VA to AK 2025 - Ride Report

[wgharper]

Hi all,

This is going to require a few posts to collect everything so patience is appreciated.

This all started in September of 2024, I was asked to take on a huge new assignment at work, and since there was no promotion or extra comp offered, I asked for a month off in 2025. I knew I was turning 50 and wanted to do something memorable and challenging, and thus my plan to ride my FJR to Deadhorse, Alaska was conceived.

The Route:

With only 4 weeks to work with, I was going to have to be creative with my route and POIs. The routes I was looking at were all 5000 - 6000 miles to get to Deadhorse from Richmond, VA. Eventually I decided I'd hop up to Ontario and ride the northern route around the Great Lakes, through Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Edmonton to get to the Alaska Highway start in Dawson Creek, BC. From there, I'd take the AlCan up to Fairbanks and then on up to Deadhorse via the Dalton Highway. I felt pretty certain I could do that run one-way in 2 weeks, maybe less, but I'd be burning pretty hot and averaging nearly 500 miles per day, assuming at least one day off the bike for maintenance. I did not want to do that coming home.



Shipping the bike was an option, but quotes were nearly $4k and while I love my bike I couldn't justify paying more than it's worth to get it home. Instead, I decided I'd leave the bike with family in Couer d'Alene, ID with plans to have it shipped from there or fly back out and get it in the fall. This allowed me to visit with family in Anchorage, and route home via Top of the World highway, down to the Cassiar/Stewart Hwy, and spend a couple days in Jasper & Banff. The route was set, and I'd be on the road starting 6/21 and arriving in ID on 7/18.



Logistics

I've always been a pretty avid camper and loved the idea of camping a good bit of the way so I budgeted for camping about 2/3rds of the time. Everything I read said there's always plenty of area to camp so I only had reservations for a few nights where I planned to be at national/provincial parks, and these were early in the trip.

I opened the trip up to a few folks who showed interest in riding along (my wife was adamant that I not do this alone), but it's tough to commit to the time and expense of this type of journey and I ended up leaving for this trip solo. In the end, I'm glad I did - it gave me a lot of flexibility to ride my own ride and I ended up making so many new friends along the way that I really never felt alone. My wife also joined me in Fairbanks and followed me in a rental SUV up to Deadhorse, so I had a support vehicle for that portion of the trip.

The Bike

My bike is a 2007 model I picked up 2 years ago of FB Marketplace when I knew nothing about FJRs. When I left it had just over 19k miles on it, so barely broken in. My previous max mileage in any one day was a hair over 400 miles. I'd done longer days in my youth on my old BMW G/S, but that was decades ago (and 100+ lbs lighter) so I was a little nervous about what I was signing up for. I had already added a RDL seat and Heli bar riser in the first year of ownership in anticipation of longer rides to come, but to prepare for this trip I added a few more things over the past 8 months or so:

• MCCruise electronic cruise control

• Eager Beaver PC-8

• Multiple accessory plugs

• Combo voltmeter and USB port

• Luggage guards and frame sliders

• OEM heated grips

• Tire inflator & plug kit

• Misc. tools and repair supplies

I already had a decent set of Michelin Road 6 GTs on the bike that had enough tread to get me to Fairbanks, and I had a set of Conti TKC70's shipped up there to put on before heading north to Deadhorse.

I also removed my V-stream touring windscreen and put the stock one back on. I figured with the summer temps I'd value airflow over protection, and this turned out to be a good choice. For gear storage, I ditched my OEM top case and opted for a couple dry bags to carry my camping and bulkier gear. To help with documenting the ride, I added an Insta360 mount to the left mirror stalk and got a chin-mount bracket for my GoPro.

This is going to take a few posts to cover everything, so bear with me...

I've got to chunk this up into a few posts, so bear with me here as I get this typed out and sort through my pictures. I also want to thank @fjrob for sharing all his experience from doing this trip on his FJR a few years ago - huge help with planning and convincing me this was doable!

Next post - Virginia to Canada, Across to the Alaska Highway

[D-Eagle]

You've already got the hook set......

[Intech]

Subscribed! I was one of the people he tried to convince to go with him. I know after seeing this report I will wish I did!

Sent from my SM-S936U using Tapatalk

[Hppants]

Color me subscribed for sure!

[wgharper]

Day 1 was a long day by design, I left Richmond, VA at 4am on 6/21 with the plan to ride up to Canada and stay with friends in Orillia, ON on the north end of Lake Simcoe.



Made it through DC in the wee hours, and charged through PA across the turnpike and up through Erie (construction on I80 had my GPS recommending the wider route). Made it to the Peace Bridge border crossing by 1pm, grabbed a quick lunch and gas, and continued to Orillia, arriving just before 5:30, just in time for dinner. 765 miles total on the day, officially my longest day on the FJR and it was also the most mileage in one day for the entire trip. Bike performed flawlessly - I feel certain I could have done another 235 miles and closed out a SS1000, which was a good omen that maybe I could do all these miles I still had to cover.

