Anchorage - Fairbanks - Dawson City - Calgary


    In 1999 I made my longest tour yet from July 4th to August 19th, going from Anchorage, Alaska to Calgary, Alberta. I biked on the Parks Hwy from Anchorage to Fairbanks, passing the 6194 m high peak of Mt McKinley and then down the Richardson Hwy to Tok. From here I biked the Taylor Hwy to Chicken (pop. 25 people), and across the AK/YK border via Top of the World Hwy to Dawson City and the Klondike goldfields.
    Then I went on the Klondike Hwy south to Whitehorse, and west on the Alaska Hwy to Haines Jct, and over the Chilkat Pass to Haines on the Pacific coast. I took the ferry to Skagway, admiring some of the higest coastal mountains in the world, and then up over White Pass, which many hopeful stampeders had to cross during the goldrush days.
    I joined the Alaska Hwy again and went east to Watson Lake and then south on the Cassiar Hwy, passing through the beautiful vast wilderness of British Columbia. After a short turnoff to Hyder AK and the impressive Salmon Glacier, I returned east on the Yellowhead Hwy through Prince George and Jasper. I then went across the Rocky Mountains, through Jasper and Banff National Parks on the beautiful Icefields Parkway, and finally arrived in Calgary after 5250 kilometers.



    Table of Contents
    Day From - To Distance
    1 Anchorage - Portage Lake 97.3 km
    2 Portage Lake - Park/Glenn Hwy Jct 158.2 km
    3 Park/Glenn Hwy Jct - Trapper Creek Trading Post 129.1 km
    4 Trapper Creek Trading Post - Carlo Creek Lodge 175.8 km
    5 Carlo Creek Lodge - Nenana 131.7 km
    6 Nenana - North Pole 110.3 km
    7 North Pole - Cherokee Lodge 147.4 km
    8 Cherokee Lodge - Tok 159 km
    9 Tok - Chicken 127 km
    10 Chicken - Dawson City 180 km
    11 Sightseeing in Dawson City -
    12 Dawson City - McQuesten River 130 km
    13 McQuesten River - Pelly Crossing 115 km
    14 Pelly Crossing - Twin Lakes 151.8 km
    15 Twin Lakes - Whitehorse 120.7 km
    16 Whitehorse - Otter Falls Cutoff 117 km
    17 Otter Falls Cutoff - Million Dollar Falls 122.8 km
    18 Million Dollar Falls - Haines 156.3 km
    19 Haines - Carcross 117.3 km
    20 Carcross - Mukluk Annies Salmon Bake 142.5 km
    21 Mukluk Annies Salmon Bake - Morley River Lodge 52.1 km
    22 Morley River Lodge - Walkers Continental Divide 89 km
    23 Walkers Continental Divide - Jct37 - Watson Lake - Jct 37 164.9 km
    24 Jct37 - Jade City 123 km
    25 Jade City - Dease Lake 119.5 km
    26 Dease Lake - Willow Ridge Resort 140 km
    27 Willow Ridge Resort - Bell II 107.7 km
    28 Bell II - Meziadin Jct 100.8 km
    29 Meziadin Jct - Stewart - Salmon Glacier - Stewart 159 km
    30 Stewart - Meziadin Jct 60.3 km
    31 Meziadin Jct - Yellowhead Hwy Jct 169.8 km
    32 Yellowhead Hwy Jct - Telkwa 161.8 km
    33 Telkwa - Burns Lake 135.7 km
    34 Burns Lake - Brookside Resort 160 km
    35 Brookside Resort - Purden Lake 133.2 km
    36 Purden Lake - McBride 155 km
    37 McBride - Mt Robson 86 km
    38 Mt Robson - Mt Kerkeslin 128 km
    39 Mt Kerkeslin - Wilcox Creek 87.1 km
    40 Wilcox Creek - Mosquito Creek 105.2 km
    41 Mosquito Creek - Banff 98.5 km
    42 Banff - Calgary 144.3 km
    Total 5270 km
    Average 128,5 km/day



