Travel plans for 2018

Friends have recently asked me about my 2018 travel plans. At this point, I have two adventures in the planning stage.

2018 Trip to the Arctic Circle (early summer)

In June, I am planning to ride up to Alaska and as far north as the Arctic Circle Sign, some 200 miles above Fairbanks.

Readers may remember that last January I outlined a Loop around British Columbia that included a ferry ride south through the Inside Passage.

I never took that ride and I have all the time in the world this summer, so I’m adding another leg north from Watson Lake and extending the trip to include Alaska.

To reduce the complexity of planning and scheduling, I will probably skip the return trip through Prince Rupert and the Inside Passage ferry ride, returning instead via Prince George and Whistler.

In total, the trip will be about 5,800 miles.

A loose goal of this adventure is to celebrate my birthday (June 17) by riding to the Arctic Circle Sign some 200 miles north of Fairbanks on that day.

Stay tuned for more details.

2018 Western States Tour II (Spring)

I want to revisit some of my favorite Western States roads and ride some new ones along the way. I will start this trip in the Spring and head south before it gets too hot in Arizona and New Mexico. Then I’ll work my way north again through Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.

As I updated my plans to ride to Alaska in June, I realized that trip’s total distance is almost exactly the interval between scheduled services. As I am getting a service very soon, I will want my next service to be in late May, just before leaving for Alaska. So the riding I do now through May should total about 6,000 miles. So, this springtime adventure will be about 4,000 to 5,000 miles long. Shorter than my first tour of the west in 2014, I will stick with the “near-Western States” listed above and not venture into Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and the Dakotas this time.

I will camp often to reduce expenses. Camping in the springtime is generally very pleasant; not too crowded and spots available last minute.

Stay tuned for more details.