Roads Unwound Project

Away I Go!

The bags are packed, the bike is tuned and ready, and the northern reaches of Alaska are beckoning. One day’s journey up to Prudhoe Bay and then the whole adventure will begin. I can’t say enough about the time I have spent in Alaska so far. First, this state lives up to all the hype. Second, it is remote, beautiful, and oh so inviting. None of this would have been possible without the support of my mom. She has supported me all along, from the first mention of the trip to the last push to Prudhoe Bay tomorrow.
While I didn’t leave Bozeman as prepared as I had intended, I did mix in plenty of fun Alaskan activities in between the rest of my trip prep. It started with a great visit to Homer, on the Kenai Peninsula, to gawk at the wonderful scenery, bask in the sunny weather, and catch a handful of Halibut. It took some practice, but once you figured out the methods, they were nearly jumping into the boat. Drop a hook with half a fish on the end and a three pound weight all the way to the ocean floor (for us it was about 240ft down and took about 10-15 seconds to drop all the way) then real in about 3-5 rotations and wait for a tug. Give a slight tug back and begin pulling in your Halibut. I am partial to fly fishing because of the challenge it presents, but then again the opportunity to real in a 300lb fish is pretty enticing.
Next we ventured over to Seward for some sea kayaking and a short hike up to the Exit Glacier. There are something like 30% of North America’s glaciers in Alaska, so this certainly wasn’t our first or last view of a glacier. Moving on, we quickly ventured through Whittier (locals say “nothing shittier than Whittier”) to catch a ferry over to Cordova. The highlight of the journey to Whittier would have to be the newly converted one lane train tunnel. At 2.7 miles long they continuously alternate traffic between each direction and the train each direction (you straddle the tracks to drive through the tunnel). Cordova was a wet and wonderful fishing town where the famous Copper River finishes it’s journey to the sea. There is a scenic highway that leads out of Cordova, but after 50 miles of dirt road it finishes out at the Million Dollar Bridge. Plans had the road continuing on, but that never materialized, and now the Cordovans like their roadless access isolation. Also at the end of the road were a few glaciers of truly massive size calving off directly into the Copper River. Just to hear the moans, groans and creeks of the moving glacier where immensely humbling. Considering most of our world has in one way or another been affected by glaciers it is powerful to see them so alive. If I understood the information correctly, I believe only the glaciers in Denali National Park are still growing, whereas the rest of the glaciers in the state are steadily receding.
Moving on from Cordova took us back through Shittier (Whittier) and on to Anchorage for some trip prep. Anchorage is where I resolved my tube issue as well as acquired most the rest of my odds and ends for the trip. I also stocked up on food for my upcoming ten day adventure south to Fairbanks. Suddenly, as all this was happening in Anchorage, the weight of the trip began to fully materialize. I feel as though I have dealt with the recent pressures fairly well, save the few evenings of panic as I look at my mound of gear and food. It has helped tremendously to be wondering around this great state and seeing new, exciting and beautiful things around every corner. Beyond Anchorage we spent a few days around Denali National Park. One was spent in the air (see photos under Trip Photos), and one day was spend on the ground. To see Denali and the surrounding landscapes by plane is something I will never forget. The mountain is massive, rising almost 18,000ft up from the valley floor to a total height above 20,300ft. After three days of poor weather and no flights into the park, we lucked out with relatively calm and clear weather. To make things even better, the animals decided to all come out and play the next day as we shuttled into the park. Last count on animals was: 10 grizzlies, 7 wolves (4 were less than 20 yards away), a Moose, 2 Golden Eagles, and a bunch of Caribou. There are no plans to delay my trip for a quick ascent of Denali, but I can certainly see why and how the mountain can draw so many climbers.
This brings us to Fairbanks, where we have been pleasantly suprised to find that we quite like the place. I have finished up all that I can finish up, save this web post and about a hundred other things I would have liked to get to, and my trip is beginning in two days time. My load has started to shrink as I decide what is a necessity and what is a luxury. Also, I have packed, unpacked, and repacked at least a dozen times now and it all seems to get smaller and tighter every time. Unfortunately, with all my food loaded on the bike for the 10 day trip ahead I can hardly pick the bike up. I may struggle so much the first day that I give up and start gorging myself on couscous and oatmeal so that I can roll along at something faster than a walking pace. I was told to make myself look big to the bears of the northslope by lifting my bike up in front of me if one approaches. For fear of injuring myself I have not tried this, but have prepared myself instead with a nice pepper seasoning purely for the bears enjoyment.
As I was finishing up the last of my packing this evening I was confronted with another damn product issue. This time it came in the form of my bike computer, which worked in Bozeman, but decided not to work here in Alaska. Sure, I had to jump on the bike this evening and try everything out, only to discover that I will be without one of my critical components of the trip. All I want is for a company to make a product that works on arrival. So far I have discovered 2 companies that don’t follow that simple philosophy. A dream of mine from the beginning has been to look down at my bike computer in Ushuaia, Argentina and read 15,000 miles, or 18,000 miles (whatever it ends up being). Now I will be without any speed or distance stats for the first 500 miles of my journey. It is by no means the end of the world, but now I will have to revert to that old fashioned skill of map reading and celestial navigation to determine my appropriate course and distance. I am joking of course, because there is only one road between Prudhoe Bay and Fairbanks. The downside is that I won’t know exactly how far I will travel, or need to travel, before setting up camp. I am sure I will be tired after about 20 miles, but then that would leave me without food long before the lights of Fairbanks are on the horizon. Thanks for reading through the rant, it seemed to fall into my lap just as I was getting comfortable with what lie ahead.
Tomorrow we drive the 500 rough and tumble miles of the Dalton Highway to Deadhorse. We will wake up early the next morning to take an organized tour out to the Beaufort Sea (the only way BP will allow you access to the water). We will swat ferociously at the Alaska state bird, the mosquito. Then, I will straddle my trusty steed and head off into the permafrost plains of the frozen North. If my navigation skills are honed, my legs are up to the challenge, and the wildlife views me with curiosity and not hunger, then I expect to roll into Fairbanks in 8-10 days time. Each day I plan to upload my location of camp with my Spot GPS, and you can see that map at the link on the sidebar of this website. I will most likely need a few days recovery once back in Fairbanks before I continue on, and I will try to establish my routine for updating this website.
Before I start this little journey I want to thank everyone who was involved in supporting my preparations, seeing me through my ridiculous anxiety about life and this trip, and for always supporting the idea of a grand ride down the length of the Americas. I will peddle each day knowing that many of you have sacrificed something to get me here, and I will look out at all the amazing landscapes holding a little bit of it for each of you. Thanks, and wish me luck!

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 at 1:52 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.