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Vancouver, BC to Inuvik NT, June 2018
I am departing From Horseshoe Bay 1st Week of June. Planned arrival to Inuvik, NT is June 21st for the Summer Solstice.
Route - Horseshoe Bay ( Vancouver ) to Lillooet via Duffy Lake Road ( HWY 99 ) - Hwy 97 North to Prince George - Hwy 16 top Kitwanga - Hwy 37 to Watson lake - Hwy 1 to Whitehorse - Hwy 2 to Dawson City - Hwy 5 to Inuvik Return - Hwy 5 to Dawson City - Hwy 9 to Alaska via Top of the World - Hwy 5 to Tetlin Junction - Hwy 1 to Haines Junction - Hwy 3 to Haines and then Ferry to Skagway - Hwy 98 and 2 to Carcross - Hwy 8 and 1 to Watson Lake - Hwy 37 to Kitwanga - Hwy 16 to Prince George - Hwy 97 and 99 back to Horseshoe Bay Total Trip About 8000 Kilometres I am shipping my Enduro Tires to Dawson City for the Dempster Portion. I am open to linking up with portions. Only section I want to at least pair up for is the Dempster due to such a remote area and almost 1600 Kilometres of Gravel / Dirt return. My Ride is BMW R1200GS. Anyone doing the Dempster after the 15th of June, Please message me. |
Might as well make it Vancouver to Tuktoyaktuk. There will be a new gravel road from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk on the Arctic Ocean. They're putting in the finishing touches right now and it's scheduled to open later this year.
Driving to the top of the world: Exploring Canada's new Arctic highway - CBC News - Latest Canada, World, Entertainment and Business News Have a fun trip. |
Sounds like a fun trip.
As long as we're quibbling: no real need to repeat the Duffy Lake/Rt. 99 sections when there are several fun alternatives, notably Highway 1 or Hurley Pass. Same goes for the Cassiar Highway, for which you might substitute either the AlCan route 97 or ferry via Prince Rupert or (better, IMHO) Bella Coola. And don't neglect side trips to, for example, Stuart/Hyder, Kennicott, the Kenai.... Hope that's helpful. Looking forward to hearing more about the new road. Mark |
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http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/...hway-1.3526669 It's not showing on any maps yet, but according to this article will be open this fall 2017, so should be an amazing ride. Fuel might be an issue. We will see. |
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The one tip I can give you for the Dempster, based on my 2013 experience is the following: take a break if it rains! Some sections get really bad when it is wet. I had two days of rain and the road surface got incredibly soft. Looked like they had used clay to build the road. The stuff got slippy like ice and stuck to everything, plus that the trucks leave deep tracks.
So you better have a few spare days in your planning! |
I've been on every road you've described, its going to be an awesome ride. Make sure you have the schedule sorted if you plan on going to skagway from haines, this ferry doesn't run often and its just to get to Juneau and back.
My other piece of advice is to not take the Stuart-Cassier highway up and down, at least take the alaska highway one way, in my opinion muncho lake park is one of the nicest places in canada and there is so much wildlife you will see, sheep, bears, cariboo, buffalo. Camping on the lake is amazing. The trade-off of course will be the boring drive from Fort Nelson to Fort St. John but well worth it in my opinion. I used to live in Whitehorse and spent a lot of time in Dawson City if you have any questions. Its about a 5.5hr drive from Whitehorse to Dawson City and not a lot to see. If you have time, when you go down towards Haines, you can go .5hrs north of Haines Junction and there is a mountain called sheep mountain right by the side of the road, there is a parks office in front of it and you will see Dall Sheep all over the mountain in the summer. There is camping nearby 5 more minutes up the road (provincial campground), free firewood in the yukon! The dempster is a beautiful drive, hopefully the weather co-operates! Please post pictures if you get on the new section north of Inuvik, I don't know anybody that's been up there yet. Cheers Terry |
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Tires
I have ridden all the northern routes PB, Inuvik, Goose Bay, Yellowknife and have multiple trips to AK and the Yukon.
I have ridden a KTM 990 , and a Super Tenere up north . The heavy bikes with a load eat tires. I had 3 flats on the Inuvik trip. Tires are getting better. When I rode to Goose Bay on 2016 from Vancouver, I put on a set of the Mitias E-07 Dakars in Toronto, rode to Goose Bay and did a long northern loop home, the tires are still in good condition and are approaching 12,000 kms. I ran the K-60 Scouts before that and the E-07's outwear them. Watch your speed at the bottom of hills on the Dumpster, the road base doesn't drain well and a dry hill can be greased snot at the bottom . A Scotts Steering stabilizer is a great option for the big heavy bikes , especially those with a 19" front wheel |
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