On The Road – True North Alaska (Pt. 4) Back to News List
As we head south towards Chena Hot Springs crossing the mighty Yukon again and tackling the Atigun pass, this time through an Arctic storm, we gradually feel the Alaskan summer sun on our backs as it provides a much welcome relief to the harsher Arctic conditions we just experienced. In Chena we have the opportunity to relax for 2 nights and bath in the hot springs and reflect on the fun and inspiring conquering of the 1,000 dirt miles of the Dalton Highway.
The weather has turned exceptionally warm and after a couple of nights relaxing which included a rest day off the bike we head further south towards the scenically located Clearwater Mountain Lodge located on the renowned Denali Highway. Here we soak up the sun and the scenery and enjoy a couple of beers in the nearby bar. The blueberry mojitos were also a big hit.
Back on the bike again the next day we experience one of the highlights of Alaska which included the magnificent 90 mile dirt ride into the old copper mining village of Kennecott and McCarthy located deep within the stunning Wrangell – St Elias National Park with its towering peaks, glaciers and abandoned copper mines. Everywhere we look there is overwhelming scenery.
As we reach the final days of our expedition we head towards the stunning Valdez located on the shores of Prince William Sound and surrounded by the tallest coastal mountains on earth. Perhaps known for all the wrong reasons due to the infamous oil spill on good Friday in 1989, there appears little resemblance of those images as Valdez provides one of most amazing post card settings we have seen.
To top it all off we experience what is arguably the highlight of the tour as we take a boat trip on the Prince William Sound where we see a majestic and awesome display of whales breaching on our way to view the Meares Glacier – a highlight in itself where we witness massive chunks of ice breaking off into the sea.
As we head back to Anchorage via the Majestic Valley, the spirits are high on our final nights of the trip as the serious side of the riding is all but complete and the group enjoy many drinks and laughs. The comradery is palpable as we share the many highlights and challenges of a truly unique and magnificent experience of riding around Alaska
If you’d like to follow our tracks, you can do so via our Garmin inReach Mini 2 device at this link: https://share.garmin.com/KY33B
Alaska has a well-deserved reputation as perhaps THE greatest wilderness of North America. If you’ve never been, this is one place you have to see for yourself – find out the details of our True North Alaska Tour here. Hopefully you yourself will be on the road with us next time!
