Finally a start

Finally a start Polebridge, MT

Polebridge, MT

First the disclaimer: since it has been a year or more since I added anything to this blog I would like to remind my casual readers that you should not expect too much from these entries. I only write them for my family friends and as sort of public diary. So if misspellings or incorrect grammar or sentence structure bothers you just don’t read them. I don’t fret over proofreading them or look up things you can easily find on the net. These are my thoughts and experiences. There will be adult language so if you are letting kids read them you have need warned.

I’m not really sure how this got started, perhaps I saw a few adventure motorcyclists running through Tahoe and wanted to get back on the road. I happened to mention in passing my thought of riding up to Alaska to my good friend Lee Kulchawick. We discussed it briefly. The next thing I know, Lee is calling me about some KLR’s he has found on the internet! He wants to do the ride and is looking at picking up a bike for the trip north. I then mentioned it to Walt Rouleau a friend from many Baja adventures. He talks to his wife Tammy and they are in. Lee has Kathy his wife convinced it will be a good time too. My wife Carolyn is all for it.

So the rough itinerary we have worked on to this point where we are starting the first day goes like this. Lee trailers his newly purchased KLR to Bozeman, where we will meet. I trailer Gorda to Bozeman to meet Lee on the 16^th of July. Walt needs to leave the San Diego area after us, but will catch up. Walt throws out his back a week before the trip start and has to get a brace, lots of back rubs and with modern chemistry thinks he is a go. He decides to leave a few days earlier so he doesn’t have the big days of riding trying to catch up. He rides to Sacrament in near 100 degree temperatures. Lee and I wait in Bozeman for two days while it snows and rains along our intended route north. We wake up today and have the first blue sky we have seen since arriving. We are packed and ready to get on the road. We ride in cool temps through the Bridger Mountains on wet roads. It feels great to get started in what will be a 6 week journey north through Canada, from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay, then returning to Fairbanks where the wives will meet us for the next three weeks of discovering Alaska.

We climb up King Summit on route 89 around 7,200 feet to snow sticking to the unplowed surfaces of the road. It has been raining for the last couple of hours. I’m thinking that I only have one layer left to put on my legs then I have used all the warm and dry clothes I brought! And it is only the first day. A few more hours in the rain, then the sun comes out and it warms up. We have been in temps of 30-65 degrees today. We see a few Pronghorn Antelope, deer, Bald Eagle today. In Choteau Mt. we see a place called JD’s Wildlife Sanctuary and Bar. We have to stop and get a picture, oh and lookie there its open. We stop for a beer and find the bartender kind, welcoming, and smart. There are two other guys in there who are friendly and we trade stories and have fun. They buy us a beer and off we go. We stop for the night after checking three other places, at the Glacier Haven Inn between East and West Glacier. A family run business where we have a great homemade meal, cooked and served by all of the family. Fresh made Huckleberry Pie, alamode of course. We made 380 miles today, not bad for the first day and in all types of weather.

And of course there was the snafu of this blog not going through. Operator error , but I haven’t figured out what I did wrong. Just another small setback.