One of my favorite stories I've had the chance to write in recent years is when I took a Harley-Davidson down to Gunnison, Utah, the home of Christensen Arms, and built my own hunting rifle from the ground up. It was an American motorcycle used to build an American rifle, and after I was done, having run a few rounds through its barrel to make sure everything was kosher, I strapped it to my back and rode back home with it on my back.
I still pinch myself that I got to do it. And I'm finally heading out next week to break the rifle in for a future story. None of that, however, could've happened without EagleRider, the motorcycle rental company, as it was the one that supplied the Harley for the trek.
Recently, however, EagleRider announced the dates of its 2026 guided tour of Alaska, on the back of Harley-Davidson's awesome Pan America adventure motorcycle. But given my history with the company, my yearning for adventure, and the thought of the company operating in one of the last great frontiers, a thought crossed my mind. A silly thought. A wild thought. An insanely fun thought that will assuredly make for a hysterical story, at least if I can figure out some of the details.
What's stopping me from taking one of EagleRider's Pan Americas through Alaska, but using it as my base camp to hunt caribou next year? Imagine tossing all that caribou meat onto the back of a Pan America!
Now, EagleRider isn't offering a guided hunt with its tour. No, that's just an insane idea from me. Rather, for the normal, non-crazy people of the group, the company is offering customers a 15-day, 14-night, 3,000-mile guided tour of Alaska's highways and byways, and scheduled for next August when the weather should be nicer than the currently snow-covered conditions.
The route also takes riders through Washington and parts of Canada, letting them experience the majesty of the Great White North and Yukon, places that still hold so much draw to adventurers everywhere. And honestly, the guided tour sounds pretty damn epic by itself (i.e. without a rifle or bow strapped to your back), in that you'll see Denali, White Horse, Kluane National Park, and oh so much more.
As for price, you'll be shelling out around $11,000, but you get everything included, which means hotels, food, the bike, National Park fees, a riding jacket and helmet, and even a support vehicle for all your luggage so you aren't just strapping everything to the back of the Pan America. Pricey, sure. But what you're getting is an adventure of a lifetime for most, and for that price, it's a hard one to beat. And you can sign up for the trip right now.
That said, I think I could maybe beat it in terms of wild-eyed adventuring.
Alaska is one of those places I've always wanted to go. The adventuring, Calvin & Hobbes-reading crazy person in me has longed to go to that state for years. Rugged peaks, barren tundras, and more wildlife than you can shake a stick at, they call to me like no other place does. And I really would love to try my hand at hunting caribou in the state. One day I'll go.
But the Alaskan tour, and the fact that EagleRider has Pan Americas that can brave the journey, well, that has me wondering whether I could go hunting and use the adventure motorcycle as my base camp, as I've watched others do DIY hunts in Alaska using used Sprinter vans and/or U-Hauls. But RideApart is a powersports website, and I love riding adventure bikes like the Pan America. So I can't help but wonder if I could use one of those to chase that dream next year.
Maybe I will. Or maybe I'll just go on the tour and bring my Greys and Orvis fly rods. But I really sorta want to bring my rifle or bow.
