Chicken Alaska (pop. 23)

We got an early start and didn't have to wait our turn for the ferry. We drove right on. The 'Top of the world highway' is a little over 100 miles of dirt road. We are not quite to the end of it yet but most of it is behind us. We averaged 20 mph so it took a while. The town of Chicken was named by some gold miners who had wanted to name it, Ptarmigan. That is an artic bird that is abundant in this area. Unfortunately, no one knew how to spell it so it turned into, Chicken. That is supposedly a true story. There is a small airport here called,  "the Chicken strip". The annual music festival is called "Chickenstock". We are on Alaska time now, that's 4 hours earlier than eastern time

Tomorrow we head to Alaska

The banquet/award ceremony was good. The Yukon River Quest is completely a volunteer run organization. We (the competitors) gave them a prolonged standing ovation. Ask Jenny next time you see her about how she recovered after locking the keys in the car. Our trip starts tomorrow with a ferry ride across the Yukon River. It will only hold one RV at a time and there is a group leaving here tomorrow. We are going to try and get out early so that they will be eating our dust instead of us eating theirs. 

Back in Dawson City

We're getting pretty used to driving on the Klondike highway. All was well with the MP when we retrieved it from storage. We moved it to a 30 amp site and we will be here until probably early Monday. Our next challenge is "The top of the world highway". It's a long dirt road that I have been hearing nothing good about, except for the scenery. A lot of people do it so we should be able to. We will enter Alaska on that stretch of road. We went to the finish line of the race today and watched a couple of competitors finish. They had difficulty walking. I know the feeling. A part of me wanted to be out there but I'm sure I would have been in trouble if I was. The awards banquet is tomorrow. Jenny and I will attend.

The Story

First, I'm sorry to be the source of so much drama. That said, here's what happened: No one got much sleep the night before the race. The first challenge was a 31 mile lake crossing. I hit the lake just as a strong, windy rain shower opened up. Up ahead of me a fellow competitor had capsized and was in serious trouble. I'll tell you his story another time. I got to the end of the lake check point around midnight. The river below the lake was fast. Even at midnight there is some light but moving so fast over 40 degree water required pretty intense focus. Around 3AM I noticed the water on the deck of my boat was freezing. I was bare handed and my fingers were really cold so I pulled over to get some gloves out of a hatch. I was unsteady when I stood up and I lost my balance and fell in the river. I obviously had to change clothes. There are time constraints at some of these check points and I was uncomfortably close to the cut off time. Because of that I was paddling harder than my normal stroke rate. As the race progressed, noon came and went (that's 24 hours in the boat) my body began to talk to me. I started to think that maybe I should listen. I had been having sleep deprivation hallucinations all day so I knew something was going to require attention soon. The CP where I elected to withdraw was 30 miles from Carmacks. I might have been able to go 30 more miles but I was certain that I would not be able to start day 2 of the race so to continue was pointless. I have a clear conscience about my decision. I am stubborn, I am determined, but I'm generally, not stupid. This race was beyond my capabilities. My boat is not a racing boat. Training was difficult due to our move and the long drive out here. I wasn't ready and I'm not sure I could ever be ready. I paddled 154 miles in 27 hours. Not bad for an old man.

No emergency yet!

I know quite a few of you are worried that Dave posted a "Help" message, but don't worry, he sent it to get help for another paddler. He's fine (relatively speaking) and should be in to the Carmacks checkpoint aroun 6:00. 

It's Started!!!

It's 6 hours into the race and Dave is still in it ... and he's not last!  I was able to observe him about 2 hours into it and he looked strong, but he's got 82 hours till the finish.  I'll meet him at Carmacks, which has to be within 35 hours of starting. There is a mandatory layover of 7 hours for everyone.  I'll get him some real food, get him settled for some sleep, clean his boat and re-supply him for the remainder of the race.  This will be last time I see him before the finish.  I am so hoping he's able to finish because if he doesn't, we'll have to do all this all over again!

Tracking the race

The race starts tomorrow. That's 25 June at 12 noon Pacific time. If you are interested in following the race as it develops here's how: log on to yukonriverquest.com----then click on "race tracker"----then click on "2014 tracker"----in the left column I'm "SlackJack "  click on that, and you should get my position, updated every 10 minutes. All the racers should be visible so you can see how badly it's going for me. Don't wish me luck. That's not going to help. What I need is a good Shrink.

Race prep

I did a 12 mile paddle on the river this morning. There are practice runs daily, mostly for the teams that have had to rent boats. There is a team from Japan for crying out loud. We had an informal meet and greet this afternoon. Everyone was introduced to much applause but there was no beer or anything. I think the Germans were baffled. There are a bunch of Germans. There is a team of old ladies that I think I can beat if I push it. Tomorrow is the gear and boat check. The weather has been OK but I miss the heat and humidity of home. The only time I ever sweat is in the shower. It's been mostly goosebumps. 

