Fleckless!

You cannot hold me fleckless for my failure to keep abreast of my blog; but, on the other hand, any criticism to that effect will be perceived invidiously.

Is not this, indiscretion, only a minor faux pas? Or are you of the mind that you have heard enough of my mendacious ranting?

How am I doing? Have you had to scurry to look up any of the above words via your online dictionary?

My hope is that you have not just turned away and said, "What a pompous A@#." I assure that it this little bit of word play is all in fun!

For those of you who may not have bothered to look up the definitions:

1 Fleckless - Without spot or blame. E.G., my conscience will not count me feckless.

2 Invidious - Tending to arouse ill will.

3 Faux pas - a slip or blunder in etiquette, manners, or conduct; an embarrassing social blunder or indiscretion.

4 Mendacious - given to or characterized by deception or falsehood or divergence from absolute truth

Or, for those others of you for whom there was no need to look up any of the above; you win my highest praise, respect and envy.

Now, to get to the point of my "time off" from the blog writing scene; after being gone for a month, there was, of course, a lot to catch up on, as far as general home maintenance and bills to pay. I, of course, paid most of the bills ahead of time to assure that there would not be any major problems, but (ahem) - I missed a few!

My plans are unchanged and I still fully intend to - return to New Orleans to "rescue" my Harley and continue on the way to Panama via the Baha Peninsula of Mexico; but if things don't come together, those plans may be delayed until mid-April or even later.

MichCanSka Completes the Mission

MichCanSka survived their quest to complete the journey from Sault Saint Marie, Michigan to Tok, Alaska; and earned major dollars for the cause of the Diabetes Research Foundation. By all involved it was concluded to be a great success.

Personally my only two misgivings were that, as a driver (and not a snowmobiler), I was unable to make the "Run over the Top of the World" and as a consequence I never made it to Alaska and I never saw the Northern Lights.

Out of the three groups, group one suffered the heaviest burden because of its larger size (28 riders), greater number of older riders and their gender mix (all three female riders were in group one).

On the other hand, they deserve extended accolades for enduring, as well as they did the treacherousness of the long journey.

Of all the riders, group two "forced the issue" and despite the obstacles, and completed the most trail miles of the three groups; by all estimates they are believed to have ridden the trails (and ditches) for most all of, but for a comparatively scant 250 miles, the 4000 miles.

Although, they are justly deserving of praise, it must be pointed out (in defense of the other groups) that they were blessed with a smaller group (17 riders) and, by all accounts, more skilled riders.

Of the three groups, only group three lost riders during the trip; about mid-way ten of the riders (unhappy with the lack of sufficient snow, the subsequent trail conditions and the amount of "ditch banging") they chose to cut their trip short and return home.

Nonetheless, the remaining group three riders "forged ahead" and attempted to catch-up with and join group two (a quest they were never able to accomplish).

One of the things that really surprised me is just how enamored the people are with their life in the desolate environs of the Canadian north. Time and time again, I heard comments like - "I came here on vacation and never left," or "I vacationed here, went home, grabbed my things - and moved" and most common of all "I love it here!"

It would seem that with the long winter season, the high cost of living and the desolation (remember that there are only "roughly" 106,000 people living in the three territories) that the people would anything but happy - such is not the case!

Having returned home, it is now time turn my thoughts back to my motorcycle travels. My Harley is in New Orleans, "patiently" awaiting my return.

Since my return on Tuesday, the weather in Michigan has been very inviting for this, would be, motorcycle rider; but after a month travels, I'm still playing catch-up - I'll keep you posted!

Back to the US of A

By all accounts the run over "the top of the world" made the whole trip.

Today we leave to return and to the US of A, a trip that will take, be most estimates, 5-6 days. I have more to add upon my return in the way of a wrap-up and possible account of the return trip, but it will have to wait for another day.

