The Grand Expedition Colorado to Alaska to Baja...

aero

Adventurer
I dont have a ton of time to browse the internet since a lot of the time I am without internet service.

Is there anyone out there, or know of a group who is planning a trip to mexico in November or December? I am planning on just doing Baja if I am by myself, but if there was a group going that wouldn't mind one more rig, I'd love to explore more of Mexico.
 

unkamonkey

Explorer
Thanks. You are creating an adventure for yourself. The only place I've seen the Northern lights was from the last place you would expect UT.
 

aero

Adventurer
Thanks. You are creating an adventure for yourself. The only place I've seen the Northern lights was from the last place you would expect UT.

I remember a year or two ago when they were expecting to see them in the Ft Collins area, and supposedly some people saw them in Aurora. I think you just have to get lucky for those events.

The forecast isn't looking good for the next few days but then it looks like it increases. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
 

aero

Adventurer
A little sneak peak

I lied... Not sure why this forum makes it so difficult to add pictures, just have to wait until I'm on the computer.

But i made it to Deadhorse, rain, snow, wind... The usual. Looks like the weather won't cooperate until mid next week but pictures should be nice. I'll head south tomorrow but take my time and more pictures, hopefully the weather will play nice for that.
 
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aero

Adventurer
Back in Fairbanks

Heres that picture I tried to post yesterday.

Dalton Highway, Atigun Pass by Brandon M, on Flickr

And a little video..

Yesterday as I was heading south on the Dalton I was looking for a place to camp. You can pretty much pull off and camp wherever. The first few places were buggy so I continued on. It was rainy most of the time I was up there, I saw this road and pulled down it. I came up to the water crossing and saw the bottom of the puddle so kept going slowly.

Turns out the bottom I saw was a reflection and this foker was deep. I was going slow but it got deep enough...came over the hood, and I new I needed to keep rolling forward instead of trying to stop and reverse out. Naturally this road happened to be about 100 feet long past this puddle so I had to turn around and do it again. There were no other options and at least I knew I made it through the one side of it.

After checking the intake to make sure it was dry (it was), I went through it again. After I made it through, I pried a good 1/2" or more of mud out of the inside of both rear wheels. It was still wet and I didn't want the nasty clay to dry. The rear of the truck was covered in a good 1/4" of mud. Made for a great time when I would need to open it.

The video of the fun.

https://youtu.be/84POaFoeieE
 

zigsrig

Adventurer
Keep up the great trip report sir!

I'm living vicariously through you on this trip... so are the other guys. Stay safe, and keep up the posts.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

aero

Adventurer
Keep up the great trip report sir!

I'm living vicariously through you on this trip... so are the other guys. Stay safe, and keep up the posts.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Thanks. Hanging out in the Anchorage and surrounding areas. Lots of rain that doesn't make for excellent pictures. But will hopefully snag a bunch in the next week for some updates.
 

aero

Adventurer
The Dalton Highway

Hanging out in Alaska in late summer and fall appeared to be asking for overcast skies and light rain; all day long. I wanted to make it north to Deadhorse before it got too snowy/icy along the road since I had heard all the “such a dangerous road” talk.

27-08-2017 09.23.33 by Brandon M, on Flickr

I set out from Fairbanks and headed north. The previous night, I camped along the river and didn’t see any moose or bear but did get to see two bald eagles flying around looking for food.

2DSC05171 (1) by Brandon M, on Flickr

On my way I checked out a trail that was suggested by a local. He told me that the trail had a bunch of forks, and to stay this way, and not go the other way. I think I did pretty well on most of the directions, but made a mistake near the end of the trail. The trail started to make a steep descent and closed in becoming more of an ATV trail. At this point, I was close to a main road (on the GPS) and it seemed to widen up after a narrow section. There were no areas to turn around so I either continued or backed up the long steep section that had a deep rut caused by the snow melt. I carried on…and this became the normal trail.

0825171204_HDR by Brandon M, on Flickr

The narrow sections continued and it was fairly clear that this was now only an ATV trail. With the ruts in the trail becoming up to two feet deep, it would’ve been a difficult ATV trail. But I was so close, and knew I had to be close to an end. I was hoping that the end of the trail had a route to the main road… This is how narrow the trail has become.

0825171222a_HDR by Brandon M, on Flickr

The last steep descent was deeply rutted on the passenger side of the trail. I attempted to straddle it but the front tire slipped into the rut causing the truck to get very light on the drivers rear corner. It was the closest I have been to rolling the truck. I was able to get it back up the rut and straddle it for long enough to keep from rolling and made it down. It’s been the only time I’ve had an adrenaline rush from off roading. I was so happy to see a house with a regular vehicle in the driveway which meant I would be able to access the main road from there! After this, I decided to hit the highway and avoid the sketchy side roads.

