Our Life Behind Bars – Father & Son Doing Time in The Northern Frontier

Late 70's early 80's I worked at some pump stations and on resurfacing jobs before the Haul road was opened to "civilians".
Sometimes it might be 12 hours between vehicles. Your pictures make it still look a little lonely.

(larger picture update....Animal incident coming soon)


2 KLR Guys that we kept running into along the way

Leaving Deadhorse camp.. Expensive, but the only place to stay in town

Famous sign that everyone takes their picture with

On our way back. Temperature was in the high 30's

The only Caribou we saw on the entire trip so far.

Open tundra and it begins to warm up.

Typical road and pipeline views across the open tundra

Coming back into the valley on the south slope of the Brooks range

The pipeline and the road split the valley.
(ANWR to the left and Gates of the Arctic NP on the right).

North side of Atigun pass

Hard to leave with views like these

My dad says its HIS limited edition

The rivers and side valleys left us wanting to explore

This picture cannot even begin to show the sense of scale we experienced up here.

The Dakar or "Dak" has proven to be a better bike than Gretchen

Heading up the north side of Atigun Pass

One last look before we head up

Looking north east at the summit

Coming back down the south side.

Yes, that is ice back there on the tundra. It was nearly 90 degrees!!

Coming down.. slowly to savor every turn and vista

my dad says to give him a pack and more vacation and he will see me later

The southern valley revealed incredible rock gardens

some more beautiful scenery

No words can describe the following pics







This picture says it all...
It is in adequate in capturing the experience and emotion.

Pipeline. Hate or love it. It is the reason this road exists.

A rest stop to go examine the pipeline

The incredible rock formations were everywhere.

Another moment of wanderlust.

Arrival in Coldfoot

Way too hot for being up there....not too long before this pic, it was 94 degrees!!!:eek1

Hey mom thanks. Don't mind the credit card bills :eek1
I promise to bring the boy (the man) back home in one piece.

Regarding the animal incident.....
Nope, not going to tell. Besides, it is Johann's story to tell since it happened to him. It was a rather "personal" encounter.

Actually what I said is that this is my Limited R1200 GSA Quadruple Black Edition... One of a kind.

Able, I was actually a bit surprised at the amount of traffic we saw. It was hard to go more than 20 minutes or so w/o seeing other vehicles. In many spots, it was actually quite busy. Trucks were always coming and going. It is a lonely feeling for sure, especially as you travel out into the flat tundra. I read that before the development of the oil fields that Caribou were in huge abundance, now that I have been up there, I understand a bit more why they have dwindled to such low numbers. You are lucky to have experienced the loneliness when you did. With that said, I can see that stepping off the road a mile of so to one side or the other would result in total solitude. It doesn't take much to escape the busy road. If I had more time, and resolve to tackle those bugs, I might just do that. The views into the Gates of the Arctic Park were stupendous and very tempting to those with more ambition to go beyond the comfort of the wheel.

Terrific ride report! I hope you frame these photos - they're stunning.

And Johann - excellent choice of motorcycle

Now you are just irritating me! Just Kidding

Pictures are great. Thanks for the phone call with real time updates!

lori/mom

thanks! I do believe we will be framing at least one or two of the pics

and I have been really enjoying the bike so far, no real problems since the border crossing

I think we will talk about the animal incident in our next post.

today we are taking the top of the world highway to Dawson City and probably going to spend the night at the midnight dome... it's raining right now and I really hope it doesn't rain the whole way or at Dawson, I guess we will find out soon enough.

Ah - the midnight dome - what a great spot! I hope the weather improved for you. I don't miss the bugs though!

Love you buddy!

Now, if I don't hear about the 'animal incident' tomorrow...well I'll be looking at you over my glasses, and you know what that means! :ddog:ddog:ddog


mom

Sitting here in the Downtown Hotel here in Dawson, Yukon. It's late and I should be asleep. But I can't. The adrenaline is still flowing from the day's ride. It was supposed to be an easy sub 200 mile day from Tok to Dawson. It was a nightmarish hell.

From Chicken, Ak on, the road was horrible. It was the worst road conditions I have personally experienced. It rained so hard that lakes and rivers formed in the road. The road turned to slippery Vaseline type mud. The border guard at Poker Creek (Alaska-Yukon border) told us that many bikers were taking spills on the road and/or turning around. But not us... Johann is a budding ADVRider. He loved it. It was a fun day, but it was hard!! I'm trying to understand why in hindsight I loved it. It was cold out, but yet I was sweating and exhausted. All very rewarding.

We took very little pictures due to the weather, however, I put together this little video that illustrates our story today.

Enjoy...

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/adQZWq8covE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


Yukon Johann put in a good effort today. Remember to help him out with his charity project.
Johann Krueger's Fundraiser:Ride to Alaska

Thanks for riding along with us.

The conditions over Top of the World are what I expected you to experience on the haul road instead of the balmy, blue-sky you saw.

That stuff sure is slick when it gets wet! We loved our Heidenau K60s when it came to the "floor tiles smothered with Vaseline!" That's probably the best description I've read yet in terms of capturing what it feels like to ride in the wet up there!

If you get a clear day, you should go back up Top of the World highway, the views are magnificent with layers of mountains as far as the eye can see!

Oh, one more thing, don't forget to pound a "Sour Toe" shot in the bar at Downtown Hotel before you head out. Make sure Johann has the camera ready to catch the moment!

Most excellent ride report there guys!! Awesome pictures! Really making me want to endure the bugs and go for this trip.

Congrats to Johan, only four weeks with his license, WOW!! Great job!

Seems like a very good adventure for you both. Continue having fun!

Cheers

I had a feeling we had the bad weather coming, I was telling my dad that we were going to pay for the really nice weather we had on the Dalton hwy...which we did. that was our 3rd time on the top of the world, the first time it was clear, and I must agree that it was very beautiful. and our second time on it was very similar to our recent experience. However, we were in a camper and it is a much different experience on a bike, exposed to the elements and having to balance on 2 wheels!!

Well, I find it kind of funny that you mention that. in 2009, when I was 13 years old, we paddled the Yukon River, while a friend of ours (Shawn) from Whitehorse drove our motorhome to Dawson city for us. We stayed at the Downtown Hotel, and while there Shawn told us about the Sourtoe. we decided to go for it...

Here are some pics just for proof

Thanks RevyRider!! The trip has gone much better than I ever thought it would have. I was thinking I was going to dump the bike a lot more than just once...well, any way, once you get over the bugs, nothing really bothers you it has just been spectacular all around...man, those bug jackets sure were a savior though

I should have known the Sour Toe shot would be old news to seasoned Yukon travelers like you two!

Johann, you're doing an awesome job on this ride. To think you only had your mc license for four weeks before heading out on this adventure, you deserve applause! Between your instructors and your dad, looks like you've had great influences.

Grizz, you must be poppin' buttons, you're so proud. I know I would be!

Lookin' forward to the next round of pics and accompanying story.

Sorry folks.

We have not had any time for updates...

Lack of WiFi and a big event have kept us dormant for awhile.

More to come in a couple of days.

Wow, great trip and stories! Bucket list for sure.

Folks,

Currently holed up in Prince George. Thought I could make it home on the R1200 GSA on the current tire. Probably still could, but I play it on the safe side.

I see a shop called Cycle North. I don't see a BMW dealer here in town. Any advice? Send Private msg.

Thanks...