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Deane, Norm, and Kay's Motorcycle / RV Trip to Northern Canada and Alaska | |
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August 29, Inuvik, Northwest Territories to Eagle Plains, Yukon Territory - 230 Miles |
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Coming down the "Dempster Highway" was quite different from going up. We started out under beautiful clear blue skies, nice temperature (43 or 44o F), and easy riding on the road. That lasted until about noon, but then started to change. The first change was to have much more smoke from forest fires in the western part of the Yukon Territory. This was partly due to the wind now blowing from the West, while when we rode up the highway the wind was blowing from the East. We were told that a very large forest fire was burning in the upper Yukon, and there is nothing to do but let it burn itself out since the area is so inaccessible. The second change was that now we had to lean the bikes into the 30 mph wind from the West, rather than from the East, in the same windy places we had experienced before. There are three Continental Divide passes along the Dempster, and this with a lot of ridge riding gives a lot of windy places. Because there was so much smoke that the scenery was hardly visible, we didn't get any scenery photos. We were very glad we had gotten to see the stunning scenery on our way up. Then all of a sudden, the temperature went down, the wind came up, and a maintenance crew spread "marbles" on the road! They were spreading gravel, having spread water on the road first. With the bikes leaned way over because of the wind, the riding suddenly got treacherous. On one big curve which had very steep banking, I had a hard time staying on the upper side of the banking. I would fight the motorcycle up the banking only to have the "marbles' roll me sideways down the banking. After about three times at this, I finally got out of it. Now we know why local people along this route were somewhat vague about the road conditions when we asked. They would say "it changes so much from day to day, and even morning to afternoon, due to what maintenance is being done, we can't tell you". Now we know that's true! Because of the heavy smoke, and some added fog, the lighting conditions changed so that it was difficult to see the road well enough to miss the "ridges" of gravel, so we decided it was time to stop, and start again tomorrow. All in all, we still had a good day. We thought we'd set out a few recommendations for other motorcyclists (including especially our Gold Wing friends) thinking about riding the "Dempster" to Inuvik. 1. Only highly experienced motorcyclists should try this ride. Beginners or even mid-level riders face a high risk of a crash. The biggest problem is being able to ride between the "gravel ridges" left when cars and trucks scoot the loose gravel out of the way of their tires. Trying to get over these "gravel ridges" can cause you to go down in a minute. 2. We recommend a small to mid-size motorcycle, either a good handling street bike (no sport bikes) or a dual sport. The bike has to hold enough gas for 230 miles, or spare gas has to be carried along. 3. We definitely do not recommend a Gold Wing. There are a few highly skilled riders that could make it with a Gold Wing, but not many. Riding "Two Up" would be really risky, and Just Forget riding two up and pulling a trailer - that would be a disaster. Also, the heavy Gold Wings risk real damage to their suspension on this road. 4. The major hazards besides the roadbed are the big trucks and pickups that zoom by and leave a shower of rocks and a plume of dust so thick you can't see for a few seconds. A windshield and a helmet with a face shield are musts for this road. We both got hits on the windshield, and Norm got a hit on the face shield that would have hit him right in the cheek bone. Anyone wanting to make this trip is welcome to get in touch with either Deane or Norm, and we can give you lots more detail. |
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