Heading Back from Alaska

I camped another night at Anchorage’s House of Harley and then it was time to begin the (slow) ride back home. And what’s the best way to begin to come home? With a detour, of course!

Several people had strongly recommended that I ride the Denali Highway, a 135 mile stretch of (mostly) gravel road that runs east/west from near the park. So I headed north on the Parks Highway once again and took a right a couple hundred miles later onto the Denali Highway. I was not disappointed!

Bob at the Harley shop had described the road as the perfect place to run a large engine dual sport bike, which happens to be exactly what I (and he) have. All but the first few and the last twenty miles are gravel, but mostly not so deep that you’d wash out at speed. It’s the “mostly” part that makes it so fun!

I was also treated to a great view of Denali (Mt McKinley) on that very clear day.

I spent that night near the east end of the Denali Highway, where the view was wonderful, particularly in the very early morning. For no good reason, I woke up at 4AM and took a look outside, to the north. This is what I saw.

What a great example of the nighttime sky in the northern latitudes! It works like this: in the mid-morning, the sun is visible to the east. As mid-day approaches, the sun rises a bit more, but mostly swings to the south. Toward evening, the sun appears from the west. And during the heart of the night, the sun is below the north horizon, but it continues to light the sky; dusk and dawn sort of blend together.

Growing up, I always thought of mid-day as being a time when I’d have no significant shadow, as the sun would be –more or less- directly overhead. Not the case toward the arctic circle(s)! In the extreme northern (or southern) latitudes, you will always cast a shadow, unless it is cloudy or you are infinitesimally short, in which case you probably wouldn’t be too worried about this point.

Yesterday I rode nearly all day, covering about 530 miles. Perhaps not a full day’s mileage, but considering that I traveled through (literally) hundreds of miles of construction (read: gravel, mud, frost heaves and potholes) and considering that I got dumped on with rain for most of that, I did pretty well. . . .and don’t take any of this as a complaint; it was all awesome fun!

By day’s end I reached Haines Junction, where the Alaska Highway meets the road leading south to Haines, Alaska (I took that road five years ago on my way to board a ferry heading south – but this time I’m going to drive it all. . .)

Another item about yesterdays ride: I had traveled with two cans of beer in a luggage case. I even declared the two cans as I passed through Canadian customs. But immediately after customs, I stopped to get something out of the case only to discover that one can had ruptured and exploded everywhere. In some ways, I had lied because I actually only had one can of beer (another potential topic for debate). But of more importance to me was the havoc played on other of my belongings. It was ugly. With (appropriately) limited respect for a certain Oasis song, this incident will forever be known to me as the “Molson Supernova.”

Today is July 1, at least for another few minutes. It is Canada Day and I am somewhat disappointed that there hasn’t been more visible celebration of the holiday. But as one person notes, fireworks would appear lackluster against a sky that does not get dark.

Tomorrow (soon today) is July 2^nd. It is my 41^st birthday. I have many wild things planned, beginning with a fresh change of clothes. Then perhaps a ride down a road I was afraid of five years ago. . .