Day 27 - Tok to Whitehorse. 396 miles today. Total from Indianapolis, Indiana - 7,120 miles

There seem to be two seasons in Alaska, winter and construction.  These guys just keep hitting construction zones.  Actually, road construction in  Alaska is a constant when the weather is nice.  Because of their wet, cold winter weather the soil under the road base frequently freezes.  When this happens the road will ripple and break up.  This is called frost heaving.  For road construction crews keeping the roads in good shape is a constant battle.

Nobody has ever really accused this group of being "slow".  But, the older they get.....

Pilot cars, that looks like a pick up truck to me, frequently escort traffic through areas of construction.
Motorcycles are usually brought to the front of the line of traffic.
This is done for safety and to reduce the amount of dust on the riders.

Speaking of dust!

After picking their way through the construction zone and dust, the group stopped at a roadside visitor station.  Mike fed the telescope trying to find a Sasquatch.

Fred, Mike, David and Ron

The guys have left Alaska in their mirrors and have re-entered Canada.

Making their way to the border crossing.

David checking through, Joe waits patiently for his turn.

The five iron horse adventurers are now traveling through the Yukon.

Can you see the amount of dirt on Joe's boots, chaps and motorcycle?
Check out David's blue bike.
That's some caked on, good quality Alaskan dirt, mud and crud .

                                                

Mike's ready to roll again.

Luckily the guys did not get wet this time!  That rainstorm to the right missed them.

Eastbound and down all day,  with the Wrangell Mountains to their North, or right side.  

The guys remarked on how beautiful the sky was all day, except for the dusty construction zone and that brief rain shower, then they weren't certain what the sky looked like.  They couldn't really see it then.

 They arrived in Whitehorse, where they would spend the night!

Day 26 - Glennallen to Tok, Alaska. Today's mileage - 386 miles. From Indianapolis, 6724 miles.

You know that the five guys spent the night in Glennallen, Alaska last night.  What you don't know is that Glennallen is a very small town.  According to the 2010 census, the population is 483.  Glennallen is more of a jumping off spot for folks that are interested in visiting the largest national park in the United States - Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.  Glennallen is also classified as an isolated town.  Back in the day (WWII to the early 70's)  it was actually kind of a bustling place.  In more recent years newly constructed highways and roads have cut the town off from traffic that otherwise would have passed right through the town.

There aren't very many restaurants located in Glennallen.  The ones that are there didn't open early enough to break the fast of the five adventurers.  They wanted to be up early and on the road by 7:00 a.m.  What's the big hurry?  They had a 120 mile ride to the town of Valdez this morning.  There's only one way in, and of course, one way back out of Valdez.  That meant they had to cover 240 miles before continuing on to the town of Tok, where they planned on spending the night.  So, they left hungry and in need of that eye opening coffee.  Breakfast would be eaten in Valdez.

The Wrangell Mountain Range is on the left and also ahead.  There was a mixture of some smaller mountains on the guy's right side most of the trip to Valdez.  The Alaskan Pipeline was there too.  The pipeline is over 800 miles long and stretches from Valdez to Prudhoe Bay.  The guys were towards the north end of that pipeline several days ago when they traveled to the Arctic Circle.

Remember yesterday's tutorial about the Wrangell Mountains?  Me either, let's review.  The Wrangell Mountains are a high range of mountains located in eastern Alaska.  They include 12 of the 40 plus Alaskan peaks that measure over 13,000 feet in elevation.

The thirteeners are:  South Peak (13,654 ft), Atna Peaks (13,860 feet), Regal Mountain (13,845 feet), Mount Jarvis (13,421 feet), North Peak (13,025 feet), Parka Peak - at this height you probably need to wear a parka (13,280 feet), and Mount Zanetti (13,009 feet).

The really impressive sixteeners include:  Mount Blackburn (16,390 feet), East Summit (16,286 feet), and Mount Sanford (16,237 feet).  Whew, those towering piles of hardened volcanic magma sure have a way of making you feel pretty small and insignificant.

Two thirds of the way down to Valdez the fellas entered the Keystone Canyon.  The tall sheer rock walls contain many waterfalls.

The guys stopped to take a look at the Bridal Veil Falls.  

Ron standing in front of the Horse Tail Falls.

While traveling down Richardson Highways towards Valdez this glacier became visible.

That is the Worthington Glacier.

 

Valdez!  Morning's quest - check!  Source of coffee and breakfast - double check!

There were two separate Moose sightings on today's trip.  The guys saw this little lady in the morning while making their way down to Valdez.  They weren't so lucky as to get a photograph of the second moose of the day.  To make up for that, this gal is posted twice!

  

And, she's outta here.

Valdez is the largest port in the Prince William Sound.  The port is located at the southern portion of the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline System.

The oil tanker famous for the second largest oil spill in U.S. history, the Exxon Valdez which was then operated by Exxon, ran into the Bligh Reef in the Prince William Sound.  (The tanker had six different names in her life time.)  This oil spill occurred on March 24, 1989.   The commonly accepted estimate of the total gallons of oil spilled in the accident was 11 million US gallons. Historically the spill was the 54th largest spill in the world.  It has been reported that no oil made it into the port at Valdez.  The Bligh Reef, the site of the spill, is 25 miles south of Valdez.

Every year that passes Prince William Sound continues to improve.  Today, marine life flourishes, as does waterfowl, bottom fish and salmon runs.

Docked vessel in the Port of Valdez

After breakfast the guys were ready to head north out of Valdez.  Fred wonders where everybody went?

