Uraling through Alaska - Day 47: Tok and New Friends

At Talkeetna, we all pretty much started waking up around 06:30 or so, it was a bit cold but bearable for the most part, especially once I got a fire going in one of the campsite grills with the aid of some Marvel Mystery Oil.

We all wandered over to breakfast at the Roadhouse Cafe.  The place was doing a booming business and while service was a little slow due to the crowds, the food was very good.

Breakfast over with, it was time to pack up the rig and say goodbye to everyone.  I was on the road by 9:30 AM and was soon heading south on the Parks Highways heading back towards Wasilla.  Once past Wasilla, I got back on the Glenn Highway for the third time this trip.  Everything of course looked familiar so I didn't take as many pictures as the two prior times I rode this beautiful highway.

Still, there were occasions demanding me to stop and take pictures.

 Views along the Glenn Highway

As I approached Glennallen, I could see that Mount Drum was not hidden by clouds today as it had been the last two times I'd ridden near Glennallen!

Looks like it's floating in the sky above the valley

27SEP13: a picture of Mt Drum from Bob Peek aka AlaskaHack

I then got on the Tok Cutoff road, heading for Tok which was the night's destination.

 The mountain next to Mount Drum from the Tok Cutoff Road

A view of the mountain range one sees when approaching Tok

from the south.

I got to Tok around 6:30PM I believe, made pretty good time covering the 310 miles or so from Talkeetna to Tok.  I looked around and found some engine oil for the 35000 Kilometer service for Valencia.  She's at 34542, but am doing it early as it was convenient to do it tonight.

As I got the oil, I noted a rider on a Wee-Strom and his wife on a Suzuki DR650 pull up for gas at the station I bought the oil at.  I approached them and asked them for a recommendation for a good camp site.

After introductions, Gary and Deb, not only clued me into a local motorcycle camping spot but also invited me to have dinner with them at a local eatery called Fast Eddies.  We had a nice dinner, I published yesterday's posting using the diner's wifi and then we adjourned to the campground.  The place is called Thompson's Eagle Claw and it caters to motorcyclists with an assorted collection of campsites that include small cabins, a tepee, and the unit I ended up with, the walled tent:

My accommodations for the night

We'd gotten a six pack of beer before going to the campsite and we spent some time just chatting and getting to know each other before everyone retired for the evening.  The leftover beer was left in the communal area for the next riders to enjoy if they so desire.

 Deb and Gary, with their motorcycles at their cabin

Gary and yours truly

I must say, while a bit rustic, the Thompson's Eagle Claw Motorcycle Campground is outstanding value for the price!  It's basically $10 a person and while there's no electricity or wifi, the amenities are great.  Vanessa, the owner, even let me use the shop facilities to do the oil changes on Valencia, no fuss, no muss.  This place is highly recommended if you're ever thinking of camping in the vicinity of Tok, Alaska.

 The communal center where one can get/heat water, the outhouses and dispose of gray water

 The most eclectic of the housing accommodations, an ambulance!

Near the junction of C Street and Borealis in Tok

In a further happy coincidence, both Gary and Deb are heading to Haines as I am.  They're taking the same Tuesday ferry that I am scheduled on, heading for Bellingham.  They're headed on a month long tour of the states, though destinations remain relatively vague for now.  You can follow them on advrider, their handles are Arwenalaska and GaryAK.  So, I'll be transiting the inner passage back to the lower 48 in the company, how great is that?

Today we head for Haines Junction in the Yukon Territory, probably getting a room.

Uraling in Alaska - Day 46: Talkeetna Sidecar Meet

The forecast for this Memorial Day Weekend promises sunny weather with temperatures in the low to mid sixties.  Glorious weather for camping, this last weekend for Valencia and I in Alaska.  No riding/moto-content to report for the last couple of days, spent them hanging out at Bob and Sharon's place as I was "saving the remaining rubber" on my front and sidecar tires for the estimated 800 mile ride to Haines, AK to catch the ferry on Tuesday.

This morning, I left Bob and Sharon's place around 08:30 AM and soon enough I was at Talkeetna, with Denali aka Mount

McKinley visible in the distance.  The mountain is massive and yet the distance between it and where I was; coupled with the hazy condition in the atmosphere, made for bad photography conditions.

Highly tweaked photo of  Denali from Talkeetna

After cruising through the small town of Talkeetna, watching the growing numbers of tourists looking back at me, I booked two adjoining camp sites in the town's small campground.  The campsite is run by the Mat-Su Borough and there was a woman tending to things.

