Congdon Creek to Harding Lake: Alaska!!

We continue to see wildlife daily...moose, bear, and today a huge golden eagle and I rode along together for about a quarter mile in the morning. He was just a few hundred feet beside me--pretty incredible. I'm certain he was admiring my DR, which continues to run like a champ. We had stunning mountain views the entire morning as we skirted the St. Elias range. All along the way, we passed massive culverts, huge bridges and the enormous rivers that they crossed. The frost heaves were big, too. More roller coaster fun!



Just before we got to the border, we met 4 guys from Mexico. They had ridden here from 2 hours outside of Mazatlan, and were headed in the same direction we were. All except one were on BMW GS 1200's. The odd man out was on a KTM 990, Mark's dream bike.

We stopped for a late lunch in Tok, Alaska. As I was pulling away from the gas station, a guy on a DR 650 pulled up behind me. I went over to our lunch spot, parked my motorcycle, turned back to look at the guy, and walked back over to chat with my fellow Suzuki rider. As I looked closer, I saw that he had a puppy...

Meet Ross and "Keet," his new traveling companion that he picked up in Talkeetna. Ross had taught himself to ride a motorcycle one year ago, and now, 10,000 miles later, was on his way back to Philadelphia after a dream trip to the Arctic. He could not resist the pup, and Keet willingly rode on Ross' chest, in a backpack worn backwards. I told Ross to hop to it back to Philly, as Keet was part Mastif and would soon outgrow the backpack.

The rest of the day was fabulous. We finished the Alaska Highway at Delta Junction and started on the Richardson Highway, along the Tanana River. Just down the road, Denali came into view. I was blown away. Lots of hootin' and hollerin' over the autocom.



Stayed at Harding Lake campground, just 44 miles outside of Fairbanks. We had ridden a gorgeous stretch of road over the last couple of days.

Odometer: 4411 miles