
2 weeks
5954 km / 3700 miles
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Late August 2015 Jayne
and I rode north from Portland, Oregon through Washington State. We
decided to
do the first 300 miles to the Canadian border by interstate, just to
cover some ground. Our first and main goal was Hyder, Alaska.along
the Cassiar Highway
with Salmon Glacier
and the bear watching
platform. We then continued on North just barely into Yukon at Watson Lake with the
Sign Post
Forest. From there we took the Alaska
Highway back
down. We rode through Jasper
and Banff National Park
along the Icefield Highway.
Then through Yolo
National Park and along Franklin
D. Roosevelt Lake.
After that we took some smaller roads through Washington State and
Oregon back home.
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The best time for
such a trip is summer, since it can get really cold up there
any other time of year, but we still ended up having to ride in snow in
Jasper National Park.
The road conditions are
generally good,even the Cassiar Highway is comletely paved. One thing
to watch out for are the many miles long road construtions sites on the
Alaska Highway. They often have removed the pavement for re-paving and
graders push up a dirt/gravel berm that one has to cross sometimes.
In terms of safety wild
animals are probably the greatest
thread. Not only bears can be dangerous, but mountain lions and even
racoons can be dangerous. We always left our food in locked
aluminum
panniers when camping. Another danger are truck drivers on
the Alaska Highway, and not only
for female hitchhikers. Some of them have no respect for motorcycles
and try to push you off the road.
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For the long trip
through a very remote area the bikes needed some maintenance before
the trip.
The border crossing into
Canada wasn't a problem at all.
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From Vancouver we took
Highway 1 north and then
continued north on 97. The first 500+ miles going north we didn't take
any photos and we were actually thinking about canceling the trip
because of intense smoke
from large wilfires in Washinton State that moved north
with us. |
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Around Prince George the
smoke finally disappeared and we got to see and enjoy the landscae around us.
From there we took Hwy 16 west. |
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In Kitwanga
we finally
reached the Cassiar Highway (37), which would take us north to Hyder,
Alaska. |
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The Cassiar
Highway
is nice, even though one sees mostly trees. We saw lots of wildlife
including bears on and near the road. Very little traffic on this road,
and few gas stations - don't pass any! About 200 mile range is needed
to make it betweenn stations. |
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Motorcycle
aluminum panniers and top cases
Made
by an experienced motorcycle traveller.



Panniers available in 40l and 33l
Top boxs available in 20l and 36l
Silver/Grey or Black



Quality
is essential, not only on a RTW tour.
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