thumbup:

 

[NautiBrit]

QUOTE=SpyderAnn01;994494]have a satellite phone in the group, on the way up anyway.

Wife and I mid 60's going alone from Phoenix to the UP of Michigan, so I boughta portable cb that will also hook up to rear antenna I will install on bike. It also has weather station.

We plan on spending a day at Sturgis SD for the Rally. Do you think we will be the only Spyder there?
Will be driving a Pearl White 2014 RTs s6 two up. So waive if you see us. ♡[/QUOTE]

Kenn,
I camped in Glencoe at last year's Sturgis event and counted 3 other Spyder RT's besides mine. I wasn't hassled and in fact was made very welcome, even though the Harley crowd had little interest in Spyders. Enjoy your trip.

 

[PrairieSpyder]

I slept poorly last night (maybe the 5-hour energy drinks aren't such a good idea). So today I took it easy. I stayed at Vernal, UT, and as I got closer to Heber City, the countryside got prettier. Still kinda desert, but a bit greener. I rode through some pretty canyons between Heber City and Orem. I went that way so I could stop at the Cycle Gear shop just north of there. My iMap sent me to the Best Buy across the street, and I had trouble finding the Cycle Gear store. Their sign isn't too prominent. But finally got there and bought a couple items. Then spent some time getting refreshed at a McDonald's while I decided which way to go next.

I decided to go back to plan A, going north from SLC through Idaho, then west to Oregon.

 

[midnightbreeze50]

The View

My wife Karen and I are the couple that will meet the group at the border and plan to lead them on some roads they will not be aware of as they start their adventure through BC Canada. This won't add significantly to the time spent traveling on their first day but will give them an opportunity to see the amazing vineyards and orchards we live among.
It has been fun for me working with Karyl in the planning of their trip through BC and the Yukon as we have done these routes several times including Alaska. I have not said much about Alaska however as I could not possibly be as familiar with it as Akspyderman.
Unfortunately we can't travel the whole trip with the group as our vacation plans this year were already made but we will be traveling with them in spirit and hope to keep track of their adventures.
This is the view that we are forced to endure every day.

Gary

SPEECHLESS, Awsome, wish I had a view like that to Endure everyday!!!! Wonderful, Midnightbreeze, Y'all have a wonderful trip!!!:yes:

 

[PrairieSpyder]

I am now in Klamath Falls, Oregon. I was so tired at Vernal, Utah, I decided to make Friday a short day. There was some gear I wanted to get and there is a Cycle Gear store between SLC and Orem, so I went there. Then rode to Tremonton, Utah, for the night. There's a great little hotel there, Western Inn, that's independently owned, reasonably priced and really clean and neat. Saturday I stayed on interstates and went to Ontario, Ore. I stopped in Boise's Cycle Gear and bought a couple more things after trying out the ones I got at SLC. I stayed at Ontario Inn, which was well-recommended on Trip Advisor. I don't know if I'd do that again. Then on secondary roads to here.

Some things I've learned:

• Utah and Idaho interstate speed limits are 80 MPH! And in Utah, anyway, the work-zone limit is 70! Nice!
• Drivers out west are nice. When I found myself in the wrong lane and needed to move over, people actually gave way for me.
• Oregon's gas stations are all full service. But they let motorcyclists pump their own. The attendant will still operate the interactive stuff on the pump so you don't have to contend with all that. I was, at first, annoyed about it, but I found that the attendants I encountered, so far are all friendly and fonts of information.

I had the Custom Dynamics high running/brake light installed just before I left home. Now reading about the incidents in which Spyders are rear-ended makes me extra glad I did that. And, of course, when ever I saw "deer crossing" signs, and when the gas pump attendant at Christmas Valley, Oregon, warned me about the dear on the road, it made me think of what happened to Butch. Considering the extra miles I'm doing this year, I'm trying to be extra vigilant. I hope all the North-to-Alaska ryders are, too.

 

[Bob Denman]

You sure are doing a good job of filling in your, "States Travelled " map... :congrats:

 

[SPYDERGUY1]

Prairie Spyder, from your blog posting's seem to be doing a lot of shopping. Are you going to have room fro all the goodies ? Please keep posting as you are in a way living my dream, I certainly hope to make it out that way , but not the distance you are traveling. Please keep posting, and RYDE SAFE.

 

[PrairieSpyder]

Prairie Spyder, from your blog posting's seem to be doing a lot of shopping. Are you going to have room fro all the goodies ? Please keep posting as you are in a way living my dream, I certainly hope to make it out that way , but not the distance you are traveling. Please keep posting, and RYDE SAFE.

I've started thinking I'm shopping my way to Alaska! It's done now, though. Crater Lake again tomorrow and then onward!

Something else I learned today - Oregon has no sales tax! Cool!!

 

[ARtraveler]

I've started thinking I'm shopping my way to Alaska! It's done now, though. Crater Lake again tomorrow and then onward!

Something else I learned today - Oregon has no sales tax! Cool!!

Alaska will have a nice thing or two for you buy when you get here. :yes::yes:

 

[tbhlaw]

On Way Up North

Yesterday was Crater lake Day for us in Oregon. Great place! Deepest lake in US, fourth deepest in world. Depends on snow (43 ft per year average) and rain to for its water. Set world record for water clarity. No pollution because there are no inlets from rivers or streams. Factoid: lake has log floating vertically in water that has been there for more than 100 years. Called the Old Man.

 

[ARtraveler]

Yesterday was Crater lake Day for us in Oregon. Great place! Deepest lake in US, fourth deepest in world. Depends on snow (43 ft per year average) and rain to for its water. Set world record for water clarity. No pollution because there are no inlets from rivers or streams. Factoid: lake has log floating vertically in water that has been there for more than 100 years. Called the Old Man.

That is one beautiful picture. I think I will print and paint that one. :yes::yes:

 

[tbhlaw]

Going Up North

On our way to Alaska! Drove by Walker Lake near Hawthorne NV, about in the middle of the State, which most know is landlocked. It is the home to the Naval Underwater Warfare Center (for real). When we first moved to Vegas I was told they operated two man subs in the lake to practice warfare techniques. More than that, conspiracy theorists postulate that the lake is connected to the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California by a series of caverns over 100 miles long and that the lake serves as a top secret nuclear submarine base since no one would think of looking in the middle of the desert for submarines. We stopped hoping to see the submarine races but only spotted a periscope shown in the lower right of the picture.