Alaska and The Yukon 2026 ride

[Sgt Bilco]

Up early and go out of the hotel to get some breakfast and what's this??? Bloody hell, it's warm and bright sunshine I actually sent a message to everyone to get their arses out of bed as there was something wrong with the sky The rain and cold yesterday was the last we'd see on teh whole trip thank the bloody lord.


After a pretty healthy breakfast we headed off to see the brilliant Dredge No 4 which was used to get the gold out of the ground until the early 60's. It's a fascinating machine and the tour is always worth going to.







You may notice that everyone has left their helmets and jackets on their bikes which would be unheard of in the UK or Europe. In over 15 years of riding up here in the Alaska and Yukon, I've never even heard of something being taken.

We all fel in love with this little pooch who travelled on the bike of a guys bike. He found her as an abandoned pup and didn't realise she was a Coyote. He said she took some training but she was a lovely sweet dog who went everywhere with him.



Lesley found a slightly smaller pooch.

 

[Sgt Bilco]

On our way back to Dawson we rode up Midnight Dome which gives brilliant views of the area especially in this glorious weather.




Everyone glad of the sun.





Back to Dawson and a chance to look around this great little town which is rich in Klondike Gold history.







The Sourtoe challenge is an age old thing to do in Dawson and it's something everyone just has to do. It's supposedly a miners toe in teh glass which is then filled with Whiskey. You have to knock it back in one and let the toe touch your lips before you get your certificate. I did it back in 2007 and have no desire to do it again and I'm sure it's the same old guy doing it.

Guys and Lesley were the only ones to have enough courage to do it and fair play to them. Sorry about the pics as they are just a screen grab from a video.





The rest of just enjoyed the local beer.

 

[G&T]

Excellent photos and what a great looking bunch of people. Nice for a couple of lasses to be on your trip too Chris

 

[Sgt Bilco]

Woke up to another

Excellent photos and what a great looking bunch of people. Nice for a couple of lasses to be on your trip too Chris

I always get a fantastic mix of people on my trips. It's one of the big reasons I keep doing it

 

[Sgt Bilco]

We wake up to a beautiful day in the Yukon for our longest riding day of the trip. We are heading for Whitehorse which is the capital of Yukon and is 330 miles away. Regular readers of trip reports will note this is a new addition and I've changed the route around.

I've dropped the ride up to the Arctic circle for safety reasons and added a loop around the Yukon which in my opinion really enhances the trip.

I've not ridden this road for 10 years so really looking forward to it as there is plenty to see as we ride and I have to keep an eye on fuel range on the 900.


First stop was the start of the Dempster Highway which takes you to a tiny town called Inuvik which is as far north as you can ride on the American continent. It's a very remote road of packed dirt and gravel of about 400 miles each way and it's a minimum of 4 days return.

It's only for the very well prepared and needless to say it's not on our itinerary.





So we head south with cruise set and enjoy the fantastic environment and empty road.




It's not as straight as it looks and is actually quite curvy. Lots of stops as there is plenty of construction. You generally don't have to wait longer than about 15 minutes for the pilot car to take you through the rough 10 miles of construction.




It's all abit much for some people and Lesley is probably still having nightmares about the Sour Toe



On this highway, you fuel at every opportunity so we pull into Selkerk station for fuel and a snack.



Met this guy on a fully loaded GS who had been on the road for nearly a year! You do meet quite a few people up here who seem to be out for months and are just riding around.




Next stop is five finger rapids which is a set of rapids the original prospectors had to negotiate in there paddle steamers on route to the klondike gold rush. Braver men than me that's for sure.



Get to our next fuel stop and pull up to the pumps. Go to get my wallet out and it's not in my usual pocket so I must have put it somewhere else. I frantically check all my pockets and come to the realisation that it's gone..........shit fuck and double bollox!

I know exactly what happened and whilst we were getting ready to leave, I was chatting to someone, got distracted from my normal routine and left it on one of my panniers. Jesus H..........., over 20 years of doing this and this is the first time I've done it.

Guy remembers seeing something fall of my bike about half a mile up the road from the garage and just though it was some dirt or rubbish kicked up.

There wasn't much cash in the wallet but had the cards I use over here and my drivers licence in it.

With that info it made sense to go back and at least try and find it so everyone headed to the hotel in Whitehorse whilst I went back 70 miles.

Flew back and had a good look but couldn't find it. It was one of those things were it either be sitting there or gone forever and it was the latter. Strangely, there was the only police station for about 200 miles over the road so I reported it and they said they would contact me if they found it.

No pics as I was so angry with myself, I simply forgot to take any.

I headed south and now it's getting late and I've still got about 180 miles to go so I wound the 900 up to about 80 and flew along the empty roads barely slowing down for the construction which was now clear of the machinery.



I really don't like riding after 7pm out here as the animals start to appear so I was on a full concentration mode and trying to weigh up a speed that I felt comfortable with so about 75 seemed right.

The plus point is I saw 2 bears and a wolf on my way which was definitely a bonus.

I eventually pulled into Whitehorse at 22-15 after a 13 hour day and 550 miles with my eyes on stalks.

Jesus what a day but it's only a lost wallet and I was still pissed off with myself.