It was cool out, overcast and patchy rain. As soon as I hit the first section of dirt, the road was half graded, the other half was potholes. It continued like this for a short time before it smoothed out and would jump from gravel to pavement. The road is very wavy from settling, potholes that are guaranteed to tear open a tire and/or break a rim if you hit them correctly. So most of the time you have to watch for any of the obstacles on the road instead of enjoying the views. The traffic was not too bad, the majority being construction equipment and truckers.

Well this makes it easy…
20825171543_HDR by Brandon M, on Flickr

As soon as I jumped on the highway… wildlife!
2DSC05186 by Brandon M, on Flickr

The first leg of the trip, I made it up to Coldfoot where I gassed up, and drove a bit north until I found a nice location along the river. Temps were likely in the 30s, and windy with light rain. I fueled up with a good dinner of spaghetti with squash and zucchini and followed up with some ice cream of course.

20825171819b_HDR by Brandon M, on Flickr

In the morning I continued north. As I approached the mountains of Antigun Pass, the clouds got heavier and I saw the fresh snow on the peaks. The fall colors were also in full bloom all along the road, yellow, orange, fire red were an awesome contrast to the dark mountains and the fresh white snow. The snow was only an inch or two at the top of the pass. To the north of the pass, the roads were somewhat better with most sections under construction.

2DSC05232 by Brandon M, on Flickr

20826171112c_HDR by Brandon M, on Flickr

There were many sections of longer waits for a pilot vehicle for the one way roads. It continued raining all the way to Deadhorse. By then the rear half of the truck was covered in a thick wet mud from the road and the tailgate had a ¼” of mud that made it a lot of fun to get in there for food and supplies. There were multiple bikers that were pedaling their way to Deadhorse… it did not look appealing by any stretch of the imagination!

I made my way south the next day since it was nothing but rain along with more of the same in the forecast. Lots more mud, some great pictures, saw a single musk ox along the road and continued on.

20827171258c_HDR by Brandon M, on Flickr

226-08-2017 06.58 by Brandon M, on Flickr


As far as traveling the Dalton Highway:

In my opinion, you should not travel any road without good tires and a spare, a full tool kit, survival gear, etc. This is no different here. The road in the summer is quite a different beast from winter as far as conditions and traffic. And winter conditions will require better and more supplies. The road is only there to service Deadhorse and there is a lot of semi truck and construction traffic. You should yield to this traffic when needed. The road is monitored by truckers and the the transportation department by CB radio (channel 19 I think, there are signs along the road).

It is a rough road in areas, there are potholes that could probably rip a control arm from a vehicle if you hit them at speed. But as long as you dont mind swerving around the potholes and are able to, you should be fine. A lot of the road is paved (although pavement means harder potholes when you hit them). The roads here, and throughout Alaska and Canada have a roller coaster vibe to them from the permafrost. You could need a second spare here just as likely as many other places. There was plenty of traffic when I traveled the road so if you needed help, it would not be far out (likely different in the winter). The road would be very sketchy in the winter even with good winter tires. The 50 mph speed limit is more like a maximum speed due to corners, potholes, etc.

I only had one 5 gallon jerry can, I never had to use it even though my truck gets a measly 300’ish miles per tank. The longest stretch without gas is nearing 250 miles. You cannot get to Prudhoe Bay unless you schedule ahead with the oil company and pay them for a ride in their van to the bay. I had no interest in supporting that so I did not make it to the actual bay, but it was plenty cold and rainy in the whole city.

Along the route, there is camping all along the roads. There are a few designated campgrounds, everywhere else is right along the road at little rest areas mostly without any facilities.

I’ll work on the Alaska updates at some point.
 

aero

Adventurer
Just some fun facts

My truck with full tanks and me is at 6320
Curb weight is 5500
If I subtract me and the 20 gallons of fresh water, we're at 6000.

450 over stock weight isn't bad for all the stuff I have on here. I gained a bit back by removing the interior.
 

ExplorerTom

Explorer
I've always wanted to roll over some scales. By the time I see the scale is on at the weigh station I'm blowing by at 75 and turning around just seems like too much work.
 

mccustomize

Explorer
I would say you are doing good weight wise, my trucks factory curb weight is 4,840. Last trip over the scales was 7,400 with two passengers, full of fuel!
 

aero

Adventurer
I've always wanted to roll over some scales. By the time I see the scale is on at the weigh station I'm blowing by at 75 and turning around just seems like too much work.

Yeah I've wanted to do it for a while, every time i remembered there were trucks there so i didn't want to get in the way. I slept at a weigh station in Alaska so I just drove on in the morning.

I would say you are doing good weight wise, my trucks factory curb weight is 4,840. Last trip over the scales was 7,400 with two passengers, full of fuel!

Yeah I was happy with the small weight gain. Nice build, not sure what the next build for me will be, but mid travel GM for work is a possibility!
 

aero

Adventurer
Still slowly working on some write ups, mostly through the pictures just need the narrative.

Still hanging out in Squamish, the outdoor capital of Canada.

