Allochris' Winter 2011 Northern Ski Tour (Part 2)

[allochris]

Hi all,

If you have not been following my custom camper build-up thread last couple years (http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=858415#post858415), my partner & I have been on the road again this winter since end of January touring in southern BC chasing after powder storms.

We are now on our part 2 northern tour chasing after winter snow for the next 3 weeks, departing Smithers tomorrow heading north to Inuvik. We hope to be able to ski at Meziadin Junction, Ningunsaw Pass, White Pass, Tombstone Mountains, Richarson Mountains.

I won't be posting much on this tread, but continue posting on the link above instead.

 

[washington taco]

That looks like a great trip! Cant wait to see the photos!

 

[allochris]

just arrive in Whitehorse after 3 awesome days skiing winter powder at Ningunsaw Pass near Bell 2 & 1 ski day at Cassiar. Now onward to Whitepass & Haines Rd. More update later! :elkgrin:

 

[allochris]

Checking in at Skagway after skiing last 3 days at WhitePass. Ski Feather & Cleveland with super fresh storm snow high up in the alpine! Down day tomorrow in Skagway waiting for the ferry to Haines at 6pm. Pict will follow soon...

 

[washington taco]

Checking in at Skagway after skiing last 3 days at WhitePass. Ski Feather & Cleveland with super fresh storm snow high up in the alpine! Down day tomorrow in Skagway waiting for the ferry to Haines at 6pm. Pict will follow soon...

We want photos!!!!

 

[allochris]

Finally got back in Whitehorse after checking out Haines & skiing at Haines Pass for 3 days! Once again we had amazing 1ft winter fresh powder on 3 Guardsmen north bowl & Nadahinni Glacier.

We are now reorganizing for our drive up north. Hopefully we'll be able to get to Tuk & back to Inuvik b4 the iceroad gets shut for the season.

Ok, some previews:

Kitwanga Jct:


Bell 2 (Ningunsaw Pass):






Cassiar:



WhitePass:



Skagway:





Haines:


Haines Pass - Nadahinni (Ptmargins):


Haines Pass - 3 Guardsmen:


Kluane Lake - Sheeps:



Bike Mech: The camping in Skagway is great! All you needed to do is drive less then 10 mies out of town to Dyea & they have great city run campground right off the bay by the water. April is great to visit AK, as we are litterally the only one on the road & places everywhere we go.

 

[allochris]

I guess we will wait 1 more day b4 heading north...

Environment Canada Text Forecast:
Warnings
Inuvik Region
10:26 AM MDT Monday 18 April 2011
Blowing snow warning for
Inuvik Region continued

Poor visibilities in blowing snow on Tuesday.

A low pressure system currently over the Arctic ocean will track southeastwards towards Amundsen Gulf tonight. This system will be accompanied by strong northwesterly winds and a few centimetres of snow.

At Aklavik and Tuktoyaktuk blizzard conditions are expected to develop early Tuesday morning as winds increase to 50 km/h gusting to 70. At Inuvik winds of 40 km/h gusting to 60 will develop early Tuesday morning and are expected to generate poor visibilities in snow and blowing snow.

Winds will weaken somewhat Tuesday evening allowing visibilities to improve, however blowing snow may continue into Wednesday morning.

 

[allochris]

We've just made it to Inuvik!!! wow, civilization here! especially since driving through eagle plains area as there was nothing but snow, wind, dirt road, & little tress there...

Truck is running smoothly, zero problem so far. Temp's are actually nice, in the minus single digit celcius.

Hopefully the ice road to Tuk will be open tomorrow!:smiley_drive:

ps: it's nice to see that every local here has dark hair like me lol...

 

[washington taco]

Great photos! Living my dream! Doing while your young!

 

[allochris]

ha, i guess i'm still young...ish?

Iceroad to Tuk should be re-opening this afternoon after snow removal from heavy snow drifting. we drove out on it in Inuvik last night & wow it looks like it's going to be a fun 194km drive one way on pure ice!!!

Apparently everyone in town here is also going up too due to a open class snowmobile race later this afternoon. it's over 100miles or something! :bike_rider:

 

[allochris]

We just got back in Inuvik from Tuk! It was just amazing driving/tow-skiing in the middle of Mackenzie River & along the shoreline of Beauford Sea for ~200km, all this on pure ice at 80-90km/hr on 2wd!!! (seriously, any car w/ good tires can do just fine!)

I am now on my 3600km trek southward-bound due for return to work in beginning of May in Princeton http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&sour...04646,-129.902344&spn=25.450052,73.652344&z=3! I guess winter have to end eventually...

pics will come...

 

[allochris]

Here are a few group emails Catherine sent out to our friends about our trip:

1) April 9th, 11', Smithers - Bell 2 - Cassiar - Watson Lake:

"After leaving Smithers early in the morning, we drove to Ningunsaw Pass, just north of Bell 2. We skied three days there, every day of which was warm and sunny in the morning and turned into overcast and blustery in the afternoon. Chris and I were both happy to find winter-like conditions for skiing and amazing terrain with quick access to the alpine.

