Alaska, the easiest way.

[klaviator]

OK, the title for my report was inspired by BrianA's ride report.  Like many of the other Cool Kids on this forum, I also got to ride in Alaska this summer.  Like the others, my ride would involve rain, great scenery and two wheels.  Other than that it would be quite different.

Let me start by saying that I had no intentions of going riding in Alaska.  I had already checked that "Ride Alaska" block years ago.  The 30th wedding anniversary to my lovely wife was coming up this summer and I decided to do something different to make her happy on our anniversary.  So I proposed a cruise to Alaska.  Some of you have been following my Cruise report on Off Topic but in case you haven't seen it, here's a link:  http://www.motorcyclealabama.com/rides/index.php?topic=1260.0

After booking the cruise we started looking at excursions in each of the ports we would visit.  The cruiseline offers a bunch of excursions that you can book right through them.  They really push their excursions with  the guaranty that if your excursion gets delayed the ship will wait for you.  So we found excursions for the first two ports.  Skagway had some interesting excursions.  There was a scenic train ride way up into the mountains.  Looked interesting but pricey.  Way more affordable and still interesting was a van ride up the road out of town and also up into the mountains.  So I was about to book that when I just pictured myself sitting in a cage going up this beautiful winding road........and wishing I was on a bike  :(  So i googled to see if maybe there where bike rentals available in Skagway.  I found Skagway Scooters.  They offered a guided scooter tour, hourly scooter rentals and even motorcycle rentals.  So I talked it over with Debbi and she liked the idea of doing the guided scooter tour.  The scooters used on the tour where tiny little 50cc scooters that Didn't carry passengers but debbi was fine with the idea of riding her own scooter. 

So we booked the scooter Tour.  They didn't even require a deposit and said if the weather was bad it would be our choice whether to go or not.

Debbi used to ride motorcycles but gave it up years ago.  Since she would be riding again we went out a few days before the cruise and rode around a bit so she wouldn't be totally rusty and to make sure she was familiar with the controls on a scooter which are a bit different than those of a motorcycle.

Debbi on my Kymco Super 8 150:

[klaviator]

Our tour was scheduled for 9:30 AM.  I was up way before that and headed out to check the weather.  After having great weather so far on our cuise I walked out side to find a wet deck and a gloomy, rainy day :(  Well Crap!  It was disapointing but I wasn't going to let it ruin my day.  Besides, it was just a very light rain.

So Debbi and I walked into town and found Skagway Scooters.  There they told us we could go as scheduled or wait a couple of hours and see if maybe the rain would stop.  Since we had plenty of time before the ship was scheduled to leave we chose that option.  We did get fitted for riding gear so we wouldn't have to do that later.  Then we wandered around checking out the sights in Skagway.  Skagway, like Juneau and Ketchikan which we had visited earlier on the cruise, was a picturesque little town surrounded by mountains and water.  Also like the other towns it was filled with shops designed to separate tourists from their money. 

The Skagway "Harley dealer".



Like the Harley Dealers in many tourist towns it's actually just a T-shirt shop.

Interesting building.



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We had a light lunch then headed back to the scooter place.  The rain had been intermittent but showed no signs of clearing up.  So we suited up.

Debbi posing in front of the shop with one of their scooters.  The rental gear was by First Gear and the Helmets Speed & Strength.  The Gear was well worn and not in the best of shape however it would prove to be warm and dry.  Our guide told us later that a Klim rep had done the tour earlier this year and had talked them into replacing the worn out old gear with new Klim riding gear for next year.  Debbi wasn't real happy with how the bulky gear made her look :o  There is no Helmet law in Alaska but we chose to wear them.



Since these where 50cc scooters no motorcycle endorsement is required in Alaska.  Most of their customers have no scooter experience so the tour started by pushing the scooters around a block to a quiet side street where we could get a brief on operating the scooters and a chance to practice someplace with minimal traffic.  Since we already knew how to ride this went very quickly.  I took a pic before we took off.  Our guide for the day was John.



Heading out of town.



It didn't take long to get stuck at a train crossing.



I took advantage of the stop to get another pic.