    Day 1 Anchorage - Portage Lake

    I was looking out of the window down on the gorgeous St. Elias Mountains covered in snow and carved by huge glaciers, wondering what to do just in case my bicycle didn't show up in Anchorage... It was very relaxing sitting in the dark plane and having three seats all for myself. The captain said that they just had a small earthquake this morning in Anchorage. I was thinking about the big 9.2 earthquake they had in 1964, and tried to imagine the forces causing the mountains below me to rise. As the plane descended along Turnagain Arm I spotted the highway as a tiny grey line - it looked so vulnerable, and yet it was going to carry me all the way to Calgary, some 5000 km away. A distance this plane could travel in 5 hours, but for me it would take more than a month.
    I arrived in Anchorage at midnight on the 4th of July. It was a clear and warm summer evening, and it was still twilight. I got hand of my bags and tried to locate my bicycle. What a releif I felt when I finally got it, still enclosed in the protective cardboard case. I found a less crowded place near the exit to the streets, and started to mount the pedals and turn the handlebars back in place. I was finished around 1.00 am, and while loading my bags on the bike, I realized that this was it! I was in Alaska, I had 7 weeks to spend and I could go anywhere I liked! My plan was to start with a small trip on Seward Hwy to the Portage Glacier some 100 km from Anchorage, so I grabbed my bible of a guidebook, The Milepost, and found a campground 35 km down the Seward Hwy. I started pedalling, and with every avenue going east-west and every street going north-south it was no trouble finding the highway. I soon got to the outskirts of the City and entered Chugach State Park where I saw the first bear warning sign.
    Around 2.00 am I took a long break as it was quite dark now. I enjoyed the tranquillity while overlooking Turnagain Arm and thinking of James Cook who came here in the 18th century to discover that this small arm of the Pacific Ocean was a dead end and so he had to turn his ship around again, thereby the name Turnagain Arm. One and a half hour later I continued along the Seward Hwy while I looked for tidal waves, which can rise to 2-3 meters here bacause of the narrowing of the passage for the water as it enters Turnagain Arm. Around 3.30 am it was dawn and the peaks of the towering mountains on the other side of the water got a reddish glow in the morning sun.

    Sunrise in Turnagain Arm. The trees in the foreground have died because of salt water, reaching their roots when Alaska got hit by a huge 9.2 earthquake in 1964. The earthquake tipped the entire southern Alaska and thereby lowered some of the this area below sea level.

    Portage Lake scattered with ice chunks from the nearby Portage Glacier. I arrived here around 9:00 AM after having biked the 97 kms from Anchorage during the night.
    This is mosquito country! Carlo Creek RV Park near Nenana River.

    Nenana River Valley. Here the Parks Hwy, going from Anchorage to Fairbanks, runs along the Nenana River.

    Parks Hwy, AK

    Parks Hwy just west of Fairbanks. When I passed the 6200 m peak of Mt. McKinley it was hidden by clouds. But from this point, looking south, I had a clear view of it, from at distance of more than 300 kms! Unfortunately the photo is a little overexposed - McKinley was right over my saddle.

    Looking north from the same place as above. In the horizon is Kokrines Hills 250 kms away..

    		 My tent on the camground in North Pole, photographed at 1:00 AM. North Pole is a small town a little southeast of Fairbanks, celebrating Christmas all the year around...

    This was my most northernly camp, and as you can see it doesn't really get dark here.

    Construction near Tok. No pavement, just gravel and rocks for 20 km. This is not uncommon on the northern highways.

    Alaska Hwy near Tok

    Taylor Hwy. This 100 km gravel/mud road is one of only two road connections between Alaska and Canada and connects Alaska Hwy with Top of the World Hwy, and ultimately Dawson City.

    Taylor Hwy, this is truly a remote place on Earth. From here and north to the Bering Sea is 1000 kms of dense forest and tundra - no houses, no roads!

    Taylor Hwy again. This is a very bad road. Chicken is the only community along the road (pop. 25 ). After crossing the Canadian border the road is rougly paved, but it still took me 14 hours to bike the 180 kms from Chicken to Dawson City.

    Yukon River.

    5th Avenue in Dawson City. When gold was discovered in Bonanza Creek, people from all over the world rushed to the Klondike area. Dawson City, located at the confluence of the Yokon and Klondike Rivers, once had over 40.000 citizens during the gold rush days of 1898-1901.

    Looking north near the junction of Alaska Hwy and Haines Hwy.
    Black bear on Haines Hwy. I watched 9 black bears and 2 grizzly's on the tour.

    Three Guardsmen Mtn. This pass was once guarded by the Indians, along with the famous Chilkoot Pass which the many stampeders had to cross during their journey to the northern goldfields.

    On the lonely Cassiar Hwy (Hwy 37) in British columbia. This magnificent road runs through one of the most remote and desolated areas in the world for nearly 800 kms, without any intersections.

    Meziadin Lake, on the intersection of Cassiar Hwy and Stewart Hwy.

    Bear Glacier seen from Stewart Hwy. (The road from Hwy 37 to Stewart AK).

    30 kg Chum Salmon in the clear waters of Fish Creek, Hyder AK

    Black bear in Fish Creek, Hyder AK.

    The enormous Salmon Glacier far above Fish Creek, Hyder AK

    On the way to Mt. Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies.

    Black bear at Moose Lake, BC. This bear was only 5 m away, standing in the bushes on right side of the road.

    Atabascha Glacier in Banff Natl. Park, AB. You can walk on this glacier, but be careful - people have died in the crevasses.
    Chephren Lake in Banff Natl. Park

    Sunset at Mosquito Creek, Icefields Parkway AB.

    Beautiful Peyto Lake in Banff Natl. Park. The lake is fed from a nearby glacier. The pale blue color originates from the cobber minerals washed out of the mountains.


    Rolf Wahl Olsen 2000