Day 15 Skagway, AK to Tok, AK

Day 15 - Tuesday, July 14/2009
Starting Location: Skagway, AK
Ending Location: Tok, AK
Distance Travelled: 472 miles or 765 km
Distance Travelled to date: 5252 miles or 8512 km

Like yesterday, we would experience some of the worst road conditions and also some beautiful scenery as We started off by ferry from Skayway, AK on the Alaska Marine Highway to the Haines AK. The ferry ride was a nice change as we went up a fiord, seeing waterfalls and a distant view of a whale. Got to Haines and Geordon went to a hammer museum while I cleaned up my bike and checked oil. tire pressure, etc. Upon leaving Haines, saw magnificent mountins and glacier as we drove along the Haines Highway on our way to Tok. The road was impeccable with nice curves and grat road surface. As we got to Haines Junction, the landscape really changed and as the mountains were in the background, we were in a large plain of treed forests. Once we left Haines Junction, the roads really deteriorated and the temperature started to climb to about 28 Celcius. Roads were paved, then hit sections of loose and hard packed gravel and then areas damaged by permafrost that causes the road surface to heave and become very bumpy. Gravel areas were extremely dusty. Not a vey pleasant ride as all the poor road conditions were here. We want to get to Tok as it will make tomorrows ride more relaxing and there is absoultely nothing in this area except for strungy trees (out of fairness, our visibility of the area was reduced by a haze from forest fires, but there still is not much to see). Reached Tok and had supper at Fast Eddys. a place recommended earlier. Stayed at the Snowshoe Fine Arts Motel as we really needed a place to rest after getting up so early and driving thru some terrible roads.

Gas:
Haines, AK $2.969/gal 4.7 gal $12.09 total US
Haines Junction, YT $1.199/li 13.01 litres $15.60 total
No Where, YT, $1.239/li 6.06 litres $7.51 total
Beaver Creek, YT $1.199/li 9.28 litres $11.12 total

Snowshoe Fine Arts Motel, Tok, AK, $105 US with wifi

Haines Hwy was impeccable for riding. Excellent surface, nice curves, beautiful scenery. Alaksa Highway from Haines Junction was hard packed gravel with spots of loose gravel and very dusty. On small stretches that were paved, permafrost heaved the road causing very bumpy, rolling conditions. A lot of patches of pavement. Once in Alaska, the conditions greatly improved and the road conditions from Beaver Creek to Tok was excellent, nicely paved with very few permafrost issues.

Temperature was cool on the ferry, but from Haines, it was on it's way to 28 C.