Exploring Dawson City

Dawson City, while not a large community, has much to admire. The city, of course, abounds in history and the preservation of many of the original buildings only serves to heighten the appeal. Dawson City has done, and continues to do, a great job of exploiting its rough-hewn image as the heart of the Klondike gold strike.

My time in Dawson has been spent, as best possible, in exploring the community and some sites of interest. It is unfortunate that many (almost all) of the sites of interest are closed during the winter months; and so, now a summertime motorcycle ride back to Dawson City is added to my ever growing - must do list.

Despite the sites being officially closed I was, nonetheless, able to fill the day by visiting Mining Dredge #4 (the largest wooden hull, bucket line dredge in North America) and the mining compound were the miners lived and mined.

Mining Dredge #4 was for this Michigan native, more closely resembled a wooden barge than the earth sucking monster it was.

Although the gate to the mining compound officially barred entry, I was able to pass through (remembering, of course, to obey the traveler's creed - "take only pictures and leave only footprints".)

The rest of the afternoon was spent driving, too and fro, from north to south and then from east to west throughout the city's streets; stopping on occasion to read the numerous historical markers and see the residence's of Robert Service, Jack London and Pierre Berton.

Hoping to see the "dancing" of the Northern Light's, I awoke at 2:30 AM and drove outside of Dawson City in order to escape the glare of the city's lights. After an hour, with no success, I began my return to the comfort of the Downtown Hotel; unwilling to continue my quest without, so much as, a fleeting glimpse of the amazing aurora.

Fortunately, the night was not a total lost; on my return a fox crossed in front of my vehicle and stopped at the roadside. For ten minutes or so, we "toyed" with each other before I succeeded in getting a couple of close-ups from a distance of about fifteen feet.

MichCanSka Arrives in Tok, Alaska

After days of trials and tribulations, the 54 MichCanSka riders began, this morning, their quest to complete their journey "over the top" to Tok, Alaska. For Bill Bradfield (the President and founder of MichCanSka) it marked the completion of a dream - three years in the making. For others, it was equally satisfying for each and everyone of them in their own individual and private way.

Unfortunately, despite having traveled for 19 days without incident - two riders had disabling mishaps and were hospitalized with minor injuries. At last word, they will be flying back to Michigan rather than making the arduous journey back by truck.

The rest of the of riders will be the honored guest at a banquet hosted by the city of Tok, and spend the day tomorrow riding the trails around the area of Tok.

The following day they will return, once again, to Dawson and (with the snowmobiles loaded safely) in the trailers, prepare to make the long trip back to Michigan.

Dawson City - How Sweet It Is

After the previous day's ordeal, no one was suggesting that they should try to ride from Ross River to Dawson City.

Was it even possible? Certainly not within the time frame available; the schedule calls for all three groups to meet at the Dawson City, Downtown Hotel on Sunday for a Monday morning departure to Tok, Alaska, and groups two and three are still trailing by one and two days respectively.

Also, additional time is needed in Dawson City to coordinate things for the final trek to Alaska; therefore, the only reasonable choice was to trailer to Dawson City.

Accepting this reality, we departed for Dawson City by first returning back to Carmacks to pick-up the Alaskan Highway and proceed northward.

Am I just getting used to all the beauty or is the road from Carmacks to Dawson really somewhat less filled with scenic wonder (the scenic photo shown, were taken between Ross River and

Carmacks)? For the trip from to Dawson City, I was relieved of the driving responsibility and thus had the opportunity to photograph at will; but, of course, only from one side of the moving vehicle. Even with added opportunity, I took few photos and subsequently deleted many of them as not being worthy of retaining.

We arrived in Dawson City with (much to my pleasure) an hour of daylight remaining. I purposely had not research Dawson on the web; not wanting my own first perceptions of the city to be influenced by others. Whether that decision is correct or not, I will never know; I can, however, say that Dawson City, did not fail to impress me.

