Chicago Region BMW Motorcycle Owners Assoccrbmw

Originally printed in the February, 2008 issue of Chicago Region Owners news.

Rich Patenaude’s new R1200GS had just 1,000 miles on the odometer when he steered it north to Winnipeg, then west across Canada on the Yellowhead Route to British Columbia, then north again. That’s where the mud began.

By Rich Patenaude

I had just purchased a new 2007 R1200 GS Adventure in June and wanted to go for a little ride.

Where to go? Why not Alaska? It’s an Adventure, right? And so was the new bike!

The trip began in July after the MOA Rally in West Bend. To save time I took the “ Yellowhead Route,” Route 16, northwesterly across the plains and mountains of Canada to British Columbia. In the town of Kitwanga, BC, the Yellowhead meets Route 37 also known as the Stewart Cassiar Highway, and there I began my route due north.

 This road started out as a paved two-lane road, with intermittent gravel sections. Very light traffic and intermittent rain soon into heavy rain and gravel turned into mud. The mud sections became more challenging.

During the summer months, daylight continues well past 10 p.m. in these higher latitude areas and riding 14 hours straight seemed not so much effort. But by 1 a.m., fatigue began to set in. My supposedly “waterproof” boots were no longer waterproof and the idea of stopping for a rest turned into a search for a campsite.

Campsites are plentiful in western Canada but tent camping in bear territory is considered risky. However they didn’t bother me.

A few days later I reached the west side of the Canadian Coastal Mountain Range and crossed into Alaska. The weather changed for the better—NO MORE RAIN!!! I was greeted with 70+°F sunshine and warm breezes. Yes traffic was very light, more like non-existent.

In Anchorage the bike got new tires. In the far off distance beautiful mountain ranges surround this city. The sun peeked through big puffy white clouds revealing blue skies after another night’s rain.

I continued north through Denali National Park onto Fairbanks. Denali was very crowded with tourists from around the world, so a quick lunch stop and I was on my way.

You can see many of the mountains along side the road, without entering the park. These mountains have a unique triangle shape with no vegetation.

Many people in Alaska consider Fairbanks as the “hot spot” of Alaska. Temperatures that day were as high as 88°, and that was at 8:00 pm. At 11 p.m. people were still boating and jet skiing on the Chena River.

The Dalton Highway

84 miles north of Fairbanks, is the start of the famous James W. Dalton Highway, also known as “The Haul Road”. It was originally built as a private service road to transport supplies north into the oilfields in Prudhoe Bay.

 This 498-mile road is primarily made of gravel and runs along side the famous Alaskan pipeline.

There are no services for 259 miles between Fairbanks and Coldfoot, about halfway to Prudhoe Bay. This small rustic stop is basically a truck stop with fuel, food, limited lodging and primitive camping. I camped that night, was up at 4:30 a.m., refueled and shoved off. Next services: 239 miles to the north in Deadhorse, near Prudhoe Bay.

I enjoyed riding this road very much and considered it one of the highlights of my trip. I was also very lucky it was dry. The road is almost elevated as much as 8 feet in sections, with loose rocky steep slopes off to the edge.

End of the Haul Road

The last 50 miles of the Haul Road were soft and muddy from a light rain. When I arrived in town around 8 a.m., the temperature was a cold and cloudy 33°F, with blowing ice crystals. I found heat and breakfast at the Artic Caribou Inn.

While eating breakfast, the hotel generator stopped and all things in the hotel went dark. I had my camper’s headlight in my pocket from the night before so I put it on my head and continued to eat. The hotel staff mistook me for an oilfield worker and didn’t charge me for breakfast!

Deadhorse is an industrial camp for the Prudhoe Bay oilfields. Lodging is basically modular home buildings linked together. The rest of the town contains mostly garage type buildings for warehousing and repair and a small airfield. I fueled the bike, roamed the town a bit and then headed back south to warmer weather.

That day I rode from Cooldfoot to Deadhorse and back to Fairbanks, for a total of 737 miles that day.

 My trip continued east through North Pole, Alaska, where I met Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Farther east I encountered the Eielson Air Force Base. Here I watched and photographed jet fighters take off and practice dog-fighting overhead. Not long after I was parked on the side of the road with camera in hand, an Air Force security told me to move on.

Next stop was Chicken, Alaska, population 3 or possibly 4.

Many of the roads to and from Chicken are dirt/gravel. This little “touristy” town offers a bite to eat and drink. But most interesting are the people along the many streams still panning for gold.

I had only limited time to make the border crossing at Poker Creek to the Yukon Territories of Canada. The border closes 8:30 p.m. till the next morning. I made it with only minutes to spare. From Poker Creek I continued east across the Top Of The world Highway. And believe me, it was the top of the world. You could see for miles and miles. No buildings, roads, not even an airplane in the sky!

It was about midnight when I reached Dawson City. This town on the Yukon River still has dirt streets and wooden sidewalks. The town looks the same as it did 100 years ago. They even have a small Casino with dancin’ girls!!!

From Dawson City, it was basically ride south towards Whitehorse, east to Watson Lake, then Dawson Creek, Edmonton and back towards Chicago via North Dakota and Wisconsin.

Total mileage was 9,400 miles in 16 days.