Day 11, Deadhorse, Alaska. Most northern point in North America accessible by vehicle.

I unloaded the bike of all camping gear and unnecessary things and left them in a hotel storage room. We were out on the road by 0500. We gassed up at The Hill Top truck stop 23 minutes down the road as Jeff had been there before and besides gas they had good food. Only they changed their hours in the last 7 yrs and didn’t open for three more hours. We had gas and we all wanted to get down the road. We’ll eat in Livingood 30 miles down the road. They must not be living good in that town as they had No Services! Ok… well another 70 miles down the road on the Yukon River they have a good restaurant and gas. Ok, so down the road we go. We are now on The Dalton Hwy and it is Dirt/gravel with some pavement thrown in once in a while. About 415 miles worth. It goes up along the Alaskan pipeline. We cross the bridge over the Yukon River. It is a tall bridge over a large river. Has wood planks. A lot of the bridges are that way up here. A lot of planks had parts missing but luckily they were double layered. Still a large problem if you hit one. We pull in to fill up. (Now in Canada and in Alaskan small towns they have not upgraded their pumps. So you go in and prepay in cash or you give them your card and they put it in a slot/pocket/clip for the pp you will use. Then charge you when you come back in.) So we pull up by the gas pump and head in… except they are closed until 9 am. That’s 90 minutes. Hey, the sign said Coldfoot was 120 miles and we have gone a large amount of that already. We all agreed so we hopped on the bikes and rode up to the Artic Circle sign so I could get my picture by the sign. Leaving there the guys took off as I was putting my gloves on and the bugs started to attack Jeff. There were a few mosquitoes but then Jeff makes a noise as he is putting his gear on. I look over and he is in a cloud of bugs. So they got their gear on and bugged out! I stop about every hour to replace my GoPro battery with a charged one. I was doing that and it only takes 3 minutes or less. By the time I get my gloves off there is one mosquito, by the time my helmet is off 30 seconds later about 10. When I unzip my tank bag and pull out a new battery they are at least 20 flying around me. Argh! I learned to change batteries fast, then slam my helmet on my head and close the visor then buckle my chin strap get gloves on and there is a cloud around me. So I understood why they left a minute before me. I left and almost immediately my bike went on reserve. Oh, better slow down. I went down to 46 mph and put the cruise on. Every large hill I pulled in the clutch and coasted down it. Then back on cruise. 20 miles later no Coldfoot town and none of my riding companions. Hmmm, I keep going. I see a large pumping station with a lot of buildings. Hmmm, that’s not it… but when I hit 30 miles on reserve I was looking at mountains ahead and it was dark from top to bottom. Oh, big storm. Now I had two spare gallons of gas on board but if I had passed Coldfoot there was nothing but 240 miles of road and a big storm. Two gallons wasn’t going to do anything to help me. I was really starting to worry. Then I saw a car coming I put up my hand to stop them and they smiled and waved. I started pumping my hand. They drove past but I stopped and then they did too. They backed back to me. Hello, is Coldfoot in front of me or in back of me. It’s in front of you 30 or so miles. Ok, thanks! I started off at 46 mph wondering when the engine was going to die and I would have to use that full gas can. 30 miles exactly I saw a reduce speed sign! Coldfoot! I made it. Pulled up to the gas pumps and parked. Walked in gave her my card and proceeded to stuff that tank full. Took 5.78 gallons. I have a 6.2 gallon tank. Close, but now I know a little about how long my gas lasts on reserve. I got there and immediately filled it up. I went in to pay for my 5.78 gallons of gas. $44.50 cents please. What? How much per gallon. $7.50. I was never happier to pay that much for gas before.
When I was 33 miles from Deadhorse I went on reserve and slowed to 55. Had to pay $7.65 in Deadhorse. When you need it you need it and you just pay the bill.
Leaving Coldfoot it started to rain and when we got to dirt again my visor was not beading up and I couldn’t see. The road is gravel/dirt and soaked, potholes filled with water and we are doing 40 mph. I was squinting trying to find clear places to look through. It kept getting worse and I was just following the dark blobs in front of me. This could not go on! Then I tried glancing at my dashboard and I saw a clearer spot… hmmmm, that’s below my glasses. I shoved the glasses down my nose and looked over them. I can See! After that no problems on the wet greasy muddy road. By the time we reached the top most of the rain had stopped. Going down I left the bike in third gear and it idled down the mountain at 35 mph. A little bit later we stopped when the road dried out and we found out my glasses were encrusted with white calcium chloride. My bike too! Sigh. Well, I bought it to use it. Video of the bike on my FB page. . Then it was 190 miles across the open north slope tundra. Around 300 or more miles of gravel. Several construction stops but we made it to Deadhorse.