June 23, 2015: Dual Sportin: Hatcher Pass and Denali National Park

I slept like a log and enjoyed a nice breakfast at the house.  Ever since I saw that 1200 GS Adventure at the Swiss Inn, I had a mini dual sport adventure on my mind.  Back in 2012, Ben and I rented BMW's from Motoquest in Anchorage and enjoyed an awesome trip down to Seward.  I decided to revisit them again and walked over to see if they had any bikes available.  I lucked out and they had a BMW F800.  I booked it and grabbed some riding pants, a jacket, and a helmet.  I told them I had two days and asked for some recommendations.  They offered up a trip over Hatcher Pass and then across the Denali Highway.  It was a solid 600+ mile loop with about two thirds of it on day two.  I purchased a Butler motorcycle map and I was off.

I quickly packed up some gear into my backpack, stopped for lunch, and headed on my way.  Today's objective was to reach Denali National Park today just over 200 miles.  Hatcher Pass had everything you could want for a dual sport, winding dirt roads as far as the eye can see and surrounded by beautiful mountains.  I successfully made it over and met up with Highway 3 at the familiar cookie stand that Go Purple Shuttle always stopped at.  Naturally I fueled up on a Chocolate cookie and got back on my steel horse.  I was enjoying the ride when all of a sudden I noticed the fuel light come on.  I ran a few numbers in my head, checked the map, and realized I might actually have a problem.  My BMW light usually goes on with one gallon to go and I typically get about 55 mpg.  I still had about 60 miles to go until the nearest gas station in Cantwell.  I quickly channeled my inner bike racer and started drafting any moving vehicle I could follow.  I especially took advantage of a few minivans on there way up to the park and enjoyed the kids reactions as was tucked behind the windshield within 5 ft of their rear bumper.  The plan was working as the mpg gage was reading up to 80-90 mpg.  All of a sudden the road turned to dirt and construction zone resulted in stop and go traffic.  Luckily at one of the flagger stops, I happened to be one of the first vehicles in line to wait for opposing traffic to pass.  I asked if she happened to have any fuel in her truck and luckily she said she had a small tank.  I took about a half gallon and felt way more confident in my chances to reach the next gas station.  Shortly thereafter I rolled into the gas station and then scored a personal cabin at a local campsite.  I enjoyed dinner in the Mckinley Village and crashed hard in my comfy bed.