Sport-Touring the Dalton Highway?

you have given me a new outlook on reaching deadhorse. for many years i have wanted to go up there, not for the ride or to say i rode the dalton, but to jump in the arctic ocean. I had a KLR and sold it, decided that the miles to get to the dalton would be too painful for me. since then I have been putting all my efforts into my ST1300 to make the haul, but had settled on just making it to the arctic circle.....

i am re-examining that thought....

thank u for sharing

I hope you're able to go for it!
I too was concerned about my ability to make it all the way to the end, and never told anybody that I was "Going to Deadhorse".
I said I was "going to Alaska and then as far as I could go".
I've talked with others who only went as far as the Circle and came back.

But for me, the toughest ordeal of the trip was in the first 50 miles of the Dalton.
After that I felt I was ready for anything, and it never did get any worse than that.

Still waiting for an opportunity to sit and watch all 7 without interruption, but doing a quick perusal indicates that roller coaster isn't in the videos. If it were (at least on the northbound leg) it would be in the first 1:10 of #3, as it is only about 15 miles north of Hot Spot and before the beginning of pavement, which is at Mile 90.

What I've seen is great, and anxious to view it all together. Regardless how many times I've seen it all myself, it is still enjoyable to see it through another rider's eyes. Great work.

I just noticed your profile notes on the left and saw "deaf biker".

My wife is an ASL interpreter and coordinates interpreters for students at Wake Tech in Raleigh.

Thanks, Alcan Rider!
I appreciate all the info you shared with me in my preparations for this trip.
Of course, it was your photos of the Dalton that helped plant the seed in the first place!!!

I had to pass a lot of areas in rainy/cloudy weather, and I'd love to have enough time to see the entire road in good light and clear skies. Until that happens, I'll just keep going through your reports.
I think I passed close to you on my way down to Valdez.
I'm glad Dan suggested that side trip - the scenery was mind-blowing!

Great videos and pics!

I liked the commentary just as much. Kinda reminded me of "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" with Marlin Perkins.

("We'll step back out of the way now, while Jim removes the cub from the angry Momma Bengal Tiger, to check it's weight. Watch your fingers now, Jim.")



"Stopped to check if there was any mud on the bike. Nope, it's good"


"My favourite thing is to wake up in the morning hearing the wonderful sounds of Nature."

[deluge]

"Hmmm."

Just watched all 7 with a couple nice cold ones, a great way to spend a Friday evening! I echo the others with praise for your videos, commentary and presentation-it goes well beyond typical ride reports. I've thought for a while I would like to do a similar trip, and now with a new-to-me 650 twin I think I'm ready-just need to find 3 weeks off... Did you have any issues with bears camping? I'd be one to camp pretty much the whole way, so curious on bears, spray, ... Thanks for sharing this with all of us!

Came from work about two hours ago and watched your videos. Again, like everyone has said, Awesome RR!!

Just watched all the videos...great RR.

Yep. Went back and took a closer look at the intro, and it's at 00:21-22, right after the muddy boots. You were on the north side looking back south.

Another hill, appearing at 00:12, is taken from about Mile 90.3 looking north, right after you got on the first pavement north of the Yukon.

Thanks again, Jack!
That second hill you mentioned is the one in Part 3 at 1:35, with the grumpy old geezer in it.

If I was in Glennallen at the time you passed within 3 miles of me. And if I was at home in Slana, you would have passed within 3 miles on your way up to Tok. Shoulda given you my cell #'s. Next time, fer sure.

What a great set of videos. I think the best I've ever watched. Seems the older I get, the less I like riding in the cold/wet. But, would like to get into Southern Alaska at least, before I have to quit two wheels. Would of loved to see a shot of the Mackenzie Bridge straight down. Thought it was pretty kewl looking down at the water when running over that tubing side a few years back.
Thanks for all the work and time to bring these to us that may never get up there.

Thank you for taking the ime to put this together. I am leaving KY in June for a trip to Deadhorse and have been trying to get a real sense of the road conditions on the Dalton. Your video is the best I've been able to find that actually shows what so many have tried to describe verbally.

I really appreciate your efforts in making this video. Great RR.

No - never had any problems with wildlife at all.
I had thought of buying bear spray when I got to Canada, but didn't get around to it.
Several places I camped, I could hear coyotes at night, and in Tok the coyotes quit, and I heard a wolf howling in the distance. It was awesome, but my iphone speaker just couldn't pick it up very well.

Thank you very much for posting.
Getting me through a rough day.

i just watched all seven vids and they were awesome, thanks for posting them Rick great job and fantastic ride.

Wow! What a great ride and adventure. I gotta say, though--you are a one-man moving monsoon. I have no doubt that if you had planned your trip to include parts of the southwest last summer, they would not have had ANY problems with the drought. And as far as your rain clothing being water "resistant"....well, you would have had to be in a hermetically sealed bubble to stay dry in that weather.

Out of curiosity, did you change your tire(s) out at any time during the trip?

Rick, Outstanding job on the videos! I watched every minute. My wife and I were about a month behind you and travelled much of the same route up north. I recognized so many places and it was a treat to re-live it in your videos. You did some long distance endurance riding and kudos for having the balls to ride up the wet Dalton on the Connie.

Very nice work Sir!! Just finished the last of them today. I think my favorite one turned out to be the ride over Thompson Pass going to Valdez. ALCANRIDER gave me a guided (haha) tour from his home in Glenallen to Valdez and we took a little excursion off the road just over the pass. It was there that Jack took a pic of me that I consider my money shot of the entire 15k mile trip. I was watching the video over lunch the other day and the wife stepped in just as I got to the segment of you crossing the pass. I stop the clip to give her the perspective of where Jack and I were compared to the road. Brought back a good memory and was good to share with the wife

Here is my pic


Cruise back through your video and you can see the outcropping I was on for this picture!!

Thanks again for the time you spent to edit and post this RR. Pretty much locked me into buying a GoPro system. The HD video does the ride more justice than the pictures I have taken!!!