Back in Whitehorse

We moved the MP about 100 feet to another site with no hook-ups except a 15 amp plug. It's effectively in storage. The drive back to Whitehorse was about an hour quicker in the car. Some of the race stuff starts tomorrow. I'm going to do a short paddle on the river. We have a meet and greet and several other meetings + a gear check in the next couple of days. We stopped for lunch at a riverside cafe on the drive back and just happened to see a kayaker. He was on a trip to the artic ocean. We had a good conversation. I feel better about only having to paddle 435 miles.

Dawson City day 2

The gold rush started in 1898. The mob floated down the Yukon until they reached the Klondike and here they stopped. The town is built on permafrost so some of the building have an unusual tilt. There are many miles of mine tailings along the road as you drive into town. We will leave the MP here tomorrow and drive back to Whitehorse in the car for the start of the race on the 25th. I'm kinda ready for this race to be behind me so that I can stop thinking about it.

Dawson City, Yukon

We got off the Alaska highway in Whitehorse and have been traveling on the Klondike highway. This section of the road has frost heaves. A frost heave is sort of like a ski jump. We did a bunch of those today. The town of Dawson City is pretty cool. It was a gold boom town in the 1890s. All the streets are dirt. Sunset last night was midnight. Sunrise was 4 AM. I'm trying not to think about the fact that it took us 5 hours to drive here and I will have to paddle that distance in 3 days.

Carmacks Yukon

This "town?" Is named after a early pioneer. I've never met anyone named, Carmacks, but there was apparently at least one. We are camped next to the river. After we got here we did some exploring. It's a 20 minute drive to the only rapids I will encounter so we drove out there and scoped them out. Jenny will spend 2 nights here and I have a mandatory 7 hour layover here. Jenny was looking at yukonriverquest.com today and I'm mentioned in a post by a race official as a possible contender. He's basing his opinion on my paddling resume. He failed to take into account my paddling name, "SlackJack". Tomorrow we will be in Dawson City. Keep in mind communication up here is difficult. We can usually get emails and I am getting Pat's comments on the blog.

Whitehorse day 2

In spite of the cold (38 last night) I went for a bike ride this morning. Thank goodness I had my GPS or I'd still be out there. Possibly bear food. The weather is so freaky here I'm kinda concerned about my paddling attire. I have talked to a couple of outfitters in town and I'll probably buy a different pair of waterproof pants. It will probably cost me the equivalent of 1/2 tank of gas. Oh, that reminds me. I had my first $200 fill up the other day. The money pit is living up to it's name. Tomorrow we move to Carmacks. It's a town on the river en route to Dawson City.

Whitehorse Yukon

We made it unscathed. Summer hasn't arrived yet. If I was a big foot I would definitely hang out in the province of Yukon. 98% of the land is wilderness. Thousands of square miles of woods. Tons of rivers and all the mosquitoes you would ever want. We are here for 2 nights and  then we move the MP further north. I have been taking pictures but I have been unable to post them. Yukon has the highest Internet rates in Canada and the data I am allowed to send is somehow limited. A picture apparently trips a limit switch and a post with a picture is rejected. We will keep trying but so far we haven't had too much success.

Watson Lake,Yukon

We just realized that yesterday was the one month anniversary of our departure from Beaufort. Funny thing is, it seems like at least a month. Today was a relatively short day. We saw a few more bears and some more of those sheep plus, as an added bonus, we saw several Bison. There is supposed to be a herd of caribou around here but we haven't seen any yet. Watson Lake was an important staging area for workers who built the original Alaska Highway. It's current claim to fame is a sign forest begun in 1949 that now contains over 70,000 signs. Tomorrow will be a fairly long day. Whitehorse is about 6 1/2 hours away.

"Dorothy, you're not in Kansas anymore"

Mile 650 Alaska highway

Muncho Lake BC (pop 21)

Today was one of those days where we saw more stuff than we could easily absorb. The Alaska Highway turned into what we expected it to be. A narrow, winding, mountainous road with something of interest around every turn. We saw 13 black bears, 2 moose and a small herd of sheep. We have a guide book called 'The Milepost'. There is a description of every thing of interest along the highway. Jenny keeps it in her lap so we know what's coming up and what to look for. After we got set up in the campground, I did a training paddle for a few hours. The lake is crystal clear. Tomorrow is Watson Lake, Yukon.

Fort Nelson British Columbia

We drove 280 miles today. The MP picked
Up a couple of souvenirs in the form of rocks to the windshield. Gravel was being deposited on the road by a maintenance crew and spread by the passing trucks. That's why we have insurance. We might not have wifi tomorrow. If I can't post anything I'll send a SPOT. We are going to do 2 short days and one normal day which should put us in Whitehorse on the 17th. No pics today.

