Page 2. Heading into the wild, being a blood donor, no wildlife sightings and mind-blowing backdrops. Alaska is ‘da shit
Like most places, the roads are all numbered in Alaska but they’re aren’t many so no one refers to the number, they all have names. Highway 8 is called The Denali Highway and it’s a gooden.
Even in my early ideas of touring through Alaska years before, this road was on the list to ride. There’s undoubtedly many other incredible places to tour around the state however with my time frame, the location of it and with the unpaved low traffic aspect, it suited me bang on. At the very least, it would be a good appreciation of Alaska ride.
From Cantwell I did not take the dead end road West into the Denali national park itself, I rode out East. It’s a 220km mostly gravel road to a junction called Paxon and I fancied making it around three days of riding.
Before I left Cantwell I got chatting to a guy at a food truck, another Chris. He was on a three week solo hunting and fishing trip, camped out somewhere down the road I was about to ride. He’d not been killing much since he was eating the steak special so we joked about that but I asked him about the magnum caliber handgun he was carrying. He was hunting of course but It seems that’s how most people operate around that area due to the very high chance of bear encounters. He let me know where his camp was, eluding to the idea that if I got into any trouble I’d know where to find him.
Chris was not the first person I saw open carrying a large caliber defence piece that evening and I set off down the highway with a tin of bear spray in my handlebar bag feeling a bit defenceless. I’m thinking using that is only going to piss a bear off.
Of course I was mostly aware of the minimal risk in that department and was more than happy to trust the process and crack on. It all added to the feeling of adventure.
Turns out I didn’t see a single bear, moose, caribou, beaver or anything four legged over the next three days. What I did consistently encounter was the most mosquitos I’ve ever seen, big ones.
Skeeters they call them up there and for a few reasons that summer was bad for them, everyone said it. Initially I was naively floating around in my shorts and t shirt occasionally applying insect repellent to my exposed areas. It quickly became apparent that I needed to up my game as I was getting eaten alive.
They’re also big enough to get through thin clothing which I didn’t realise at first, fortunately the 98% deet stuff I had bought from Walmart was working but if I wasn’t covered in it regularly they were all over me. Of course I was finding all this out the hard way and trying to do any activity off the bike was pretty uncomfortable.
Setting up camp, stopping for a brew or just chilling out quickly turned into a not chilling situation. On one occasion I had to go for a twos in the woods, I was always going to be quick but there was no time at all before my un deeted areas were covered in these giant mosquitoes. That whole scenario got pretty messy and I was jumping in the nearest stream shortly after.
On the flip side, the huge dragonfly’s where gorging on them, legends, and with that the variety of bird life was insane. Really, as challenging as these bugs were they weren’t actually getting me down, I wanted wild…so there you go, enjoy.
Although I didn’t see any bear here I was very aware they were there somewhere, I would have almost certainly rode past several unknowingly. I reckon it’d be a cool way to go but I did choose to follow “be bear aware” rules…most of the time.
- Bear spray was always close to hand
- Didn’t go wandering off into the woods all the time.
- Made plenty of noise.
- Cooked and ate away from where I was sleeping.
- Stashed food well away from where I was sleeping. Ideally locked in something bear proof or hung up really high in a tree
It’s quite exhausting sticking to the rules and I can’t deny that these first nights camping on my own I was getting into my sleeping bag feeling like a human burrito thinking, what am I doing. You hear lots of stories and a bit of fear mongering about bear encounters and they’re so rare but they are still real. That gets in your head so it took a little while to get used to. I was also knackered from all that good riding so slept like a log anyway!
The long days of light were a gift still as the daytime temperatures were hot. Evenings were nicer to be riding in and the backdrops were constantly blowing my mind. I struggle to detail the road, mountain scenes and feels through literature and my photos certainly won’t do it justice but in short, riding that road was a spectacular experience. Having the feelings of independence and exposure on bike also just adds to it.
Campsites and supply stops were as few as anticipated and along the three days of riding I came across just three separate lodges. These were a welcome rest bite from the sun and mosquitoes. With a different plan I could have used these for accommodation and meals however I was trying to keep the costs down and just went in for a drink and a chat with the seasonal workers. They were all cool places to stay too, some big timber constructions with bags of character from all the years of travellers passing through.
I was mostly in it for the ride but I would always make time to get off the bike and do some lure fishing. My mate Harry gave me his little take down rod for the trip and carrying a small reel with a few lures was no hardship. It was perfect for most of the streams and rivers there. Getting off the track and having a scout down the bank was always a pleasure.
I didn’t ride with any other bike tourers on this section but I did get to know an Australian chap called Roger. Rog was retired and motorbike touring his way around the world for an indefinite amount of time. His focus was also on fly fishing as much as possible so Alaska was a big part of his trip. I got some solid tips off him and managed to catch a few greyling from a river spot one morning.
The final section of the road past Tangle Lake was all nice smooth tarmac out to Paxon junction. Here I joined the quiet rolling Richardson highway heading south. It was a further two days riding to Tok, the next decent town. Gakona Junction and then the Glenn Highway North East.
Off the Richardson I camped by the enormous Paxon lake at a very basic BLM campsite. The location was stunning right by the lake and I seemed to have it all to myself in the morning for a nice cold swim.
Back on the seemingly endless rolling roads again for a while but traffic was basically non existent and the views kept on delivering. The section of the Glen highway I rode follows the Wrangell Mountain range. A bunch of big old volcanos, and in some open areas out of the tree line it was all looking spectacular.
These were all long days riding really and without regular good meals so arriving in Tok I was extremely keen to eat well. Fast Eddie’s was the place to go and America portions were what I needed.
I sat and soaked up a three course meal in the comfy environment until closing time and after calling home it was time for bed. A campsite across the road felt like luxury with showers and a communal kitchen area.
I remember feeling massively appreciative of all these basic things that evening. It was only just over a week into the trip and I was already quite conditioned to the wild. But I was loving seeing Alaska this way and I felt very keen for more.
Load of photos from this section in the gallery below.
CW
My One Year Bike Tour 