haulin thru the desert.

Chefin Oakland

So I cooked lamb on Monday with Jill and Paul, and tonight Salmon is on the menu for John and the Hansen family. It's good to be in kitchens again, and I'm tired of the Coleman 2 burner which has performed marvelously over the last 9 weeks. Vaca is winding down, and I'm looking forward to getting home to Charleston. Few more stops along the way... Summers slow waaaaaayyyyyy down in S.C. Here comes NCAA football. As always, GO HOKIES!

San Fransico!

Picked up a cool Independent Traveling Kidd code named "Virginia", aka "Joshua Mad Dog", Whose real name has been erased from the records when he went Merc. He now rides box cars around the country to his scattered homemade residences. I'm sure you can find him with the "dirty kids" near train tracks or parks in a city near you. runs with all sorts of crews. We found a chill road to park on last night , and climbed down a 35-40 foot cliff to camp on the pebble beach of a creek. Slept great and could have caught trout if we'd had fishin pole. Saw a seal riding Pacific waves on a beach NW of San Raphael. Herd of deer led by a 14 pointer and 2 12 pointers. The whole herd was grazing in the coastal fog. Pirated a shower at a camp ground. Golden gate bridge was foggy; China town; Japan town; hit the WRONG SIDE of the tracks by mistake near Oakland... But we were waving a Jolly Roger flag on the back of Dante, so we were cool.
As Virginia says first thing each day when he wakes up... Best Life Ever...

By the way, stopped at a cool local coffee shop. Good cup o joe, and got the wifi password. props to my peeps at Fellini coffee bar over by Berkeley way

quick update from android

British Columbia North to South

I essentially crossed 3 territories as big or bigger than Texas in 5 days. The toll I put on Dante was too much... I was only a couple hours away from my destination of Vancouver, on a 13 or 15 degree grade I started loosing my brakes. I was barely able to pull over in time to hit a large flat patch of gravel. As soon as I came to a full stop, all 4 brakes started smoking. Oops, lol.
Other than that, my trip through BC went well. I picked up a hitchhiker near the end of the Yukon. James was on the side of the road with nothing but the clothes on his back and an MP3 player. We had a great time for the 3 day ride, he navigated me through the good short-cuts that GPS ignores, and I was able to get him to his family on Van Island in record time.

 HUGE Bison

 Natural Hot Springs

 Now that is clean water

 I'll take the Log Cabin #1 Combo to go please...

 Wow,

 Beautiful!

 James and I

Vancouver at last
Well, I've had a good time in Vancouver. I was able to catch up on some sleep, I got to sample the food, I visited Stanley Park, the markets, downtown, and got Dante into the shop. ARGH! New rotors, new calipers, new brake pads, and 2 new shocks... YES this BC, Yukon and Alaska are rough on automobiles... Be forewarned! I will post a more detailed acct of Vancouver at a later time, but I need to hit the road and get back to the lower 48 today. Will rest my bones in Washington tonight. BUT, I must add that Vancouver is a REALLY cool city, and I will put it, and Vancouver Island (which I must $kip for now) at the top of the list for places I want to visit/revisit
Special thanks to Clara and Dave for the hospitality

Dawson City/Carmacks/Whitehorse

At the end of Top of the world highway, heading East, you will come down a large hill to the end of the road. I had forgotten that someone had mentioned a ferry. It's the only way to get across the Yukon river (unless you come through in the winter, because it does freeze over enough to drive across).

Dawson City truly stands out as the quintessential Yukon Gold metropolis. It hasn't changed much in the last century. New technology makes it easier to sift through 'pay dirt', and all wheel drive vehicles are essential these days, but it is like an old, fading picture; it's essence is still visible. The ferry is funded by the city, and is free of charge. They DO want you to stop in and spend some money...

