Date: Sat, 29 Jul 1995 13:24:23 -0800 (PST)
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: GDURSTEW@oimb.uoregon.edu
Subject: frozen arctic wastes...1996 vanagon@lenti Tour Proposal!
...this trip up north to the frozen arctic wastes sounds great (it's amazing
where some bussers will go to prevent overheating their aircooleds...).
i'm not sure what i'll do yet next summer, but i have a small piece of
land up in the yukon territory where i built a log cabin last year, and if
you want we can descend on that place for a reststop and overnite orgie.
it's in Carcross (has nothing to do with cars, it's short for "caribou
crossing"), a tiny indian village in the Yukon's coastal mountains,
on the shores of Bennett Lake. for those of you who are interested in
pre-microbus-history: it's at the end of the Chilkoot trail, where the gold
miners crossed the mountains on their way to the Klondike gold fields in
1898...
anyway, this trip could be waaaaayyyyyyy cool...the yukon and northwest
territories are the most amazing place i've ever been...great idea !
bus on !
Gregor, 73 westy "FESTUS"
74 bus wreck
> Date:
Fri, 28 Jul 95 00:20:00 CDT > Reply-to: tobin@freenet.vancouver.bc.ca
> From: "Tobin T. Copley" <tobin@freenet.vancouver.bc.ca>
> To: Multiple recipients of list <vanagon@lenti.med.umn.edu>
> Subject: 1996 vanagon@lenti Tour Proposal!
> Ok, David Schwarze put together the GNATT earlier this summer, so I'll
> propose a trip for the summer of 1996 for all you folks! David's GNATT
> took him through the western US as far as the Mississippi River.
> Christa and I are planning an adventure that will take us a little
> farther afield.
>
> WHAT: Vanagon@lenti Top of the World Tour 1996
> WHEN: August 1996
> WHERE: To Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada (near the Arctic Ocean)
> This is the farthest north one can drive in North America.
> There are no public roads in the Western Hemisphere that will
> take you higher. Oh, sure, there are ice roads in winter that
> will take you a few miles north of Inuvik, but we'd need a few gas
> heaters per bus to deal with 57 days of darkness and temps
> down to -50 C (-60 F)!
> WHY: You tell me.
> DURATION: 14 - 17 days return from Vancouver, B.C., Canada
> WHO: Tobin Copley & Christa Ovenell
> Martha and Sarah Rubin
> Bradley Prunehead?
> David Schwarze????
> Joel Walker? (C'mon, you told me yourself how you've always
> wanted to do this...)
> Absolutely anyone and everyone else who wants to join in!
>
> I've tried to plan the trip based on a 4-week holiday, and have tried to
> keep the driving time/day down to sane levels, and have planned in a few
> non-driving days to allow for relaxation, repairs, etc. I think we can
> learn an important lesson from the Schwarzemeister's GNATT experience:
> too much driving in too little time can make a tour more wearing than
> necessary.
>
> The main staging area for the trip will be my place in Vancouver, B.C.
> Vancouver is located about 2 1/2 hours north of Seattle, WA, so is easily
> accessible by interstate highway from anywhere in the US. Canadians may
> want to join up with the tour in Vancouver, in Prince George, B.C., or in
> Watson Lake, Yukon Territory, depending on your location and time frame.
>
> Vancouver is one day's drive from Missoula, MT, and the California
> border, and is 20 hours driving time from the Bay Area. Realistically,
> Vancouver is a little over two days from San Diego, and almost 4 days
> from Chicago on interstate highways.
>
> Once we leave Vancouver, the pace will be slower, and we will have time
> to enjoy the sights and smell the flowers. I think we should plan to
> stay in (free!) Forest Service campsites wherever possible. These sites
> are typically located on alpine lakes, next to waterfalls, or next to
> rivers or alpine streams. They are often several miles off the main
> road, accessible by dirt logging road. Off-road vehicle modifications
> should not be necessary, although anyone with a front air dam may want to
> remove it before starting the trip.
>
> While we should plan to be as self-sufficient as possible (including
> shower/bathing equipment), we will stop every few days somewhere where
> Martha can have a hot shower. :)
>
> Most of the route is paved, and apparently even fairly large RVs are
> making the trip to Inuvik these days, so this is not Baja off-road type
> stuff.
>
> This is some of the most beautiful, desolate, and remote country you
> could ever expect to drive to. The Northern Lights should be
> spectacular. There will be about 18 - 19 hours of daylight per day, and
> temperatures will likely be between 55 and 75 degrees F in Inuvik, and
> may be substantially warmer in Northern B.C and the Southern Yukon.
> August is typically a dry month in the Far North. Bugs will be a
> problem, but will not be neary as bad as in late May - July. I would
> hope we could take the short bush plane flight from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk
> on the Beaufort Sea for day trip. Cost for the one day flight to Tuk is
> $95.00 CDN per person.
>
> Summary of the planned route and mileage (distances in km):
>
> Vancouver to Prince George 738 km (via Whistler, Lillooet)
> Hwy 16 W to Hwy 37 nr. New Hazelton 482
> Hwy 37 N to Watson Lake, Yukon 756 (approx 120 km unpaved)
> Hwy 4 NW to Carmacks, Yukon 588 (approx 550 km unpaved)
> Hwy 2 N to Dawson City, Yukon 357
> Hwy 5 N to Inuvik, NWT 777 (Dempster Hwy: all unpaved)
>
> Return:
> Hwy 5 to Dawson City, Yukon 777 ( " )
> To Beaver Creek, Yukon 970 (via Tetlin Jct AK 479km unpaved)
> Hwy 1 E to Whitehorse, Yukon 457 (Alaska Hwy)
> Hwy 1 E to Watson Lake, Yukon 454 ( " )
> Hwy 97 S to Fort Nelson, BC 525 ( " )
> Hwy 97 S to Prince George, BC 815
> Hwy 97 S to Vancouver, BC 738
>
> TOTAL: 8424 km / 5235 mi from Vancouver
> Unpaved distance 2703 km / 1676 mi
>
> If this trip interests you at all, why not call these numbers for some
> very nice information packages. Tell the nice people what the planned
> route through their area is, and they'll fix you up.
>
> Tourism BC: (800) 663-6000
> Tourism Yukon: (403) 667-2915
> Heritage Canada, Yukon: (403) 667-3970
> Tourism NWT: (800) 661-0788
>
> Christa and I, and Martha and Sarah, are definitely going to do this next
> summer, and we're all pretty stoked about it. We'd love to get some more
> vanagon@lenti folks in on this, so speak up! I figure a year is long
> enough notice to arrange whatever vacation time/quitting the job time is
> necessary. ;)
>
> Northward ho!
>
> Tobin
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Tobin T. Copley Currently =============
> (604) 689-2660 Occupationally /_| |__||__| :| putta
> tobin@freenet.vancouver.bc.ca Challenged! O| | putta
> '-()-------()-'
> Circum-continental USA, Mexico, Canada 15,000 miles... '76 VW Camper! (Mango)
>
>
>
>
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