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Heading for Dangerous Water
  • Lynyrd
  • Lynyrd

Heading for Dangerous Water

Road Trip to Alaska and back Lue lisää
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  • Matkan aloitus
    5. syyskuuta 2025
  • LynyrdHeading for Dangerous WaterMatkaaja
    Hard to see but except for the road, everything is wheat fields for as far as you can see.

    Wenatchee

    8. syyskuuta, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    Day 4. A day of contrasts.

    Met 6 Canadian motorcyclists at breakfast this morning. They had the pleasure of following last night's storm system to Lolo so got to ride in the rain for several hours. All riding KTM dual sport bikes except for one a bike I haven't heard of before. Two of the guys were doing an oil change on one of the KTMs as it was still in its break in period. Seems that the bike he started with had an issue early in the trip and the KTM dealer where they stopped to get it fixed couldn't get the part needed to fix his bike for three days, so he traded his broken motorcycle for a new one on the showroom floor. They started in Calgary, will ride mostly around Idaho but will end up in Denver where they have a truck and trailer waiting to take them home.

    My ride started in the cool misty mountain air that quickly turned to thick fog. Fortunately the fog lifted after a few miles and I had the road for the first 100 miles to myself. The road was in great shape but still wet from the previous night's rain. The forest was very dense and the road probably only saw the sun during mid day and depending on the time of year probably not at all. The mountain twisty's were fun. The road followed a river all the way to Lewiston where I was greeted by the lovely smell from the pulp mill.

    Turning north and crossing into Washington the landscape quickly changed from forested mountains to rolling hills completely covered by recently harvested wheat fields. I couldn't believe that wheat could be grown and harvested as the hills seemed too steep to safely operate combines without tipping over. The road was fun with lots of sweepers. Later in the afternoon the landscape flattened out and wheat yielded to corn, alfalfa and onions. Further down the road brought apple and peach orchards along with grapes.

    I've been a bit spoiled these last few days. Since leaving Laramie Friday morning I've enjoyed having the roads mostly to myself, one of the benefits of riding blue highways and secondary roads. This afternoon, as the landscape flattened out and the road straightened out the traffic started building until I was in stop and go traffic here in Wenatchee.

    Short day tomorrow.    Lue lisää

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  • LynyrdHeading for Dangerous WaterMatkaaja
    West side of Stevens pass
    The proverbial 3 hour tour

    Edmonds, Wa. End of First Leg

    9. syyskuuta, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

    Day 5 The Longest Short Day

    I rode through the beautiful Cascade mountains today, but unfortunately I didn't get to see very much of them.

    https://stateofwatourism.com/not-to-miss-stops-…

    The rain started on the eastern slope heading up Stevens pass. Not much at first, just enough to sting my face and require wiping my sunglasses occasionally with my glove. I usually ride with my helmet visor up because it is too stuffy if I close it, and it fogs up when it rains. As I got closer to the top there was one of those large road information signs and it was flashing the message "Chains required on all vehicles except all wheel drive"!

    As you can see in one of the pictures Stevens pass is a nice 4 lane road, but only at the top. As the rain increased in intensity the road decreased in width, back down to a twisty two lane road where the white line was the shoulder. I slowed down and could occasionally find a wide spot to pull over to let cars pass. One very encouraging person thought he could make my journey down the hill easier by pulling up behind me as close as he could so that his headlights would light up the road ahead of me. When I finally found a wide spot to pull over and let him pass he continued to offer me encouragement by honking his horn and giving me a friendly wave.

    Google maps said 2 hours 52 minutes. Today they were wrong.    Lue lisää

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  • LynyrdHeading for Dangerous WaterMatkaaja
    Weather in Juneau. Rain, what a surpriseDrybags packed and ready to go.

    Heading to Juneau

    10. syyskuuta, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☀️ 54 °F

    I rented storage for the motorcycle in Edmonds last month. Two weeks ago I received an email from the storage company that the would be repaving the lot and no access would be possible on the 8th and 9th. That worried me because I intended to show up the morning of 10th, put the bike in storage and Uber to the airport from there. When I showed up this morning paving was still going on and initially the lot manager said no admittance! I'm f@$$!!!. I told the manager what I planned, and he remembered talking to me on the phone so said "let's get your bike put away". Hugh sigh of relief on my part till I saw that even though the storage space was big enough for the bike, the door wasn't. The manager said he had a 10x10 the next row over and we had to quickly get there before the paving crew shut that isle down. Just a touch of excitement to start the day but the storage manager really helped me out. In between getting me taken care of, he was dealing with other customers that couldn't get to their units. I would not want his job today. He was a big baseball fan and named most of the world series Rockies team, and Todd Helton is his favorite 1st baseman!Lue lisää