We then drove to Cassiar which is an abandoned mining village about 20km off the highway down a road just north of Jade City. Cassiar is an abandoned mining town. The road to the town is lined with falling down electricity lines on short poles or even scrawny dead trees. The town is dominated by a huge mountain of aggregate (mining waste), which we later found out is probably mostly asbestos. I'ma assuming the town has a caretaker because the road is plowed, and there were three horses and three dogs who came and checked out our truck while we were skiing. We could see them gathering around the truck from the mountain, and later we visited with the horses and one of the dogs. The snow pack was shallow and very decomposed, so we decided not to stay in Cassiar for the night. I think it would have been pretty spooky anyhow. The town is very quiet, but when the wind picks up it moves all the old twisted metal and wires from the abandoned buildings and equipment. The metal is very vocal, howling and clanging. Chris and I went to check out the abandoned equipment and when we got closer I saw giant rusted cable cars hanging from towers and buildings and buildings that were partly demolished leaving twisted metal and asbestos falling out."

2) April 12th, 11', WhitePass - Skagway:

Chris and I are in Scagway right now. We just finished spending three days in White Pass skiing. Every day we got fogged out or whited out or some combination of the two, which was terrible luck for us. We would leave the truck in beautiful endless visibility, then the clouds would come in, and then when we got back to the truck, great visibility again! Argh!!! Yesterday we sat in a hole in the snow next to a rock for 90minutes waiting for it to clear enough to finish going up Cleveland Glacier. Even so, we had poor visibility on our way back. I guess that's what it's like skiing in Alaska.

So, did I tell you WE'VE BEEN SKIING IN ALASKA!?!?! Way too cool! Tomorrow we're catching the ferry to Haines where we're going to ski for a few days before going back to Whitehorse.

Skagway is at sea level, and White Pass is at 800m elevation. It's pretty amazing the difference in season between these two places! White Pass is still in full winter- not even the spring conditions that we experienced further south. Cold cold wind and fresh dry powdery snow. Scagway on the other hand is on the verge of spring. The snowline is at treeline, and the trees are near budding. I'm looking forward to spending a night and day on the ocean, walking around, and stretching my legs.

3) April 17th, 11', Skagway - Haines - Haines Pass:

''Since my last e-mail, we have seen some pretty amazing mountains, and met some some cool people. The day we spent in Scagway was warm, sunny, and relaxing. Chris and I did laundry, and I sat on a tupperware bin in the street with my laundry hang-drying on a fence. It was pretty funny because it looked like I was selling clothes! I just can't imagine this peaceful village being over-run by thousands of cruise ship tourists in just a few weeks! In the evening we caught a ferry to Haines, Alaska. While we were waiting for the ferry (still basking in the calm sun), we watched an enormous black cloud boiling in the distance. We waited in the ferry line-up for a good 90minutes, and just before we started boarding, the winds from the storm entered the bay creating big waves and whitecaps. It hit us with such a sudden force- I would guess that the winds were blowing about 70km an hour! The boat was rocking; the cars were being splashed by the waves breaking over the loading ramp! The most exhilirating part of this adventure was that, while debarking, the ferry got smashed into and dragged across a barrier meant to keep boats out of a shallow gravel spit area of the bay. All the employees (apparently) rushed to the side to see what kind of damage had been incured. All this time, I was enjoying the gloriously hot and free showers on board and being amused by the water washing from side to side over my feet!

Chris and I arrived in Haines in the dark, around 11pm, and drove to Chilkoot Lake, where we camped for the night. We woke up the next morning to find ourselves next to the most beautiful mountain lake I have ever been to. Very comparable to Lake Louise, surrounded by tall glacier covered mountains. Haines Village is a neat little town on the edge of the ocean. It's in a similar setting to Chilkoot Lake, but on a much bigger scale. All around, across the water, and behind, are sparkling massive glaciers and steep mountains, with steep cliffs dropping sharply to the water.

That day we drove to Haines Pass where we found our friends who we had met in White Pass, and made a new friend. Again, we got whited out the next day, on an attempt to go to Nadahini Glacier. So we called it a day and on our way down we encountered flocks of white ptarmigan in the scrubby bushes. They're funny birds who sound like a cross between a turkey, chicken, and a chipmunk. They watched us with cautious curiousity while going about their business of eating the leaves on the bushes and hanging out. Yesterday we finally had a blue-bird day and were able to enjoy some real skiing on the Three Guardsmen Mountain. Some great powder turns with great access off of the highway. This place is worth a re-visit, and I hope I'm not offending any locals by saying that I liked it better than White Pass.

Chris and I spent last night in Destruction Bay and woke up to find a herd of mountain sheep on the slope above us! I counted 21 in all, and we were later told that they're ewes and young rams and that the "bachelor herds" won't regroup with them until later this spring.

So that's about it! Now we're back in Whitehorse, and if we don't dawdle too long here, we're hoping to leave for Dawson City tonight and make it to Tuktuyuktuk in a few days before the ice roads melt.

