More Travel pictures

[DOSZORROS]

Attached are some more travel pictures from the northland.



1. Bear on Cassiar highway
2. Haines Junction on June 11
3. Caribou bull at Summit lake
4. Large moose rack (this photo was sent to me)
5. Abandoned gold dredge
6. Jet boating on the Deshka (I thought we were going to hit the moose because the water was so shallow we couldn't slow down without grounding.)
7. Klaune mountains north of Haines Junction

[pgchin]

Dennis,
BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!! Question for you........ I presume you used a bird and a truck camper to try and make the most of your Alaskan adventures????? Does the truck camper get you places you can't get to in the bird??? I'm just a newbie trying to figure out how to best see the back country of Alaska as well as Yellow knife, etc............thanks!!!!!!!!

[Arcticdude]

Pete,

Not to answer for Dennis, but I'd say the answer depends on how back country you want to get. I wouldn't take my bird up the highway, as I believe a vehicle suffers too much. I rode it on motorcycles and sold the one, while the wife still has hers. It's been 11 years and I can still find highway dirt on that bike! But to get back to topic, to truly see the backcountry, you need a plane!

[pgchin]

(09-09-2013 14:35)Arcticdude Wrote:  Pete,

Not to answer for Dennis, but I'd say the answer depends on how back country you want to get. I wouldn't take my bird up the highway, as I believe a vehicle suffers too much. I rode it on motorcycles and sold the one, while the wife still has hers. It's been 11 years and I can still find highway dirt on that bike! But to get back to topic, to truly see the backcountry, you need a plane!

Thanks John for the info and help,
I saw a TV special once and some of Dennis's older pics and indeed it looked like He "flew" in to the back country. I am intrigued to see what he has to say about the truck camper and it's applicability after hang'in out there for 20 years!. Truth be told..I'm thinking about another new set of toys...... a fully loaded diesel dually 4x4 with an Artic fox on the back! It has been on my wish list for years and on my next trip out west I am going to stop at the Artic fox factory for a tour......now, I KNOW I cannot use that setup for a toad UNLESS I upgrade the bird!!!!!! teehee......just kidding about the toad but NOT about the toy......... after a decade of touring the lower 48, I find the new toy setup would work much better in certain area's and use cases.............. and I can "take turns" with the toys............ yeah I here ya about the dirt roads!!!!! :-)......... and to run to Alaska from Florida is a LOT of Diesel in a bird so if one's gonna do it, ya want to get the MOST out of the trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-0..............

[Arcticdude]

I fully understand the need for a new toy now and then. The right p/u would make a fine toad! Keep it under 10K and have fun! I'm pulling a loaded p/u currently, just a half ton instead of the 3/4 or 1 ton versions. I keep the 3/4 for the farm, where it has to work to earn it's keep. The Chevy's and Dodge's have a neutral position on their electric transfer case, so they're easy to set up to tow. The Ford's do not, so you need a disconnect or pump to tow those (250 or 350). Most all of those come in around 7700# empty, so your Arctic Fox (any model) will put you well over the 10K mark. Even upgrading the hitch will still be a test of a machine towing that! You might be better off driving or flying up and renting the camper. Lots of places to do that up here.

[DOSZORROS]

Pete:

To answer your question, our first trip up the Alcan was in 1973 in a pickup and camper and there was 1200 miles of gravel between Fort Nelson and the Alaska border. The highway in Alaska was paved and was worse than the gravel roads in Canada.

Both the Alcan and the Cassiar are paved now and are good roads. We have taken our coaches up the Alcan and would do it again without hesitation. We take the pickup and camper now because we don't need the coach in alaska and the pickup and camper gives us better overnight access to remote spots. We have children at Wasilla with an empty bedroom and it alleviates the need for the coach.

The roads are limited in Alaska and other than the main highways, they get primitive in a hurry. The coach is not a good solution for offroad destinations as it is not a good solution for forest service campgrounds in the lower 48. It is sort of like trying to put a quart and a half in a one quart jar.

When we travel in the coach, we tow a 4X4 all the time and we park the coach in an adequate spot and punish the 4X4 to satisfy our never ending curiosity.

I would not hesitate to take our coach to Alaska again if we had any need for it up there.

I hope this answers your question.

Arctdude:

You said your trip was 11 years ago. The roads are much different today. However, primitive, muddy, rocky, back country roads are still just that.

[Arcticdude]

Yes, I'll bet they are. We had about 450-500 miles of dirt in our trip. Everything from wet sand slurry heading through Canada on the Alaska-Canadian to the hard pack in Alaska to loose gravel covered in calcium carbonate on the Dalton. The slurry was fun because you rode in the ruts of the semis and rv's. Your tires were well below the water level and often your footpegs were even with the top of the ruts.

The wife had this "lovely fellow" in a class C trying to push her up the road in that stuff. The traffic ahead stopped quickly and so did she. The C locked up its wheels getting stopped. We drove off, yet the C remained. It had pushed enough of a sand pile up stopping, it couldn't get going again. Couldn't have happened to a nicer fellow!

Running the Dalton, it had been raining a bunch. The calcium carbonate is put down for dust control, but becomes very slick and sticky when wet. Coming southbound, my bike starts drifting to the right and isn't wanting to respond to inputs. It finally stops as the rear wheel dropped off the berm, so it's resting on the left saddlebag. The wife is coming up on me thinking about "how smart I must be and so talented to be able to slide the bike to the very edge without going over"! Mind you she's doing all of 5 mph as she pulls up beside me thinking she's stopping! As she slides on past, I see her tires covered in about an inch of muck, with the front fender shaving it off as she rolls on by, feet down no less. Funny how the train of thought went from "what is that super intelligent handsome young fellow doing" to "oh crap, how do you stop this thing!!"

The highlight of that run was probably the fellow at the Yukon river gas station, cafe, motel, service center and emporium. He gave us all kinds of stories about people having to be airlifted out after selling their bikes and belongings after a crash on the highway. He was rather crestfallen when we returned without so much as a scratch. At that time, about the 5 miles or so before the Arctic Circle wayside were paved. It was really wild to be blasting along at 70-75 mph at the circle after putting for so many miles.

It was a neat trip, to say the least.

[pgchin]

Dennis,
Thanks, you've confirmed my suspicions and answered my questions, I really appreciate it!!!!! Some of the things you pointed out I've been running into in the lower 48 and we love state and country rural campgrounds as well as BLE's so I can relate, thanks again!!!!!

John,
Thanks for the PU tips! We've always had one, still do, only the present one is an 05 SSR with the c6 drive train and I am a tried and true Chevy guy so it will be one of those.... you make a good point about weight/size/ toad......Artic Fox does make a small cap that will fit in a 1/2 ton, the problem is I am not sure it is big enough for our needs or light enough to keep it under 10k, I know the big one suits us as we spent time in it as it belonged to a good friend of mine who let me borrow it once to try out........hence the trip to the factory to "play" in them and decide!