I picked up climbing so I've been doing a lot of that the last week or so. It's a blast, I've always been interested just never had time for one more hobby when in Colorado.
 

aero

Adventurer
Alaska in the Fall

After getting back into Fairbanks from Deadhorse, the weather continued to be cold and wet. I finished some errands and headed west towards Denali. I stopped at a few small towns along the way before making it to Denali. As I got close, I could barely see the mountains that lined the main highway. There were a few times of sunshine but it did not look promising to see Mt. Denali. I drove into the park not realizing that you could only travel 15 miles by vehicle. The scenery along the road was nice, but I was not lucky enough to see any wildlife… as usual.

20830171523a_HDR by Brandon M, on Flickr

The forecast for the weather showed no signs of clearing up for a possibility of seeing the mountain. I camped on the south side of the park along Peterson Road. It is a gravel road that is heavily used for hunting this time of year (as I found out after driving up there). I was hoping to get a view of Denali from the south side, but again, I was not able to see very far with the overcast and cloudy skies. There were plenty of water crossings as I made it further up the road along with many permanent hunting camp sites. All of the wildlife knew it was hunting season, and there were no critters to be seen.

20831171040a_HDR by Brandon M, on Flickr

Along the main highway south I there were plenty of views when the sunshine would peek through a cloud.

20830171702a_HDR by Brandon M, on Flickr

I did see a few moose foraging along the road though! I avoided the spots where there were a ton of vehicles stopped and luckily found some moose where I did not attract a crowd of tourists flocking in like they were seeing a once in a lifetime sight.

2DSC05334 copy by Brandon M, on Flickr

There were a bunch of scenic spots and pull outs on the roadway between Denali and Anchorage. I even saw blue skies for somewhat extended periods of time!

20830171755b_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr

I stopped by the remnants of the Igloo City that is along the highway.

20830171815a_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr

And the Alaska Veterans Memorial

20830171926b_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr

I explored the gravel road that accesses the Independence Mine. Unfortunately it was also a hunters paradise so the only wildlife to be seen was already field dressed and remnants left at the camp sites… which made no sense to me.

20831171617_HDR by Brandon M, on Flickr

Anchorage was relatively warm and muggy from what I was used to, for the first few hours I was there.

It was very cool how it was on the coast and surrounded by mountains and glaciers to the east.

20901171055a_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr

20901171911b_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr

2DSC05399 copy by Brandon M, on Flickr
 

aero

Adventurer
Alaska in the Fall, Part II


I made my way south wanting to catch a mountain bike event at a ski resort, but when I arrived, it was pretty obvious that it must have been cancelled or something as there were only a few people riding. Along the roadway there was a salmon viewing area where you can see hundreds of salmon slowly making their way up the river. They look very close to death, just making the pilgrimage up the river to lie their eggs. There were a bunch of dead salmon in the river and no signs of salmon leftovers from the bears… I was hoping to see the bears feasting!

2DSC05416 copy by Brandon M, on Flickr

2DSC05467 copy by Brandon M, on Flickr


The next checkpoint was Whittier, Alaska which is accessed through a long single wide railroad tunnel that alternates with traffic when there is no train traffic. As soon as you enter the Whitier Bay area, there was a huge cruise ship and glaciers that are carving down most of the mountain valleys.

2DSC05691 copy by Brandon M, on Flickr

The historic Buckner Building calls Whittier home, where it was finished in 1954 as a huge multipurpose building for the Army. It has been unoccupied for years and now is slowly deteriorating but makes for good pictures.

2DSC05666 copy by Brandon M, on Flickr

2DSC05626 copy by Brandon M, on Flickr

2DSC05676 copy by Brandon M, on Flickr

I hiked up to the viewpoint of one of the glaciers near the tunnel entrance to Whittier and it was pretty neat. Although you could not get up to the base of the glacier, there were small segments that were near the bottom of the trail. Even those small pieces are HUGE!

203-09-2017 03.27.01 copy by Brandon M, on Flickr

20902171929_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr

Next up was Seward, Alaska which the first half of the day was nice and overcast. I hiked up the trail to near the top of the Exit Glacier. At the top, the views were breathtaking. It could’ve also been the fact that I was up there in just a t-shirt. I didn’t want to stop along the trail, and it actually was not too cold until the last ½ mile when it got really windy, light rain and was near freezing. As soon as I made it to the end of the trail I bundled up to take in the view of the sea of ice as far as I could see that was settled on top of the mountains. It was the neatest views I’ve seen of a glacier mainly because of the sheer size. The hike down was more challenging as it started to rain and didn’t stop all the way down, making the steep stairways into steep muddy stairways.

2DSC05711 copy by Brandon M, on Flickr

20903171522a_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr

The forecast for the next few days was for an “early fall storm” that would drop a ton of rain. There was no sunshine in the schedule for the 7 day forecast and camping and hiking while being wet and cold was already old. I made my way to the east to get into Canada and go find some sunshine before it started to get wet and cold down there as well.
 

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