Day 6

6/29/2007

Rained all night at camp.

Little problem at breakfast this morning. I had started a batch of steel cut oats last night. All I had to do was heat them up, add some brown sugar and raisins and have at it.

Only problem was, I could not find the raisins. Of all the things that I don't know the location of, the raisins I knew. I just used them a couple of days ago.

Finally removed a plumbing access panel and found them. Down stream from the cubby hole that I had stashed them. Guess they took a little trip during one of our "Zero G" turns yesterday....

We departed Rancheria at are usual departure time of around 8:30. Up past Teslin lake then fueled up in White Horse. After a roadside stop for lunch at a rest stop, be blasted through Haines Junction up to Kluane Lake. This is about the prettiest lake we have see so far. It's got that blue green color found in some glacier fed lakes. They are working the road over pretty hard around the Southern sections of the lake. This is one of the last sections of original Alaska Highway roadbed from 60 years ago. There is a lot of rock to shoot to perform the realignment. Patrick and I wanted to find a place to stop and watch the work for a while, but it was a good thing we didn't. When we got to Destruction Bay, we checked on the camping situation. They were almost full and they said that some of the campgrounds further up the road were closed. So, we camped. First place I've had an internet connection in 3 days. It's nice to catch up and even post some pictures. Not many, it's a slow connection ;+)

Today's mileage 360


Our camping spot at Destruction Bay. Patrick and Sondra leave for a walk/bike on the left. John & Lelah sitting in the sun on the right.








Kluane Lake.

Day 5

6/28/2007

Still no internet connection in sight so I am writing this not knowing when the blog might get updated.

Seems like we have a routine going. Depart around 8:00-8:30. Find a place to stop to have lunch, then back on the road looking for a camping place around 16:00-16:30

Woke to a cloudless sky, our first of the trip.

Departed Bell II at 8:20. Did I mention yesterday that Bell II gave us our first taste of bugs? All manner of no-see-ums and mosquito's. We all have bite marks to prove it.

Right after departing, we crossed into the first patch of gravel road. Not very eventful, just a note on the page.

Proceeded North through some wonderful mountainous country. Still plenty of snow in the high country and plenty of water in the creeks and rivers.

We also saw our first bears and mooses (is that the correct plural for moose?) of the journey. The bears were just black blurs as we sped past them. The first two moose we saw, a cow and a calf, ran across the road in front of us. Headed into the scrub next to the river. Turned and looked as us through the brush. Of all the game, 4 cameras, no pictures.

There is one stretch of the highway that is sloughing away so they have build a one way gravel bypass, up hill, right alongside a river. Well, Phil had the lead, I am following a safe distance. You know what happened next - introducing the knucklehead - some guy thought he should come right down the middle of the road, blocking the route up for us. Phil had to stop, I had to slow considerably while we waited for this guy to move to the side so we could get out of his way. Did I mention it was slippery and soft? Did I mention the big double trailer fuel tanker behind me? Well, the poor fuel truck had to down shift while trying to not hit me. He missed a gear and was stuck. We kept moving or we probably would have been stuck too.

When we later got fuel where the Cassiar Highway meets the Alaska Highway, the same fuel truck was delivering to the very same fuel station. The truck drive was ok with the whole thing, knew how it all went down, and was good with the fact that we were all here. If only more drivers had that attitude.

Had one stretch of about 30KM of gravel road after that. They were working aggressively on about 1/2 of that. We wondered if they are preparing to seal coat that stretch as well.

Once we got through that 30KM of gravel, the road got rough. We longed for the well graded gravel. Plenty of humps and bumps. Patrick and I were reminded of a Christmas ornament that we have. It's a model of John Glenn's Freedom Seven capsule. When you push the button, John Glenn's voice plays back, "Zero G and I feel fine - capsule is turning around - ah the view is tremendous" We had it all. (except our capsule never turned around)

Made to the "Alaska Highway" around 16:20. Traveled West for about an hour until we got to the campground at Rancheria.

It got cloudy as the day progressed. By the time we hit the Alaska Highway, we could see a thunder storm that we were driving toward at 100KPH . The cloudburst washed off about 1/2 the dirt collected on the Cassiar. Tough luck ;+)

We are going to call it a day. The clouds are dark enough, and we are camping in trees so we won't need any of the blackouts tonight.

Mileage today 355. Total for the trip so far - 1,549 miles.

Day 4

6/27/2007

I can't say for sure when this entry may get posted. We are en route to HWY 37 - The Cassiar Highway. It may be a couple of days before I can get a connection.

We departed Burns Lake around 8:30. Not far out of town, the spare tire cover came flying off Phil & Sondra's trailer. In the act of stopping, turning around, back tracking, turning around again, stopping to pick it up and getting moving again, Phil, Sondra, John & Lelah must have traveled about 75KM.

