Alaska Cruiser Trek 80 Thread (1 Viewer)

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Funny how the second rainbow in that pic was so clear in person but barely shows up in the pix
 
Your doing a great job Heather!!
Bodean is correct, white 4Runner had absolutely zero issues! Red Tacoma had a bad idler pulley....made it the whole trip....not sure how, it was pretty bad.
 
So, I've been telling my stories of AK for about six years now and fugured you guys were getting tired of my perspective. Honestly, I am enjoying seeing it through fresh eyes. The best part for me was the company I had the pleasure to enjoy.

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WCT49 at his favorite Alpine camp
 
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Found this place as we wandered around looking for Mankomen Lake. Maybe we could follow one of the creeks that feed it?

BTW, anybody know a good bush country real estate agent? I need this in my life.
 
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Mankomen Lake camp. Best one of the trip in my opinion even if it did look like the forest fire might be heading our way for a while. Heather schooled us all on the Dolly Vardon and Lake Trout fishing.
 
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No pot of gold at the end of the "double rain bro" but this guy right here comes pretty damn close! He made this trip possible for the rest of us. Thanks, bro!
 
How did the newly acquired overland gear perform? Did the rack stay tight? Accessories good? Was the tent good? Did y'all use the zip in room? Did y'all ever have weather that made the awning unusable?
 
The rack on my truck did fine. I'm not aware of anyone else having trouble. We did have big wind the second evening at the alpine site and I, like a fool, thought I could deploy my Foxwing awning by myself. I got it deployed and the posts set but before I could get the tie down ropes in place the wind caught it and it was over. By caught it I mean Dominic rushed over to try to help and it took him airborne off my tailgate then sent him crashing down onto my spare tire swing out. He got some bruised ribs for his effort. Luckily, the damage to the awning hinge is minor and it looks like about $50 in repair parts will have it good as new. Dominic didn't get as good of a deal... Jrob and Bodean got their Foxwing out a few minutes later with no issue. Once out and secure it was fine. The damage I caused was completely my fault.

Jrob and Jeffena will have to fill you in on your tent question. :)
 
Jrob and Jeffena will have to fill you in on your tent question. :)

That answers the question of who got to be the big spoon :grinpimp:
 
That plastic hinge is suspect at best. I bet if that was aluminum it would magically become a awning that did not need poles in low wind.

Was it unusable after that?
No, Bill had a plan to make it work but I opted to let it sit until I could get it home and fix it under controlled conditions. The fabric didn't rip so it's just a couple of fittings and good as new.

Mine is just a bit older than yours and actually has some sort of pot metal pcs at the hinge rather than the later production plastic. Didn't help. Looks like replacements will be plastic now too.

My assessment is that the Foxwing is a good awning and can take a fair amount of wind once set up but don't be in a rush to set it up by yourself if it's gusty. My bad.
 
AND...

The first day was short. By the time we headed out, it was early afternoon. So we wound our way slowly up the Tok River crossing back and forth, skipping from gravel bar to gravel bar, and spending a little time on the banks. We camped for the night, made a fire, and reveled in our awesome overlandy-ness and just being in Alaska. Really it was one of the best nights because we were still all googly over being there and our adrenaline was high from the day and the excitement of being in freaking Alaska!

The next morning, we rallied at around 0930 (I think) to head out to hopefully reach the "Alpine Camp" by the end of the day. We moved a little slower as we didn't want to thrash the rigs, but I think that we made it about 30 miles on Sunday. I honestly can't remember half the s*** we did because I was driving and not taking pictures. But there were mountains. And rivers. And glaciers. And streams. I think this was the day that we drove up the moraine towards a gap thinking we might be able to get through, but couldn't. Pretty sure that's where the first shower of the week happened. Some folks went for a hike (not CLC, mind you...we were there to drive not walk) and so we deployed the shower tent. The water was F-in COLD but the heat exchanger did pretty well.

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That last one is entitled "Bossman not taking a hike."
 
Damn. I can ride or I can work but my old back just can't stand to stand...
 

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