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  • LynyrdHeading for Dangerous WaterMatkaaja
    A picture of the float plane dock in the 50's
    The dock todayde Havilland Otter, built in 1953. One of the few things older than me!Got to fly in the right seat! Best seat in the house1Landing was very smooth. A little unnerving heading straight for a cruise ship.The route we flew

    Floatplane Glacier Tour

    11. syyskuuta, Yhdysvallat ⋅ 🌧 52 °F

    What a cool experience, and a front row seat to boot! It probably doesn't show up in the pictures but we had rainbows pretty much everywhere we looked. It's amazing to see glaciers up close from the air. Flight was about 50 minutes but felt like it was over in just a few minutes.Lue lisää

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  • LynyrdHeading for Dangerous WaterMatkaaja

    Petersburg

    12. syyskuuta, Yhdysvallat ⋅ 🌧 52 °F

    We did finally leave and not even past Juneau we hit 3 ft waves, wind and rain which we would encounter throughout the day. At the start of the trip one of the riders flipped his jet ski leaving him in the water and his jet ski bobbing in the water bottom side up. We would occasionally ride through pockets of sunshine and flattish water only to be hammered by choppy water and heavy rain which when driven into your face at 35 mph stings just a little bit.

    We leave in the morning for Ketchikan with the promise of better weather.    Lue lisää

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  • LynyrdHeading for Dangerous WaterMatkaaja
    Steven Moll, owner of Dangerous Waters and our guide for this trip.A few of the fellow riders.1Sunset at Salmon Bay

    Salmon Falls Alaska

    13. syyskuuta, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    Interesteing day of riding today. Left Petersburg I fog and calm waters. The the fog got denser and the water rougher. Shortly after leaving Petersburg we had to navigate a narrow channel in 50ft visibility. The channel is marked with navigational buoys that transmit a beacon and Steve has nav on his jetski so he led us single file through the 20 mile channel. To make things even more interesting was we weren't the only boats in the channel.

    Fog finally lifted around noon but seas were choppy limiting our progress. At one point I took a lot of water over the bow that took my hat and glasses right off my head. The lanyard saved my glasses but the hat was gone. 30 minutes later while refueling I told Steve I lost my hat. He reached down behind my foot and asked "This one?"

    We cross into Canada tomorrow.    Lue lisää

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  • LynyrdHeading for Dangerous WaterMatkaaja
    The weather system that will be keeping us in port tomorrow
    Prince Rupert Yacht Club MarinaGreen IslandLighthouseSmall lighthouseTaking on fuel,Leaving Salmon Falls, sunshine and flat water!Dock at Salmon FallsSalmon Falls ResortWe had a limited window this morning to cross the Dixon Entrance

    Prince Rupert, British Columbia

    14. syyskuuta, Kanada ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F

    Today we crossed into Canada at the Dixon Entrance. According to Steve, fewer than 100 people have done this on a jet ski
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixon_Entrance

    Timing is everything on the ocean, we had a short window to make the crossing before the small craft and gale warning took effect. You can't get much smaller than a jet ski. The crossing was challenging as the wind was against us and we had 3 to 4 foot waves at one point. After we made the crossing the water gradually laid down and the final 30 miles into Prince Rupert went quickly as we were able to hit speeds in excess of 35 knots.

    During that final run I was looking ahead and at first thought there was a small boat about 200 yards out, but quickly realized it was a whale that quickly disappeared under the surface.

    Day of rest tomorrow as we wait for our next weather window for an early departure Tuesday morning for Shearwater    Lue lisää

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  • LynyrdHeading for Dangerous WaterMatkaaja

    Shearwater

    16. syyskuuta, Kanada ⋅ 🌙 64 °F

    Our day started at 7 as we loaded up into a taxi for the shirt ride to the Prince Rupert Yacht Club where the jet skis were docked for the night. A quick briefing about our route and a prayer is our pre trip routine before getting on the jet skis and starting the day's ride. Today's trip was over 200 miles which required us to stop in Hartley Bay and Kiemtu to take on fuel in addition to what we carry. At Hartley Bay we were informed that the crossing south of us had reported 5 to 8 foot swells and if true we would have to spend the night in Hartley Bay. Steve decided we would take a look to see if we could make it. As we rounded the point you could immediately see the change in conditions but Steve thought it was doable so off we went. The waves were more rollers than chop and even though it was intense it was also kind of fun because if you hit the wave just right you could surf on top of it for second or two. Except for that short section of the ride the rest of the day was spent on calm water and hitting speeds of 40 mph and more.

