A Boy A Bike Alaska!: Mt. Shasta to Denali

Look out world here I come!

Imagine the adventure of a lifetime. After spending the winter rebuilding an old Honda motorcycle, you graduate from high school and leave for a summer job at your uncle’s fish camp near Denali National Park.

Over three thousand miles of solo riding from Mt. Shasta City, California to Alaska!

Take care of the bike and the bike will take care of you. You are on your own. You are a little sad to leave your parents and your friends behind, but you have heard the call of the open road.

Later you will hear the call of the wild when you hear the timeless howling of wolves.

You will ride through valleys a hundred miles wide flanked by snow-covered mountains.

You will prove your bravery fighting a forest fire. You will work hard doing whatever your uncle and Mrs. M, the lodge boss, tells you to do. You will earn serious money and meet interesting people who treat you as an adult.

And happiness will find you in the name of Rachel, a wrangler at a nearby lodge.

Time on the river, learning to paddle a canoe in strong currents, learning boating skills with the hope of being a river guide, meeting the world’s hairiest man, riding through a buffalo herd, lunch with an old man with challenging ideas, first ride in a small plane, friendship with a couple who seem like grandparents to you, photography lessons from a pro, swimming with a grizzly bear, running from an unhappy moose and other adventures too numerous to mention.

What a summer!