Some of the original buildings have had major renovations while keeping to their roots (like the swinging saloon doors on the Hotel. Paint the town RED!), and some of the original stuff sits dry docked to weather the years (river boat and building in 2nd pic).
This town has maybe 5 avenues and 8 streets, and then you have to truck on down the road to find the next nook of 'civilization'. The road East of Dawson is lined on both sides, at least half a mile wide, and 15-20 miles long with mounds of dirt and rock that has carefully been sifted through for Gold. These man made dunes have sat here, out of the way since the town got serious about mining the area. Some so old that full sized trees have grown into them. What a sight... I've never seen anything like it.
Once You get to Carmacks, the landscape has changed drastically. The hills and mountains are no longer predominantly covered in spruce

but the "airports" still look the same. A windsock, a few cones, and a long, kinda flat field...

no terminal, and no refueling station in sight.
Road repairs are still a common sight. Alternate layers of level dirt, gravel and an oily looking tar; then more gravel

and the Mountains and hills in their infinite combinations of colors, textures, altitudes and visual appeal continue to roll on

right on to White Horse and beyond...

tried to post this in Whitehorse

I guess I added too many pics, because my wifi connection got cut off, I guess I maxed out the bandwidth. So this is 3 days ago...

So I'm back in whitehorse, Yukon T. A long haul from Fairbanks in 48 hours, especially if you go through Eagle, AK to Top of the World highway, and ferry across to Dawson City. But WOW! was it worth it. I think it's safe to say Dante is back up to speed and ready for more. I was able to slow down to 35 mph fast enough for the 1000 lbs (approx) moose to miss me by 6-8 feet. I did a lil drift at a critical  downward sloping slippery S-turn, that under other mechanical circumstances could have meant potentially hitting a soft shoulder with 250 foot drop-off(there were a few trees, and another spot had a 1,200 ft drop-off). Saw at least 200 head of various sized caribou. Dawson City is friggin COOL! Like a turn of the century Wild West town with cars and tourism instead of horses and husky sled teams. Not a lot changes up here. It is WILD to say the least. 

Glad to be back on the road. I'm shooting to be down around Vancouver by weeks end (sat/sun?), and back in lower 48 next week. 

I thought I'd take the chance to use the WiFi in Whitehorse, cause it's the first I've seen since Monday, and it might be another day or two. Everyone following along, I'm doing well, and in very good spirits. Here's a few pics for ya, and as always, stay tuned...

North Pole, Alaska. Where street lights, McDonalds neon signs and fire hydrants sit atop candy cane striped poles.

This dry spring melt river bed would be the shee-aite on an ATV with firearms and a cooler, lol

Passed through this "major" stop on the way to Eagle at 5 AM. Only creatures stirring were the rooster named 'Attack Chicken' and the cook firing up the kitchen for breakfast later... What a trip!

This is a pic of the half of the pack that didn't scatter to either side... and I saw a half dozen different sized packs in 3 hour stretch of road. Good eats for local hunters, or the whole tribe!

Alternate caption: "Hey baby, nice RACK!"

btw, they were running along the road at close to 25 mph; pick your target, and make your shot count if you're into that kinda thing...

ok, so was there a Lieutenant Fitch? were they Alaska's wersion of Lewis and Clarke? Will have to get to the bottom of it...

Nope, the payphone does not work... It is only used for Superman to change in from time to time. If you want to make a call from here, you need a satellite phone

WOW!

So I drove for 5 and 1/2 days straight to get from Fairbanks to Vancouver(I did take the long way through Chicken Alaska, and Top of the world Highway). Staying with my cousin a few days to recuperate before hitting mainland USA. Need some sleep, but am ok, and will post pics soon

On the road again?

Well, I spent another weekend at the 7 Gables Inn, and have to say it is a great place to stay if you happen to be in the Fairbanks area. I called the shop to make sure we are still on schedule to get me back on the road. Kick-off expected early afternoon. Got some ground to make up, so I'll be heading for Chicken. It's a long drive, but then again the sun doesn't really go down, so I'm not worried about popping tent in the dark. This also means I'll be in sketchy cell coverage again, but I'll be back...
Before and after shots of Dante:

After the Arctic Circle run (before)

needs a lil more TLC before hitting the road for the return trip


GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES!
Round 2... stay tuned

11th hour

Going to be real close. They may not get the Durango fixed in time, which would mean another weekend here in Fairbanks. If that's the case, this week will have $urpa$$ed either of the last 2 months on the road... Very frustrating. I just want to get back on the road

Quick update

Was going to start heading south on Monday morning, but turns out Dante blew a head gasket, so I'm waiting for it to get fixed. They are also putting in a new water pump, a new thermostat, checking all the heads at a machine shop to make sure this doesn't happen again any time soon. As much as I like it up here, I can't wait to be mobile again. It feels like it's been a really long day, Oh wait! It has been a long day... It hasn't gotten dark in about 2 1/2 weeks. That's a long day!