    Chrck back for the best paatrt of the day, whales!

    As usual, weather is a possible issue tomorrow and we may be in Shearwater for a day or two. More tk    Lue lisää

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  • LynyrdHeading for Dangerous WaterMatkaaja
    As bad as my travel blogs are, I could probably win this!Shearwater was an Canadian Outpost for military Coast watch planesOur hotel.

    Weather Hold in Shearwater

    17. syyskuuta, Kanada ⋅ 🌧 57 °F

    It's raining and overcast here in Shearwater this morning after a gorgeous warm blue sky day yesterday. The rain is not enough to keep us from riding to our next destination of Port McNeill but the ocean conditions in Queen Charlotte Sound between Cape Caution and Port Hardy aren't favorable for small craft. We'll spend the day here relaxing and tomorrow may ride past our originally planned stop in Port McNeill on to Campbell River on Victoria Island, another 100 plus miles down channel.

    Baring any further delays we should be in Edmonds on Sunday afternoon where my motorcycle patiently waits for the ride home.    Lue lisää

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  • LynyrdHeading for Dangerous WaterMatkaaja
    Zoom in, there is a cat in the window watching us.
    Sunrise leaving Campbell RiverJust north of Nanaimo.Look in the distance, you'll see the whale spoutsOur jet skis all lifted up.Our lodging for the nightLuxury compared to our rooms in Shearwater

    Nanaimo

    21. syyskuuta, Kanada ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    Nanaimo is our last port in Canada, Edmonds (Seattle) tomorrow. Today's ride was a bit rough but fun and 5 hours on the water. We spotted whales in the distance and stopped to watch them pass. I also saw a single sea lion popping her head up wondering what all the racket was. I was thinking today that on one hand I'm ready for the this leg of my trip is over but on the other hand I'll miss being on the water. I was thinking that an interesting trip would be from Skagway to Cabo!Lue lisää

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  • LynyrdHeading for Dangerous WaterMatkaaja
    Getting the bike out of storage for the trip home. As much fun as I had on the water, I'm glad to b

    Madras Oregon

    23. syyskuuta, Yhdysvallat ⋅ 🌙 64 °F

    Long day in the saddle, 9 hours but only 350 miles. It took forever to get through Seattle and all it's suburbs. I felt claustrophobic because after riding on the open ocean where you could see horizon to horizon having trees lining the road it felt like riding down a narrow hallway. Entering Mount Rainier National Park and ascending Chinook pass the haze started building and the smell of smoke filled the air. After reaching the summit and crossing into Wenatchee National Forest the smoke obscured the valley below but finally cleared as I got to Natchez where the smokie smell was replaced by the smell of apples and plums as they were being harvested.

    I crossed into Oregon as I crossed over the Columbia River and foolishly passed the gas stations there as the bike was telling me I had over 100 miles to go on the tank. Northern Oregon looked a lot like western Washington with the Hugh wheat fields. Also, there is almost no towns in this part of Oregon but I found gas with about 30 miles left in the tank. Gotta stop doing that!    Lue lisää

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  • LynyrdHeading for Dangerous WaterMatkaaja

    Virginia City, Nevada

    24. syyskuuta, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    Virginia City looks nothing like it did on Bonanza. On the show it was flat but in real life it on the side of a hill.

    Forgot to mention this yesterday, I think I saw sasquatch in Mount Rainier National Park! Was coming around a sharp corner and caught a glimpse of something big. At first thought it was a bear but it was dark yellow, not a normal bear color. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

    Ride through the Oregon Outback today, into northern California and into Nevada.

    In northern California had to stop at a stretch of road being repaved to wait our turn to pass the road crew. The road scholar in the car in front of me decided it was a good time to step out of his car and smoke a cigarette. He stood on the side of the road in the knee high, tinder dry grass while he smoked and flicked his ashes. I was going to take a picture but stupid people don't like their picture taken doing stupid things.

    Going to ride US 50 across Nevada tomorrow    Lue lisää

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