Dawson Creek British Columbia

This town is the beginning (mile 0) of The Alaskan highway. During WW II the powers that be, thought Japan might invade Alaska so a massive effort was begun and 9 months later a dirt road was in place. We are a couple of days ahead of schedule so we are looking at dragging our feet a little. The days are getting longer and longer as we head north. I went for a short bike ride at 10:30 a couple of days ago. Wifi is a continuing problem. We bought an international calling card in Jasper so we can make calls from payphones. We decided we needed that option.

Grand Prairie Alberta

Jenny & I have been discussing our route out of Jasper for a couple of days. We had 3 choices. We decided on the shorter, thin blue line. We had company on that route. Northern Alberta is well into the oil boom. I'm assuming the boom is fueled by fracking. 90% of the vehicles on the road were trucks. Big trucks. Wide load type trucks. We are in a commercial campground just outside the city. The city reminds me of a West Texas city. That's not a complement. Here are a couple of pics from previous stops. 

More ice field pics

lce, Ice, Baby

We drove the Ice fields parkway and are now in Jasper. The drive was super scenic, the weather was fabulous and we took gobs of pics. The wifi hot spot we're using is really slow and there are a bunch of ferners linked up to it. I'll try to post some pics but I'm not holding my breath.

Disk golf

Banff day II

You could probably camp here for weeks and find something new to do every day. Yesterday afternoon we played 18 holes of disk golf with a couple of guys. Turns out one was from Whitehorse and the other from Dawson City. That's where we're headed. Weird. Today I rode some trails and then Jenny and I did a hike where we saw a momma black bear and 2 cubs. We are now headed to Canmore. It's the town that hosted the Nordic events during the Calgary Olympics. There is a visitor center there that has good wifi. Yesterday, Starbucks didn't work.

Banff Starbucks

We've had rain, snow, wind, calm, and bright sun. We dont know whether to wear shorts or a parka. You must be seriously flexible to live here. We are planning on a 2 day stay. Talked to a Canada phone person and it looks like a new sim card would not be worth the price. We are stuck with wifi and email. Both of those might be a problem. We'll see.

Big rock

This is the world's largest glacial erratic. It's a little ways out of town but we were so excited about it that we made a special trip to see it. If you're wondering what it might be, I suggest you dust off your old college geology books and look it up.

Okotoks Alberta

Hey, I don't make up these names. We are just south of Calgary. The customs crossing was fairy painless. We were able to import our booze without any duty. The Canadian agent did want to frisk Jenny but she declined saying, "I get that at home". We are headed for Banff tomorrow. We don't need to be in a hurry.

Great Falls Montana

We are in a KOA on the outskirts of town. When Lewis and Clark passed through here in 1804 it took them 30 days to portage around the falls. The falls are now submerged behind at least 1 dam. We enter Canada tomorrow. We are not sure how we are going to stay in touch with the lower 48. We will not be answering our phones due to the exorbitant roaming fees Verizon charges. We will not be receiving nor sending texts for the same reason. I suggest anyone who might have a reason to contact us between now and 6 July download an app onto your smartphone called (viber). It allows texts and voice over wifi. We will be looking for hot spots as we make our way toward Whitehorse. This pic was taken from a vantage point on the KOA nature trail.

Down to 1 home

We got a call from Lu informing us that the buyers of our Tega Cay home closed. She pretended to be us at the closing. Glad that's over with. We did the tour of the Custer Battlefield led by a Crow Indian whose great grandfather was a scout for the 7th calvary (Custer's unit) The story of what went on that day can't be covered in a blog post. The spots where all the combatants fell and died are marked by white headstones for US army and red headstones for indians. There are nearly 300 of them scattered for 5 miles over the plain. Very poignant. Tomorrow will be Great Falls.

Little Bighorn Battlefield, Montana

On June 25th, 1876, General Custer and 40 of his followers (some civilian) died after racing up this hill. The markers were placed here in 1890 by the army to show where Custer's men had fallen. There are 249 headstones scattered throughout the monument. Tomorrow we are going to take a tour that will be led by an indian.

Sore feet

We did a very long loop hike today that links 2 areas of petrified wood. We hiked for several hours though 'short grass Prairie', that was new experience for both of us. Rolling grass covered hills for as far as you could see. The bison were up there with us. The trails are marked by 4X4 posts set in such a way that you can see the next one when passing the previous one. The only problem with that system is that the bison knocked over 1/3 of the posts so we weren't always sure where we were. Tomorrow we move to where poor General Armstrong Custer made his Last stand.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

North Dakota is a pretty uninteresting place to drive through. Nothing but rolling, plowed fields. That is, until we got here. The entire park is fenced to keep in the bison and wild horses. This is the badlands of North Dakota. We are boondocking. No hook-ups. We will be here 2 nights but we might make it 3.

Fort Stevenson State Park ND

This place is on Lake Sakakawea. That's a weird way to spell Lewis & Clark's traveling companion's name, but that's the way these North Dakotans' spell it. This lake is the 3rd largest reservoir in the country. Do you know the first 2? I'm going to paddle tomorrow. I did a trail ride today.