BC Sport Bikes Forum banner

Dash to Alaska: Aug 10th or 17th

1K views 14 replies 7 participants last post by  immortal 
#1 · (Edited)
Dash to Alaska: Aug 17th- 20th

I'm feeling the urge to do the Chevy Chase Grand Canyon version of Alaska...ride to Stewart, cross the border, yep, I'm in Alaska, and home again via the inside passage. Don't have time (or the right bike) to do the real deal to Anchorage, and it's a little late in the season...August is rainy season.

4 days depending on inside passage ferry bookings.
Plan is to leave early Aug 17th , Ride back Aug 20th



Only 3000 Km
*Edit* No ferry...ride all the way.

*Edit* Plan B: looks like several days of rain to the North, so rather than ride 3000km in the wet, I may just follow the blue sky East or South. No real plan: Ride, Sleep, Ride, go somewhere I've never been before, ride, sleep, ride...

Maybe some of the LD guys like Bill, Michael or Jeckyll can chime in.
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Four days is do able.
I did it in five.

Left Wednesday morning, took the ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo.
A easy pace ride up the Island, checked out Telegraph Cove.
Over night in Port Hardy.
Up the next morning, on the ferry at 7:30am and off the ferry at 10:30 pm.
Booked a room on the ferry, it's not necessary to book meals.
Over nighted in Prince Rupert. Up Friday morning, it's about a 5 hour ride to Hyder/Stewart.

Rode home from Hyder in a day, on the road at 4:30 am and was home by 6:30 pm.

Mark
 
#6 ·
It's quicker to ride the entire way and forget the ferry ............ also at around $300 one way it's kinda steep. Horseshoe Bay to Prince Rupert through Squamish ... only 15 hours of travel. Roughly the same to get to Stewart.

Just my 2 cents.
 
#7 ·
It's quicker to ride the entire way and forget the ferry ............ also at around $300 one way it's kinda steep.
I did the inside passage going north to prince rupert mid july and I discovered that the BC in BCFerries doesn't stand for British Columbia...








































...It actually stands for Bring Cash.

2 of us with 2 bikes and a stateroom all totaling just under $700.00 for One-way fare......we rode all the way back down.

The fist picture is all our gear spread around the room, on the ferry, to dry out
The 2nd pic is me cleaning all the bugs off my visor in Smithers at the Hudson hotel. Great food at the restaurant there and pretty nice inside now with the new renovations they did last year.
 
#8 ·
Thanks for the suggestions...it does look more like I will skip the ferry. It adds an extra day and two hotel stays (Prince Rupert and Port Hardy)
I've got relatives in Smithers, so I could rely on their hospitality for a night or two.
I wont forget the Plexus.
Day 0 evening??: Get a head start , ride to Lillooet and stay with relatives.
Day 1- Friday: ride to Smithers, stay with other relatives...maybe
Day 2- Saturday: ride to Stewart/ Hyder. Stay long enough to cross the border, have lunch, back on the road to Smithers, hang out with my relatives.
Day 3- Sunday: Ride back from Smithers to ???. Camp overnight somewhere. Bridge Lake maybe?
Day 4- Monday: Ride back to Vancouver.
 
#9 ·
Day 1- Lillooet to Smithers is a lot of Kms.......can be done but that will be a long day, you might want to get an early start if you do plan to make it to Smithers in one day from Lillooet.

As for some where to camp.....there's this place on the side of the Hwy. about 50 Km north of Quesnel....or maybe its just before Williams lake, I forget now which one its just north of. Anyways Just keep an eye for a HUGE sign on the right side of the Hwy that says "FREE CAMPING", there's a little general store there, they guy that owns it is really nice. I think he sells fireworks too.

Sounds like you're in for a nice ride.....even if it does seem like some of it is a bit rushed. Plexus is a must-have item, but also don't forget to pack a roll of ass-wipe in a zip-lock bag and have it in a tank-bag or somewhere easy to get to. It's like an American express card....Don't leave home without it!

While you're up north, you might find out just how water-proof your water-proof gear really is. If you have the spare space, I would reccomend bringing along a rubber rain suit just in case. On my way up to Rupert, we both got our Rain gear soaked through, and trust me, being soggy wet and frozen cold is not fun. I even had my electric heated vest plugged in and I still froze.

Have a fun trip and don't forget to stop once in a while and take in some of the amazing scenery....esp. by hazelton, 7sisters mountain makes a cool photo.
 
#10 ·
To be honest, Hyder is a really shitty place. You can tell immediatley that you are no longer in Canada. Even up there Americanism is all over the place.

However, if you do go i reccomend you see the glaciers and the grizzlies (from a U.S. park service watch area of course) but i dunno if i would ever go there again. I understand the goal of saying that you were in Alaska though. If you do come up here, i'll show you a route with one of the best roads i've ever ridden this side of the Mississippi. It sorta connects to the Stewart high way if you don't mind 63km of dirt road.

Pm me if you are interested.

Pete
 
#11 ·
Hell, I'm interested! I thiught I knew all the roads up around here. Is it the Hazelton to Kitwanga back road or the the Cranberry Connector?
 
#14 ·
80 km of decent pavement and a couple of excellent sections of twisties up East Kalum Lake Drive gets you to New Aiyanish. Refuel, and head west. A bit of fun twistes, some WFO sections and 25 km later you are at Greenville. Then it's another 30 km of brand new, smooth and extremely tight corners to Kincolith. There's no fuel or restaurants there, so turn around and head back east to Canyon City where you can get a bite at the north end of the suspension bridge.

So out of Terrace you can count on a 150 km or so round trip and worth every minute. We do it out of PR all the time and that makes it a 670km day, but we have never come back disappointed.

Next to no traffic of any kind make it enjoyable as well.:coffee
 
#15 ·
Well, guess no body wanted to join me.
Missed Hyder by 170 Km. Too far between gas stations as the one at Meziadin Junction was closed. That meant 270Km between gas stops, and my range of 200-230 Km wasn't gonna make it. So I rode as far as I could with the fuel I had, and turned around with just enough gas to make it back to Kitwanga. Found out my cousin was camping in Terrace so I headed there and spent the night. I didn't make out to Prince Rupert. There were a few beers involved while camping at Lakelse Lake and I didn't quite get an early enough start.
I did get good weather for the most part, just followed the blue sky and ended up almost where I planned. 3200 Km over 4 days, and other than a sore neck, I feel like I could do it again. Maybe next time I'll have a wing man.
Nisgaa highway out to Gincolx is on the "to do" list for next time.
Thanks to those who offered advice. It was a great road trip. Next time I'll take Hwy 37 up to the Yukon, and keep rolling into Alaska and take the ferry back into Prince Rupert, then do Gincolx and East Kalum Lake Drive. I'll make sure to pack extra fuel, and bring a more LD friendly bike.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top