June 19 - Saturday

What a day!! WOW!! I SAW A GRIZZLY BEAR!!! Ran right across the road in front of me this morning. That was a major highlight of this trip. I wanted to see a grizzly but had doubts that I would. This was a BIG one too. I had been back on the Alaska Highway for only about 20 miles when I saw him. Rest of the day was just beautiful scenery, meeting lots of nice people and riding my motorcycle in the most extreme diverse road conditions I have ever been on!! Did 394 hard miles today. The "frost heaves" in the Yukon were something. The road may drop down a foot and you wouldn't see it until you were right there.

Makes you come off your seat at times. The Ultra handled them as well as could be expected!! Then all the diverse construction (miles and miles of it!) - dusty dirt, muddy dirt, loose thick gravel, rock chips, ruts, etc.! Ran onto the guy from West Virginia a couple more times and we even found ourselves at this same motel in Tok, Alaska this evening, so we had dinner together at the famous Fast Eddies here in Tok.

Nice to have had the company. He is going to Anchorage and flying to Barrows, AK on Tues for four days to take pictures of the wildlife there. I will be on the Fairbanks tomorrow. Plan to still ride the Dalton to the Arctic Circle. May do it tomorrow afternoon/evening. Looks to take at least 7 hours for the round trip. At least I don't have to worry about it getting dark on me!!! For here in Tok, sunset is at 11:48pm and sunrise is 3:18am!! The sun is now up 24 hours a day at the arctic circle north!!