Hi Mark,

Shipping to Anchorage is about £1,250 approx. But you might be right. I was thinking of maybe setting off earlier and having a longer ride up to Alaska from Canada/U.S. Taking it easy, how long would you take from Vancouver/Calgary to reach Pruhoe bay by July/August?

Ah, that price is not so bad, glad to hear it. Vancouver to Prudhoe Bay is definitely doable in less than two weeks at the leisurely pace of about 225 miles a day. The roads are pretty decent and of course you can ride til midnight with the long days.

Have a great time!

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I was up that way a couple years back. Met some riders that liked to ride at 3 in the morning . There was fewer vehicles on the road at that hour so more animals were around. Just slow down for the moose. They just wander in front of you or just stand there in the middle of the road and look REALY BIG.

Bill

Definitely more of all sorts of wildlife during the middle of the so-called "night." Aside from all the usual suspects--moose, caribou, wolves, bears, foxes, etc.---I once had a fox trot across in front of the van I was driving towards Fairbanks, and as I slowed down to let it by a lynx came bounding after it. After the lynx took off into the bush (probably scared off by my startled yell), the fox circled around, checked up and down the road carefully, then picked up the snowshoe hare which the lynx had dropped in order to chase him away, and carried it proudly homewards. This was probably the best wildlife sighting of my life outside of Africa and a single orca-kayak interaction near my home.

Besides, those slow-moving RV's mostly stop to watch the evening news on their satellite televisions (or so I assume), and you'll have the late-night road to yourself.

enjoy,

Mark

As this post was originally about riding to South America. I was wondering if there was anyone who has actually rode to SA leaving NA in the spring? It seems to me it may be possible to leave in May (avoiding the rainy season of Central Am) and hang out in Peru,Bolivai and Northern Chile until November when it would be time to ride to T.D.F. Comments?

Hi Alpinerider,

My original post was about Alaska to Patagonia and I too would love to set off in Spring, but to ride from Prudhoe Bay at that time I believe the weather would be too bad (so I`m led to believe). If you weren`t planning on going to Alaska then I`m sure spring would be O.K.? Any thoughts from seasoned travellers?

Ride far,

I was thinking of shipping to Vancouver and then sticking the bike on a ferry/boat up to Alaska and riding south. Is this possible? wise? clever??

Motivator..

Where are you doing a 10 week bike maintenance course?

perhaps we should keep in touch as we both seem to have the same (long term )plans. Send me personal message and I'll email you

Dom

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Note that most of the Alaska ferries go only as far as Skagway/Haines...still a loooonnnnnggg way from the North Slope. A few boats (summer only, I believe) go further, but it's still quite a journey from the southern ports all the way up to the arctic.

If all you want is to set foot in Alaska, that's easily done just a couple of days' drive from the border, in Stuart/Hyder. But if you want to get to Prudhoe Bay, you're going to have to point the bike north and ride, sooner or later.

I checked prices on the ferry a few years ago and found them astronomical, but I'm afraid I don't remember exactly what that means. 20 years ago I rode deck class without a vehicle for maybe $150 with a lot of overnight stops. I bet a passenger and bike would run close to a thousand US dollars by now. (I'd check, but the fares seems to come as downloads in a format which my computer reads as "corrupted").

The direct ferry leaves from Bellingham WA, not Vancouver. If you're planning to take that route, be sure you're ready to cross the border. It's an hour's drive if you manage to miss traffic.

You can also take BC ferries to Prince Rupert by an indirect route, then pick up the Alaska ferry in the adjacent parking lot.

Hope that helps.

Mark

Cheers Mark

All info. is helpful. But perhaps I wasn't quite clear. I wasn't meaning to get a ferry to North Alaska, just to the southern bit. Then ride.

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I put this Weather/Climate chart together to help plan my trip to South America in '09. Maybe it can help in some planning. What I've heard is that during the rainy season in Central America, you are normally OK if you travel in the morning and stop by early afternoon when the rain starts.

I plan on entering Mexico early October.

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