Monday June 16. Tok to Valdez to Palmer Alaska.  I am treated to a great breakfast and more talk of Alaskan politics and lifestyle. I check the weather forecast and the prediction is for clear weather for the next two days. Sandra suggest I must see the Thompson Pass and Mount McKinley during the good weather. She says the ride to Valdez is unmatched when the weather is clear. I set off for Valdez and the Thompson Pass.

Sandra is right, except she forgot to tell me about the construction on the Tok Cutoff. I thought the Cassiar was a difficult ride, but the Tok Cutoff  is more difficult. Seems the road was totally destroyed in a recent 7.9 earthquake. I am told the road shifted almost one hundred yards! It is being completely rebuilt. It is very slow going for miles. The road surface is fresh dirt with live tree roots still protruding from the earth. It is tough to ride. The really tough part is following the pilot cars that lead the traffic through the construction zones. They drive much too slow when going up-hill in sloppy mud. I am in first gear and must continually slip the clutch to remain vertical. At several points I  can not keep my balance on the steep grade. I pass the pilot car and wait for him at the first level place in the road. Evidently this is a very serious violation. The pilot car driver calls ahead to the crew at the end of the zone. I get an earful from the supervisor about traffic safety. I return the favor by explaining the difficulty of balancing seven hundred pounds of motorcycle and gear in two inches of  mud at four miles an hour. I don't think either of us learned anything from the conversation.

I make it to Glenallen in one piece and without any drops. I stop to take photos of the Alaskan pipeline.   It isn't that impressive when standing right next to it, but with a little distance it is much more impressive. [pic] When you realize that it stretches for eight hundred miles from the North Slope of Alaska to Valdez, across some of the most inhospitable land on earth, you have to marvel at the people that made it possible. During the half hour that I took pictures and walked around the pipeline, more than twenty thousand barrels of oil past above my head.

 The one hundred and fifteen miles of the Richardson Highway, from Glenallen to Valdez is the best open road riding I have had the entire trip. The mountains are surround me and are lush green and snowcapped. The road weaves from one mountain to the next in an unending spectacle of natures beauty. The road can be ridden very fast, with nothing to slow you except the overwhelming majesty of the place.   Everywhere I look there is spectacular alpine mountain scenery. The ride over Thompson Pass is spellbinding. [pic]  At 2678  feet above sea level the road winds through high mountain valleys of unmatched beauty. Along the way is the Worthington Glacier. [pic]  The glacier extends almost to the road and appears to be hanging on the mountain. [pic]  [pic]

Into Valdez  [pic]  for a quick meal and riding break. Valdez is located at the inner (east) end of Valdez arm, a doglegged fjord opening onto Prince William Sound in the Gulf of Alaska. [pic] I stop at a little bar and meet two women who are expressing a genuine interest in the sport of motor biking.  They ask if I will take them for a ride and explain the finer points of riding. They are from Homer and are in town to oversee the construction progress of a hotel they are building. I would like to stay in Valdez and conduct a personal motorcycle riders safety training program for the two aspiring riders, but I also want to take advantage of the unusually terrific weather. I want to see Mount McKinley while the weather is clear. I backtrack along Highway 4 and I am again treated to natures wonders. [pic]  [pic]  [pic]  [pic]

The Glenn Highway runs between Glenallen and Palmer for about one hundred and fifty-five miles. It is well paved with  great sweeping curves and steep grades. The Talkeetna, Chugach and Wrangell Mountains give me unendingly beautiful scenery for most of the ride.  I am very tired as I ride into Palmer. I have ridden over five hundred miles today, spending much of my riding time in the mud on Tok Cutoff. It is midnight when I get to my hotel room. It is still bright outdoors and I can see another snow covered mountain as I lay in bed. This is a wonderful adventure.

                                                               Previous   Home    Next