A big hug to all of you! And thank you for bearing with my e-mail if you actually managed to read it in full! (I know long e-mails aren't too common these days...)"

4) April 22nd, 11', Whitehorse - Dawson City - Eagle Plaines - MacPherson - Inuvik - Tuktoyatuk:

The speed limit on the Mackenzie Ice River Highway from Inuvik to Aklavik and Tuktoyuktuk is 90km/hr. Most locals here ripped past our cautious 60-80km/hr at a "comfortable" 120km/hr yesterday on our way to Tuk. Intimidating, considering we were driving on pure ice! About 100km from Tuk, the road suddenly ended and we had to wait for 90minutes with a bunch of locals for the grater to finish clearing the road. They had a snow storm with high winds earlier this week that filled in the road and they weren't able to finish clearing it until yesterday. It was important for them to clear it, because Tuk hosted an open class sled race in their harbour that many people wanted to get to. When we got there, the men were about 3/4 of the way through their 29 laps (100miles) of the Formula 1 style race. I realized that the locals have a true passion for speed when I sat with Chris on the edge of the course and the first few sleds whizzed past us at 160km an hour, many leaning on one ski past our corner just a few feet from where we sat! The women's race started a little later in the evening and they had to do 75miles. The temperature dropped from -10 to -20 by the time they finished their race! Boy they're tough!

After my last e-mail, Chris and I drove to Dawson City, a mining town of historic false-fronted buildings linked by boardwalks. Dawson City was our last stop before entering the foreboding Dempster Highway. This is the highway where you're warned to carry two spare tires (we have one, and we're driving on brand new tires), to carry jerry cans, and to gas up at every stop possible. We didn't have any problems, fortunately, and made it to Inuvik in two days of driving. Since we have arrived, we have found that we're driving the oldest vehicle in town by a good 15-20 years (our Toyota is a '91)!

The highway is simply a raised gravel strip, sometimes used as an emergency airstrip, buit on perma-frost. The vegetation is limited to black spruce, white spruce, willow, birch, and tundra. The black spruce grows in the poorest conditions, and the other trees can only grow near water where more soil has been deposited on top of the permafrost. For this reason, the black spruce is often "drunk" because it can't root very deeply and falls over and becomes contorted as it tries to straiten and reach for the sun. Chris and I were surprised to find forests growing as far north as about 100km south of Tuk because the Mackenzie Delta provides better growing conditions for the trees.

The landscape here is broad and open. The sky is huge and you can see for many kilometres. As we were driving up, we enjoyed spotting the mountain ranges glittering on the horizon hundreds of kilometres away. We crossed the Ogilvie Range (which incudes Tombstone Park) and the Richardson Range, and we saw some (probably?) big Alaskan mountains far off in the West. All very beautiful mountains, but too bare for skiing, and super rockey & faceted (=sugar snow). We might do a lap in Tombstone on our way home, just to say we did, if we have the time!

Speaking of skiing, Chris skied a Pingo today! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pingo) I also towed him for about 20km at 60km/hr on the ice highway. After finishing being towed, Chris said "Ski-touring should be this easy!"

 

[allochris]

For those who are interested in gas price:

Gas Prices (April 5-22)

Tuktoyuktuk 1.47 (April 22)
Inuvik 1.68
Fort McPherson 1.60
Eagle Plains Hotel 1.55
Dawson City 1.47
Whitehorse 1.30
Teslin 1.30
Watson Lake 1.31
Deese Lake 1.50
Bell 2 1.45
Hazelton 1.20 (April 5)

We are now on our way south!:smiley_drive:

 

[allochris]

We just made it all the way back to Smithers after 4 days of driving from Inuvik. We managed to catch the Dawson International film festival, quick visit with a skiing friend in Whitehorse, camping in beautiful Atlin, & checking out Kitangow historial village just north of Kitwanga.

Unfortunately & surprisingly, I suspected we've been driving with a blowing headgasket at cyl #4 since we were on our way back across the Richarson mountains. The exhaust & coolant temp looks normal while driving. Although as soon as I restart engine after turning off engine (ie. gas-up, quick stop), lots of white smoke comes out of the exhaust but it eventually gets burn off w/in 1 min or so.

Coolant Temp looks normal still, but I do hear bubbling from the expansion tube into the expansion tank. It's been drinking coolant too. Oil cap is now suspended with milky shake deposit, & spark plug #4 is in fact...wet!

Now my question is, can I keep driving it another 2 days to Princeton (at normal coolant temp) & hope that the headgasket don't completely give up & let all the coolant rushing into cyl #4.?

If so, should I unplug sparkplug wire #4 to disable cyl #4, or just keep cyl #4 running to burn off the excess coolant?

 

[upcruiser]

I am loving this adventure. Thanks for sharing. Gives me inspiration for future trip ideas. My problem is I spend so much time on snow during the summer fall and winter that by the time spring rolls around, I am feeling the need for warm weather! Bummer about the head gasket. Pulling the plug wire might prevent more pressure on the bad section of the gasket, at least in theory but that is just total speculation on my end....