Greg & Clarence - Alaska Trip Log

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cgiesbrecht

cgiesbrecht

Joined
Jun 17, 2005
Threads
17
Messages
83
Location
Vancouver, BC
Day 1 (July 1) – Destination Abbotsford
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Happy Canada Day for most, but Saturday was our final preparation day and so we celebrated by enjoying the freedom to run around like two guys with only 1 day left before leaving on a 6000 km epic journey of a life-time. The list was long and time was short:
- make a wind-deflector
- install the seats
- mount the roof-top basket
- repack wheel bearings
- get SIRIUS radio set-up and running
- finish some last minute shopping
- wire in ARB fridge and 12v accessory plugs
- finalize tool kit
- steal spare parts from various items around the shop (hubs, knuckles, axles)
- pack the truck
… and the list goes on. It’s the running around that takes so much time in the end. Clarence’s day finished around 3am when after he fought a bought of the 1 hr stomach flu. Greg made it through until 4am before he packed in (all puns intended).

This of course doesn’t include Greg’s 2 prior weeks of running around getting truck mods done:
- install Mark’s under/under gears
- new exhaust
- storage bin
- Engel pull-out slide-out for ARB fridge
- diff & t-case breathers extended
- order sundry equipment (Extreme Air compressor, Black Rat recovery kit
- u-joints for front drive shaft
- move back seats 3” (make a HUGE difference!)

More to come...
 
Day 2 (July 2) – Destination Prince George
-------------------------------------------------
After 3 hours sleep for Greg and 5 for Clarence, the day got going. Greg finished packing his clothes and Clarence loaded the truck. And we were on our way… sort of. From Greg’s house, to the shop, back to Greg’s house, to Clarence’s parent’s place to drop off the van, over to Canadian Tire where we saw Petra, McDonald’s, and back to Greg’s place… we finally hit the road about 11am.

First stop, the Husky in Chilliwack and the official start of the trip. Mileage: 136,029 (quick note about the mileage. With the bigger tires and swapped out gearing, the speedometer and odometer read 25% under the actual so if you’re counting the miles from the odometer, add 25%). Full tank of fuel and we’re off… and stopped about 15 minutes down the road.

At 90km/hr we discovered that the wind deflector was not rigid enough and vibrates terribly atop the truck. Off comes the wind deflector and gets strapped to the top of the truck. And we’re off… and stopped for our first mechanical.

A loose AC belt. That’s a good thing. Quick fix for Greg as he rues the fact his stubby ratchet wrenches are at home. With Greg wrenching, Clarence crawls atop the truck zap-straps a tie-down holding the basket to the truck. One more vibration gone. And we’re off.

This time we made it all the way to Cache Creek for lunch. Some greasy chicken and A&W satisfies enough to keep on going to 100 Mile House. Coffee at Tim Horton’s and a DQ Blizzard fit the bill. Truck runs good, so on we go.

Wal-mart Quesnel how do we love thee? Not that much actually, but enough to grab a few supplies and something to drink for the final push to Prince George for the night.

While PG isn’t exactly an urban metropolis, it has what we need for night: the Carmel Motor Inn complete with the most red-neck Albertan alive, Earl’s for dinner, and Husky for fuel stop #1.

Mileage: 136,570 (676km which factors in the 25% tire/gear factor). 11.98L/100km (about 22MPG). Not too bad for a truck running Swamper 35’s, loaded with about 7000lbs of truck, gear, and people, over mountainous terrain. Including the running around, we spent more than 11 hours in the truck this day.

At Earl’s Clarence discovered his Amex is missing. Probably sitting in the Wal-mart parking lot in Quesnel. No worries. Quick call to Amex and the card is cancelled with no unauthorized charges. Guess it’ll be Visa from here on.

Back at the hotel, after discovering the internet doesn’t work, bed time finally came about midnight. Ouch, considering we planned an early start for Monday morning.
 
Day 3 (July 3) – Destination Dease Lake
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Choices: early start, sleep in, early start, sleep in, early start… sleep in it is. Starbucks brews a good cup of coffee and so it was there for breakfast, plus McDonalds because they had free internet.

Before leaving town Greg got a set of shop gloves from Mark’s Work Wearhouse, and there were also stops at Save-on-Foods for some medical supplies/food plus Home Depot for a pair of turn-buckles. And we’re off…

Unfortunately IRL Supplies was closed… and our first-aid kit was locked inside. Bummer. No worries, Marko in White Horse can hook us up.

