- Joined
- Dec 11, 2015
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- 2,064
For the first time in 3-4 years, my riding buddy and long-time friend, Luke, and I found the time for a motorcycle ride to the Yukon, and beyond. Luke lives in the Anchorage area and I'm in Fairbanks so we met in Tok, Alaska, ate lunch at Fast Eddy's and hit the road.
Since I've only put 500 miles on this year, it took me a few hundred miles to settle in to the rhythm of the road, therefore the photo journey starts as we enter the Yukon, about 300 miles into the day. Lots of pavement in the photos, sorry for that.
By the time we reached the Yukon, I had seen nearly 200 ravens along the roadside, mostly in pairs. Luke had a similar experience on his way to Tok. The best we could figure, they were eating the carcasses of a large dragonfly that were being killed by passing vehicles. The dragonflies had a big hatch recently and have been everywhere. Anyway, by the end of the trip, we had seen several hundred ravens. Admittedly, many of them were repeats on our out-and-back trip, but I figured I'd round off to 1000.
The view from camp, one of the nicest gravel pits to camp in. We usually shoot for this one on the first night.
Clouds over Kluane National Park.
It wouldn't be the Yukon without some bear scat nearby.
Luke closes down camp for the night.
A beautiful morning to ride through the park.
Kluane Lake and Sheep Mountain.
We rode through the park, continued on to Haines Junction, gassed up, turned east to Whitehorse, gassed again and headed south the South Klondike Highway. This is our second attempt for Skagway, the last time the pass was snowy. Today looks great, we'll see.
Luke heading south toward Carcross.
The scenery to Carcross and Skagway is awesome.
One arm of Tagish Lake.
A fire along the flanks of Escarpment Mtn.
Scenery in the high country of the Yukon and British Columbia.
Back in the states,
The US is good for scenery also.
The customs agent was apparently pissed that I took some pictures at the station. I had my engine running so I couldn't hear him yelling back to me. Luke heard it all while waiting to receive the signal to go ahead. The customs agent glared at me when I rolled up but said nothing.
I actually took this photo on the way out of Skagway but figured I'd insert it here.
Luke rolling through Skagway.
Some White Pass-Yukon engines.
I wonder who they named this after?
On the way back.
The Canadian Customs station is to the left about 100 yards.
Carcross is home to sand dunes. The sand is blown over from a glacial lake.
We camped a few miles past the dunes and headed to Whitehorse for breakfast. I've never eaten at one of these so I decided it was time.
An interpretive sign on the way into Haines Junction.
Approaching Haines Junction.
The great thing about riding in the Yukon is the lack of traffic and RCMP (mounties).
Heading back to Kluane NP.
Kluane Lake again.
At the base of Sheep Mtn.
The Donjek River valley.
Luke rolling through one of the construction sites.
This sign had us bewildered...
...until this flashed up.
Businesses along the Alcan are really dynamic. Last year's bustling hot spot is closed this year. Not sure when this closed but it was doing well when we passed by last time.
Back in AK.
We camped at a state campground. The evening sky was awesome.
Our campsite.
We gassed in Tok and split ways. Luke was headed into rain. I enjoyed 100 miles of this.
This is in the middle of a 16-mile straightaway. I always find myself in a zen-like state at some point along here.
I gassed in Delta and turned toward home. A shot of the Tanana River.
A military convoy, one of about 8 that day.
Now these are the hard-core bikers. My hat's off to them.
Eielson AFB, home of the F-35.
Almost home.
Since I've only put 500 miles on this year, it took me a few hundred miles to settle in to the rhythm of the road, therefore the photo journey starts as we enter the Yukon, about 300 miles into the day. Lots of pavement in the photos, sorry for that.
By the time we reached the Yukon, I had seen nearly 200 ravens along the roadside, mostly in pairs. Luke had a similar experience on his way to Tok. The best we could figure, they were eating the carcasses of a large dragonfly that were being killed by passing vehicles. The dragonflies had a big hatch recently and have been everywhere. Anyway, by the end of the trip, we had seen several hundred ravens. Admittedly, many of them were repeats on our out-and-back trip, but I figured I'd round off to 1000.
The view from camp, one of the nicest gravel pits to camp in. We usually shoot for this one on the first night.
Clouds over Kluane National Park.
It wouldn't be the Yukon without some bear scat nearby.
Luke closes down camp for the night.
A beautiful morning to ride through the park.
Kluane Lake and Sheep Mountain.
We rode through the park, continued on to Haines Junction, gassed up, turned east to Whitehorse, gassed again and headed south the South Klondike Highway. This is our second attempt for Skagway, the last time the pass was snowy. Today looks great, we'll see.
Luke heading south toward Carcross.
The scenery to Carcross and Skagway is awesome.
One arm of Tagish Lake.
A fire along the flanks of Escarpment Mtn.
Scenery in the high country of the Yukon and British Columbia.
Back in the states,
The US is good for scenery also.
The customs agent was apparently pissed that I took some pictures at the station. I had my engine running so I couldn't hear him yelling back to me. Luke heard it all while waiting to receive the signal to go ahead. The customs agent glared at me when I rolled up but said nothing.
I actually took this photo on the way out of Skagway but figured I'd insert it here.
Luke rolling through Skagway.
Some White Pass-Yukon engines.
I wonder who they named this after?
On the way back.
The Canadian Customs station is to the left about 100 yards.
Carcross is home to sand dunes. The sand is blown over from a glacial lake.
We camped a few miles past the dunes and headed to Whitehorse for breakfast. I've never eaten at one of these so I decided it was time.
An interpretive sign on the way into Haines Junction.
Approaching Haines Junction.
The great thing about riding in the Yukon is the lack of traffic and RCMP (mounties).
Heading back to Kluane NP.
Kluane Lake again.
At the base of Sheep Mtn.
The Donjek River valley.
Luke rolling through one of the construction sites.
This sign had us bewildered...
...until this flashed up.
Businesses along the Alcan are really dynamic. Last year's bustling hot spot is closed this year. Not sure when this closed but it was doing well when we passed by last time.
Back in AK.
We camped at a state campground. The evening sky was awesome.
Our campsite.
We gassed in Tok and split ways. Luke was headed into rain. I enjoyed 100 miles of this.
This is in the middle of a 16-mile straightaway. I always find myself in a zen-like state at some point along here.
I gassed in Delta and turned toward home. A shot of the Tanana River.
A military convoy, one of about 8 that day.
Now these are the hard-core bikers. My hat's off to them.
Eielson AFB, home of the F-35.
Almost home.
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