The problem with maps is that the scale is tucked away down on the lower right corner somewhere. Two sets of numbers, one of them foreign. And the divisions are never some even unit apart like inches or your thumb. And besides, this isn't Kansas; the road you're interested in measuring goes all over the place, twisting and turning every which way. Why else would you want to ride on it anyway? When you look at a map of Washington State you know Spokane is 300 miles away, Portland about 175, and Bellingham around 90 (measured from Teddy's). You never look at the scale because you already know how FAR away things are, you're looking at the map to remember where to turn off for Enumclaw if you're heading south on the Valley Freeway.

Maps of Alaska, the Yukon and British Columbia are different. The scale is larger, a LOT larger. Just a few numbers to get things into perspective. Our fair state is about 68,000 square miles and change sizewise. British Columbia is nearly 366,000, the Yukon a modest 186,000 plus, and Alaska a monstrous 587,878 square miles. This corner of our world is big! The questions are more likely to be, "How many days up the Alcan before we turn for Skagway".

I don't know how many miles Debb and I logged on our trip last August, but it was a lot. Somewhere between Denali Park and Anchorage the speedometer drive on the Gold Wing quit, so I will have to use my well thumbed Milepost guidebook to calculate the total. We took the whole month and I wish we could have taken three. Most things are days apart, not hours. A few days here, a few days there, a few days getting between here and there and pretty soon the month is over. I'm not ready to go back just yet (haven't even cleaned the bike yet!), but there sure is lots more to see.

We crossed the border at Blaine and after lunch at Harrison, we headed up the Fraser Canyon to 100 Mile House. A pleasant easy day. The next day we continued north through Prince George and on to Dawson Creek. We experienced our first construction in the Rockies between PG and DC. The weather was beautiful, the mosquitoes were scarce so we didn't mind the delay. Dawson Creek is the official start of the Alaska Highway and about 800 miles from Seattle.

Day three was spent exploring the Peace River valley and the WAC Bennett and Peace River Dams. The WAC Bennett is a huge earth fill dam that holds a monstrous body of water in the Rocky Mountain Trench that took 7 years to fill. Avoid lunch in Hudson's Hope.

Heading north again, we stopped for a morning snack and spent a valuable half-hour chatting with Pierre and Charlotte of Montreal, a retired police sergeant and his wife. He recounted his drive-line failures and she her falls in the mud. We pressed on to Muncho Lake and a beautiful new resort owned by a Swiss couple. He had flown all over Europe and North Africa and had a plane to take people on charters in the National Park. It was beautiful, but raining constantly.

Our first construction! Between Muncho Lake and Watson Lake were three long stretches of road construction. They alternated between gravel and mud. Deep gravel and deep mud! I had to have Debb get off and walk up a short section. It was axle deep and without RV tracks to ride in I would have still been digging it out. We stayed in Watson Lake, famous for the signpost forest. About 1400 miles so far, Alaska nowhere in sight.

The next three days we spent getting to and exploring Skagway. The road to Skagway is probably the single most spectacular road in the north. We shopped in Skagway, took a tour boat to Haines and back, and road back up over the pass back to the Alaska Highway.

Whitehorse! The name alone has always had a powerful attraction. I was finally there. It's a neat little town on the banks of the Yukon River. While sitting in the sunshine eating our hot dogs, I helped two kids break into their old pickup, keys hanging in the ignition just where they'd left them. They seemed surprised at the speed I got it open. I guess car theft isn't a growth industry in Whitehorse. Found a good hotel room, had a nice espresso and dinner, and saw a movie. Life at it's best.

