We earned a leisurely Wednesday morning in Dawson City after Tuesday’s ride back down the Dempster. Coffee, pastries and hanging out on the deck at the bunkhouse watching The town wake up led to a 10:30am departure. We only had about 300k ahead of us over the famed Top of the World Highway do time was plentiful today.
There is a ferry right at the edge of town to get across the Yukon River and we were waved up to the front of the boat as it landed on the bank. Once we were across, I hit the starter on my bike and got the dreaded hesitation that had been plaguing me off and on throughout the trip. This time it still wouldn’t start after two mor tries and Ken was getting ready to park his bike to the side to help me push it off the boat. As we were in the front, I was holding up the line of cars behind me. Fortunately it fired up on the fourth attempt and I rode off the ferry and pulled off to the side, keeping the bike running. The voltage meter I had plugged into the accessory was showing some crazy readings moving all over the place between 14v and 36v. The plug and connections to my phone mount were still covered with Dempster calcium chloride dust from the past two days so I pulled everything out hoping that may be causing the problem. Once the bike was running, the readings on the bikes diagnostic screen seemed to read fine. Anyway, we rode on - me with a little nervousness on what was going on with my starter/electrical systems on the bike.
It was a beautiful day on a good dirt road with cool temps and sunny skies. I had done this road before and took in the stunning views “on top of the world”. The border crossing was a one lane booth on each side and we were greeted by friendly US border agents to process us back into the US. We had a brief friendly conversation as one of the agents scraped caked on Dempster muck of our plates to read the issuing states and numbers to the other agent. The agent inside told us he was originally from Highlands Ranch in Colorado after receiving my plate info.
The road immediately after the border was paved, smooth and curvy but soon turned back to dirt shortly after the welcome to Alaska sign. We snapped a few pics at the sign and were on our way. I was really enjoying the cool air and beautiful space as we made our way to Chicken - a tiny town with fuel and a small store. We didn’t need fuel but loaded up on drinks, snacks and stickers. We had a brief conversation with a family from France in a camper planning to head up the Dempster. We provided them answers to their questions about the road conditions, fuel stops and weather we had experienced and were then again on our way towards Tok.
We rolled into Tok around 4pm, stopped an a spray car wash to hose the Dempster off the bikes, and headed just outside town to Thompson Eagle Claw Motorcycle Campground - a place I had camped several times before. Always a good spot to overnight and run into fellow motorcycle travelers. We were the first travelers to arrive and made our way past the private camp sites, and eclectic assortment of small cabins, a school bus and ambulance you could choose from to stay the night. We choose the group site in the back with 6 single campsites for $10 each for the night. As we were setting up, others began to arrive, add we were joined in the group area by two guys originally from Belarus with one living in Miami and the other in Salt Lake. Also by another guy originally from Minnesota now living in Alberta.
After setting up camp, we all ended up at Fast Eddy’s - pretty much the only food option in Tok, but excellent. I had eaten there several times in the past, and once again it didn’t disappoint. A fully stocked salad bar was my favorite part of the meal.
After dinner we stoped at the store for some water, beer and ice and headed back to camp. That evening we enjoyed good conversation filled with travel stories and sharing life experiences. Later we hit the sauna that our camp host had fired up and were joined by a German traveler who had been on the ride with his bike for 2.5 years. Meeting fellow travelers and sharing stories of the road is one of my favorite aspects of traveling and this night didn’t disappoint. It was barely dark when we retired to out tents around midnight. All and all a great day riding and evening socializing!
CN
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