06/20/2010, 218 miles (round trip)
It occurred to me that if we wanted to make it home leaving a day or two for what-ifs, we'd have to head back from wherever we ended up today. So the question was, where can we ride from Tok in a day? We could've done long rides to either Fairbanks or Anchorage, and maybe that would've been best. As it was we were tired from yesterday's long ride through the worst of the Alcan and I didn't feel like going very far. There was lots of mechanical anxiety going around as well. I decided I wanted to see the End-of-the-Highway marker at Delta Junction, and at that point we'd turn around and spend another night at the Eagle's Claw camp in Tok before heading back. I also needed time to change oil in the bikes and do much-needed chain maintenance, which was becoming a daily ritual.
The ride to Delta Junction was cold and not all that scenic. We stopped off at the Visitor's Center for coffee and photos.
Halfway point mileage: 56255. 3032 miles forward...
At the Visitor's Center we once again bumped into the guys on V-Stroms whom we initially met in Teslin, and some other friendly folks on Gold Wings who took our photo.
One of the attractions at the Visitor's Center is the giant mosquito sculptures.
After that we headed up the road another 10 miles for lunch at Rika's Roadhouse, which is a cafeteria-style place among some historic buildings.
So ended the trip north.
On the way back it started to rain pretty hard but we didn't think much of it at the time. Back at camp our gracious hostess Vanessa allowed me to use a drain pan and empty containers so I could do a quick oil change. The bikes were starting to have trouble shifting. I found some suitable oil at a Chevron station in town. We did laundry and then rode in the rain to Fast Eddy's in Tok for dinner.
We arrived back in camp and met 3 guys on BMW GS1200s who had just come back from the Arctic Circle. They told us it wasn't that hard, they'd seen an FJR1300 up there of all things.
Who thought this trip would be a good idea?
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