Bismarck to Prudhoe Bay, AK

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June 1, 2017

One month from today Jody Keller (my brother from Denver), Rusty Romans (a career Army Soldier) and myself will be departing Bismarck for a 30-day motorcycle adventure ride to the Arctic Ocean. We will end up taking a swim near Prudhoe Bay, AK and returning home!

The motorcycle of choice is the BMW R1200 GSW. It’s a long distance “pack horse” that can literally take us around the world.

The 30 day adventure will take us to Butte, MT, Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park, to Banff, AB and Dawson City, BC, which is the start of the 1,500 mile Alaskan Highway. We will end up in Fairbanks to put on knobby tires for the 500 mile gravel road north to Prudhoe Bay. We’ll pass the Arctic Circle on our way north to get the “bucket list photo”.

Returning home we will ride from Fairbanks to Anchorage and if lucky, will get to see Mt. Denali. We’ll spend a few days R&R in Anchorage and make a side trip to sip some great java along the Seward harbor! Might be lucky enough to see the aurora borealis.

Finally we will be heading home but not without a stop at Valdez for some glaciers, wildlife, fishing and history. We’ll be buying some fresh salmon and halibut in Valdez that will get shipped back to North Dakota.

After Valdez our route will take us to Haines, AK where we will board the Alaska Maritime Highway ferry on Monday, July 24^th. The MV Columbia will deliver us to Bellingham, WA on Friday, July 28^th at 8:00 am and begin our trek home. We will camp out on the deck of the Columbia…no better way to experience the Inside Passage, a coastal route of oceangoing vessels along a network of passages that weave through the islands on the Pacific Coast of Alaska and Canada.

If you followed me on my 2008 solo ride to Alaska, you know that I will be blogging along the way. My blog site is http://www.mytb.org/RobKeller When you get to the site please “subscribe” to my website and every time I make an entry you’ll receive an email to check out the photos and entry. Feel free to pass my blog website to anyone who is interested in following our journey.



Come along for the ride….



Rob Keller

Adventure Rider

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Comments

[LaMar Kruckenberg]

Enjoy life
Have a great ride. Enjoy

[Lewis Allen]

Guard shacks
There are two guard shacks that will prevent you from getting to the Arctic Ocean that are monitored by private security firms just north of Deadhorse, They would not let Google Earth past the guard shacks. All the roads there are owned by the oil companies and are administered as private property. I doubt you will get past. The only private vehicles I ever saw in 14 years in the oilfield there were owned by local residents. You can however book a bus tour from Deadhorse. I have heard a lot of stories from disappointed people who could not make that last few miles.

[RobKeller]

Arctic Ocean Shuttle
Done the research. The shuttles are available daily from Deadhorse Camp. It is a restricted access area however, the security-guard operated shuttle takes tourists through the oil fields to the coast of the Arctic Ocean. Cost is $69 per person and must provide passport information.

[Ann]

Going to the Sun
We had trouble on a family vacation on the Going to the Sun Road. Our car lost power to where it could barely make it up the mountain. Turned out our carbureter was set for near sea level, and should have been adjusted for the 6,646' altitude at Logan Pass, the high point of the road. This was some years ago. I don't know if modern motorcycle carbureters need altitude adjustments, but this is something we learned the hard way.

[RobKeller]

Electronic Ignition Solves the Problem
Hi Ann, Yeah the modern motorcycles are electronic and adjust on the fly. Should not be a problem but thanks anyway.

[Jason]

safe travels
perfect timing. my friend and I, both nodak natives, are planning our own Alaska trip for late summer 2018, he starting in Missouri and myself from Texas. we will be watching your progress very closely. as it turns out i will be in bismarck on your departure day, are you having any kind of send off? safe travels to you all.

[RobKeller]

2018 Trip to Alaska
Jason. Kudos to your upcoming adventure to Alaska. What bikes are you riding. Be sure and follow my blog and I'll do my best to answer any questions you may have.

[Jason]

2018 Alaska
Rob, we will be on KLR's. We rode to Hyder, AK together in '03, Hyder Seek event. Now we want to do the interior. I have been to AK before but am really looking forward to doing the state on motorcycle.