Vancouver, BC to Inuvik, Anchorage and back in June
 

Hi,

To date, my longest ride/camp is three days so taking a month out to do this trip is going to be an experience. To make it even more memorable I'd love to know any suggestions that people who have done this trip or who live in the area may have - things to see or avoid, roads to take, etc.

I'll be doing it on a KLR 650 so I won't be going particularly fast on the road but I intend to make as much time as possible to poke around while I'm out there. Since I'll be alone I won't be hitting up any difficult dirt trails but easier ones I'm very interested in.

Any recommended spots?


Cheers


PS. I think my friends are a bit sick of me talking about it so I'm happy to have to place like this where everyone just wants to ride somewhere. :)

Hi There,

We're heading the same way around the same time. We're Leaving Whistler on the 19th and heading to Vancouver Island until the end of the month.

We get the ferry to prince rupert on 31st may and then start riding north our plans aren't concrete yet but hopefully see you on the road. We're aiming to be back in whistler by the end of june.

we're riding 400s so we'll be slowing you down.

Home

I might well meet you coming back - my plans at the moment are to leave Vancouver around mid-June. Still fleshing out the details on that but I can't see it being a problem.

I don't think you'd be slowing me down - to get 400k+ range out of the KLR I'll be doing tops 80-90kph and probably more like 75kph. It'll depend on traffic, for the most part. Cruising at 110kph with gear drops the range to ~300k and frankly the bike is too damn loud at that speed.

Are you going with knobblies for the Dempster or sticking to dual-purpose tyres?

I think we're sticking to DP tyres although I currently have a knobbly on the front which will prob stay there. I rarely take roxy above 100kph any way.

posted from Foxy Fone

Well I hope to meet you somewhere along the way. I would love to hear about how your RTW is going.

May see you on the road
 

Hi...3 mates and I are heading for the Dempster in June...leaving the Island via the ferry to Prince Rupert on the 23rd...2 of us on KLRs, and 2 on KTMs. Saw your question about tires...I'm planning on Heidenau K60 Scouts for the whole trip...love those tires. good luck on your ride!

Hi Fellas,

I wish i was going north this year.....totally jealous.
Here's a link to my blog from 2010 if you're interested.
I traveled with a friend on a KLR and it proved to be bullet proof :)

Nevil | Nevil Stow | Travel Blog

Kindest regards to you all and safe trip :)

Nevil

I'm getting the feeling that there are going to be plenty of peeps to meet up with along the way.

Even a solo rider like myself won't have to worry about getting lonely.

I was looking at your blog and you took a little laptop to do your updates - did you find lots of places with wifi or did you tether it off your phone?

I ask because I use Mobilicity as a provider which guarantees no coverage once I'm on the road. I wasn't planning on recording a blog on this trip but it would be nice to have some connectedness.

Also, where did you find those shorter tyre irons? I managed to lose the ones that fit into my tooltube so I'm trying to find some new ones.


Cheers

Hi Miggles,

Wireless coverage once north of Whitehorse was very sparse ....but that was in 2010, this has probably improved somewhat. There used to be an internet cafe in Dawson that would give you the wireless code if you bought a coffee from them :) The next wireless range was in Inuvik at on of their motels (740 kms of dirt between those two points).
With regard to cell coverage, Bell Canada have the Lion's share in the north but even then, it is sparse. My advice if you want to keep a blog updated is to use both cellphone and wireless ....even then you might go for a few days with no coverage (not a bad thing actually).
The short tyre levers were purchased from Motion Pro a few years earlier. I have since updated them with the levers that came with my Best Rest Bead Brakr. It's a fantastic little piece of kit that can be found advertised on the internet. Works like a charm for me.

Fantastic Mr. Fox......what part of Bristle are you from? I'm originally from South Dartmoor :)

Kindest regards

Nevil

Hi Nevil,

Thanks for that. One of the plans for this trip is to not be in constant contact (phone or internet) so I'm only going to be making use of it in places like Dawson and Inuvik. Want to interact more with people I meet than the ones I already know. :)

Cheers

I live in Brislington (well for the last 7 months I've been living in Whistler) but I studied in plymouth which is closer to your neck of the woods.

Miggles.....I'm envious. I would happily ride up there again and again but this year I will be heading south into the States for a few weeks instead. You're going to have a blast!

Mister Fox.....will you be in the Banff or western BC area at all this summer? we could meet up and eat some of my wife's home made pasties. She's an Ivybridge girl :)

Kindest regards

Nevil

I would recommend the ride from Prince Rupert to Terrace, especially on a clear day. If you're not coming on the ferry you can "hang a left" (west) at Prince George and head west towards Smithers and Terrace.

From Terrace you can head north to New Ayansh on the Nisga'a Highway another great motorcycle road. You'll be going through a pretty impressive lava field which is quite new in geological terms. When you get to the T intersection near New Ayansh you can turn left (west) for a nice dead end ride back to the ocean at Kincolith. Otherwise turn right and a regularly maintained dirt/gravel road will take you back to Highway 37 (Dease Lake Highway). Terrace will be your last chance for bike repairs and major supplies for a while. It's a fair size town with a Mallwart, Canadian Tire, Bike shop, etc.

At Meziadin Lake you'll come to another T intersection. To keep going north via Dease Lake, turn right. This will take you into the Yukon where you'll meet back up with the Alaska Highway in Watson Lake, YT. Personally I find this route more interesting than taking the Alaska Highway via Fort St John/Dawson Creek.

At Meziadin Junction you have the option to head to Stewart and Hyder Alaska for a side trip. The ride is quite interesting as well and takes you straight past Bear Glacier. Unfortunately the gravel road (goes into Alaska, then back into BC) which takes you up to the mind blowing Salmon Glacier will probably still be snowed in when you go through. Otherwise it's absolutely worth it.


...Michelle

Thank you for such a detailed response and also for confirming my chosen route. Hanging a left at Prince George and heading out to Terrace before going north was definitely my plan so now I'm really looking forward to it. :)