Building for Alaska/ TransCanada Adventure

[Blue Phoenix]

Oh and I forgot to ask:

Is there an Alaska Cruiser club on the forum under the CLUBHOUSE TAB? I checked and maybe I'm blind but I'm not seeing anything.

 

[concretejungle]

i do remember mark making a comment that either 10' or 11' will probably be the last one he leads. Don't know if that's fact or not.

 

[Blue Phoenix]

Yeah that's why I brought it up...it'd be a shame if it didn't continue!

 

[Bogo]

It may be possible to rotate leaders. We commonly do this for science fiction conventions. It spreads the effort out and keeps people from getting burnt out.

 

[firetruck41]

We commonly do this for science fiction conventions.

Oh no you di'int!

 

[Blue Phoenix]

Hahahaha....I was thinking the same thing.

On a more serious note. I'm going to the Southern Cruiser Crawl here in Arkansas in a few weeks and figured it would offer the best opportunity given my new schedule (super busy at the moment) for fully kitting the truck up for the short trip and getting a feel for what I'm going to be dealing with for 12 thousand miles. Anyways, I'll take some before and after pictures to see if the weight makes any difference in the overall height.

 

[Jrob80]

Very good advice. Unfortunately Im not in the market just now for a snorkel. I do like that though. I think at this point Im just going to get a longer wiring loom and run it just inside of the A-pillar on the drivers side and then go in through the dash. There will definitely be some wiring hanging out, but I dont really see any other clean mounting option outside of drilling holes.

Im on my way home right now, so finally Ill be able to see the truck after all the work thats been done. Pretty excited.

Coming in a little late on this, In this post: https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/155089-rack-build-update-pix.html -98 Snake Eater uses this: 1/2 - 3/4 Inch Liquid-Tight Cord Fitting

This is what I am planning on doing once I build my roof rack.

Love this thread I am wanting to take a trip up in to Canada/Alaska sometime but I don't think it will happen for me for at least 15-20 years from now kind of scary but hopefully will be able to do it someday... Good luck.

 

[Mark W]

There is not an Alaska Cruiser Crew forum here because the ACC is not a TLCA club. In fact activity with the ACC is pretty low these days. A couple of us are have been discussing that, but are not up to cheerleading just to get everyone active.

"Rotating leadership" might work for the ACT... except... there is only one of me, so pretty hard to rotate that. The ACT has become my personal project over the years. Some of the Crew show up and help when we hit the trail... a couple have been along every year and their help is invaluable, But it is my show.

Currently I expect to put together an ACT2011. Not definite yet, but 90% probability. As of 2012 the Trek will take a back seat to commercial that tours I hope to conduct as Blue Moose Overland. keep an eye out for discussion of it here on Mud before too much longer.

Yes you have to have a fishing license... non-resident... you can get it in any town in any general store type place.

Heading off the road system to any significant amount alone and without local knowledge is IMHO a bad idea. While I do explore alone on occasion myself, it is usually just pushing back over trails that Kevin and I have already explored and then hiking into the surrounding high country alone, rather than pushing over new trails with the rig alone. and... well, I HAVE local knowledge
I do wheel new trails alone... but cautiously. And I am always prepared to spend a few days hiking out if need be. Even finding the real back country trail heads can be tough for an outsider.

A 30-30 or a 7mm *can* stop a bear... Hit it in the right place under the right conditions and enough times and you can probably kill an elephant with a 22. In the real world I would never pick either as a disignated "bear gun" fro brown bears.
But... realistically the odds of needing protection from bear anywhere you will be camping or traveling on a road trip like this are so minute as to be a non-issue.

 

[concretejungle]

sorry for a tangent here...

for those with knowledge, is.... this sounds cheesy... are firecrackers a serious deterrent for bear?

 

[Mark W]

In general... sure... after they have their dander up... no way to predict.

Mark...

 

[concretejungle]

In general... sure... after they have their dander up... no way to predict.

Mark...

I understand that for sure. Just thought if one started to mosey into camp and you tossed a few firecrackers towards them if they will take off? Just thinking of another option to keep them back. I know there isn't a substitute for a gun.

 

[greentruck]

My feeling about the throwing firecrackers at bears is about the same as throwing firecrackers at gangstas -- better be prepared to back it up.

I have heard that loud noise can scare a bear, but it's better to be making noise as you go so that the bear knows you're coming and won't be surprised.

Not sure how that's going to work when you're camping. Playing music is just going to cover up the fact that the bear is crunching through the underbrush, zeroing in on the food smells as she comes

Of course, I get most of my ideas about bear behavior from some books on bear attacks and various other outdoor survival traumas that my dad got from his outdoor book club I read when I was a kid. Not sure how accurate that is, but I generally have a lot of respect for them, needless to say.