The SIRUIS radio works well but we have the antenna inside, which means that when the truck is heading north, reception is spotty. Easy fix. Combined with a coffee stop, the antenna is mounted to the hood and all is good again. The story of Paris Hilton continues uninterrupted on the radio as Greg sips coffee.

Since leaving Chilliwack, we’ve been in the truck for over 13 hours. Time for Clarence to break open the computer and begin the trip log… and hence our next stop.

Who knew the world’s largest fly-fishing pole was in Houston. Well, Allstone probably does and so we took a couple of pictures for him. And necessity being the mother of all invention, a 1’ x 2’ hi-lift support board doubles as an in-truck computer desk.

Ah Smithers, how much do we love thee? Quite a bit actually. Very beautiful town, but given our schedule and late start, not enough to stop.

And so here was are, just north of Smithers following some grandpa slow mini-van. Backs are sore from too much sitting, eyes are tired from lack of sleep, and there’s few other places we’re rather be than adventuring to Alaska.

And the journey continues. There’s not much between Smithers and points north so not a lot of stopping until Dease Lake on the north side of a provincial park. At 11:43pm we rolled into Dease Lake ready for bed. No such luck as everything was closed at 11. So drive on we did.

Greg lasted until 1am and finally pulled over on the side of the road. Like an inexperienced southerner, Clarence dropped his thermarest on ground and crawled into the sleeping bag, sans tent. That lasted all of 5 minutes before the bugs did him in. So out comes the tarp which he drapped over himself like a body bag. Result…
 
Day 4 (July 4) – Destination Whitehorse
----------------------------------------------
…worst sleep of his life. Apparently bugs are smart enough to fly under the tarp and still get him. Greg showed his smarts by sleeping in the truck. At 4:30 Clarence had had too much. Everything from outside got rammed into the truck wherever it would fit and the driving beings.

At exactly 6:45am we passed into the Yukon Territories and saw the welcome sign. That’s pretty cool. Not a lot of people can say they’ve seen this sign, and even fewer have driven up the steep hill to get to it (thank-you diff lockers).

The final stretch to the Alaska highway was marked by only one exciting event. Two moose chose to play chicken with the truck. No contest… moose won. The best damage is no damage.

By 7am we were at the junction of the 37 North and Alaska Highway waiting for a fuel stop. But no, the only busted pump was the diesel one we needed. So, instead of heading west to Alaska, we’re off east to Watson Lake. Only a 22km detour, but a detour none the less.

Like many northern towns, Watson Lake has a special claim to fame. And that claim is the “Sign Post Forest”. That’s one of the neatest things we’ve seen so far. In 2004 there were 55,000 signs from travellers all over the world. By now, who knows. Maybe on the way home we’ll add our own sign.

About 2 hours west of Watson Lake is the bustling metropolis of Whitehorse. Really quite some place. Full compliment of big box stores, fast food chains, and local flair to boot.

As the trip progresses, we realize all the stuff we’re forgetting, and the cost of the adventure keeps sky rocketing. Walmart, Canadian Tire, Acklands Grainger, Starbacks (essential stop for Greg), Ricky’s for wireless internet and some grub, then off to find a hotel.

Enter Jean-Marc, a likeable French guy, insanely jealous of Greg’s “machine”, and owner of the Mountain Ridge Motel, about 5 miles west of downtown. You might not find Brad and Angela bedding down there, but for two grubby road warriors, it was all we needed.

Greg has a good friend Marco (www.outbackimports.ca) who lives just outside of Whitehorse. Marco owns the ultimate outdoors cabin: all the outdoors gear a guy needs, on the outskirts of a frontier town, complete with an ARB tricked-out HDJ81, high speed internet, and a great dog. Short of running water, the place had pretty much everything an outdoorsman could desire.

Marco gave us some trip tips and a few other pointers. Nice to have a seasoned out-door veteran on our side. We chatted for a while then headed back to the hotel for some well earned shut-eye.
 
Great reading Clarence, keep us posted.

45 Kevin
 
....and how do we love thee - very entertaining, keep us posted..
Be safe
Petra
 
Thanks for the read, Clarence and Greg! I've stuck this thread as it will be of considerable interest to all of us as fellow Club members and friends.

