Motorcycle Travels by Al: June 26

I was awakened at 5:30 AM by a pesky mosquito and couldn’t get back to sleep. I packed everything up and discovered I was the only one foolish enough to stay there. No other cars were around. It was 39 degrees and light rain. I was heading to Valdez and soon after I left the rain stopped. I stopped at Glennallen for fuel. I talked with another GS rider from Michigan that had been on the road for 11 weeks and he showed me pictures of the snow when he arrived at Watson Lake. His windshield was covered and so was the ground.

I stopped at Copper Center and went to the lodge for breakfast. It was not so good and expensive. I took some pictures in the area and during the gold rush instead of finding gold they found copper.

From june 26

I went to the river to try and find a nugget but no luck.

From june 26

As I was leaving town I came to this river where many were fishing for salmon. His guy had one on for a while and I was waiting for him to land it but it got off.

From june 26

From Alaska Favorites

The road to Valdez is quite beautiful with mountains, streams, glaciers, waterfalls, and canyons.

From Alaska Favorites

This is Bridal Veil falls.

From june 26

This is mare’s tail falls.

From Alaska Favorites

I went over Thompson’s Pass and tried to imagine gold miners finding these passes and getting over them.

From june 26

About the only place to travel was close to the river and there were big rocks for obstacles. I guess it beat climbing straight up over the mountains like many did. These markers are to mark the road in the winter.

From june 26

Canyon

From Alaska Favorites

I found a car wash in Valdez and cleaned the ole girl up. She is smiling now and probably 10 pounds lighter. I asked a lady to take my picture.

From Alaska Favorites

I took some pictures of the ferry and across the bay of the pipeline terminal. When I was coming into Valdez about 20 miles out I met a bunch of traffic and suppose a ferry arrived and people were heading north.

From june 26

From Alaska Favorites

Some of the fishing boats in the harbor at low tide.

From Alaska Favorites

From june 26

I was a little low on oil so went to the NAPA store for 20-50 oil and some plastic ties for Lola. I had some halibut for lunch then headed out of town. Just after getting out of town I seen a road the said pipeline terminal so I followed that road as far as they allow and took these pictures.

From Alaska Favorites

From june 26

From Alaska Favorites

Looking back across the bay to Valdez.

From june 26

From Alaska Favorites

I lucked out again as on the way in I saw these fishing. I think two must be younger as they don’t have the color yet. I saw one catch a fish and fly to a tree to dine.

From june 26

From Alaska Favorites

I arrived back at Glennallen then took the Tok Cutoff towards Tok. It is 125 miles and rained the entire time with the temperatures dipping to 36 degrees by my thermometer. Then it started to snow. Yes that right folks it snowed enough to see it on the trees and ground in some places. It was on my windshield.

From Alaska Favorites

From june 26

I was really getting cold and my feet felt wet. I had the heated grips on high so my hands stayed warm enough. The road was paved but had many breaks and loose gravel and with the reduced visibility made it difficult to see. I had trouble with my visor fogging up. The last 10 miles of road coming into Tok are excellent and I was glad. I stopped at the first place I came to the Golden Bear and the rooms were only $90. Eureka!