The basic idea is to connect the most distant points of the continental United States, being Key West in Florida and Prudhoe Bay in Alaska. In addition to that, we intend to visit as many points of interest, national parks, cultural sites and fun roads as we can.
So the planned route will take us along the Gulf of Mexico via New Orleans & Austin to New Mexico where the fun really starts. From there we will need to wait out the weather, snow being our biggest issue… To allow time for the snow to melt, we will visit New Mexico, Arizona and Utah first before heading into the mountains of Colorado followed by Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. From there it will be a direct (more or less) shot to Fairbanks Alaska where we will change tires, service the bikes before the 1600Km (1000 miles) return journey on the Dalton Highway (unpaved) to Prudhoe Bay. It is critical that we get to Fairbanks around late June / early July to get the best possible weather for the trip.
Most of the exact details will be made up as we go along but so far we have a list of places we intend to visit an that list is constantly growing, suggestions are welcome!
Phase 1: getting to the fun roads!
Lets face it, riding motorcycles is all about fun windy roads with great vistas to enjoy… Not going to find that in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana or Texas… So we will charge through those places to get to the fun part. We are hoping to get that 3000 mile stretch (there will be some detours from the planned route above) sorted out in about 2 weeks. We will stop in New Orleans and Austin for a few days as they are both interesting cultural places. I am sure we will find a couple of national parks to break the trip up a bit but won’t be wasting too much time here.
Phase 2: waiting for the snow to melt
The problem with twisty roads is that they live in the mountains, which incidentally is also where the snow hangs out… Seeing we have to be in Alaska in June, we will be down here in spring, and I have no doubt there will be plenty of snow then. So we will cruise around the lower altitudes in April staying around New Mexico, Arizona and Utah which have a high concentration of great national parks, cultural places and fun roads. Hopefully it will be warm enough in the desert to make the trip pleasant.
Phase 3: the fun mountain roads
By now, we hope, most of the road are clear and snow isn’t falling anymore… So we can proceed north via the fun roads of Colorado. Colorado will be a fun state as some of the best motorcycle roads and views can be found there along with the highest road in the USA going up to 4,310 meters (14,130 feet)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Evans_Scenic_Byway , there is no doubt that we will be taking lots of scenic detours and enjoy the windy roads through the valleys and passes and of course, finding nice hikes and some hot springs http://strawberryhotsprings.com/gallery/ . Finally we will end up back in Utah before proceeding north some more…
Phase 4: the push for the border
From Salt Lake City we head west again into the plains of Utah towards the Bonneville salt flats (to find out exactly how fast she will go!) https://utah.com/bonneville-salt-flats then north into Idaho before heading east again (yup, it was never meant to be a direct route!) via Crater of the Moon NP https://www.nps.gov/crmo/index.htm to Grand Teton NP (still my best hike to date!) http://www.national-park.com/welcome-to-grand-teton-national-park/ and of course Yellowstone! https://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm Once we have indulged in wildlife We head north to the border with a quick stop at the Glacier National Park https://www.nps.gov/glac/index.htm
Phase 5: Canada
Across the border and bound for fairbanks. Of course its still a scenic ride, so there will be stops at Banff, Lake Louise and a few other places but for the best part, this is the beeline for Alaska, no detours here, we have some distance to cover and not a lot of time to do it in… All that meandering around further south ate a lot of time!
Phase 6: home run
No doubt this will be the toughest part of the trip, 500 miles of unsealed road, or the Dalton Highway as they call it http://www.alaska.org/guide/dalton-highway This will be an exciting ride (and not just because of the bears and the trucks! hopefully when we get to the top we will be able to stick out toes in the Arctic Ocean and see polar bears (one can but dream, right?) That will conclude our adventure… Or will it? We can’t very well stay up here!!!
Final Phase: the great southern migration
California, here we come… Well its still a long way to go but we don’t have a deadline anymore. We just need to stay in front of the colder weather as we ride back south. We deserve a break and so do the bikes so we will hop on the ferries and cruise back down the Alaskan and Canadian fjords to Vancouver Island. A bit of time in British Columbia then Washington, Idaho, maybe back to glacier if the “going to the sun road” is open, then slowly south via the scenic coastal roads of Oregon and California… Redwoods, Big Sur, Sequoia, Yosemite, San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, Death Valley, Joshua Tree… So many things to see, so many great hikes to go on and so many great motorcycling roads!