Fairbanks to Coldfoot
Another lovely day, but no internet access so I can’t actually post this till later. Today was a blessing of a day. We started the day out a bit slower then I would have liked. We had to go do some more shopping for cold weather gear. Neither one of us had packed enough cold stuff. Go figure, especially with all the crap I packed. I am starting to get use to wearing dirty cloths. I guess that is the way of the road. For me that is a big step in an area I need to grow. Kevin has been a good riding partner. This has been out first ride, and I think it will be the start of many more. We seem to have the same riding interests and riding styles so that helps.
So we left Fairbanks, and kept riding north. At some point I started to feel that this was not natural. Basically it felt like I shouldn’t be doing it. Not because it was bad, more because we shouldn’t be. But a great experiance none the less. I was able to get a picture at the Dalton Highway sign and at the Artic Circle sign. Now I am in Coldfoot for the night. It’s an interesting place to stay. Basically old work baracks for the folks who built the highway and the alaskan pipeline. Pretty rural accomidations, but what else do you need but a shower. Riding on the highway has been an experiance. Pavement, tarmack, mud, gravel, dirt it has it all. It really does push the limits of your riding ability and the ability of your machine.
Speaking of that, I will have a long disertation on the suckiness of a KLR650 well the 08 and newer models. I am riding on a KLR650 07 and prior and man is it rock solid. Why did Kawasaki screw up such a good thing. That’s a who other post.
Tomorrow we will be riding to Deadhorse or Prudhoe Bay. Yes the same place the ice road truckers show you. About that, I have a new found respect for them. They do in the Winter what I am doing in the summer. It’s rough for me in the summer, I can’t begin to imagine how rough it is for them in the winter. Mad Props to them.
Coldfoot to Deadhorse
Coldfoot to Deadhorse was today. I am currently in Deadhorse, Ak. The name suits it well. Not much up here except the oil/gas folks. It really does feel like you are on another planet. On the way up here it felt like we shouldn’t really be here. But why are we? Hard to say. I think for me it’s simply because its where the road leads. Sometimes you just have to follow the road to see where it goes. Tomorrow we will go on a Oil Field tour, then we will ride back to Coldfoot. This is literally the top of the world. Spending this time alone from the world and away from other distractions have given me some great perspective into things. Today was interesting. It was full of some of the roughest terrian that I have ever tried to ride in. Mud, rain, gravel, pavement and lower tempatures in the 30s. It made for an interesting experiance. But I made it through in one piece. A few folks have asked Brandi why I would want to take such a trip. She gives them the best response a loving wife could. Because he wanted to. Sometimes in life you don’t need to explain yourself to others, they just need to understand that “beacause” is a perfectly acceptable anwser.
Life is short. God has given us the ability to experiance the world he has created around us. It’s sad that more people don’t want to immerse themselves in His creations. Remember, it’s not about the destination, it’s simply about the journey you took to get there.
Here are some more photos.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23554647@N02/
The flickr embedding thing doesn’t seem to work right for now. You can see them as I post them. I am the fat man in the yellow suit that bee’s really seem to be loving on!
