FerkinBlonco’s Drive to Alaska Trip Log [Completed]

[Danny's Bronco]

Great trip! Good luck with the move! Nice looking dogs too!

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[SilverSurfer]

Yeah, we had a heck of a time! I only wish I had more days off work to get more out of the journey, I’m sure there were a ton of sights to see that I missed! Did you drive the route that goes through Banff?

No we went up through Vancouver, Whistler, then up to Whitehorse. The whole trip was almost 3 weeks. From Fairbanks, we actually continued north up to Coldfoot, with plans to take a float plane and camp out on a remote lake. Once we got to the airport they informed us that no flights would be taking off for a few days due to forest fires. We ended up going south and camping in Denali instead.

 

[Broncogirl66]

Looks amazing , Please share your adventures. Congrats on your move.

 

[SuperDave150]

Almost forgot, here are some trip stats as reported by the bronco. There are a few extra miles from driving around Fairbanks for a few days. I think the base tire setup ain’t bad for fuel economy, though it kind of looks like I’m driving around on castor wheels

@FerkinBlonco
My rough calculation says you averaged 60 MPH speed overall, guessing you drove more like 65 MPH on the highway stretches, correct?

 

[AKBronc49]

@FerkinBlonco I'm in Fairbanks today, might be meeting up with another Bronco owner if you have time? Will probably be dinner time or so.

 

[1970AMCAMX]

I've got to get back there someday, I did the IBA "Ultimate Coast to Coast" (Key West to Prudoe Bay) back in 2004.

You aren't kidding about mosquitoes up there, when I stopped to take pictures on Haul Road above the Artic Circle gigantic mosquitoes were swarming me. If I held perfectly still they wouldn't really bother me, but any movement and they were all over me.

 

[Gnomad]

I spent 40+ years in the 907, it is always good to see it and it will always be home but after a few decades it closes in and becomes a sort of "island"...have fun and enjoy.
AK had a very active ADV rider group, rode many a mile up there on a Pegaso, GS and Tiger. If you haven't heard about the Dust to Dawson ride, check it out. Solstice weekend or as close as can be done in Dawson, the Taylor and Top of the World highways are great rides on a dual sport.

 

[FerkinBlonco]

@FerkinBlonco I'm in Fairbanks today, might be meeting up with another Bronco owner if you have time? Will probably be dinner time or so.

Whoops, I was just browsing this thread again and saw your post. Sorry that I missed ya, it would have been fun to say hi!

 

[FerkinBlonco]

Looks amazing , Please share your adventures. Congrats on your move.

Will do! Now that winter is officially here I'm going to see what the thing can do in extreme cold at the very least I'm excited to get a photo of my thermometer when it's -40 out... not something I've experienced before!

 

[FerkinBlonco]

@FerkinBlonco
My rough calculation says you averaged 60 MPH speed overall, guessing you drove more like 65 MPH on the highway stretches, correct?

Our speed was more or less all over the place. We had a few stretches of what I'd call real highway (I-90 or I-5 like driving) but a lot of the stretches we rode were 2-lane, and the last several hundred miles were extremely rough and variable (Al-Can highway). Trying not to outrun the U-haul probably didn't help with keeping a high average speed, either.

 

[FerkinBlonco]

I've got to get back there someday, I did the IBA "Ultimate Coast to Coast" (Key West to Prudoe Bay) back in 2004.

You aren't kidding about mosquitoes up there, when I stopped to take pictures on Haul Road above the Artic Circle gigantic mosquitoes were swarming me. If I held perfectly still they wouldn't really bother me, but any movement and they were all over me.

What a road trip! I'm looking forward to dusting off my KLR and exploring come next summer. I'd really like to get up to the northernmost bits of AK at some point, it seems like it would be an awesome MC trip, barring mosquitoes those pics make me miss my Ninja 1000, that was an awesome sport touring road trip machine but I sold it because I thought it wouldn't be too useful up here. From the looks of it I was totally wrong (cries silently). Thanks for sharing!

 

[AKBronc49]

Whoops, I was just browsing this thread again and saw your post. Sorry that I missed ya, it would have been fun to say hi!

Haha no problem, maybe next time. I try to get up there yearly to hit Chena.

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