Well, we made it back safely - I guess we said all the appropriate prayers along the way because they were certainly answered.
I think it was the bourbon and coupla IPA's ..
The whole trip was a bit surreal, terrific life experience. The remoteness of the wilderness, friendly people along the way and sheer beauty of the surroundings were just incredible.. not to mention we had perfect weather for the 4 critical days of the Haul road.
Some notable highlights - not necessarily in chronological order:
On the day of Mark's 50th birthday heading north, we met a guy and his dog at the intersection of the Elliot and Dalton highways - hitching to Manley Hot Springs. He was waiting for a ride and as we got to talking with him, he pulled out a set of bagpipes that he seemed to produce out of nowhere and played a song. We found out that we shared the same Scottish heritage when Mark mentioned that He and I were "Campbells" (from Mom's side). Once he found this out, he proceeded to play the following tune on his pipes entitled "Campbell's Farewell to Red Castle":
It was awesome - Mark and I really appreciated it - and a great gift to Mark on his birthday. Not to mention Mom will love this!
Here is Dug (below) at a restaurant in Healy doing his best Dumb and Dumber impression:
I think it was the bourbon and coupla IPA's ..
While we are at it, here is what Dug had for dinner that night:
Nice.. luckily Paul had to room with him that night!
Here is a picture of me standing in the Artic ocean right after I took the polar bear plunge into the water along with Dug and Paul. Notice the ice in the water on the horizon.. it was incredibly cold - and i have my special "Head of the Tomahawk" crew shirt on.. Go Glastonbury Crew!
Dug and I had a picturesque ride on Saturday - when we parted from Mark, Dan and Paul - 370 miles from Fairbanks to Anchorage. It tooks us about 7 hours and made it back to the motorcycle store to drop off the bikes for shipping. Had a great dinner in Anchorage and flew home Sunday AM.
Great trip and a lot of work and concentration to be as safe as you can be. Will post more re-cap pictures in a bit.
Brian
1 comment:
I've really enjoyed reading about your adventures. Surreal? You were riding along in the middle of vast emptiness and this guy is hitchhiking. You're on motorcycles so you can't give him a ride but you stop to talk because you haven't seen a human being in hours. And he pulls out bagpipes? No big deal, happens all the time around here.
What was the brown animal that walked behind Mark and the bagpiper? A grizzly? Were they following you?
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