BTW...yes, I have a couple of pics of that giant flyrod in Houston myself. :D
 
this is bringing back great memories. very jealous and I definitely should have gone for this trip. you guys need to start trying out the cinnamon buns at the fuel stops (although it sounds like you guys are not stopping quite as often as I did in my westy all those years ago)
 
I didn't see your rig go thru town(Smithers), but I have seen some pretty loaded up and tricked out 80s roll thru here.


Have fun, keep the Deet on!
 
A message From your folks (I've forwarded them the link):

Hi Greg - Sounds like you are truly having an adventure; also sounds
like you may need to sleep for a week straight when you get
home. Hope you are taking pictures to share. Love, Mom & Dad
 
Day 5 (July 5) – Destination Kluane Lake

Day 5 (July 5) – Destination Kluane Lake
----------------------------------------------------
Choices: early start, sleep in, early start, sleep in, early start… sleep in it is. Lots to do this morning so maybe that wasn’t the best choice, but today won’t be a lot of driving so it shouldn’t be a problem.

With so much gear in the back, we’re heavy and the truck is letting us know. With the ARB fridge in the back right, the back right tire is really wearing fast. It’s lost 1/8” of rubber compared to the others, and the gravel roads aren’t helping. Greg thinks this may have been a tire pressure issue caused by himself. Time will tell. Greg also noticed left rear tire hitting new exhaust issues, seen after flexing the suspension getting up to the Welcome to the Yukon sign. This means a couple of mechanical stops. First to Performance Automotive to look at the exhaust pipe. Nothing like a trail side fix. Out comes a 2 ¼” piece of pipe which fits right into the exhaust pipe. The cheap fix… just bend the pipe hanger, no charge. Good, we need more costs like that.

Next Clarence gets dropped off at Canadian Tire for some more gear. Dang, this won’t be free. On Marco’s advice, two ESSENTIAL bug jackets are dropped in the cart, only with a pair of bear bangers and six shots, matching cans of bear-spray, and some garbage bags. Yep, not cheap.

Whitehorse is a bit of a different place. Takes a special person to live here. For instance, the NAPA Autoparts truck just pulled up in front of me and out steps the parts girl for a drop-off at Canadian Tire. Nothing unusual except for the fact that she’s wearing a pair of fuzzy blue bathroom slippers. Fashionistas be ware, your skills may be less desirable up here than that of a well healed sled-dog.

With Clarence supporting the Canadian Tire effort, Greg heads off to have the tires rotated and balanced (loss of lead weights over various trips in the past), and comes back with mixed reviews. Sure, the tires are rotated and balanced, but at the cost of a broken stud… which of course TireCraft says they can’t deal with, coupled with a shrug of the shoulders and the comment “sometimes this happens”. Thanks guys. Nothing like quality customer service (you should read about it). Hmmmm. Parts shop is closed for lunch until 1pm. With ½ hour to kill, we head over to The Chocolate Claim for some of the Yukon’s best coffee, freshly ground and ready for Greg’s coffee press. According to Marco, the chocolate here is the north’s best as well. Maybe some on the way home.

So here we sit, now at the Kal Tire in Whitehorse, coffee in hand, waiting for a replacement wheel stud and watching the World Cup. Ivo (unsure spelling) from Kal Tire in Whitehorse is beyond fantastic. Maybe he should teach a course in customer service to other area business (Mr. Subliminal says attention other tires stores). He hears the story, immediately makes space for the truck, he pulls the wheel spacer, heads out the door on a quest. Greg asks that if he finds a wheel stud to grab a few spares for the kit. A short while later the truck is on the ground, he hands us a box with three spare studs inside, and says…”No charge, have fun and be safe”. Wow, that was incredible service.

Another late start to the day, however we are no off to Tok…almost.
We pull over and camp beside Lake Kluane. Break camp, relax, service truck, learn about the handheld radio, and have dinner of steak and salad. Midnight, no darkness, but some sleep. Well, kinda sleep. In an error to ward off bears, Greg breaks out the GBBSS which he can sleep through but keeps Clarence up. No worries, Clarence is in to a great book and he reads inside the tent (with no flashlight) till after 2:30am when even he becomes immune to the GBBSS and falls asleep. Oh, for those not informed yet, the GBBSS is properly known as the “Greg Bowie Bear Scare System”, which others might commonly know as snoring.
 