I also wondered if the train riders would get to see much with the low clouds. I was glad to be on a scooter instead of being stuck on the "cattle car" with all the other tourists.

Our next stop was a historical Cemetery.







It was interesting but I was much more interested in what came next. John told us that since we were experienced riders we would be able to do the ride much quicker than the average group so we could do some extra stuff. So he took us on a short hike to this waterfalls near the cemetery.

[Nice Goat]

Scooter John looks like a "character"!

[klaviator]

John certainly was a character.  I enjoyed talking to him and hearing his stories.  His personal stories were more interesting to me than the "official" tourist info that was part of the tour.

After the falls we hiked back to the bikes and headed off.  There was some light rain coming down but it wasn't enough to spoil the ride.  The scenery would have been nicer with some sunshine but then we may have had other, slower riders with us and that would have cut back on what we were able to do.  With just Debbi, John and I it felt more like a ride with friends rather than a tourist event.

I went out ahead to get this "action" pic.



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We turned on to a nice curvy road and we where able to twist those throttle wide open  Wide open wasn't exactly real fast but on the tiny scooters it felt faster and I was not bored.

We stopped at this spot overlooking Skagway.



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I went ahead again to take some pics.  I noticed this interesting road sign.  I'm guessing most of the people who do this tour miss this.



And here they come.



John hamming it up for the camera.



A little blurry but you get the idea.

[klaviator]

At this point the pavement ended. I was a little worried about Debbi riding on the wet dirt road but she did just fine and kept up with John with no problems. I was a little concerned about riding the wet dirt as well but the little Ruckus scooters handled it just fine. Out average speed on the dirt was about 25 MPH which was also the speed limit and the speed of other traffic except for bicycle riders who were going slower. I'm sure the scenery would have been better on a sunny day but it was pretty impressive on this rainy day as well.  Best of all we got to enjoy the scenery while riding on two wheels and not stuck in a cage.



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Our next stop.



My picture doesn't do justice to how scenic this bay was. There was also a bit of history to this bay.  John explained it to us and it's pretty much summed up in these two plaques.



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I found John's personal story about this spot more interesting.  Skagway is a small town that pretty much depends on tourism.  In the off season the town pretty much shuts down and the population drastically shrinks.  Many of the people here are part time residents who work here during the tourist season.  Cruise ships come here form April through September.  I was surprised to here that despite this being August, it was nearly the end of the tourist season here.  Anyway, back to John's story.  When john first started working here, he had no place to stay as housing is very limited.  So he and his "old lady" (his words) lived in a van that had been somewhat converted into an RV.  They would come out to this overlook at night and just park here for the night. 

Again, I went ahead after the stop to take pics.



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John pulled over and waved us on saying he needed to adjust his hood. Eventually he caught up and passed us.  Later he told me the he really wanted to see what speed we would ride if we weren't following him.  It turned out that Debbi maintained the same speed he had been running which was around 25 MPH.  That may seem slow but it was about as fast as I wanted to go on this narrow, wet, curvy dirt road.  On the little Ruckus scooters it felt a lot faster than it would have on something like a KLR or big adventure bike. 



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John just wanted to make sure we were comfortable at the speed we had been going. He told us that many of the people who take this tour are afraid to ride "fast" so often the tour goes along at speeds as low as 12 MPH. I could ride a bicycle faster than that.

John spotted some eagles so we stopped and took some pics.



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This was one time I wished I had my Sony camera with it's 50X zoom with me. However, given the rain I just brought my waterproof Olympus camera.

Debbi taking pics with her phone.

[Brian A]

Enjoying this a lot.

[kdtrull]

So I talked it over with Debbi and she liked the idea of doing the guided scooter tour.  The scooters used on the tour where tiny little 50cc scooters that Didn't carry passengers but debbi was fine with the idea of riding her own scooter.

That is fan-flippin'-tastic.....as is the entire report....I'd never get Lisa to do that.

And, with all the other super-cool reports, I declare this month "Awesome August Ride Report Month".

All y'all travellin' crackers get a Gold Medal.

[klaviator]

Doing my Killboy impersonation again:



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Our next stop was at the Taiya River.  I wanted some bridge pics so....



