Touring - Riding to the Great North in 2006

I am thinking seriously of riding from Seattle to Inuvik in 2006 and had a few fundamental questions. The Cassiar highway or the Alaskan highway for instance? What is the ideal time to arrive in Inuvik with regard to weather, minimizing bugs, north bound RV traffic, etc... I have riden Paris Brest Paris a couple of times and done a lot of long distance riding so I have a reasonable base. Any additional thoughts? Thank you so much for your help !

In 2005 another cyclist named Jim Oliver will be going on another segment of his Cross Canada adventure. He's finishing the east-west-east-west segment this year. Next year he starts his South-North segment heading north from Chetwynd to Inuvik.

I'll have to drop him a note to find out some of the answers to your questions since he is on tour right now. Here's what I do know.

He plans to leave Chetwynd, BC, Canada around July 1 and be back before the ground starts getting frost around Aug 20.

He mentioned that at least one of the roads up there is dirt and when it rains you may have to wait it out a day or two. Apparently there are government camping areas roughly 100 km apart.

I think he mentioned bugs having a short life and being viscious as a consequence.

I'll drop him a message.

~Jamie N
www.bicycletouring101.com

Thank you Jaime. It is a year away so there is no particular rush but it would be great to get some first hand perspectives !
All the best,

pat

I rode up to Alaska in 1998 from Missoula, MT to Tok. I used the Cassiar road which was partially paved, somewhat. From Seattle the Cassiar is the only reasonable route up that side of BC. I also rode a second trip in 2000, taking the ferry up and biking back to RI. See http://www.krabach.info for the link. I had planned to go up to Inuvik also, but ran out of time if I was going to cross Canada and not get hit by cold weather. Count on about 2-3 weeks from Dawson to Inuvik alone. You dont say if you are going to bike back. I would suggest the ferry back to Bellingham. The best ferry ride I have taken ( taken twice, down on the 1998 trip, up on the 2000 trip) As far as weather, get a copy of the MilePost at your local bookstore. It has all the information you need for traveling up BC, Yukon, and Alaska. It has info on ferry scheduled, weather, lodging, and camping. I carried sections I needed in 1998 and the whole thing for part of 2000, chucking sections as I finished them or pass them by. It is your bible up there. It weighs 2 pounds, ugh. The 1998 trip I followed the Adventure Cycle route which is not given out but it the obvious way from Missoula. The Cassiar was muddy after rain storms but not really bad. Several days rain could be a problem. The roads are treated with Calcium Chloride to harden the dirt/clay surface. It is corrosive as are all salts. If the road slurry was not bad enough, when cars and trucks (big trucks) pass a cloud of gray mist covers everything. A real mess. I would just take a lay over day when that happened. Fortunately it was only a couple of times and at either nice campgrounds or my a lake. All in all, it was a grand tour, both of them. And above all this is trip is not a race, but something to be savored at a touring pace.

Or find the MilePost here. (http://www.themilepost.com/)

FYI - - June 2005 was one of the wettest months in history in southern BC and July was one of the wettest in north central BC. For much of the past decade - the interiors of BC and the Yukon have been far wetter than climate normals indicate. Maybe 2006 will be a dry year - but I wouldn't count on it. I've biked up to Alaska, the Yukon, the NWT, and northern BC seven of the past ten years - and it's been really wet, wet, wet.

I don't like the Alaska Highway any more. It's been widened and straightened over the last decade and has lots of traffic - - esp. mondo RVs. It used to wind around hills and streams and lakes but now cuts across the landscape like a giant airport runway - - really bad coming down to the Liard River. The Stuart Cassiar is about 90% paved now - but the pavement is often rough. Still it is a much better route.

The Dempster will be dusty if it's dry and slimy with caliche if it's wet. I'd go with the former if I had the choice. Just wear a bandana bandito style. If you can change your daily bio-rhythms bike mostly in the evening and early morning since there is nearly 24 hours of light in June and July. Take a short nap after midnight and a longer snooze at midday. But be prepared for lots of mosquitos and even more black flies. A head net is a wise addition to your gear - plus another bandana to flick across your shoulders at regular intervals. Count on a few hundred swarming about you and just plan on getting used to them.

You know that Inuvik isn't on the coast - you have to take a puddle-jumper plane to Tuktoyaktuk. Also, there's a pricey shuttle bus than runs three days a week to Whitehorse that I've heard about - never taken. I second the recommendation about the Alaska ferry - very nice with lots of cool, laid-back folks. I always ride north and fly/bus/ferry back south - - but there's no reason you can't do it the other way. The tundra has more time to dry out if you hit the far north in late summer - but then forest fires can be a problem with smoky days and limited visibility.

Just a few observations - have a good ride. - - J

Hi Jamawani -- I'm planning on finishing the Alaska hwy in 2006, and then on up to Tuk. Question: If you did not take the bus back to Dawson or Whitehorse, how did you get back?

Howdy -

You can fly for about the same price as the bus/shuttle.
http://www.mgmbusservices.ca/
https://www.flyairnorth.com/servlet/AvailableFlightsServlet
AirNorth had reasonable one-way fares to places in the Yukon and NWT.
Be aware that service is not daily and can change because of all sorts of reasons - especially weather.
Also be patient and don't have tight connections in your destination since they run on "Northern Time".

I connected with a bus from Whitehorse to Skagway and then took the Alaska Marine Highway.
The AMH also runs on "Northern Time" - but is certain to leave on time if YOU are running late.
The bus service was operated by Grey Line Tours - you might have to search the web.
CanadianNorth has jet service to Edmonton and connections to major Canadian airports.

Best - J

Hi, the cassiar highway is a beautiful road, more direct and less traffic though I believe that it has more gravel sections than the alaska hwy. once you get up to watson lake, the roads are great up until you hit the dempster hwy which is a gravel/dirt highway that stretches 700+ km to Inuvik. This highway is probably the most difficult part of the journey due to remoteness. I know lots of cars have trouble with flats going up because the gravel can be quite sharp, but a bike may be better for that. it does start to get cold at night in mid-late august (this year it was -8 one night around august 15th) so it really depends what you like more/less. Bugs are bad in mid summer for sure, but when you're on your bike they shouldn't be that bad due to the wind. Hope everything goes well for you!

Just curious ... have you done any other 1200Ks besides PBP? Also were you there in 2003?


As for minimizing bugs ... up here in Canada, the only time that there will be no bugs is between about the end of September to the end of April ... while there is snow on the ground, and while the air temperature still drops below freezing at least once a day. The rest of the time, there will be bugs.