Tundy, house and beetle build thread...and exploring.

For who? My dad has been there 30 years. I spent a summer there.

 

No. You need a passport to get back in to US.

 

Thankfully my crossing back into the US at Alaska was easy... All of 2 minutes.

 

Grab some popcorn!!! Updates are rolling in.

 

To the North and Beyond!


Like I said last time, I did not make it far after my last camp site. I found a nice little spot along the river where I could get some stuff done. I also was hoping that if the skies were clear, I’d be able to see the northern lights that were looking like a decent possibility (over 25% chance). Of course, it was not clear that night.


River by Brandon M, on Flickr


Next, I continued on, getting into the Yukon Territory. There's not many roads in the northern parts of Canada so it makes it easy, only a few different options for a route to the north. The roads in this area and north are a mix of paved and gravel. Gravel is usually the smoothest although sometimes crazy dusty. Summer is also the only time that the road crews can work on repairing the roads so it is a very common part of the drive to get to a one lane section with a pilot vehicle that you have to wait up to 10 minutes for. But overall, the roads are in much better condition than many make them out to be. But it's still a good idea to be prepared (and have a full size spare). Along the highway I found a few animals, some more excited to see me than others.


Bison by Brandon M, on Flickr


Caribou by Brandon M, on Flickr


I made it to Watson Lake where there is a cool attraction, the Sign Forest. The sign forest was started in 1942 when a homesick soldier who was working on the Alaska Highway put a sign from his hometown on an army mileage post. Others started to do the same and the forest grew. Today there are a ton of signs from all over the world at this site, its very interesting to see.


Watson Lake Sign Forest by Brandon M, on Flickr


In Watson Lake, there is a free camping area that is on the shore near the airport. It was a nice area, the airport does not have much air traffic and it provided for some cool pictures. The clouds participated well for a cool shot of the historic hangar.


Watson Lake Airport by Brandon M, on Flickr


I set my alarm for 2am, peeked out of the window of the truck and saw clouds dancing in the sky!!! I was pretty dang surprised to see the northern lights. It was quite brisk but I braved the cold to get some photography in. The lights from the airport were somewhat annoying but didn’t completely kill the ability to get some pictures. Contrary to popular belief (from pictures), the northern lights that are seen are typically white in color. The human eye does not see color well at night but you may get lucky and see stronger lights that do have a hint of color. But the camera can see the color and picks it up for the pictures.


Northern Lights by Brandon M, on Flickr


The next destination was Whitehorse. At this point it started to be getting into a normal weather pattern of being overcast with light rain. Drowning out the fun skies of pictures and making hiking sound a lot less exciting. Along the way, there are plenty of bridges like this one, which was near Teslin.


Teslin Bridge by Brandon M, on Flickr


I also stopped at a random waterfall although at that point I was feeling too lazy for the short hike down to it.


Waterfall by Brandon M, on Flickr


Once in Whitehorse I realized that I was wrong in my assumption that it was the source of the Sourtoe Cocktail that actually resided in Dawson City. Being overcast, I got some shopping done and a shower but the hikes in the city did not jump out at me especially with the light rain and cold wind. The sun did break out in the morning so I could see the worlds largest weathervane. It's hard to understand how something this large and heavy can easily pivot with the lightest breeze and always have the nose facing into the wind. The sign at its base said as little as a 5 knot wind will make it rotate.


Whitehorse Weathervane by Brandon M, on Flickr

 

To the North and Beyond, part 2


I was tempted to head to Haines junction from Whitehorse, but knowing I’d have to drive that way on the way south, I proceeded north. I also didn’t want to miss out on a Sourtoe Cocktail since I was in the neighborhood. The traffic again got a little lighter, more traffic heading south instead of north. Using the limited cell service, I wasn’t able to find many hiking trails in the areas I would be cruising through.


Pelly Crossing by Brandon M, on Flickr


My interest in historical places and old mining stuff got me do head northeast towards Mayo and Keno. Along the route there was a short hike that overlooks the river, on one of the informational boards it explains how grizzlies usually hang out on southern facing mountain sides… like the one I was on. I did a double take of my surroundings, and didn’t see any watching me.


