We clean mud off our bikes in Dawson City and prepare for the journey home. The day is a rough one, and we face several unexpected challenges.

Another one of the great Alaskan back-road adventures: the Top of the World Highway. The toughest road of the trip. Brutal.

We ride the often challenging, one-way dirt road through the wilderness to the ghost town at the Kennecott mines.

We ride the Denali Highway: one of the most famous off road adventures in Alaska. Rain, mud, and wind make it a challenge. And our day is not without mishaps…

Denali National Park. What more can I say? What more do you need. Denali National Park. Freakin’ Amazing.

A day living inside an episode of National Geographic Explorer. That’s the only way I can describe the wonders I encountered on our fjord tour.

The drive down the peninsula to Homer is spectacular. Breathtaking scenery and a narrow 2.5 mile tunnel through a mountain. Incredible.

Rain and a backwards motorcycle throttle make the day difficult and dangerous. And if The Motorcycle Shop doesn’t come through for us, it will get worse.

I struggle to face my situation. What do I do? How do I fix a problem when I don’t even know where to start?

A big surprise on the side of the road starts our day off with a bang. The day also ends with a bang. A bad kind of bang.

The ride from Haines, AK to Haines Junction, Canada is rougher than expected. I see a wolverine up close at the Kroschel Wildlife Center. Later, haphazard conditions make riding almost impossible.

The bay is surrounded by mountains that are covered in trees and topped with clouds, like they tried to pass through but got tangled in the trees and are stuck in place. I can see wisps of white in and around the tree branches and it does seem that the trees are holding them back. This feels like Alaska. Even the color of the water has changed to an icy blue.

It’s late, I’m in my tent now trying to sleep and listening to the rain. Tomorrow we start riding…and camping. I’m really nervous about the rain. I don’t know what the next three weeks will be like. I’m afraid we are going to get very wet and very cold.

The mountains are black shadows that disappear into clouds. It’s dark and quiet except for the churning engine. Pitch black and we keep pushing up through the dark, narrow canyon. There are lighted buoys in the still water and the captain navigates the boat through the middle of them. Everyone is asleep on the deck chairs around me under the heated lamps of the Solarium. It is very peaceful. I’m on a boat going to Alaska. Crazy Awesome. Read on for more…