Here's a picture of two ignorant dumb-asses at 10:30am in Fairbanks, getting ready to head out to the Arctic Circle up the Haul Rd.



The folks at the HD Dealership had told us it was 150 miles up, 300 round trip, and that the road was good the whole way...some gravel, but smooth. NOT!

This is a nice part of the road leading up to the Dalton Hwy. (aka the Haul Rd.)




90 miles later we finally reach Dalton Hwy.

We got off the bike for a pic or three, we were immediately surrounded by mosquito's. Not a dozen or two, literally hundreds. It was so bad it was actually funny.

I normally do not use any kind of repellent, really dislike the feel on my skin. But there was no avoiding it, had to use it.



Couple of pics and we are back on the TG.



Within a couple of miles we hit the dirt/gravel.

This is the nice kind, smooth, not dusty.



This is still nice and smooth, but eating some dust.

btw, you might have noticed we both ride with Nolan modular helmets, I ride with mine open quite a bit, and even when I close it down, I leave the face shield open, except in heavy dust or really heavy rain.




Dusty and not quite so smooth, but no one in front.



Ahh, back to some nice smooth road. This was actually the best surface to ride on...what little asphalt there was, was not as smooth as the slightly wetted down smooth dirt.



HEY! Something's not adding up here. We've gone 120 miles, and we know that the Arctic Circle is well past the Yukon River...plus there's been no sign of gas for quite a while. We have used almost 4 gallons and only have about 4 more gallons with us.

Not the first time a HD Dealer has given mis-information. lol

A little bit of paved road....it is only a trick...it will either turn into nasty pothole ridden or back to gravel. lol



At 150 miles we get to the Yukon river, there is gas here, AND mosquito's...so many we did not even take the time for a pic.

Oh, and found out the Arctic Circle is another 60 miles!



Good pic of the Alaska pipeline right next to the bridge.



Nice good dirt road...actually came to really like this stuff...it is smoother than most of the paved roads in Alaska and the Yukon.

None of the pictures really capture how long or steep these hills are. More than 10%...there were no signs, but my guess is 12-14%.

Speed limit on the Dalton is 55 mph, but on this stuff we were traveling 65-75 mph.




So were these guys!



Stopped at Finger Mountain. Talked to this couple that was coming back from Deadhorse. They said beyond Coldfoot the gravel was 6" deep for miles at a time. Good thing we are not going that far.

They at both washed out a couple of times in the stuff at about 45 mph, but all their BMW gear prevented any injury or even bruises....bikes had a bit of duct tape thought. lol



At this point we already know, that if we knew, we would never have left, but we are only 20 or so miles away.



Not such a good pic, but this is the road immediately leaving Finger Mountain. Loose gravel on a NOT smooth surface, and, yes, that is the road as far as you can see.




Well, ya'll might be bored with me writing about the road surface, and to be fair, on two wheels it probably is not as bad. On the TG we have three tracks, vs two wheels only have one track, even trucks and cars only have two tracks. It's a bit more difficult with three tracks to find a smooth line.

More pics in the next post.