Day 6 (July 6) – Destination Tok Alaska
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One neat thing about camping at Kluane is that for about 2 hours, no one in the world knew where we were. Can’t say that happens to often in life. Then another truck drove by for a 45 min break and discovered our hiding spot. After they were off, our covert location was re-established, and we enjoyed the “Where’s Waldo” existence yet again.

With some sleep under our belts (Greg got a little more than Clarence), we’re ready for another round. Reports on the US border guards are that they are very sticky on fresh food coming into the country so we’re low on some ratios. Probably to the chagrin of Clarence’s dietician sister, we enjoy a breakfast of protein shakes, pack up camp and jump back on the road.

We’re headed from Kluane Lake to Alaska Border. The senery is stunning. Unfortunately the road doesn’t share the same grandeur. Road crews are out doing summer repairs. The constant permafrost heaves keep them busy. Suspension gets a workout and seems to be handling things very well. The beautiful country makes up for the bumpy roads and intermittent work crew stops.

About 30km shy of the border we pass the Canadian border crossing station. Odd, we figured it would be right on the US border. Likely the Americans will be on the border.

At Mile 0 we find the International Boundary. Clarence plants his feet with one in Canada and the other in the US. Signs there explain the construction of the Alaska highway, frost heaves on the road, and other little facts. And sure enough, 500m up the road is the US border patrol office.

The border guard was a super nice guy. He asked about the truck, where we were headed, gave us some travel advice on the Top of the World Highway (Summer route only, just east of Tok, which heads north east and comes out at Dawson City in the Yukon), and didn’t hassle us at all. At the border there is a tiny community of about 10 mobile trailers and nothing else that we could see. Wow, that’s outback living. Good luck boys (and gals we assume too).

We hit Tok about 90 minutes later. It’s a tourist trap conveniently masked as a frontier town. There’s a grocery story, a couple of RV repairs shops (which must get a tonne of business in the summer), a sporting good store, several gift shops, and a slew of motels. Wal-Mart and McDonalds have yet to grace this area of wilderness.

Dinner at Fast Eddy’s is a casual affair of burgers and fries. We find a hotel on the edge of town (trust us, that’s not far from the centre of town) and drop off the gear. Why this hotel… because it has wi-fi. Ah technology, how you influence our lives. With the gear out, we set out to explore the town. An easy trip as there’s only 1 street (aside from the residential ones). The Tourist Information Centre is a beautiful log building. Next door is a stuffed moose that must be 7 feet tall to the tips of the antlers. We visit a shop selling sled dog pups, see some vintage WWII trucks no longer in use, pass Santa’s summer cruising vehicle, and generally experience a slice of what Tok has to offer.

Back at the hotel, we realize a few things are missing from our gear. Clarence is missing his sunglasses and the power cables for his phone, plus a plate and bowl purchased in White Horse. Greg’s missing an extra propane bottle for the stove, and his cereal bowl is also on hiatus. Oh well, non-essential items. Wait, who are we kidding. Clarence without a cell phone! Life is surely going to stop in it’s tracks. At least he still has the life-line of the internet… for another 36 hours anyway.

To end the day, Greg catches up on email and ih8mud posts, while Clarence jumps back into his book. Tomorrow is the last day in civilization for an entire week.
 
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Nice Diary/Journal, makes it almost feel like we are out there with you guys.
Chees and have a good trip,
Deny
 
right on guys, keep 'em coming when you can!

Ugh, that Huston Fly rod gives me the shivers. My gal and I visited my cousin in Terrace about 1992. We took her Bronco II because it had air conditioning. The POS ignition module quit, but was intermittant and the problem couldn't be confirmed by the dealer. Anyway, we broke down in Huston...twice on the same day. Across the street from that fly rod.

Always took the Cruiser after that. Lesson learned.
 
Guess tomorrow is the BIG Day!!! Have a blast guys and look forward to your blog in a weeks time.;) :bounce: :bounce2: :D
 
Hey Guy's, having a hoot reading of your exploits in the land of the rising sun, i hope you both have a great time on the rest of your trip and will miss you at the last meeting at the shop.
Clarence, i will try by best to help figure out the remaining issues to do with Cruiser Day's.

Greg, the truck looks awsome - good luck and take care.

Rob.
 
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