Pics from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska trip
 

I know it's been a couple of months and I haven't posted many pics.

Honestly, this trip took a mental toll on me that I did not expect, and had never experienced before. When we got back home, I was pissed that I felt like I wasted 3 weeks of vacation time, I was pissed that it didn't feel like a vacation at all and was really more work than it should have been, so I just didn't really come back with a warm fuzzy feeling.

Fast forward 2 months, I'm much happier now about it. LOL. It was worth it, even though I doubt my motorcycle travels will ever take me to Prudhoe Bay again (unless one of my friends are as hardheaded as me and tells me they will go by themselves).

I have been riding since 1993. 18 years of riding experience, 8 years of vacations By Way of Motorcycle, 100,000 plus miles under my belt, and visiting every state in the country didn't prepare me for the assault on my senses this trip provided.

This was something that I have planned in the back of my mind for 8 years. I knew it was something I could not ask anybody to do with me. I never asked my best friend to go. He was prepared to let me go by myself until he read up on the Dalton Highway. Thanks to other friends telling him to not let me go by myself, to him finally realizing what this trip was, he said *there's no way I'm letting you go by yourself.* He bought a KLR like mine, prepped it himself, set aside 3 weeks of vacation, and we did it.

We've been best friends for 22 years. The ONLY reason we didn't strangle each other is because we have been friends that long.

It wasn't easy, and I will tell anybody that asks not to go, and it's not worth the trouble of getting there. Of course, these words are empty, as anybody that's *thinking* about going up there, has already decided they are going, and I won't be able to talk them out of it. People tried to talk me out of it. No. I had to do this.

On to the pictures. Enough of my rambling. If y'all have any specific questions, let me know and I'll gladly answer them.

It'll take a bit to link and add captions, so freakin' be patient. :nopic:

Welcome to Saskatchewan. I hadn't been to Canada in 5 years.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_2818.jpg

I think we took a wrong turn somewhere! Canada was experiencing bad flooding just like the northern US was.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_2832.jpg

My Spot Tracker doin' it's thing. We were surrounded by canola. It had a pretty strong smell. Pretty cool. This was south of Regina. (I still laugh when I say that out loud)

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_2838.jpg

Do these things even work?! I'm not so sure! LOL

http://s467.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_2848.jpg

Mile 0 of the Alcan Highway. 1523 miles to the north, welcome to Fairbanks.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_2880.jpg

The Sign Post Forest in Watson Lake.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_2960.jpg

An applicable spot for us to leave a BWOM sticker.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_2970.jpg

My best friend being goofy. There was NO traffic up here.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_3035.jpg

Artsy. LOL

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_3025.jpg

My second time going to Alaska. Nobody can say I *cheated* this time though.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_3057.jpg

I had dreamed of standing here for several years. It was a pretty emotional moment for me. I didn't know Billy snapped this photo until later.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_0830.jpg

Shit's gettin' real now.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_3062.jpg

If your best friend will go to up to the Arctic Ocean with you, he's a friend for life. My best friend Billy and I. I'm glad we did it together.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_0843.jpg

We ran into these guys at the Arctic Circle. They were on vacation too, and chose to celebrate getting there with a beer, cigar, and their shorts. LOL Before Fred asks, they asked me to take a picture to email them, so :P

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_3104.jpg

The pipeline. My bike was a little dirty, and the road wasn't even bad yet.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_3115.jpg

The Spot Tracker got it's fair share too.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_3170.jpg

You give these guys the right-of-way, or you'll die. That's pretty much all there is to it.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_3125.jpg

We are still northbound. Behind me, you can see the Brooks Range and Atigun Pass. On the way through here the next day, 24 hours after this photo was taken, it was blizzard conditions.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_3121.jpg

The Carlisle Trucking Prudhoe Bay yard of Ice Road Truckers fame.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_3136.jpg

Fuck. Yes! We made it!

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_0937.jpg

Photo op on the way back south to Fairbanks.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_0978.jpg

It was high 30s. I was wearing 4 of everything and felt like the Sta-Puft marshmallow man.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_0955.jpg

Leaving Fairbanks on the way to Anchorage, my rear tire blew out. Good thing I planned for that one. Sorta. LOL

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_3175.jpg

There weren't a TON of pictures after this, as we started heading back to the US, and the temps were high 30s, low 40s, rain, and cloudy, and just miserable conditions.

Hope y'all enjoy a small taste of the trip.

Why'd some say you "cheated" before ?

Kickass pics, man. Congrats on the successful trip.

Several people say I *cheated* before, because in 2005 I rode to Hyder, Alaska for my Alaska state sign. If you look at the map, Hyder is at the very bottom of the leg for Alaska, so it's not the *big* part of Alaska.

Hyder is still 900 miles and 2 days north of Seattle, so for the people that said I cheated, I told them to go do it then come talk to me.

Well that's just freaking stupid.

Love the fact that you made this trip. Frankly, I think the above pic should have been your entry for pic of the month after you returned. I think it says so much more about the trip.

What was it that caused you to feel like you initially regretted the trip? Do you think you didn't take enough time? Did you feel like you didn't experience enough while up there? Or was it something completely different?

When you said if it wasnt for being friends for 22 years you didnt strangle each other...Did you guys go at it alot? Was it on decisions on what to do or just the issues you had with the bike?

How did you mentally prepare for three weeks of riding a KLR?

Why Prudhoe Bay?

Top of the world, Ma? :idk:

I know both Tracy and Billy... I'd say their friendship is more like brothers than friends. Sometimes they act like step brothers, sometimes like best buds... when it comes to these two, they might as well have come from the same mama. :lol:

I'm glad you two did it, and made it back in one piece. Not many best friends can say they've survived such a trip together. :dthumb:

Awesome trip man. I agree with Capt about the pic.

I totally understand what you mean about being with the same person 24/7 for any length of time. Even some of the guys I like being around would get to me after more than a week. I wonder if it would help if you had like 4 guys.