Aspens by Brandon M, on Flickr


I continued on past Mayo towards Keno. The road between Mayo and Keno is a lolipop route, a short stem of a road at the base and then a large loop on the top. The southern route is a slower, bumpier and narrower road where the northern road is wider, smoother and faster. Once in Keno I was happy to see that the ‘trail’ up to the signpost at the top of the mountain was something you could drive to. Since it was getting late, I had no interest in a long hike. You can do it with most vehicles in good weather, and it is well worth it for the views from the top.


Keno Signpost by Brandon M, on Flickr


Keno Trail by Brandon M, on Flickr


I explored the museum in the town, which had a lot of old machinery and parts from the mining days which were marked and in relatively good condition. I headed back to find a place to sleep for the night and came around a corner on the southern section of the road and found this little grizzly. I stopped and it looked my way. I tried to slowly inch forward and it spooked it into the woods. What I had to learn on the road since I haven’t had to deal with grizzlies before, is how to tell them apart. This little one shows all the features, above the front legs you can see the hump of the extra muscles for digging, the ears are rounded, and the face has a dip between the eyes and the nose. Black bears can be many colors including brown, so you cannot judge on color alone.


Grizzly Cub by Brandon M, on Flickr


Now I was right around the corner from Dawson City! Another dreary day of light rain was upon us, but it was the last day of a weekend festival called Discovery Days in Dawson City. There were events all weekend, lots of tours and info. I went on a tour, did some panning for gold and did get some gold (after they felt sorry and gave me a little bottle with a few specks). That night I joined the Sourtoe Cocktail Club by putting a mummified human toe in my whiskey and allowing the toe to touch my lips while I finished the shot. There were about fifty other crazy people who joined me that night. This is toe number 13 in the history of the drink. The last one was stolen a few months ago, the thief mailed it back but they have moved onto another backup. I read online that they were asking for volunteers to donate more toes (after they die) to the cause and had an online place for people to submit pictures of their toes that they are offering up.


Dawson Captain by Brandon M, on Flickr


A house that has been left to the elements. No, I didn’t swing down to San Francisco. This is the result of building on top of permafrost (ground that stays frozen). When you build on it and it heats up, the ground thaws and the building sinks.


Dawson City by Brandon M, on Flickr


Just across the Yukon River in West Dawson City is a Paddlewheel Graveyard where old paddle boats were abandoned to slowly deteriorate. It is right along the bank of the river and there are supposedly six or seven boats. I was able to find four, although its sometimes hard to tell what is part of one boat since some of them are bunched together. It was a cool little spot although the boats are getting close to being turned into a pile of wood instead of resembling a boat.


Paddlewheel Graveyard by Brandon M, on Flickr


There were some trails that were backtracking an hour from Dawson City, but with the weather forecast being rain for the next few days, I instead continued west in hopes of finding sun. I was now on the Top of the World Highway. Again, traffic was getting lighter, it was mostly gravel, a few areas of construction with pilot cars. This section of the highway is closed during the winter which is good with no guardrails and long drops off the sides.


I continued to be tempted by random offshoot roads that led to unknown places. My topo maps that I have downloaded show a lot of historic roads as well as current ones but many of the roads were not on the map so I was not sure how far they ventured off.


Yukon Panorama by Brandon M, on Flickr


But I finally found a long road that had two entrances shaped like a V and went all the way down to a river. I figured that would be a great place to see some wildlife. The road was also fairly wide and had been graded in areas at some point. I came across four trees that had recently fallen and it appeared that maybe a single ATV had driven over the tips at some point. I cut and moved them from the trail and continued on. As the trail got steeper, so did the erosion from the melting snow. Some of the ruts were quite deep (2’ish feet next to and in front of the truck), not something you wanted to drop a wheel or two in at the same time. The road at this point was very steep, getting to the point of being somewhat difficult to walk up or down.