Day 2 I enjoyed breakfast and lake views with friends before hitting the road just after 10am. I rode north of Georgian Bay across to Sault Ste Marie, then up to Pancake Bay Provincial Park to camp for the night. Beautiful ride with cooler temps than what I had seen down south (high was maybe 25), but no points of interest along the way. I was also anxious to get to the park and set up my campsite for the first time, if only to reassure myself that all the crap I brought was necessary and useful! 421 miles later, I pulled into Pancake Bay PP at 6:15pm, set up camp, and enjoyed the beach on Lake Superior.





Day 3 started clear and temps back in the mid-70's, but by the time I got to Wawa, ON I could see the rain blowing in. I stopped at the famous goose statue for a selfie and waited out the showers I saw on the radar.



I stopped for lunch and gas in White River, ON just as another band of showers was rolling in. As I was rolling out of the gas station, I saw the first (and only) FJR I'd see on the trip up to AK. A silver one, not sure what gen. I'd have stopped to say hi but I was itching to get back on the road after a long stop. While I avoided the worst of the downpour, the next few hours were a cool, foggy soup at a tepid 55 degrees. Things cleared up around Terrace Bay, and I got a great view of the Aguasabon Falls, which was a short hike from the lot and worth the effort if you are passing through.



Camp for the night was at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, with a total of 396 miles covered for the day (arrived just before 6pm). Beautiful and very secluded park on a peninsula, with a large lake in the middle. After checking in and riding the long gravel road to the lakeside campsite, I didn't see or hear another soul for the rest of the night - also no cell service. Just me and the loons (and the mosquitos of course).





Day 4 started out beautiful. I packed up camp early and managed to get on the road by 8am. Somehow in the shuffle of loading up and getting back on the road I managed to lose a glove, but fortunately Excalibur Motorcycle Works in Thunder Bay was open early and had some reasonably priced replacements. Picked up some cold weather Goretex gloves as well, which came in very handy in the coming weeks.

With not much to see on the route for the day, and a threat of overnight rain, I decided that if I can go ahead and push through to Winnipeg I'd reward myself with a hotel room. Managed to burn for 492 miles and rolled into the Super 8 in Winnipeg at 5:20pm, once again just as the sky opened up. Started some laundry and ordered Shwarma via Uber Eats.



Day 5 was a more relaxed pace after the blitz on day 4. Had a disappointing breakfast at the hotel (free at least), and struck out West again, diverting to the NW on Hwy 16 pointing towards Edmonton. Made it to Foam Lake, SK where I set up camp for the night at the municipal campground, which was a beautiful spot in a grove of poplars next to some rolling farmland. 366 miles total for the day.



I rode up the main street in town and found a small bar that had "world famous" hamburgers (it was good, but not THAT good). Had enough time to have a nice campfire before retiring for the night. A big cold front blew in overnight, testing my tent's wind resistance (it passed, probably 20-25mph gusts) and cooling things down enough for me to have to layer up a bit.

Day 6 was a VERY early start - the winds were relentless, and had me up super early, so I took the hint and was back on the road by 7am. The blessing and the curse of being in the plains in Canada is that you can see weather coming from a ways away. Just outside of town, the rain joined the wind. And while I don't believe in signs, it was funny that when the rain started and I pulled over to put on my rain gear, my Spotify DJ started playing Unbrella by Rhianna, and a rainbow appeared down the road as I got going again.



Rain thankfully was short-lived, but the lateral wind gusts up to 35mph stayed with me all the way to Saskatoon, where I stopped for a proper Canadian breakfast (eggs Benedict with peameal). Not much to see or write home about scenery-wise - just a lot of open fields and prairie. I will say that I enjoyed the pace of traffic though, when the winds settled down. My rule is to never be the fastest on the road, and I was still consistently running 80-90mph all afternoon. After 469 miles, I pulled into Elk Island National Park east of Edmonton at 3:30pm (now MDT) and set up camp. Elk Island is famous for their Plains Bison herd, which I was pleased I got to see (apparently they are pretty shy).



Camping setup was a bit more social, but I had some nice neighbors and enjoyed a backpacking meal and a fire with them before calling it a night. I'm also close enough to BC at this point that the smoke from fires is creeping into view, the side benefit of which are some stunning sunsets.





Day 7 I hit the road early again, sneaking out of the park at 7:15am. Leaving that early I got to see the bison herd again, and this time they had their calves in tow so that was cool to see. The ride was a little more interesting but still mostly prairie and some rolling hills toward the end. Had a couple rain showers but mostly it was sunny and cool. 64 all morning and hit 70 early afternoon.

