Alaska 2011: The Jiggle Tour Commences

After a year of planning, we finally rolled out of the garage and headed north on July 5, 2011, Alaska bound! The trip: four friends, four bikes, and a destination set only as "north." We all secretly had the goal of reaching the Artic Circle, but we committed to having no defined itinerary.

First, let me introduce the cast:

Ken "the Pusher". Ken took great joy in encouraging each of us to give in to our weaknesses. A common refrain was "Go on, you know you want more bacon...". Ken's steed, a BMW F800, became known as the Mothership, as no matter how many bottles of beer we bought, there was always room for more.

Mike "the Cleaner". Mike was the key victim of the Pusher. Ever averse to the idea of waste, Mike would happily clean up the plates of unwanted food (read: bacon) before they could be whisked away by the waitstaff. Mike's steed, a black BMW F650 called Bucephalus, lived up to its name (after Alexander the Great's war horse). Despite battle scars from previous Alaska forays, it was steadfast, solid and dependable throughout.

Sarah "the Conscience". The odd fit in a testosterone-filled group, Sarah was concerned throughout about the quality of our diet on the road. "We should have some vegetables" was a regular contribution at meal times. Sarah's beautiful yellow BMW F650 GS, called Bella Butter Horse at the outset, was eventually rechristened Bella Lemon Horse after a string of mechanical challenges. It was later rechristened Lemon Drop...and yes, there's a story in that.

Drew "the Stirrer". Where Ken pushed, Drew stirred. He could be heard saying things like "But Sarah, Mike said you would want the extra helping of bacon," accompanied by an innocent grin. Drew's Kawasaki Versys left without a name but Ken coined it "the Grizzler"...because it is green, we were going in search of grizzly bears, and a large portion of Drew's luggage was dedicated to transporting Twizzlers (fuel for weary riders).

You may have noticed a common theme already: food. Our trip became known as The Jiggle Tour since the juttery gravel roads quickly let us know just how much we were overeating!

Over the first few days, we made our way north through British Columbia (it was a lesson for us in just how big this province is!). Red triangles mark our first few camping spots...

Day 1: Victoria/Orcas Island/Seattle to Whistler
Tuesday, July 5
Departing from separate locations on a gorgeous sunny day, we convened at the Riverside Campground just north of Whistler. Setting up camp, we got our first exposure to two key themes of camping up north:

1. Mosquitoes, and the very attractive mosquito nets that became a common feature in our camps.

2. Bears, or more specifically, the need to hang our food, toiletries, and anything "smelly" up and away from our tents.

Day 2: Whistler to Lac La Hache
Wednesday, July 6
On another hot and sunny day, we had a stunning ride north through Lilloet and then to the campground at Lac La Hache. The road was pretty good for the most part, but just try to avoid these tar strips on a motorcycle!

Despite the heat, we were surprised to find snow by the roadside at one of our Twizzler stops. Sarah got teased for throwing like a girl...

We camped in a provincial campground and all agreed that it was infinitely preferable to the noise and congestion of the private campground from the previous night. Unfortunately, there was still no shortage of biting bugs.

Today introduced a couple of additional themes for the trip.

First, no matter how early we started, we simply never broke camp before mid morning (on this day it was actually after 1pm). Light and efficient travellers we are not.

Second, nothing beats finishing the day by the campfire with a hot chocolate, preferably spiked with Baileys or Fireball.

Day 3: Lac La Hache to Red Bluff
Thursday, July 7
The day dawned cool and even threatened some rain, though we never got more than a few minutes of drizzle. After a greasy lunch in Prince George (the first of many sides of onion rings) we turned west towards the start of the Stewart-Cassier Highway.

For the most part it was a drab and uninteresting ride, but as we got past Fraser Lake, the scenery opened up and the sun came out. Mike even had his first wildlife sighting...a baby moose! And after we turned off the main highway towards the Red Bluff provincial campground in Granisle, we all got in on the wildlife action, as we spotted three bears grazing by the side of the road.

Wildlife by the side of the road is cool...wildlife in the campsite is not. After we set up camp, we spotted fresh bear scat right by our tent. Yikes! The enthusiastic park operator happily set his two dogs off on the hunt.

Thankfully they didn't find anything too close...maybe the visiting bears didn't like the sound of the BMWs?

We were having to get used to the longer days...at 10:45pm, it was still daylight. We had to wait until midnight for our nightcap...

Day 4: Red Bluff to Salmon Glacier

Friday, July 8
Our park warden from the previous night had recommended a back road to Smithers that promised to be shorter, more scenic, and more interesting. His only advice: don't break down with too much food on you as the bears will be very interested! Road construction meant the road was soft, muddy, and slippery at first, but after a few white-knuckle miles, we all made it and were rewarded with some fine views.

City folk that we are, we sniffed out the Starbucks as soon as we arrived in Smithers. As we indulged our caffeine addictions at a table outside, a Smitherite approached us eager to talk bikes. Josh is the proud owner of an F800 just like the Mothership. In true adventure-rider style, he chucked in work for the rest of the day and was back in 10 minutes with his bike. He took us on a speedy backroads tour of his town (complete with our first porcupine sighting) before leading us to Hazelton where we checked out a local restoration project of native longhouses and totems.

Thanks for a fabulous afternoon Josh!

From there, we were dead keen to get on with our northward journey properly. We made it to the start of the Stewart-Cassier highway...

And then continued up to the turnoff for Stewart. The views of the Bear Glacier on the way in were spectacular.

Stewart itself doesn't have much to offer other than being the gateway to the most southerly border crossing into Alaska, at Hyder. It was a strange experience...an unmanned border crossing into a dirt-road town filled with ramshackle buildings.

We quickly rode through and headed up towards the Salmon Glacier. A narrow, twisting gravel road took us practically alongside the glacier itself. We set up camp in the parking lot and took in the views. A magical spot to spend the night!

To be continued...