Snow melt ruts by Brandon M, on Flickr


At the bottom of this last hill was a marshy area. The tractor had been through here at some point creating a route around a serious mud bog, and it looked like it had a hard time as well. With nothing but time to kill, I figured I would continue on and reassess as I went. I was getting close to the river and the other side of the trail so I wanted to continue. I slowly eased onto some dry muddy ground and it seemed to hold up well and then crossed a steep muddy creek without any issue. But then I started into a muddy and rutted out section. It still seemed somewhat firm ground though.


Tippy by Brandon M, on Flickr

 

To the North and Beyond, part 3


I drove to a point where it looked like it was getting a little bit too deep for as far as I could see. I got out, changed out of my trusty expedition crocs for something a little more mud/waterproof and went to scout the trail. I saw a few massive moose or elk tracks that were following the muddy trail. I decided it was not a great idea to continue down the trail. It was deep mud and there were not many great trees to use for winching if I needed them. So I went to turn around. That was when I realized that the firm ground I parked on had been allowing me to sink into it. I was stuck. Thankfully there was a large tree ahead and I winched a foot forward and was able to turn around. I had not aired down, and did not until it was too late or I think I would’ve had enough traction. Although this mud was pretty sticky and filled the tires up pretty well.


Stuck... doh by Brandon M, on Flickr


I left the winch line out (and wrapped up in front of my seat) and was trying to follow the same lines that I drove in on. Unfortunately, this sturdy dirt was a one hit wonder and when I hit it again, it instantly turned to mush. I was instantly sunk in, sitting on the skids and the frame. Fantastic. Well, I’ll just winch. OOOH Yeah, there weren't many trees close by. There were two small ones that usually would’ve held, but everything was wet and they were too close to where the dozer had been through and created a mess. I was in the mode of “x would work but I don't want to get that out, let's try this.” That mode took quite a while. When I finally broke out the shovel, I was not surprised that it was taking more effort to get the nasty sticky mud off the shovel than digging it out. In the end, I used the maxtrax as ramps for the dug in wheels for less resistance on another tree that was in soft ground. I had to put a 50 foot extension strap to that tree to be able to grab it with the winch line. But it worked. I spent a while washing stuff off in the stream that I had to cross and then putting it all away while swatting mosquitoes off and talking to “the bear” in the woods in hopes to keep it away until I finished packing up the truck.


Muddy by Brandon M, on Flickr


After this ordeal, I made it back out to the Top of the World Highway and since I was so close to the border crossing with Alaska, I figured I would knock that out before they closed for the evening. The worst part of the road to date is the short section of pavement that is on the Canada side of the crossing. The potholes are serious business, I managed to bash one pretty hard and was happy to not hear a tire hissing. Thankfully the crossing was a very quick process and I stopped just on the Alaska side of the border for some warm dinner and much needed sleep after the workout of getting the truck out of the mud.


Alaska by Brandon M, on Flickr


I set an alarm for 2am hoping to again see northern lights. It took me until the 3rd or 4th time of slapping the phone to realize that it was my alarm to look out the window. It was cloudy as was the norm so I finally shut it off and went to sleep. I woke up to another morning of 100 foot visibility being inside the raincloud. I didn’t feel like cooking breakfast in the rain so I drove west a bit until I got to Chicken. It was sunnier and I needed to get some pictures, so I had breakfast, chatted with some Alaska locals on a motorcycle out for a day trip, and did some reading before continuing down the road.


Chicken, Alaska by Brandon M, on Flickr


Pedro Dredge by Brandon M, on Flickr


GE Generator by Brandon M, on Flickr


There wasn’t much to stop for along the way, I just kept trucking, finally seeing some decent sized mountains in the distance after I passed through Tok. I found a nice spot along the river where I’m typing this out now and deciding what I feel like cooking for dinner. The nice thing about parking in these areas is you can park right off the highway, and you barely hear a sound since there is very limited traffic during the day, so hardly any at night.


