Tuktoyaktuk Northwest Territory second attempt

[Cycledude]

Today-Sunday we took a ride to the Yukon Wildlife Preserve, took a bus ride through it and got to see lots of wildlife, Elk-Bison-Lynx-Bighorn sheep-Muskox-Mountain Goats-Caribou and Moose, the bus stopped many times so the lady could explain a lot of stuff about all the different animals. It cost about $50 for 2 people and the tour was about 1 hour and 45 minutes, there were about 15 other people on the bus.

 

[patrickg450]

So are you headed back south or still gong north?

 

[Cycledude]

So are you headed back south or still gong north?

Heading south. Managed to buy a new rear tire this morning at Yukon Yamaha in Whitehorse, it’s a street tire but guess I was lucky to get any tire so I’m happy. We are hoping to ride through Whistler

 

[patrickg450]

cool bro, stay safe!

 

[Cycledude]

Yesterday we stopped in Iskut to visit the wrecker owner-operator, he owns a few ATV’s and took us on a ride to the top of a mountain with a fantastic view it was great ! He is hoping to retire soon and sell the business, he bought a house in Costa Rica and invited us to come down for a visit and some fishing next winter.
Here is a picture of a cabin on his property that he let us use for free last night , his wife made us a very good supper with moose, that’s the first time I ever eat moose and it was excellent, she also made us breakfast this morning. They are a fantastic couple that have taken care of over 150 foster children and even adopted a bunch, at one time they had 12 kids living with them.
Sorry I don’t know what the problem is but once again I am not able to post pictures on this website, maybe I will have to try again tomorrow.

 

[Cycledude]

Arrived home a few days ago, 9,352 total miles, 26 days, the only real problem I had was the 3 flat tires. Tuktoyaktuk was the second longest motorcycle trip I’ve ever been on and by far the most gravel roads. 1,200 miles of gravel, lots of it was very easy but there were also plenty of very dangerous stretches, lots of folks wind up crashing up there, I would advise anyone making the decision to attempt Tuktoyaktuk to be very careful up there. I’m glad we were successful but very many folks aren’t so lucky.
My cellphone is iphone7 on Verizon and the service was pretty lousy data was especially bad and often non existent. My friend has T-Mobile and it worked probably 10 times better than Verizon In Canada.

 

[Cycledude]

Will try posting a few pictures

 

[Cycledude]

 

[Cycledude]

 

[Cycledude]

 

[Cycledude]

Looks like a very interesting museum at Fort Peck but it was closed the day I was there

 

[tntmo]

Well done. Awesome feeling to ride to the Arctic Ocean! I had Sprint a few years ago when I went up there, had decent service throughout Canada and even up the Dempster in places. Great cell service in Tuk, of all places!

I wouldn't rate the road itself as difficult/challenging but the fact that it's so desolate adds a lot to the risk factor. It's not place that you want to get messed up.

 

[Cycledude]

Well done. Awesome feeling to ride to the Arctic Ocean! I had Sprint a few years ago when I went up there, had decent service throughout Canada and even up the Dempster in places. Great cell service in Tuk, of all places!

I wouldn't rate the road itself as difficult/challenging but the fact that it's so desolate adds a lot to the risk factor. It's not place that you want to get messed up.

We were mostly pretty lucky, the road conditions can definitely change very quickly from smooth almost like blacktop to very slick because the gravel can turn to grease when it gets wet and that’s exactly what happened to us a few times. Sometimes it goes from nice hardpack to complete marbles. One of the River crossings was very steep and slippery with mud and how neither of us managed to crash seems pretty amazing the boat operators told us lots of motorcycles wipe out there. All I’m really trying to do is warn some unexpecting folks to be very aware of all the possible dangers.

 

[tntmo]

We were mostly pretty lucky, the road conditions can definitely change very quickly from smooth almost like blacktop to very slick because the gravel can turn to grease when it gets wet and that’s exactly what happened to us a few times. Sometimes it goes from nice hardpack to complete marbles. One of the River crossings was very steep and slippery with mud and how neither of us managed to crash seems pretty amazing the boat operators told us lots of motorcycles wipe out there. All I’m really trying to do is warn some unexpecting folks to be very aware of all the possible dangers.

For sure! The trip up was amazing for me. Road conditions were as close to perfect as is likely to happen. There was supposed to be three days clear skies, but as weather is likely to do, it changed. By the time I got to Tuk and set up my tent the forecast was rain for the next 24 hours. I had read reports of people getting stuck there for 3 or 4 days because the road was really soft and the mud was almost impossible to get through.
After sleeping for about four hours I headed south through light sprinkles. After a food stop in Inuvik it started to rain more. The road did turn very greasy like you said. Slowed way down, hoping to make it to Eagle Plains but saw an abandoned looking shed on the side of the road and set up camp there after sliding around for 30 minutes.

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't mind doing the trip again. Need to take a bit more time maybe, I rushed it because of the rain and a deadline in the states. It happens.