TR: Motorcycle to Tuktoyaktuk on the Arctic Ocean

Took a trip Northeastward to the End of the Road, Tuktoyaktuk in the Northwest Territories, to dip my toes in the Arctic Ocean.

~2300 miles
8 full days of riding
6 nights tent camping, first night bunkhouse
Riding: my 2016 KTM 1290 Super Adventure T

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Thompson's Eagle Claw motorcycle campground in Tok, bunkhouse solo night 1.
I love this place!
It had rained most of the day and rained all night.
I was happy to not have to pack up camp in the rain on night one.
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Top of the World highway
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Stunning valley views on both sides of the ridge ride…
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Yukon River ferry to Dawson City
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Important pit stop!
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Starting up the Dempster Highway
Two guys had died on the motorcycles in the last few weeks...be smart
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Tombstone Park campground
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1 moose at 2 Moose Lake
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Arctic Circle
-always had some great onion rings when I was growing up
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Out of the hills and down into these interesting Arctic wetlands
-very different than the Haul Road to Deadhorse, (did that last year)
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Peel River ferry
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ferry guide cable
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Nitainlaii campground
Free Hot Showers!
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McKenzie River ferry
mud swallows nests under the pilot house, they were zipping all over the place
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Northwest Territories
-Is bear spray effective on Polar Bears?!
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Inuvik, 93* Whoa!
I thought the igloo would melt
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stocked up on Free Bananas!
-a Gatorade was over $7....
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Hundreds and hundreds of lakes
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Last 70 miles to Tuk was 2" of pea gravel, oof, my hands were cramping
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Tuktoyatuk!
Land of the Pingos
-natural permafrost domes
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Made it to the Arctic Ocean!
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Camping on the Arctic Ocean
This is 11 PM btw, Sun never set.
Blowing a solid 20mph with gusts to 30 all night...earplugs, thank you
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The only thing brighter than the Sun was my legs!
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I camped at all the same spots as the way up.
-I had done zero route planning prior to d=my departure and that turned out perfect, Ha!

All in all it was an amazing trip that was very different than the Dalton to Prudhoe Bay.
Particularly in geography, climate, and the fact that this road serves First Nation communities as opposed to oil.
-They are both interesting and worthwhile

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I really hit the weather right, on purpose, in fact it was the hottest temperatures and the most Sun I had seen all Summer.

Every local I met was very kind and I had some great interactions.

If you get the chance, take the opportunity to experience the Arctic Circle.
It imparts a unique feeling that has really affected a positive perspective change in me, and I will try to get back every year.

Frog Lakes, must get back!
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Hope you enjoyed.

This is fantastic.

story about the speed record with the steam motorcycle popped up on my phone the other day. Made me think about the trip you posted with your dad. Way to put out the effort to do this trip. Glad it went smooth. Amazing how nice the weather can be in the summer up there.

As I said in the motorcycle thread:
FKNA!

Yeah this is great. Burly trip solo that far our. Well done.

my ski bro is up there, just rode a bicycle to Tuk with a questionable heart, if you see a couple of old farts on recumbents that is Deb & Lothar so stop and say hi, Lothar is a total character

Buddy is looking for a way home but the ferry doesnt stop in PR so i think he will have to ride all the way home

same guy rode 55000 kms across Canada/ down the eastern seaboard/ all the way to Tiera Del Fuego and all the way home

Very cool

Epic! Especially the free bananas!

Fucking awesome! I've spent time in AK but never been that far north. Great TR.

Rad. Thanks for sharing.

Awesome!

Is that a fishing rod next to the north face bag? Should be good fishing up there...

Very cool! Love the 'no planning' aspect too. I favor road trips with loose goals but it also can be annoying for some (anxious) people going with me.

RAD!

I also love the no planning aspect. It’s nice to know of places where that’s still possible.

dam, hell of a TR. Well done

Wow. So cool. FKNA.

FKNA that was cool

I like your style.

Solo trip to dangerous places, no plan, sweet fuckin ride, fully self contained...

I 'spect that's a dream trip for lotsa dual purpose riders.

The smooth roads were warranting a comment until the pea gravel shot. Holding onto to a swimmy big bike is sketchballs when the front end washes out a little at speed.

70 miles of it would make my brain cramp up.

Love the Eagle claw and tombstone spots. Ocean camp looks special albeit breezy.

Thanks for taking the time.

Way to go and thanks for sharing - I always look forward to hearing about your adventures.


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Awesome adventure well documented!


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Simply outstanding! Thanks for posting up and nice work not dying on the numerous miles of pea gravel. Makes me sweat just thinking about it.
That's a sweet ride you've got there, and love the "wish you were here" sticker!!!

Thanks for all the kind words guys.

I hope that this can encourage others to take on adventures in life.

re: No Planning
I like to have an end goal, a target to fix my mind on, then I take what comes at me in stride and solve the problems that arise along the way with no set timeframe.
-I was once stuck in Hyder Alaska once for 6 days waiting for a bike part…
I understand this time is a luxury that not all can afford.

This has worked perfectly at times, like an amazing syncopation of integrated circumstances that you can flow with and through, like meeting people and accepting their generosity or taking the opportunity to experience the actual moment at hand, instead of always being in a rigid and fixed mindset focusing on a predetermined outcome that may not satisfy your actual needs.
Other times it has meant searching for a camp in the dark, tired, wet, and cold, and sleeping in a literal dump.
It is all part of the grand adventure of a life lived and you have to be able to laugh when it goes sideways.

I love fishing and brought the rod to cast if any of my campsites were near water, it didn’t work out on this trip, but I had a lot of fun and luck fishing on the Dalton last year for grayling.

The Dalton and Dempster highways are remote, that is the appeal to me.
You must be self confident, self reliant, and determined to succeed.
It is not that the roads are so challenging when dry, everything changes when it’s wet though…
It is this personal test I seek, along with the character illumination it can reveal, plus the world is so beautiful if you just take the time to open your eyes and truly see it.

On another front, here is the current state of the Hyperbike my Dad has been designing and building for the last number of years.

The Nagual, a mesoamerican shapeshifter and guardian spirit.
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Originally Posted by DeathVan

The Nagual, a mesoamerican shapeshifter and guardian spirit.
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:eek:

Great TR

That area of the Dempster where you cross over from the Yukon to the NWT is an amazing zone.

Props for playing it safe - a lot of people hear Dempster “Highway” and think it must be some well maintained, safe, easy trip on a bike.

As you said it probably will be when dry but it can snow any day of the year up there and any precipitation on that road bed turns an easy ride into a no room for error situation. A lot of bad bike accidents on that road every summer.