Camping along the river by Brandon M, on Flickr


While I was on the hike near Mayo I saw that the color of the leaves were changing and said to myself “it looks like it's fall” about halfway through, I realized that there's a good reason for it to look like fall! The temperatures have been cooling off, and I’ve heard that there's snow on at some point on the road up to Prudhoe Bay. That’s my next main goal is to get up there. I did not realize until today that you can't get up to the actual bay, which sucks, but it should still be a nice drive.

 

My observations of driving in Canada


The main annoyance for me was the speed limits and mileages being in KM’s (mainly an issue because Toyota made it very hard to read the metric units on the speedometer). I loved the fact that there were pull outs all over the place along the highways (most, if not all had trash cans, many had bathrooms). I didn’t have to deal with much traffic, but when I did, drivers seemed to know and respect the rules of the road from dimming oncoming high beams to knowing how to turn properly at a multi-laned intersection (blew my mind). The roads have not been as bad as people make them out to be as long as you pay attention and avoid the potholes that at times are quite deep and can likely take a tire and/or rim out. When the road gets bumpy or there's a pothole, there is typically a pink flag or a traffic cone on the side of the road to give you a heads up. Unfortunately, wildlife is not hanging out all over the roadside waiting to be photographed, which I guess is also a good thing.


Gas stations are well spread out although a lot of them do not take cash, so make sure you have a few credit cards. I’m not sure what is best (maybe someone can chime in from Canada), but I have had best luck with Mastercard. A few places would not take Discover. And even after telling my credit cards that I would be here, they blocked a gas transaction, not allowing me to get gas at the worst possible location. I was in the middle of nowhere without cell service, at a pump that only accepted credit and it would’ve been a stretch to make it to the next station. Thankfully I had another card that worked and only later when I got cell service did I see the texts about a possibly fraudulent charged that they blocked; thanks guys. Gas and food prices have been only slightly more after adjusting for currency differences. I did see a few very high prices but those were at tourist trap areas. Of course, I’ll have a ton more time driving in Canada when I get tired of driving around Alaska.

 

Canibalism of someone else's gangrenous flesh sounds less than appetizing to say the least.

 

But everyone else was doing it!

 

Hi, hope you have lot's more adventures up here! As to the credit card/ gas buying surprises... so far visa is working pretty much 100% in Yukon or Alaska. Often I drive down to San Diego to visit family and this is were to real fun starts... when you are asked to enter your ZIP code when inserting the credit card... what a pain if you are from Canada since we don't have zip codes that work in those cases. We always bring cash and or debit card. And yes, my card company will block the cards if I don't give them a heads-up ahead of time. Other than that I enjoy traveling down south just as much as you do up here ;-)
cheers, Willy

 

Where about are you in the Yukon? I'll at least be hanging out a little when I leave SE Alaska and then all the way down BC.

 

Video of a beaver that was showing off for me at one of the lakes I camped on. It did it quite a few times. I tried for a little while to get burst shots and settled for a video after it was always too fast for me to catch.

 

And more fun. As you can see, I really didn't need much at this point. Because I dug as well as put the maxtrax in front of the tires. Had I not sunk into the mud so far (spare, diff, front skids all submerged) the trax would've given me enough. But I couldnt get past all the resting friction. Winch line was out about 70 feet plus 50ft strap connected to a 10ft tree saver.

 

I'm near Carcross, YT (South of Whitehorse along the Klondike Hwy towards Skagway,AK). I'm real busy for the next few weeks but if you are still around the area after September 10 I'll be glad to welcome you here and happy to take you fishing etc...!

 

Caw!



These things are really loud!

 

• Fairbanks, AK, US
• 08/24/2017 2:18 P.M.
• We've incorrectly sorted the package at our facility. This may cause at least one business day delay.

I drove across the continent and yet they still screw up delivering packages!

 

They hate you.

 

The snow arrived... Making for beautiful pictures! I'm in Deadhorse. It's rainy, grey, cold and has been for the past 24 hours.

Long drive, 460+ miles at under 50mph. I'll be stopping a lot more on the way down since the weather IS going to cooperate.

Picture at Antigun Pass