radeing season, Alaska/western Canada
 

How late in the year is it possible to ride in Alaska and Western Canada. Before the weather closes in for the winter. I’d like to stay in the area in august to late September before riding south to Seattle area in early October. Is this a practical timescale or is it likely that the weather is going to be chasing me out earlier than that.

I live in western canada about half way between nwt and the usa border. There is occasional eve's below freezing anytime after sept 15 and snow usually stays after october 30.Last couple years have been low moisture but "you never know" is the motto up here ,eh...lol

The weather has been wierd in the NW this past year , La nina, it is hard to predict long term, last october was incredible but Alaska can get snow in Sept, be prepared, if you are running knobby tires , bring some short sheet metal screws, you could pop them in the knobs if you get snowed in, it could help get you out of ice ( ala ice racer trick) , remember big distances up north, have fun.
Mike

Thanks you both for the advice.
I guess the message is expect typical unpredictable northern weather!

Biking weather in Northern British Columbia, Alaska Hiway to Whitehorse Yukon .... you are safe till the end of september. Very beautiful time of year when the leaf’s change colour. Warm to very hot during the days, cool to cold during the nights. You can push it to mid october but then better think about heading south. We rode up here last year into november ( days ) but that was an exceptional year.

The most important thing you have to keep in mind when leaving or going through this area in the spring and fall is the mountain passes. Heading south toward Washington from north of Dawson Creek on hiway 97 south you have to go through the Pine Pass or vice versa.

You have about 50 miles of high mountain pass, which goes without saying .. susceptible to snow .. sleet or at least rain. You can wait storms out on either end and if really stuck can have the bike hauled to Prince George where you should be on you way.

These rules also apply coming down the hiway from Whitehorse to Dawson Creek. You may encounter bad weather road condition around mile 800 to Watson Lake mile 600. If the weather is real bad and stays bad you may want to head down the Dease Lake Hiway ... junction just north of Watson Lake straight south to Hazleton then across to Prince George.

Doing this will avoid the mountain passes at Muncho Lake (475) Summit Lake (396) Steamboat Mountain (350) and Pink Mountain (200) these area’s get snow and crappy weather first. As a final note ... I’m not sure what the other fellow meant by long distances. Traveling north up the Alaska can be done in 300 mile intervals getting you into a town with all amenities, with lodges and gas stations in between. If you do get into trouble ... never fear. This is the land of friendly people. We’ll get you to where you going and be happy to see you return.

Crank that throttle

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Murphy