 

[Mark W]

Bear problems up here almost always occur in one of three situations.... the first would be on a stream rich in salmon and with a lot of salmon carcasses rotting on thee banks. The bear is feeding and he wants your catch... this is usually also influenced by the second situation... the bear has gotten used to people and is no longer scared of them due to high levels of human exposure.

This is not a situation that you run into often... the first and second case here are almost always found at one of the few road accessible salmon fishing hot spots. The second case is often found in town to. One of the Alaska Cruiser Crew had to shoot a brown bear a couple of weeks ago in Anchorage as it tried to get into the house after him. It had been terrorizing the neighborhood for a while and fish and game was expecting to have to put it down.

The third situation where you would expect to have bear problems would be in THICK brush where you might actually stumble across a sleeping bear, or one guarding a kill.

None of these situations will be expected during a road trip to and from AK or vehicular exploration. We do occasionally run into bear while we are out... and they head the other way 9 times out of ten. I worry about it when we have dogs running loose with the rigs... but we seldom do that, just because of the possibility of run ins with wild game. Sows with cubs are what I worry most about encountering.


Basically, keep your camp clean... don't try to sneak through alder thickets silently following bear trails... be willing to leave your catch and back off if you meet a bear while fishing... and you will not have any problems... IF you even see a bear while you are up.

Mark...

 

[greentruck]

Mark,
Thanks for a more recent update on the possibilities of bear interactions and how to minimize conflicts.

 

[Blue Phoenix]

Im glad this is going in this direction for a couple reasons.

Mark---When is ACT2011 tentatively slotted for if it goes? I'd like to come up and join and I'm flexible for dates. Also another big question for you... I've been a backpacker for years now and in the four years living in Colorado, a bear bag hung from a tree became a necessity even sleeping in the truck. As I plan on sleeping in the truck do you see problems with leaving some of the "big" food items in coolers on the roof rack at night? I'm no idiot and know full and well that a Brown can stand up and get those items down. How do you guys deal with that sort of thing?

And JROB---20 years man? That's sad to hear. You never know what can happen in life and for that reason I say take the trip. Time and money be damned.

 

[Mark W]

A cooler left outside is basically the same as food left out. Coolers get closed and put in a vehicle in my camps. If you are conna leave it out... I prefer to move it away from everybody's tent/sleeping shelter. I do not know how much I would worry about a cooler on the roof... if you are talking camping among the way or anywhere on the road system... not much at all... in some back contry camping locations... anywhere from a little to a lot. Just depends on the rest of the equation. if I am in the rig, and there is no one else sleeping in tents near by... little concern really




Expectation is early-mid July for ACT2011


Mark...

 

[Blue Phoenix]

Thanks Mark

 

[Blue Phoenix]

Alright, I am having a couple issues, so guess what: I'm asking you guys!!! Big surprise, anyways, the issues:

STILL haven't gotten my OBA compressor mounted. Yes I know why didn't you get it done when the lift went on, well we didn't have time. Here's my quandary:
My mechanic wants to move my washer fluid reservoir, which I know most people do, and place it there with the use of a mount. No big deal, but that means me driving (spending mo cash) and having him make the mount and install it (mo cash). I'd like to think I could manage this myself without either moving the washer bottle or fabbing up a mount. Maybe I'm a moron so I checked it out in the 80 section.
Slee apparently doesn't make the mount anymore and it seems there's no "perfect" spot for it. Anyways, just looking for more advice.

Also, and more of an issue than whining: I noticed the other day that the lateral bar that my tire mount is on is not only bent upwards in the middle (where the tire actually goes), but there's rust deposit where the bar is welded to the frame part of the rack. Obviously the tire which was removed way back, was tightened too much, bending the bar, and now it's weakened. I didn't think about it until now (idiot), but the tire rocks back and forth which I now know is the cause for weakening it.

Anyways, I'm wondering now what I should do. The mount is bolted by 4 bolts on just the one bar, so I'm thinking of spanning it across and bolting it longitudinally across two bars. Another option which I'm not sure of, is somehow strengthening the whole thing by placing some sort of like "chicken-wire" across the whole thing. I'm just doubtful of this since I'll have the weight of fuel, a tire, and other gear up there.

Any thoughts would be awesome.

 

[silverhorse]

Man, I would love to do something like this!

 

[Kigiin]

I haven't read through all of this thread so apologize if this is redundant, but pesimsmd had a complete Slee make-over and then was featured in Overland Journal with pics of him trekking in AK.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/100-series-cruisers/335235-tx-plate-white-sas.html