It was a certainty that food, lodging and fuel would be scarce. We'd made no reservations since we had no idea what daily mileage road and weather conditions would allow. This far north eat pavement for breakfast, and though they spend all summer trying, construction crews simply cannot keep up with the damage. July is the ideal window for travel to Alaska, but we knew rain was a certainty and snow a definite possibility. We were about to ride into a little chunk of Grey Area, the enduring hinterland of North America.