Dalton Highway, Alaska ride

[saskatchewanian]

I started figuring expenses for a trip like this and travel arrangements and I came to the conclusion that I simply can't afford this trip, Student loans only go so far.

Besides I would only have two days after my last final before I would have to get on a buss, I would miss an opportunity to train with one of my teammates in the mountains for RTL and I would still need to get out to Nova Scotia if I plan on living out there. Money to pay the first months rent and a damage deposit would be nice too.

I hope you get another person to ride with you on a trip like this and I also hope you know what is involved in winter camping/trekking. I have done my fair share of winter trips and have been in some survival situations that would have been no problem whatsoever in the summer.

Just this weekend I went ice-fishing with some friends and we had to hike/ski the 6 km from the road to the lake with all our gear. In the summer it usually takes less than an hour to do this trip with a bunch of 14 year old campers but it took us about an hour and a half to get there threw the snow. It snowed overnight and we did not catch any fish the second day so we were hungry when we left the site. With fresh snow on the trail and empty stomachs it took us over two hours to get back to the road. (and one guy broke through the ice at the narrows and had to borrow my extra boots and socks to avoid frostbite)

I don't know what your experience level is with trekking of any kind in the winter and have a feeling that you don't have very much since I think I remember you talking about doing a century ride not to long ago. If you are doing those century rides in -20 then I take my toque off to you, I have never gone 100 miles in a day but can say that 50 km in -20 is a lot harder than 90km at 0˚C.

If you can't find anyone else to go with you I urge you to consider doing this in summer instead of late winter.

Have you considered applying for the KH Evolution of Balance Award for this trip? Considering the distance, terrain and temperature I think this trip would be worthy of consideration.

I talked to one of my instructors who lived up there for a while and he said that the road is mostly snow-packed 4-track in May and has really big loose gravel in a lot of sections. Actually he said allot of the stuff that Underdog said before going off on a tangent about the first time that he went hunting out on the sea ice and had raw seal liver for the first time... I didn't get to much more info out of him.

Anyway I wish you luck on your trip and hope you are prepared for the beautifully rugged country up there.

ERIC

[chuckaeronut]

Oh well, Eric, another year!

I've never been in majorly wintery survival situations... the coldest I've ever ridden was about -5°C, and that was for only a couple of hours. You know a hell of a lot more than me about dealing with the cold!

... BTW, who are you talking to, wishing good luck...? In case it's me, don't worry, I have no plans to do Dalton Highway by myself! I'd love to go with someone, but I'd be too afraid to go alone. If I could have some guarantee it'd stay above , say, freezing, I'd be less leery, but... even then. Too many things could go wrong up there, I think. Maybe in a couple years I'll be less chicken; that you were going to go alone is truly a feat. And... for me... only in the summer!

[saskatchewanian]

I was wishing luck to Mr. Welch, but if you need a bit more i can wish you some to

I was never planning on riding the Dalton Highway alone, just considering going with captinwelch. I was on the other hand planning on doing the Top of the World Highway solo last year but that plan was kaiboshed when I wrecked my shoulder. I would sill like to do an Alaska/Yukon trip in the future but probably not this year.

[chuckaeronut]

OHHH! Silly me! For some reason, it got into my head that you were the one doing the ride, and I mentally merged you and captainwelch into the same person in my mind! I thought you were the only one going! Then when you started doling out goodlucks, I thought for some strange reason you thought I might be planning on doing that, because I'd said I'd LIKE to do it. Thus my confusion

BTW, Good luck, Mr. Welch! What you're undertaking is beyond anything I've
ever even thought about by a long shot, and I can't imagine how much fun you'll have. Stay safe and warm and kick some Dalton Highway butt!