Rolled into Dawson Creek earlier than planned due to crossing into the Pacific time zone. Stopped at the famous Alaska Highway sign for an obligatory photo and found another Super 8 hotel for the night. Rewarded myself with the prime rib special at the restaurant attached to the hotel, which did not disappoint! Did some laundry and aired out my gear in the room to get it completely dry for the next leg of the trip.





Next - The Alaska Highway to Fairbanks, AK

[wgharper]

Subscribed! I was one of the people he tried to convince to go with him. I know after seeing this report I will wish I did!

Sent from my SM-S936U using Tapatalk

It was an epic trip for sure - hoping you get to make the run up there soon!

[fontanaman]

In!

[escapefjrtist]

Awesome, looking forward to the next installment!

~G

[LKLD]

Ok, I made the last popcorn, someone else’s turn.

[El Toro Joe]

WOW...

[Hppants]

You tent looks interesting - can you please share which model you have?

(loving the report so far!)

[wgharper]

You tent looks interesting - can you please share which model you have?

(loving the report so far!)

It's a Big Agnes Wyoming Trail 2 Tent. Designed for "bikepacking", it's basically a typical 2 person tent with a huge garage area and tent poles that are in shorter sections to allow easier packing. I picked it up from REI (https://www.rei.com/product/248548/big- ... ail-2-tent) in May during their spring sale for $260 to give it a try, figuring it might come in handy if I need to park the bike out of the elements or pack up in the rain. Never had to use it for that on this trip, but I did appreciate the garage area on a few occasions when I wanted to sit in my chair or organize my gear while keeping the mosquitos out. It also was nice to be able to get all my gear off the bike and have a safe place to store it.

Downside of course is that it's bulky, requiring longer poles and the big rainfly. There's a weight, size, and setup penalty to that and honestly I'm not completely sure it was worth it vs. just taking my 2 person Nemo tent. I did get the setup down to about 7 minutes so it wasn't too bad.

[Cav47]

You tent looks interesting - can you please share which model you have?

(loving the report so far!)

It's a Big Agnes Wyoming Trail 2 Tent. Designed for "bikepacking", it's basically a typical 2 person tent with a huge garage area and tent poles that are in shorter sections to allow easier packing. I picked it up from REI (https://www.rei.com/product/248548/big- ... ail-2-tent) in May during their spring sale for $260 to give it a try, figuring it might come in handy if I need to park the bike out of the elements or pack up in the rain. Never had to use it for that on this trip, but I did appreciate the garage area on a few occasions when I wanted to sit in my chair or organize my gear while keeping the mosquitos out. It also was nice to be able to get all my gear off the bike and have a safe place to store it.

Downside of course is that it's bulky, requiring longer poles and the big rainfly. There's a weight, size, and setup penalty to that and honestly I'm not completely sure it was worth it vs. just taking my 2 person Nemo tent. I did get the setup down to about 7 minutes so it wasn't too bad.

I had the same question. Thanks for responding.

Great trip thanks for putting a report together.

[wgharper]

Crazy work week so apologies for the slow update. Will try to get more out this week as I can.

Now that I'd made it to the "good stuff", the plan was to scale down the daily miles and plan to stop and smell the flowers more often along the Alaska Highway. Turns out there really are some really cool things to see, and some wildlife, but there are a bunch of long, straight stretches in between and I ended up keeping a pretty blistering pace. I had planned to cover the nearly 1500 miles over 5 days, and ended up doing almost 1700 in 4 days, even after adding a side trip!

Decided to leave Dawson Creek early to beat the rush and hopefully have a better chance at seeing some wildlife, so up at 5am and on the road by 6. Did manage to see two black bears, two deer, and a moose cow with two calves so that was cool.
Rainy and cool most of the way up to Ft Nelson, today’s destination. Which I arrived at by noon. Stopped at Timmy Horton’s for a chai and pasty and met Patricia and Ryan, a couple from Fairbanks, who were riding their new Harleys back home from the dealer in Daytona Beach, FL. They convinced me to keep going so I pushed on.



My poor FJR feeling out of place with all these GS/ADVs around. This would be a recurring theme...



Rainy and temps in the 50s continued for a couple hours. Finally warmed and dried out as I got to Muncho Lake (see selfie with lake in the background). Beautiful lake and a great spot to get out the drone. Unfortunately, this would be the last flight of my 9 year old DJI Mavic Pro. It now rests on a cliffside, looking over the lake. A fitting end and resting place for a piece of tech that has served me well for all those years. And maybe an excuse to finally get a new one.



Stopped at Liard River Lodge for the night and snagged a cabin (“shed with a bed”) for the night. Had dinner at the restaurant and walked across the highway to the provincial park to enjoy the hot springs for a bit.








Side note - somebody knew when they designed this slide, right? I mean, come on....

[escapefjrtist]

Excellent report...walked right by that slide last year and didn't notice the artistic license!

~G