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This was also the trailhead for the Chilkoot trail.  This trail was the route for many prospectors hoping to get rich in the Klondike gold rush.  To try to prevent people from perishing in the long winters here, there was a requirement by the Canadian police for the prospectors to have at least a ton of gear before being allowed to enter Canada.  That required multiple trips on a very arduous trail.  The payback for a lot of backbreaking work for most of the prospectors was to leave completely broke.  Today you can hike the trail but a permit is required.



John explained some of the history of the trail then we continued on.

Many of these old bridges are being replaced by more modern, concrete ones but I like these old bridges, rust and all.



Then it was on to the town of Dyea.



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Well there used to be a town here. It was created to get prospectors and their stuff to the klondike via the Chilkoot trail.  Skagway had a much better port and Dyea eventually died out. This area was declared a National Historic site, everything from the old town was removed and there is no trace of it anymore.

A picture of the old town from Wikipedia:



More details on Dyea here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyea,_Alaska

John explaining all this to Debbi.

[Brian A]

Very good. What a cool way to get out and see some neat stuff.

[Nice Goat]

There you go again ... making me want a scooter.
::)

[klaviator]

Since we were making good time, John took us on another side trip.



Off through the forest we went until we got to this nice spot on the river. 



Then we walked a short ways up the river bank.



If you look closely between Debbi and John and up a ways you can see a dark blob up in the trees.  I zoomed in the best I could with my camera but wished I had my Sony.



That dark blob is an Eagle's nest.  Look a little down and right and you can see an Eagle sitting there.

We enjoyed the view and talked a bit before heading back to the scooters.




Then it was time to head back to town.



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Then way too soon we were back in town with all the other tourists :(



We got out of our gear, talked a bit with the nice people who worked at Skagway Scooters then headed into town to do a little shopping.  I hadn't bought any souvenirs yet so I picked up an Alaska T shirt.  But I didn't come on this trip to go shopping.  I was going for the experience, the adventure and the memories.  I took a lot of pics because I want to share and preserve those memories.

My final pic in Skagway..............for now 8)

[klaviator]

Can a guided tour on 50cc scooters be an adventure? Well, it's not as big of an adventure as riding from Alabama to Alaska to the Arctic Circle and back but it was still an adventure for Debbi and me. Despite the weather this was my favorite port. There is no better way to see the sights IMO than on two wheels. This was the only Alaska port we visited where this was an option. I would highly recommend this to anyone who likes to ride and finds him/herself in Skagway without their own bike. While a 50cc scooter may not sound exciting, it was great for the route we did. The people at Skagway Scooters where great as well. This applies to the gal I spoke to on the phone weeks beforehand as well as the people there and of course our tour guide.

The little scooters do have two drawbacks. One is they can't take passengers. This was not an issue for us but may be for some. Second is that they can't be taken on the main road out of town and over the pass to the Canadian border. If you really want to to that or go for a longer ride, they also rent these:




I don't know about the Harley but they do rent KLRs.

I think it would be great if they got a couple of larger scooters like Zuma 125s or Genuine Hooligans. They could be ridden two up and probably be taken on the main road out of town. Of course they would require a motorcycle endorsement and I'm not sure they would make sense economically but then they probably lose a lot of potential customers now because the small scooters don't take passengers.

This ride really reminded me why I like small scooters so much.  While they aren't the best of bikes to take an epic trip on (although some people do), they are great for having fun when doing something unrelated to riding.  In this case I got to have a great ride while doing a cruise.  Here at home I get to have fun while going to work or grocery shopping. 

Now it's time for me to go back to my cruise report and try to finish that.  Thanks for following along and especially to those of you who have liked or responded to this report.

[renchinrider]

This is too cool!  Glad y'all enjoyed it!

Thanks for sharing the story!

Rench

[VWCarlos]

Cool ride report... Looked like fun and a great way to get away from the tourist traps. Thanks for sharing.

[Chitza]

All this talk about "easy" and Alaska makes me think we didn't go to the same place 8)
Or maybe I did it wrong :D

Very nice report, Winn. Thanks for the work you put in to it to share with us.