Tag Archives: series

18 May 2013

Tok to Fairbanks

By icefogger

“We should have diverted.”


When I left Tok, the sun  was out, temps seemed warm and all was well with the world.  That changed within the first 50 miles of the 200 mile drive.  That’s when the rain came.  I had a client text me.  She was down in Arizona and had returned to the ‘Banks last night.  “Rain, snow, freezing rain, we could see 6″.  We should have diverted.”

I had been tempted when I arrived in Tok.  Say, Canada… mind if I come back in?

It was 33 degs in Fairbanks when I landed.  With rain and snow.  The first thing I did was start a fire in the woodstove.  The cabin was a balmy 40 degs.  The second thing I did was put the battery charger to the Beetle.

5856.8 miles from San Antonio to Fairbanks via Knoxville, Minneapolis and Tacoma.  I don’t count the little side trip to Pittsburgh, since The Rover was not a part of that trip.

 

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14 May 2013

Williams Lake to Pink Mountain, BC

By icefogger

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13 May 2013

What a beautiful day to be in British Columbia. Warm enough to have the window & vents open and cool enough for The Rover to purr along contentedly with no jump in the temp gauge in spite of all the major climbs. And we had a couple of those today.

We followed alongside the Fraser again this morning. Crossing it, as well as the Quesnel, Salmon, Crooked, Parsnip, Pine, and Peace Rivers.

The Bears Are Out:
I spotted three black bears today. One, I should have taken a picture. He was close to the road with the mountains and a frozen lake as a backdrop. Unfortunately, I was going downhill at the time, and had little interest in stopping & backtracking. A very cool sight regardless.

I decided to take BC Hwy 29 to avoid going east into Dawson Creek and Ft St John. 29 is a beautiful road, but it has some serious inclines.
Was stopped by an expat Brit in Hudson’s Hope when I filled up. He was driving a Disco, and would still be chatting with me if I hadn’t said I really had to get going if I was to get on the Al-Can tonight.
Then on top of a summit, when someone in Minnesota was calling The Rover a “lemon”, I stopped for a couple of photos. A young couple promptly swung into the rest area to say how much they liked the truck. We talked for a while, when once again, I had to excuse myself in order to gain some miles.

A side note: I was amazed by the feeling when I actually turned onto the Alaska Highway. As odd as it sounds, with all the twisting, turning, climbing and miles left to do, it was like I was finally on the final road to home. Currently, I believe I’m only 1300 miles away.

Piece of cake, eh?

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10 May 2013

Frack it’s hot

By icefogger

A break from the normal broadcast.

95 degrees here near Yakima. With the rolling hills and crosswind, The Rover is running hot.

Hot. Hot. Hot.

Plus my feet are running hot, so I swung into a Subway to drink ice tea refills and upload blog posts while the Turner cools down enough to check the radiator.

Afterall, the Cascades are looming across my horizon. At least the summit is reporting 66 degs.

Who would have thought Washington would be the warmest state of this trek?

The truck had no trouble at all with Lolo Pass, but it was in the 70’s. That was one beautiful drive. I’m ready to turn around and go back.

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10 May 2013

Lolo Pass

By icefogger

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10 May 2013

I think I could just drive and drive and drive, checking out all that the American West has to offer. I never tire of the exploration out here.
A beautiful drive through the Helena Natl Forest. I’m thoroughly enjoying US Route 12. Today was my first visit to Helena. In all my visits to Montana I had never been to its capital. You have to love a city that calls one of the main drags: Last Chance Gulch. Not to mention, N Last Chance Gulch.

Did a quick pit stop in Missoula, before driving south to Lolo. I just love this part of the state, and the land along Lolo Creek looked like a great place for a cabin. The creek was high though, and I saw a couple of newly installed tubular levies put up to keep the rising water from homes.

Lolo Pass is a phenomenal drive, even in the lumbering Rover. I kept stopping at all the historical markers, which there are many, simply because I knew most would be about Lewis & Clark.
Coming around a sharp curve, I found a new Fiat 500 broadside to my grill. The 500 driver must have been “testing” the Fiats handling, as he swept his way around the curve and sideways into my lane and The Rover. I braked, but there wasn’t anywhere else to go, so I watched uneasily as the Fiat smoothly righted itself and zoomed off with only inches to spare.

It’s hard to be angry when you’re envious.

On the Montana side of the Forest, all access was still “Closed for the Season”, but Idaho wasn’t as soft. Maybe it was all for the best, because I’m camped at the best site I’ve had so far on this trip. The Lochsa River is roaring right behind my camp. In fact, I’m writing this now as I sit in my campchair on its bank.
We had rain & hail earlier as I grilled dinner. The sky has since cleared, and a thick mist has formed over the torrent of the Lochsa.
I think I’m going to sleep very well tonight.

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1 May 2013

SNAP!

By icefogger

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It all started with, “I’m going for a run.”
It seemed like such a simple idea. Just back out of the drive, get some distance under the tires so that the batteries could get topped off.
Then I let off the clutch and there was this awful loud crunch that shook The Rover a bit.

“What the hell was that?”

Shifting into reverse didn’t get me any movement, just a soft whirring noise from down below. The propeller shaft was spinning, but it never made it to the tires.

In a Series Rover that usually means a snapped axle shaft.

Just the other day I was asked, “Why that vehicle?”. That question led to the inevitable question about spare parts, which led the the exclamation: “Who carries spare axle shafts with them?!”

Answer: A Series Land Rover owner.

I’ve never snapped a shaft before, but Old Rovers are notorious for it, so the tool box has a set of them down in the bottom.

The right shaft was sheared just past the flange. After a little time and a lot of patience with a needle nosed vise grip, the broken shaft was out. From start to finish it took about an hour to get the truck moving again.

It would have been nice to have it happen when it was 70 degs & sunny, but it’s really hard to complain when something like that happens in the driveway.

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29 April 2013

Enjoying the Sunrise

By icefogger

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Post & photo courtesy of AJ

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28 April 2013

By icefogger

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25 April 2013

Drawing Board

By icefogger

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We’ve spent a little time over the past couple of days mentally repacking The Rover and reconfiguring the layout in the back. It’s an attempt to keep the weight up on the roof to a minimum, while keeping the back simplified and organized. The only thing more frustrating than not able to get to a item when you really need it, is to not be able to find the item at all.

There’s been a fair amount of: “If you get rid of that, you can replace it with this”; or “Do you really need that? And how many spare parts do you need to take along?”

It’s been fun, although I also have to be on the watch for: “This is just extra weight that you don’t need, let me cut it off”. I’m aware that the tie downs along the sides are not being used, but we are not cutting them from the truck even if they do cause air drag.

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24 April 2013

By icefogger

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23 April 2013

Spring in Minnesota

By icefogger

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In a state of denial, I really had figured that I had seen the last of snow until september at the earliest. Minnesota had other ideas.
A nice wet four inches or so of the white stuff is blanketing The Rover this morning. It is actually nicer in Fairbanks today.
I’ve been told that the record for the ice going out on Lake Minnetonka is May 10. That record is now in jeopardy.
I know I have that snow brush buried in The Rover somewhere.

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