Yea, I guess it's a bit stern but it is well merited. Before going up, the visitor's center people in Dawson warned me that 3 days earlier, a group of riders encountered a storm and the injured had to be HeliVac'd out and the bikes trucked out. This was one of many stories I got before heading North... and then I encountered two motorbike accidents and one flipped pickup enroute. One poor guy on his GS wiped out at this notorious dip in the road (plumits into the valley then goes right back up...steep) and ended up slaming into a signpost off the 3m side, only to have his bike follow him through... 2 broken ribs and back south...this happened 1 hour before I reached the dip on my way back, the rain/road was scary.


I did the Trans-Labrador Highway all the way to Goose Bay from Montreal in the early spring of the same year...I went to get ready for the Dempster. It was mid May and very cold...and wet...again. I left Lab City as the sun was setting to reach Churchill and hit rain...the road was just as bad as the Dempster in the rain...without the hills. The only cop on the road stopped me for being an idiot, but let me press on.


Actually, Quebec's Hwy 389 from Baie-Comeau to the Lab Border was definetely my favorite part...maybe because it was sunny on that stretch. But the curves and scenery was fantastic. I was heading back up there this May but there was still snow on the Hwy itself. Maybe next spring...there is another Quebec Hwy that goes to the James Bay then to the center of the province which is suppossed to be just as good.

I met this group a week or so later crossing the border into the States (at least, I hope it's not too common for riders to require medivac off the Dempster). They were riding big, heavily-laden GS's with street-oriented tires, and they described the guy who wiped out as having been going far too fast for conditions. These might be important clues.

On the other hand, they also described conditions as being ridiculously slick and dangerous---far worse than the usual northern clay and salt mixture, which is (in my estimation) plenty bad enough. They said this was due to the unexpected weather in combination with some recent roadwork---three inches of clay freshly spread, then rained on before it got compacted---and that this would not be normal for the Dempster.

They were quite shaken, and had indeed had had their bikes trucked through the bad section following their friend being medivac-ed with a broken back. If any of that group is present, maybe they'll chime in (I'm the KLR rider who led you through the back roads after the border crossing). I'm still planning to make it up the Dempster at some point, and the question of whether those conditions are normal or extraordinary has some bearing.

Enjoy,

Mark

Small World!!

Apparently last year's summer was the worse in decades up in that area.

I hit 3 km of that fresh stuff in the rain as well...i think road resurfacing is fairly common.

thanks for the tips - i'm about to head that direction from texas in 2 days and though i've read a ton about traveling up the dempster, it seems that the more prepared, the better.

glad you made it through okay!

Being on a Ural, have you considered swapping tyres to Heidenau K37s?

They are the right size and weight rating for the Ural and, having seen them in the flesh, do give you loads more grip in loose conditions, whilst being entirely road legal. They also last longer on the pusher (I get about 3000 miles from my Russian tyre):

__________________
Adventure: it's an experience, not a style!
(so ride what you like, but ride it somewhere new!)

funny you should mention that - i just got off the phone with a dealer who is going to send me one (just for my pusher) to coincide when i get to whitehorse... good advice!

I'll be interested to see what you think as these are tyres I would ultimately like to get. However, although one is cheap, 3 is less so, so I like first hand accounts!!

Sorry to N.B-F for my initial thread hijack!

Back to Dempster, Folks, and let not one of my posts stand in your way!!

__________________
Adventure: it's an experience, not a style!
(so ride what you like, but ride it somewhere new!)