Fred supervises the inspection process.

Once the group was out of the town of Valdez, back through the Keystone Canyon they stopped for gas. Luckily,  David noticed something strange on Joe's bike.  Further inspection revealed that the inner lip on the rear drive sprocket had broken off from the rest of the sprocket.  

Fred jumps in to help make the necessary repairs.

Ron, Freddie and David quickly went to work on Joe's bike. They were able to adjust the wheel angle in order to make the belt run on the other side of the sprocket.  Joe worked the phone.  He called Edmonton Harley to locate p arts.  The guys are 1,400 miles from Edmonton.  They are hoping that Joe will be able to ride the bike there.  They all will be keeping an eye on the situation.

Heading towards Tok.

The guys have noticed that a change in the terrain is becoming evident.  The mountains are decreasing in size.  There are larger areas of trees.

Day 25 - Homer to Glennallen, Alaska in 435 miles. Total miles ridden since departing Indianapolis, Indiana - 6,338.

Update on Stu!

While he was in Fairbanks, Stu took advantage of the down time on Friday and Saturday.  He spent the time resting with his leg elevated.  He had full intentions to make a few adjustments to his motorcycle that would allow him to be able to shift.  Then he was going to spend another three, or four, more days resting.  He planned on heading south (on his motorcycle) taking a slightly more direct route back to Florida.

Instead, he wisely decided to follow his doctor's advice and made the regretful decision to fly home and ship his motorcycle, by truck, home.

Monday night he boarded the plane in Fairbanks and arrived home late Tuesday morning.

Jill will give him the care that he requires in order to make a full recovery from that fractured ankle.

Ron, David, Joe, Mike and Fred really miss having their buddy Stu along with them for the rest of the trip.They want him to know that he remains in their thoughts, and that they send him get well wishes!

At the very end of the road in Homer, Alaska the guys found this restaurant, Land's End.

Joe, Ron, Mike, Fred and David dining at Land's End on Homer Spit.  That doesn't sound appetizing at all.

Turns out that Homer Spit is a place, and has nothing do with some guy named Homer's excessive salivation.

The Homer Spit is a geographical landmark in the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula.  It is a 4.5 mile long piece of land that juts out into the Kachemak Bay.  A miniature peninsula, if you will.  It is only 19 feet above sea level making it highly subject to storm surges.  In fact if the nearby Augustine Volcano were to erupt it would send a giant wave over the Homer Spit in a couple of minutes.  Residents would have little, if any, time to evacuate.  Tsunamis from other ocean activiity would allow Spit dwellers enough time to act accordingly.   The  West Coast/Alaska Tusnami Warning Center, which is located in Palmer, Alaska monitors such oceanographic activity.

The Spit features the longest road going into ocean waters in the entire world!  It takes 10 - 15 minutes to drive the length of the road.

The Homer Spit

A close up view of the Homer Spit.
This photo was taken from a loop road called Skyline Drive.  Skyline Drive overlooked the entire Kachemak Bay and Homer Spit.  This was a gorgeous drive.

Bald Eagle

Hundreds of Eagles have gathered at the Spit in the winter time.  They are fed by a lady known as The Eagle Lady.  Her real name is Jean Keene.

 Restaurants, shops and local businesses along the Spit.
In addition there are also campgrounds and hotels located here too.

 The Homer Spit is full of deep and shallow water docks.  The area serves up to 1500 commercial and pleasure boats at the summer peak.  The Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon (which is man made) is here at the Spit and is famous for easy Salmon Fishing.  The locals refer to the lagoon as the fishing hole!  In the photo above a freighter churns through the water near the Homer Spit.

Who let the moose loose?!

This little bull moose became separated from its mother as they attempted to cross the road.  Mama safely crossed the road and headed down a steep ravine.  The baby was frightened by the slippery asphalt, oncoming traffic, and steepness of the ravine.  The entire mess caused it to completely lose its mojo.  The baby turned around heading back across the road in the direction that it had originally come from with mama.  The guys were able to safely navigate around the little moose.

A morning coffee break

Heading north out of Homer

Completely though Homer, heading through Anchorage

The five toured through Palmer and turned east on the Glen Highway.

The Glenn Highway turned out to be an amazing 140 mile run to Glennallen.  The mountains on the north were Talkeetna and on the south the Chugach Mountains.  This image is from the Glenn Highway.

Joe, Mike, David and Fred with the Mantanuska Glacier behind them (the patch of snow).

Ron's turn in front of the Matanuska Glacier
The Matanuska Glacier is without a doubt the largest and most spectacular sight between the cities of Palmer and Glennallen.  It is the largest glacier in Alaska that is reachable by vehible.  This glacier was chosen by Alaska Magazine as the second of the 49 places to go in the 49th state.

10,000 years ago this glacier began its retreat and remains unchanged for two decades.
 It is a true valley glacier.

This is the Tazlina Glacier.  This glacier is 25 miles long!

The Wrangell Mountains

The Wrangell Mountains contain 14 of the 40+ mountains in Alaska that are over 13,000 feet in elevation.

That's a pretty impressive mountain range to have that many thirteeners and fourteeners as residents.

The guys are heading towards the Wrangell Mountain Range

The guys have stopped and are unloading their gear.

The Caribou Hotel, lodging for the night

The group of five had dinner at a little diner that sat in front of the Caribou Hotel.  Spending 11 1/2 hours astride their iron horses made this a long day.  All of them agreed that this was one of the most scenic days, from morning departure to afternoon's end, that they have had.