We decided on June 2008 as the best time to do the trip, but had not yet worked out which motorcycle or route to take, or even whether we wanted to reach the northernmost land-navigable point in the USA (Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, at the end of the Dalton Highway or "Haul Road" as it is often referred to), or whether we wanted to attempt the more remote and challenging but shorter overall distance of the northernmost point of Canada at Inuvik, on the notoriously remote but stunning Dempster Highway.
Below, you can see the two choices.
- The USA route to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, via the Dalton Highway
from Dawson City (point "B") in the Yukon, one can carry on north-west into Alaska and up through Fairbanks and on to Prudhoe Bay (Point "C") via the dirt Dalton Highway
- The Canadian route to Inuvik, North Western Territories, via the Dempster Highway
from Dawson City (point "B"), head north-east to Inuvik (point "A") in Canada, via the more remote and challenging dirt Dempster Highway.
Initially, I’d though to ride the more commonly-traveled Dalton Highway (to Prudhoe Bay), as this route was longer and also ends within 8 miles of the actual coast of the Arctic Ocean, which allows a simple bus trip through the restricted, private, mining area to the coast for the obligatory swim in the chilly sea.
However, after reading more about the area, I realized that the Canadian route to Inuvik, while being a shorter route for us, would be rewarded with a trip through the more remote and less-traveled Dempster Highway, and this had tremendous appeal for me.
In the end, we finally decided just a couple of days before leaving Michigan, that we’d do the Dempster Highway to Inuvik! In addition, as time was going to be critical, as I could only take 3 weeks for the entire trip, I decided that it would be wise to head out on the most direct route possible, and thus across Canada rather than head west along the USA and then north and west into the Yukon/NWT area.
We only then had to decide whether we wanted to head up through northern Michigan and around Lake Superior or whether to head West and around Chicago before entering into Canada for the long trek across the continent.
I decided we would head up and around Lake Superior, partly to avoid the high-speed Interstate traffic in the USA, and partly because I’d heard that the road around the Lake was stupendous!
So that was the basic "out" route planned, and now all we had to do was decide what to do on the way back. None of us wanted to simply re-trace our steps, and I’d always wanted to ride the US-93 along the Rocky Mountains, from the Northern Rockies in Canada, down across the US border and then finally for us to head East either along I-94 in the North, or I-80 a little further south.
So, the final route planned (sic!) was going to be SOMETHING like this….
More planning was obviously needed….but not to the point where we had everything scheduled and preplanned to the last stop. THAT was NOT how I wanted to do this trip! We wanted to ride and stop when we felt appropriate (i.e. when our butts demanded it!) or when we saw or found something that needed us to spend some more time there.
Due to very limited budgets, we planned to tent camp as much as possible, with perhaps a night or three at a cheap hotel when necessary, or when we simply felt the need to have a nice shower, do some laundry and rest in a clean, comfy bed!
With the general idea now formulated, and commitment from Mike and Jaryd to join me on the trip now planned for June-July of 2008, all that was left to do was decide which motorcycle to use. Well, that and a million other things, but the bike does seem quite important!
As there would be roughly 1000 miles of dirt road to cover in either northern Alaska or the NWT region, well above the Arctic Circle, and in some very remote areas, our focus for the motorcycles was to have something very reliable, with a great track record for these types of trips, and something economical to purchase and run (remember, I need to buy TWO motorcycles, one for my son and one for me), and something that can handle the various conditions we would likely encounter.
See the section on "The Bikes and Equipment" for more details, or skip directly to the "Day 01" trip log.