Hubbard Motorcycle Adventures

DAY 26. PRINCE GEORGE TO JASPER. 380 km Today was a day of coincidences. As we navigated thru Prince George a couple going in the opposite direction also on a BMW GSA gave us a big wave. Somewhat belatedly I realized that it was Brian and Jo, the kiwi dairy farmers we had met in Fairbanks. Then half an hour later we stop for roadworks. Lo and behold another bike pulls up alongside us with a Taranaki sticker on its petrol tank. It was another Kiwi couple who were part of a group on Kiwi riders doing a 60 day tour of the US and Canada . The kiwi line up ! We stop for lunch. Suddenly we find ourselves parked next to another 5 bikes from New Zealand. Then Brian and Jo turn up. It was a lovely little meeting and lunch . Gentlemen, get your molls! Then onwards thru lovely scenery to Jasper, a delightful alpine tourist town. We are really in the heart of the Rockies now. It is now time for a days rest and I have to hole up anyway as I have a call to New Zealand for o...

DAY 24. FORT NELSON TO CHETWYND. 530km And it was a long way with straight roads and " quite a lot of not a lot". However the last bit past the Peace River dam was lovely as we followed the "Power of Peace " high voltage power lines. And lo and behold we saw actual farms for the first time in three weeks! An actual farm! Oh the smell of new hay! We stopped at a road house on the way. Along with the photos of dead animals on the walls was a sign that read thus - " There are two enemies of guns- Rust and Politicians ! " What do you say to that? I have also been musing on the American/Canadian language although Canadians will be highly offended that I put them in the same camp, anyway one American I was talking to made mention of "Ma Pa's". After a while I nutted out the translation as follows Ma Pa's = My Paws. = My Hands Oh and the stuff that comes out of a tap apparently is " Whartah" Quite easy ...

DAY 21. DAWSON CITY TO FARO. 530km It was with a little reluctance we left Dawson City. Just as we were due to leave the heavens opened so we spent an extra hour and a half for the rain to stop. Eventually it did and we were on our way only to cop heavy rain for about an hour on the way. Leaving Dawson city the road follows the Klondike river. For about 30 km both sides of the road for several kilometers are lined with tailings piles from the gold dredges. It is like a ginormous worm has passed thru the landscape leaving its droppings trail. It must look surreal from the air Then it was down the road to Carmack where we turned off the main road and headed to the town of Faro. Faro is a lead mining town in the middle of nowhere. One sixth of the world batteries have lead in them from the Faro mine. Apparently there are 25,000 hectares of land that has been poisoned for the next 200 years as a result of mining practice in the sixties However it had a nice campground and a nic...

DAY 16    FAIRBANKS TO DENALI     210km Last night we had the must have Salmon Bake which is the  "must do" in Fairbanks..Sitting at a table under the trees drinking local beer and eatinf local crabs and salmon was all rather nice as we congratulated ourselves for having not only survivrd but enjoyed the famous Dalton highway. It was also time to remove many many layers of nud from the bikes and it was all rather a relief to acfind bikes under the mud.  Mind you the number plater was totally obsured to any following local constabulary or "state troopers" as they are called here.  Note to self - the state troopers metamorphise to "sheriffs" when back in Canada.   Either way they are always addressed as  "Sir". The trip down to Denali was nice and we were lucky to find a lovely National Park campsite under the trees next to the National Park Entrance .  You are not allowed to drive into the National Park - you ...

  DAY  15  DEADHORSE TO COLDFOOT. 395 km At 8.15 am we went outside and did something highly symbolic. We turned the bikes around from heading North to heading due South. The long long trip to Ushuaia has begun! You never know what is coming! We start by having to hotfoot to Coldfoot ! We left Prudhoe Bay in stunningly fine weather which is now our third day in a row of sunny skies and balmy temperatures. When I look on the map Deadhorse is about 70.5 Degrees North i.e. only about 20 Degrees from the North Pole. In terms of latitude we would be well into Antactica at this longitude South. And of course we have well into the land of the midnight sun and the first sunset for the summer in Prudhoe Bay will be on the 15 th of August. We should get to Coldfoot by nightfall Anyway about journeys south. Perhaps it is the fact we are going South but the journey seemed easier even though it took longer. The big surprise was meeting hugh oversized trucks he...

  DAY 12    FAIRBANKS TO COLDFOOT.      420 km Today was the start of the infamous Dalton highway to Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic ocean. There was big relief all round that the weather was fine. Gorgeous vistas of purple fireweed and long roads stretching into the distance The trip up was absolutely beautiful as we ride up thru the tundra and boreal forests. At the start of the Dalton highway the road became dirt and gravel but fortunately was dry. However where there were roadworks it was somewhat slippery on the mixture of water, dirt and Calcium Chloride ( anti freeze ) First milestone was the mighty Yukon river and goodness gracious what a big river. It looked about as big at the Mississippi river. Then it was up to the Arctic Circle signpost at the Arctic circle itself. Many many photos are compulsory and it must be one of the most photographed signs in the world ! The travelers four....... Then onward was t...

 DAY 8 WHITEHORSE TO...........WELL WHITEHORSE. 0 km Well this was a rest day and a well deserved one at that after 7 days on the go. We shouted ourselves a niceish hotel and had a 2 night stay. Whitehorse is an old gold miming town and was the end of the railway from Skagway. In addition it was the end of the navigable section of the famous Yukon river. We took the opportunity to check the bikes over and tightened all and everything that looked as if it needed tightening and tightened things that did not even need tightening. Actually the bikes are going remarkably well and the only problem so far has been a blown headlight. Oh and the automatic self righting mechanism does not work particularly well when they fall over! As I was saying about the price of fish Dick............... So after some good sleeps and some good feeds it is time to pack the swags and get on the way. DAY 9. WHITEHORSE TO BEAVER CREEK. 420 km Today involved heading up to Haines j...