Continental Divide (CDT) Moto Trip Photos - 2021
I had always wanted to ride the CDT, but time and energy were always the limiting factor. Back in 2016 I did the Colorado Trail self contained on a mountain bike in 7 days. Climbing up toward Monarch Pass I was bonking hard, and while I sat there recovering a two stroke dirt bike rolled up from another direction. That was the moment I realized how much more fun I could be having, and that a moto was probably the way to go.
Fast forward to 2020 and on a whim I bought a Yamaha WR450F. I had never ridden a dirt bike before, so I pulled it out into the street to pick it up for the very first time and figured it out from there. A few scary rides on Casner Mountain taught me how to brake and shift without dumping it. I did one overnighter shortly after to test a basic pack setup before committing to anything bigger.
Around that time Honda announced they were replacing the 250 with the CRF300 and CRF300 Rally. I looked at the specs, put down a deposit, and drove to Phoenix to get one of the first CRF300 Rallys to hit a Honda dealer in the state. Once it came in I picked it up, did some suspension work, and lowered it to fit better. Parts were hard to find at the time since the bike was so new to the market. For gear I used the Giant Loop Coyote bag I already had from the WR450 and added a tank bag. I kept the rest simple and cheap: HWK riding gear, basic boots, a Bell helmet, and 100% goggles. For gloves, whether it's mountain biking or riding a moto, I always end up going with the 3 pack of Home Depot Firm Grip Gloves, they just work. I also had time before leaving to install heated grips, which ended up being one of the better decisions of the trip.
My wife Maggie drove me down to the border on August 1st. I unloaded the truck, started riding, and met her later that day at a campground just past Silver City in the Gila. From there I followed the CDT bike GPX north. In hindsight there are better GPX routes out there to follow (ones that take you over more passes), but I did very little research going in and just committed to the one I had.
Crossing into Canada took some extra time since the border had just reopened and required a covid test to get through. Once I was in, I stopped following any set route and just chose my own way north up to Banff, where I scheduled my first and only oil and tire change of the whole trip. From there I wanted to ride the Dempster Highway, but covid had it closed, so I changed plans and pointed north toward the Dalton Highway instead.
I finished the trip in Anchorage, flew home, and had the bike crated and shipped back separately.
There are more memories from this trip than I could ever write down, camps, nights, sights along the way. Below are a bunch of photos instead. Take this as a reminder that most trips come together fine as long as you have a warm sleeping bag and a good tent.
Bags are packed and ready to go!
Night one outside of Silver City, NM.
Made it to the Arctic Circle on the Dalton!
Camping off the Dalton.
Dead Horse, AK
Glacier hike past lake Louise in Canada.
Somewhere pretty.... who knows.
New Mexico followed the majority of the BDR and was incredible.
National Park Hike in AK outside of Valdez?
Closer to the Glacier.
The only wind break I could find for miles in Wyoming. Made for a decent camp.
Camp somewhere in Canada... Their provincial park campgrounds are legit.
The end of the road. The top of the Dalton... All south from here.
Riding through Denali National Park and it was COLD. Snow and ice rain. Got my first bed to sleep in and warm up. After 4 weeks of dirt beds, it felt good to sleep under a blanket.
Glacier hiking outside of Kennicott.
Random day hike outside of Hope, AK.
Bear in tree kept hikers from passing. We formed a group and walked past saying "hi" as we passed.
Amazing weather through BC ensured some amazing views.
Met another rider and his wife in BC. Went on some logging roads where he kept dumping his GS. He later would buy a Husky and so would I.
Scared of bears, I rode to the top of a fire lookout road in Montana. I drank 4 beers to sooth my anxiety and slept pretty well. On the ride down I immediately spotted a large black bear where I had originally thought about camping.
Provincial park campground in BC. Met some other riders, one of which had hit a mosse on his moto the year before. Nearly killed him.
NORTH to the future.
A hike near Jasper.
Fire lookout somewhere in the lower 48.
Campground outside of Banff. It wad the first time I paid for camping on the trip. There were only two bike packers at the campground with me.
Camp up by the fire lookout where I was scared of bears.
The Brooks range is insane!
Some National Park in AK. Dont remember the name.
On my way to McCarthy, AK.
The Dalton highway was cold and muddy. Caught lots of rain and snow for most of the ride from Fairbanks.
Glacier highway in Canada.
I caught the end of season party in McCarthy where I randomly met a friend from Flagstaff who spent their summer raft guided the river that is fed by the glacier.
Backpacking and blueberry picking outside of Anchorage.
In Fairbanks it was getting insanely cold, so I bought some hard hat thermal kits to make my own handlebar "pogies." They worked but my hands were still freezing. I had these, heated grips and kayaking gloves on with hand warmers in those. Still couldn't feel them most of the day up and back to the Arctic.
Side of the road camping on the way to Valdez.
Looking at some ice!
Roadside camp towards Valdez.
I finally changed my front tire on a piss soaked pallet in an alley in Whitehorse, Yukon. The tire had worn completely bald in spots, bald enough that the tube was starting to bulge through. Stupid dangerous, but looking back I'm glad I never crashed because of it. I'd been hoping to find a shop to do it, since paying someone else to change a moto tire is exactly what money is for, but of course it was a Sunday when I finally hit civilization and everything was closed. So I leaned the bike against a pallet and did it myself, using the tire I'd been carrying since Banff.