Alaska Travel Notes We took the Alaska Ferry back from Haines to Prince Rupert. It continues on to Bellingham. For two of us, a stateroom for one night and the bike and trailer it was about $800. That is about half the cost of coming all the way down to Bellingham. We estimated the trip cost about $4500. including the ferry. We camped 10 or 11 nights, mostly when it wasn't raining. We weren't trying to go as cheaply as possible, so obviously this total can vary widely depending on your budget and lifestyle. We felt that accommodations in Alaska were quite a bit higher than in the Yukon and BC, especially with the favorable exchange rate for Canadian currency. Gas was higher in Canada, from about $2.00 to as much as $3.60 a gallon in some remote areas. Alaska was about $1.70. You can't go to Alaska without purchasing The MILEPOST. It has detailed logs of all major highways, city and town information, camping, and accommodation guides. It is a large book so you can't read it as you ride, but it's nice to have for planning. We had no trouble finding rooms or camp sites. Some places fill up fast though, so we tried to stop early when possible. With the remoteness of many areas, electronic commerce is a way of life. Your credit cards and cash machine cards will work most everywhere. Most stores and gas stations will take any kind of plastic, debit or credit.

We left the Alcan behind and headed north up the Klondike Loop toward Dawson City. The showgirls at Diamond Tooth Gerties did a rousing number entitled 'Do the Dawson'. We did the Dawson. Great town, not a paved street in the place. We loved it!

You can't travel the Top of the World road and not stop at Chicken, Alaska. The entire town of Chicken, buildings, people, and dogs, would fit in an average high school gym. The potholed dirt 'street' was jammed with tourists, RVs, campers, and kids. 1900 miles and I'm finally in Alaska. The road from Chicken to Tetlin Junction sucks, the weather sucks more.

Tok to Fairbanks. Fairbanks to the Arctic Circle, back to Fairbanks. Get a new tire, get it mounted, make new friends, stay up all night drinking beer. You know all about that.

Denali Park you probably don't know about. No traffic jams like in Yellowstone. Why you ask? Because you can't drive in the Park anywhere, that's why. If you want to see it you ride a bus or take a tour. This park is huge, about the size of Western Washington. Mount McKinley is over a mile higher than Rainier.

We head south through Anchorage and on to the Kenai Peninsula. We camp two nights in Seward, take a boat trip to Kenai Fjords National Park. We found a great place for dinner, and later I saw my first Honda Africa Twin. It is raining again. We ride over to Homer, drive out the Homer Spit, eat some Halibut. More spectacular scenery. We camp one night in Kanai, then head back to Anchorage.

After a couple of days in Anchorage, we finally begin to head back toward home. We ride over the mountains to Valdez in a downpour and find a wonderful Mexican restaurant and a way overpriced hotel. It's probably pretty, but I didn't see it in the rain. Back to Tok the next night where the locals tell us stories of tourists and frozen tires in minus 70 degree weather. People without block heaters, core heaters, battery blankets, and garages just leave their cars running all the time! Every parking space has an electrical outlet.

I was well rested for our second stretch of construction. This was the worst. Eighty miles of gravel, chip seal, dirt, mud, rocks, and wacko RV drivers. I kept it upright, but just barely. Our reward for surviving this was Haines Junction. A beautiful and inexpensive motel room overlooking a gorgeous mountain range. And the sun was shining. I rejoice!

Over the mountains to Haines in the rain again. We spend the day shopping, then catch the Alaska Ferry for Prince Rupert in the morning. The Inside Passage scenery is wonderful, but for us it was mostly rain. Lots of wildlife though, whales and eagles. Two days of not riding was a welcome break. The sun was shining as we pulled into Prince Rupert.

From Prince Rupert to Prince George it rained as hard as I ever remember riding in. Finally the next day, as we head south from Prince George, the sun returned. We meet Tom and Nancy and camp in Lillooet. We ride over the mountains to Whistler and down Howe Sound past Vancouver and finally home!

If you ever get the chance to ride to Alaska, by all means go. You will never see more country, wildlife, friendly people, or bigger mountains than in the far north. Just be sure all the equipment is in good working order, including the rider and passenger. There will be roads and weather to test you, but passing these tests will have huge rewards. It's just the scale of things in the far north.