The campsites were clear of snow and fallen leaves from fall had been blown clear of the sites, and piled up into neat piles of brown leaves.  The ground was not muddy but still "moist" in spots where the sun hadn't worked its magic yet, still it was good enough camping conditions.

Valencia was the first sidecar rig to arrive and by 1:00 PM I'd cooked myself some lunch and spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing and reading one of the two books I'd bought at a thrift shop yesterday in Wasilla.

Late afternoon, Dan L, the United Sidecar Association's Alaska Chapter President showed up on his Yamaha Sidecar Rig, followed shortly afterwards by Bob and Sharon on their BMW GS Rig.  RichardM completed the set with his R100RT Sidecar Rig.

Left to Right: Sharon and Bob, Dan and Sophie, RichardM and yours truly

After everyone's tent and campsite was set up, we walked over to the Denali Brewery Restaurant and had dinner in the warm evening sunlight, dining al fresco.

The rest of the evening was spent in chat by our tents, as folks began to retire, I walked over to the nearby river's edge where one could view Denali.  I hope you like these sunset pictures, Denali of course is the tallest mountain over on the right.

Uraling in Alaska - Day 44: Confirmed for the Ferry

Finally got my confirmation from ferrytravel.com, the site I used to book the Haines-Bellingham Ferry Ride.  Quite the "manual" process it seems, I recommend you use the Alaska website instead....it might be faster in terms of confirmations.

Here's the itinerary:

Haines to Bellingham, M/V Columbia
Check In: May 27 2315 hrs
Depart: May 28 0115 hrs
Arrive May 31 0800 hrs

I leave for Haines, AK this Sunday, it's about 750 miles from Wasilla where I am currently presuming on the hospitality of Bob and Sharon P.

The plan is to attend the sidecarist gathering planned for Memorial Day Weekend, but just for the day on Saturday, I've no plans to camp as Wasilla is so close by (about 75 miles).  Bob and Sharon will ride Bob's GS/Dauntless Sidecar Rig and I of course will be on Valencia.

My ferry is the M/V Columbia, info on her here:  LINK

M/V Columbia

source: M/V Columbia FB page

Kind of looking forward to the ferry portion of the trip, new experience for me and the scenery is supposed to be top notch along the way.

Uraling in Alaska - Day 43: A New Tire from Mick

I rode down to Anchorage URAL this morning to Mick's place, aka Mickey's Muffler Shop.  As I've mentioned before, he does the URAL dealership work in his "spare time" while the muffler shop he owns and runs pays the bill.  As you can imagine, he's quite busy.

I first tried the BMW motorcycle shop Mick told me had four Heidenau K37 tires in storage for him under a business agreement.  I got to the shop but all the help in the parts department gave me blank looks.  Finally got the attention of the manager who knew of the arrangement and off he went to fetch me a tire.

You can imagine my disappointment when he returned empty handed!  It seems, he'd ordered eight of the K37 tires back in February and he was still waiting on Heidenau or whomever his tire source is, to send them along with the rest of this tire order!  Sigh.

I went to Mick's place to relate this tale of woe.

Mick said: "No worries!", I've got this DURO HF308 leftover from last year.  The DURO being better than nothing, I agreed to buy it.  Mick then proceeded to use my tire spoons to remove the worn tire from my spare wheel, making it look really easy by the way.

He then spooned the new-ish tire onto the wheel, and although he said it took him longer than usual, he still made it look easy and was done much faster than I would have been!  No pictures, I just helped where I could and watched in awe as a master worked his magic.

The cost was significantly lower than expected due to it being a tire from last year and having sat outside in the Winter.  Mick stated he was trying to "help me out" as I was in traveling status.  What great support eh?

I now have enough new rubber to get me to Haines, AK via the Cassiar Highway once again.  I have ordered three new Heidenau K37 tires and having them shipped to my friend Jerry's house in Everett, WA.  I'll find a place to put them all on for me before I start heading back to Colorado.

I am awaiting confirmation from the Alaska Marine Highway System that my booking for 28MAY13 is complete.  If so, I'll be catching the ferry out of Haines, AK this coming Tuesday and arriving in Bellingham, WA on the 31st o/a 8:00 AM.  If this booking falls through, everything will get pushed by a week.

My thanks to Mickey of Anchorage URAL, excellent service and customer support!

Oh, and as to Valencia's performance today, she ran excellent.  The day was sunny and turned quite warm later on.  Still hoping for a rainy day but it's not looking good for that any time soon.