The coooe's. The highlands look like an amazing place to ride and camp, if it's allowed without a huge headache. I've been through there in a car. National speed limit up there is lol on those roads as well. Americans, think single lane driveway, speed limit 65mph.
Off to Dead Horse in 2023--Looking for Advice, Ridicule, Condemnation or Support
Well, I have a good Army buddy who lives in North Pole, AK (yes, there really is such a place...Google it) who shames me today because I have promised for a couple of years to stop by to see him for a few days whenever I'm "in the area" and have yet to do so. Two years ago (2021) Ol' Red & I rode the Colorado BDR...1,700 miles with most of it off road. This last year (2022) I attended the Get On ADV Fest in Sturgis, SD (won't be doing that one again). So this year I pledge to my buddy and to the Forum that I will ride Ol' Red to Dead Horse and back (OMG...did I just write that?).
Yes, I did! So here's the deal. I am going to plan a trip from my home in North Carolina to Dead Horse, Alaska. I may truck Ol' Red to a good line of departure or ride her all the way...TBD. I suspect I will be doing a lot of camping. I have all (or most of) the gear I think I will need for dry camping when needed in or out of AK. I plan to carry my 44 Mag which I think I can get through Canadian customs with the right paperwork unless the laws have become so stoopid up there that nothing gets through.
The bottom line is this: I'm not getting any younger! This is a trip I have wanted to take for a couple of years now, and the bike is capable...God willing. I have almost 60 years of riding experience. I'm an Iron Butt rider. I have been across the US (west-to-east and east-to-west) several times. I'm a US Army combat veteran: there are not too many things that worry me about long distance riding. So here's the call:
I have available almost anything I would need for camping, traveling, maintaining and surviving. What I'm looking for is good advice from folks who have ridden in areas like the Dalton Highway who might help me decide what to take and what to leave behind. Bike maintenance I'm good with. Camping in AK, I could use some help. You get the idea. Drop me a question if you're not sure how to help.
Check out this guy's instructive video about Dead Horse. Looks like I'll want to turn around ASAP:
I'm looking forward to the discussion. Thanks for everyone who takes time to comment.
Best regards,
W2
Yes, I did! So here's the deal. I am going to plan a trip from my home in North Carolina to Dead Horse, Alaska. I may truck Ol' Red to a good line of departure or ride her all the way...TBD. I suspect I will be doing a lot of camping. I have all (or most of) the gear I think I will need for dry camping when needed in or out of AK. I plan to carry my 44 Mag which I think I can get through Canadian customs with the right paperwork unless the laws have become so stoopid up there that nothing gets through.
The bottom line is this: I'm not getting any younger! This is a trip I have wanted to take for a couple of years now, and the bike is capable...God willing. I have almost 60 years of riding experience. I'm an Iron Butt rider. I have been across the US (west-to-east and east-to-west) several times. I'm a US Army combat veteran: there are not too many things that worry me about long distance riding. So here's the call:
I have available almost anything I would need for camping, traveling, maintaining and surviving. What I'm looking for is good advice from folks who have ridden in areas like the Dalton Highway who might help me decide what to take and what to leave behind. Bike maintenance I'm good with. Camping in AK, I could use some help. You get the idea. Drop me a question if you're not sure how to help.
Check out this guy's instructive video about Dead Horse. Looks like I'll want to turn around ASAP:
I'm looking forward to the discussion. Thanks for everyone who takes time to comment.
Best regards,
W2
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Well erm...were you out in the woods or were you not?That's why I sleep in the middle of the campground.
I wouldn't call any of the campgrounds I stayed at on the way too/from Alaska as "remote". It's not like we hiked out 50 miles alone and slept somewhere. Your talking ride up to a site in a small village worth of people. Any bear coming it will be occupied popping open coolers, car windows, bear boxes before it gets hungry enough to expend energy going after a person in a tent.
Obviously way out alone somewhere wearing ear plugs isn't best practice but even if you do, odds are you'll be perfectly fine. Bear attacks are pretty rare, they're just really scary so I think our brains add too much weight to the odds. Really you're way more likely to hit a deer or moose riding then get tent burrito'd by a brown bear.
I always keep a couple screams worth of tents between me and the proper woods
Good luck with the trip planning and riding up here. If you pass through Alberta and are looking for off-the-beaten-path places to go send me a message. Plenty to see and do near Calgary and through the Rockies. I've been up to Eagle Plains on the Dempster and across to the westernmost parts of Alaska. You'll have plenty of time to yourself on the roads and on the way north, even in high season.
As for the inevitable 'gun debate' that every post devolves into - find out what is acceptable before you come. I can assure you that having been across Canada a few times (top to bottom and side to side), it'll be completely unnecessary and likely be a reason to be turned away at the border or have your weapon seized. Good information about practices and transportation on the RCMP's website. Also, consider what is socially acceptable while traveling in another country like ours. We have our friendly reputation as a country for a reason - because we are.
Hope to see you up here this summer.
As for the inevitable 'gun debate' that every post devolves into - find out what is acceptable before you come. I can assure you that having been across Canada a few times (top to bottom and side to side), it'll be completely unnecessary and likely be a reason to be turned away at the border or have your weapon seized. Good information about practices and transportation on the RCMP's website. Also, consider what is socially acceptable while traveling in another country like ours.
We have our friendly reputation as a country for a reason - because we are. Authorization to transport | Royal Canadian Mounted Police
www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca
Hope to see you up here this summer.
No, Fort Wainwright, AK. Our training areas were on Eielson AFB and at Delta Junction. I just remember it being hellishly cold. But the Northern Lights were beautiful. What a show.
At the risk of pulling the thread off topic or worse, seeming impolitic, may I suggest you spend some time perusing these two websites. You may find your perception more than a little reoriented if you review the data with an open mind.
Gun Facts | Gun Control Policy Insights
Gun Facts is an ongoing project to bring honesty into the debate about guns, violence and control.
www.gunfacts.info
I offer this information in an honest attempt to correct what I see as misperception. I'm also happy to discuss these details off line--please PM me if you want to continue the discussion.
Ride safely out there.
Alaska Trip Preparation and Two Moose Lake here on this forum
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Attachments
It's not a misperception that the US has approximately 35-40X the deaths from guns per Capita than Canada or that one developed country routinely has mass casualty events involving a gun and none of the others do.At the risk of pulling the thread off topic or worse, seeming impolitic, may I suggest you spend some time perusing these two websites. You may find your perception more than a little reoriented if you review the data with an open mind.
Gun Facts | Gun Control Policy Insights
Gun Facts is an ongoing project to bring honesty into the debate about guns, violence and control.
I offer this information in an honest attempt to correct what I see as misperception. I'm also happy to discuss these details off line--please PM me if you want to continue the discussion.
Ride safely out there.
41 - 60 of 77 Posts