Top of the world Ma! well, kinda

Made it!

I will have to come back and do another post on the Arctic Circle since I don't have the time to tell the whole story. The 197 mile, one way trip, took me 6 hours on the way up, and 4 on the way back. There are 414 miles (666 km) of "unpaved road", and let me tell ya, if you don't know it... Be Careful! Dips, swells, 20 mile patches of shale and gravel acting like the roughest grit sandpaper, and all sorts of pot holes, washboard moguls, sharp turns, dust, and oncoming hardcore industrial truckers. You don't want to make a mistake up here. Dante hit a set of dips and swells at 65 mph (15 over posted limit), and got all 4 wheels at least an inch off the ground. What a rush! I'm just glad it wasn't in a turn, or I would have been done for the day. This is No Man's Land, and it was a beautiful day. Only regret is that it was a bone chilling 60 degrees at the arctic circle marker... I jest of course, it was PERFECT! I arrived just after 4:20pm, and had a little celebration. just over 8,300 miles to get to this point. It is peak season up here with swarms of mosquitoes that have no equal, wondrous vistas accentuated by large fields of purple blooms, and an overwhelming sense of being alone in the WILD. The people that set up the trans alaskan pipeline do their best to keep the road up, but no one lingers up here. There is an outpost at Yukon River, which is probably one of the only places to get gas on the whole stretch; and I would not want to be the one to hold down that fort! I can't imagine being STUCK there during the winter. I can't even fathom trying to navigate that stretch with any kind of snow or ice in any vehicle ever manufactured. TOO many possibilities of something going wrong. In fact, I don't think even the best mushers could get from Fairbanks to Deadhorse in dead of winter. Ignoring the fact that record low is set at 128 below (with wind chill), the road between point A and B is BRUTAL.
To be continued... enjoy the pics

you can catch some great air on this section of road, but you'd better hit the landing!

The main reason there is even a road up here

View from Finger Mountain, with a wonderful array of TORs

It's Life or Death up here, no in between...

Sometimes you have to go with the unconventional horizon to get a better sense of the real "picture".

Arctic circle here I come...

Minor glitch in the plans. I had to cancel and shred a Credit Card. It seems I was simultaneously charging stuff in Oakland,CA and Anchorage, AK... Bank of America was on top of it, and cleared the charges off my acct, but I'm down 1 CC so far. I hope I have better luck with my other cards.
Love it when the weatherman s wrong, it's NOT raining today. It's now or never for seeing the arctic circle. If I can get up there and back without blowing a tire, I'll be heading south next... Back through Yukon to Prince George, then Vancouver-ish and along the west coast. I just got the National Parks Yearly pass, and plan on using it every chance I get. Here's a few pics for the road. Unfortunately Mt McKinley was overcast most of the day, only got a few good shots. But then again, you can find better ones on the WWW; lol. Wish you were here,

Wake up son! That was just 1 bail, we've got to do a dozen more before the day is done...

Looks fun AND dangerous... Can I take it for a spin?

Snow Plow Locomotive? WOW! Looks like the arms push the edge of the plow bout 30 feet on either side.

Denali just before the clouds moved in and covered everything up

Hurricane Gultch you say? Is there another way across? No? Ok then...

194 miles to go...

Need some sunshine up here...

It's been raining/overcast since Mon night. The ATV trip was cancelled, and I've been essentially recuperating. I didn't realize how beat I was from the 7,500 mile trip. It's been nice not having to drive since I checked in on Sunday night. Everything is close enough to walk to (except the movie theatre, which is on the other side of town). Tomorrow and Saturday seem to be the best weather days on the near horizon, So I guees I will head for McKinley. Next weeks forecast is RAIN all week, starting on Sunday. I think it's safe to say that the northern lights are hard enough to catch in twighlight, impossible in rain or overcast conditions... I don't think I will linger too long or push too far north at this time. The Last Frontier will retain it's wild and remote treasures under a shroud of mystery for now. I definitely will consider coming back up here at a later time (booking a flight next time). Anyways, Just wanted to touch base and let you guys know that I am well, and planning the final leg of the first half of my trip. I am ready for the return journey and all the things and people I will see along the way.