The next several towns we passed, we checked out every fuel station and visitors center just to make sure they had not stopped. Finally got up with them when they stopped for fuel in Smithers BC.

While there, we too got fuel and stopped at Safeway to stock up. This would be our last stop on the Yellowhead Highway before we turned North on the Cassiar.

Soon, we took the turn on the road less traveled. Most of our first day on the Cassiar we found very good to good road conditions. There was one stretch of about 10-15KM that had regular cracks but the ride was ok.

Finished our day at a resort called Bell II. It looks like their big claim to fame is heleskiing and fuel. New modern building made with lots of big logs. Impressive out in the middle of nowhere. Impressive prices too. $30.00 for a camping spot.

Tonight will be the first night we will use some of the blackouts that Elizabeth and Patrick made before our departure. The sun went behind a nearby mountain around 21:00. It still had an hour or so to find the horizon.

Total mileage for the day. 319 Miles.

Day 3.

Got going close to on schedule this morning. Left the campground at Lac la Hache around 08:30.

Headed North to Prince George and hung a left. We have stopped for the night at Burns Lake. (can't help but make Frank Burns jokes)

Passed throught the mill towns of Quesnel and Prince George. Quesnel is something else. Population something like 10,000 people. 10 sawmills and 2 pulp plants. I am pretty sure the town hums.

I looked at some of the APRS tracking logs today. Looks like there are some major holes in coverage. Not too surpising. Most parts of the road don't even have comercial radio coverage. Life in the way the heck gone out here.

Tomorrow we are planning on taking on the first 1/3 or so of the Cassiar highway. Probably the most remote section of the North bound trip. Don't expect frequent updates to the map the next couple of days.

Today's mileage 320. Last fueling I calculated 11.11MPG I am pleased. I had figured 10 would be good. Fuel cost in Prince George was .939 per liter. Took 93.72 liters to top off. Highway conditions have been great. The open road has a 100KPH speed limits so you can really cover the ground. Somehow, these folks are doing an outstanding job maintaining their roads. I am sure a contributing factor is the fact that is appears that most of the log trucks use company roads direct from the woods to the mills. Finished products go out on either the main roads or rail.

That's it for now. I hope I can find a connection tomorrow to update things.

Day 2

First, I am actually post this on day 3.. End of day 2 found us at a location that charged $5.00 for 15 minutes of internet use. e-mail only.... So, I am updating day 2 on day 3.

Day 2 had Patrick and I leaving Scott & Glady's place in Woodinville late. Seems that the night before, when we installed the antenna on the roof of the camper, there were a bunch of tree limbs now blocking our path. Sometimes daybreak can be a bother. So, we had a choice, cut off the branches, or climb back up on the camper and remove the antenna. Scott got a saw.....

With that, we were about 1 1/2 hours behind schedule meeting the rest of our party in Burlington where we had a schedule fuel stop.

Crossed the US/Canadian border without incedent and headed up the Fraser River.

What an amazing varied scenery today. From broad river valley where it was raining, through high desert area of Lytton and Spences Bridge and ending up a Lac la Hache where, at 2700' MSL, the geography felt more like near tree line of arctic. Lots of aspen and stunted alpine evergreens.

Since my current connection is a dialup; no pictures today.

Total mileage today - 378.

Travel day 1

First day of travel. Port Angeles to Woodinville. Only about 150 miles into the journey. Patrick and I are staying with our good friends Scott & Gladys. Scott put in many hours helping us install an amateur radio transceiver in both the truck and the camper. The one in the truck will be used for voice communications when we are on the road. The one in the camper will be a dedicated data radio that will be used to transmit out current location. Yes, that means that when you now click on the "Where are they now" link, it will really show the most recent data. (More on this in future posts) In the mean time, it's after midnight PDT and we need to get up early to meet John, Lelah, Sondra and Phil in Burlington.

Here is a picture that Patrick took before it got too dark showing Scott up on the roof of the camper with me installing an antenna.

Now, time to hit the rack. Good night all.

Post one - prepping and packing

Greetings everyone. Welcome to the trip blog. For background, Starting this weekend, the great adventure will begin. A trip of over 5000 miles from our home in Port Angeles, Washington, through British Columbia, Yukon Territory, Alaska and back home. More details on the route, participants will come in future posts.

This blog could very well change over the next few days as I add elements and realize that the initial design didn't work out as well as I had hoped. Just be prepared... :+)

Finally, one of the first things I have added is over on the right side of the page. (at least it is this evening) Click the link Where are they now. This will take you to another page which will show you the most recent location of the truck reported via ham radio through the APRS network - see this Wikipedia article for more info on ARPS