Last year I set an identical one for EuroRoadTrip2012 so I am hoping this kind of trip becomes an annual affair.
I know its going to be hard to beat riding round Europe with my best friends, catching up on old times and creating new ones, but I have to admit the same excitement has entered my gypsy soul.
The reason: The Alaska Highway. I can remember as a child watching a BBC documentary in glorious black & white and since then it has always evoked fantasies of adventure, remoteness and beauty. I promised myself one day I would take that road, in 119 days I will.
I live in beautiful B.C. but its still going to take 2 very long days in the saddle to get to the start of the iconic road in Dawson Creek, B.C. When I originally decided I was going to do this trip I booked a few weeks off in June and started planning a route and only then did I learn that this is the road TO Alaska, most of it being in British Columbia and the Yukon Territories, Canada.
Spending hours on the interweb (mostly YouTube) researching mileage, wilderness camping and the do's and dont's of the Great Northern Road started to fire up my enthusiasm, this must have rubbed off on Wifey, as after a few days of maps, planners and travel guides strewn all over every horizontal surface in our home, she decided she wants to come along.
Its amazing how that changed the dynamic of the trip, from open ended days with a choice of camp sites and the freedom to stop or simply keep going, to the need for an actual schedule and booked accommodations. Well the "googles" helped a lot with route planning, mileage and even places to stay, but everybody says you must buy the Bible of the road, the Milepost, with its mile by mile breakdown of the highway and unparalleled information.
So here we are Wifey & I with time off work, route and accommodations booked, and the bike just about ready to rock'n'roll so I thought it would be a good time to start recording the whole process with photo's, video and even verbage.......here goes!!
A good place to start is with some facts:
We are not doing the "Ice road truckers" thing up the Dalton or the Demspter to the Arctic Ocean, far too bloody cold and scary, instead we are riding the fully paved Alaska Highway from Dawson Creek B.C (Mile Zero) to Delta Junction, Alaska.
Following the surprise attack by the Japanese at Pearl Harbour in June 1941 the Canadian and US governments decided they really needed to get their collective heads together and do something to secure the whole of North America.
So they built a road, a road that was 1,700 miles long... cutting through mountains, valleys, rivers, glaciers & wilderness and due to the urgent need it only took nine months to complete.
The Canadians gave permission to the Americans to build (and pay for) what was to become the Alcan Highway, on the promise they return all land back to Canada on its completion.
On November 20th, 1942 at "Soldiers Summit" the ribbon was cut and the two teams marked completion of the highway, finally a road link from the lower 48 U.S. States through Canada to Alaska, and a legendary roadtrip destination was born.
Originally 1,700 miles of gravel road with a total of 133 bridges the current length, due to straightening and improvements, is a still impressive 1,387 miles.
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