Alaska-Yukon Tour AYT1801
20 Jul 2018
Back in Anchorage! As usual, time was flying on this tour...it seems like we started just a few days ago. 2500 miles through Alaska and Yukon- and the final riding day had plenty of new highlights for us! In the morning we had a couple of stunning views of North America‘s highest mountain, Denali! Riding-wise the final highlight was definitely the ride over Hatcher Pass - not very high (<4,000ft), but extremely scenic!
The perfect end for a great tour with our new friends from Australia, Europe and the USA!
Rest day in Dawson City, Yukon...after one week of riding, we definitely deserve a break! But in a beautiful region like this, you really have to ride even on a rest day. So four of us took off to explore the gold mines in the area, including the „Discovery Claim“, where the first gold was found in 1896!
A scenic gravel road lead us back to Dawson, leaving enough time for a walk through the old gold mining town!
The day began with blueberry pancakes - the perfect start for an incredible day! In the morning we split up in two groups- one going for a helicopter flight landing on top of a glacier, the other group going for flightseeing into Glacier Bay National Park. Crystalclear blue skies, white glaciers - words can’t describe the beauty!
And the following ride back into the Yukon Territory was just as spectacular! White Pass, Tagish Lake, Carcross and finally Whitehorse were the ingredients for a very memorable riding day!
We are leaving Alaska today - Yukon is our destination! Under a clear blue sky we headed south on the famous Alaska Highway. After a short, but amazingly beautiful stop at the Tetlin Refuge, we crossed the border to Canada. Our first lunch in Canada was accompanied by the soccer semifinal between England and Croatia (1:2) - what a great start into this beautiful province (or territory to be exact). A gigantic mountain range and Yukon‘s largest lake led us to today’s destination, Haines Junction. And evenings in Alaska can be quite warm, so we could eat outside on the patio, in bright daylight and sunshine at 9pm!
Paperwork is done, the bikes are ready - and so are we! Our international group from Australia, Czech Republic, Italy and USA is on its way to discover Alaska and its Canadian neighbor Yukon. After leaving Anchorage we followed the Matanuska valley. The river took us all the way to the huge glacier which gave valley and river its name! And we saw our first moose - what a start. After lunch we continued south towards Valdez, the town at the southern end of the Trans-Alaska-Pipeline! Here we stay overnight, we‘re ready for dinner!
Summer in Alaska is short - let‘s ride!
Just one more day until our international group will get together to explore this magical part of the world. Alaska, Yukon, the gold rush and last but not least North America‘s highest mountain are waiting for us!