Whitehorse to Ross River - Yukon Territory

We arrived in Whitehorse by mid-afternoon with sufficient daylight to allow some (not enough) time to explore the city.

Despite its small size (relative to most of the provinces of Canada), Whitehorse has a real cosmopolitan feel. My brief walk of the city turned up art studios and frame shops, the Yukon Visitors Center, internet cafes and various shops to suit every need.

Whitehorse is the capital of Yukon Territory, and with a population of over 24,000 it is the largest city in all of the three Canadian territories: Yukon, Northwest and Nunavut. Whitehorse accounts for almost 3/4 of the entire population of the territory, but despite having the main population center, it has the smallest land mass (by far) of the three territories.

To give you some idea of just how desolate the entire region that comprise three territories is, consider that: 1) the land area of the three territories is larger than that of the 48 contiguous United States of America, 2) the official web site of the Yukon communities lists only 18 communities for the entire territory and 5) the total population of the three territories is less than 106,000. It is not unusual to drive 40-50 miles and never even see a house.

The snowmobile plans continue to be in a state of flux; from Whitehorse we traveled back towards Watson Lake to Johnson's Crossing, in order to pick the trail to snowmobile to Ross River.

It was scheduled to be a long day for snowmobile riders and chase vehicle drivers alike, and in that regard we were not disappointed. The riders would take the summer roads to Ross River and the chase vehicle drivers would drive the longer route around by returning to Whitehorse, driving north to Carmacks, then turn west to Ross River.

From my perspective as a chase vehicle driver it was a beautiful scenic route that followed along the Yukon River, but it was not without some confusion. After stopping to capture a photo of the captivating scenery, I lost the track the rest of the caravan. Frustrated, a bit confused and fearing that the snowmobile riders might, in fact, need some assistance, I passed up scenic shots that I would have normally paused to appreciate. As it turned out, there was little to worry about; I arrived at Ross River after dark, only minutes behind the other drivers and well ahead of the snowmobilers.

For their part the snowmobile riders had a long and very tough day; by all accounts they went from sled-to-sled taking turns being "pulled-off" the trail by the unforgiving snow conditions. They arrived at the Ross River Hotel at about 11:30 Pm, and although they were obviously tired from their long day, there was not a sour word to be heard - it was all part of the bargain!

Beautiful Scenery

Undeterred, we left Watson Lake this morning to trailer to Whitehorse in Yukon Territory, a distance of over 250 miles.

The bright sunlight and 40 degree temperatures, lend to the beautiful scenery of the snowcapped mountains, but continue to frustrate the effort of the MichCanSka snowmobilers.

In addition, trailer has started to become a problem; the sand and gravel spread on the highways, contains small stones that have a way of puncturing the tires. The trailer tires are often less heavy duty than the truck tires, and, therefore, are particularly susceptible to puntures . We had a tire repaired at Watson Lake that had been punctured en-route from Mucho Lake; and on our way to Whitehorse, we once again were forced to have a flat repaired. Lucky, for us, we discovered the flat at our lunch stop, and were able to find the local "Frank's Garage" and have tire fixed before it caused other serious damage.

The restaurant who had referred us to Frank had also warned us that Frank could be a "bit of a crank," but was nonetheless, capable of making the repairs. After repairing the tire, Frank, while walking to the trailer with, tire in hand, exclaimed to me - "you wanna get out of the way?" Knowing that he "really meant too say" was excuse me! - I quickly obliged. What a delightful fellow Frank is! Not surprisingly, he demanded payment in cash.

To Watson Lake, Yukon Territory

We left Muncho Lake without even unloading the snowmobiles, and headed north a distance of approximately 150 miles to Watson Lake, Yukon Territory.

Along the way, we stopped to photograph seven Bison leisurely attempting to graze on the snow covered shoulder to the highway. We remained there for more the five minutes without ever disturbing them.

A few miles farther down the road we saw more bison, this time a herd of twenty-two, who appeared to be just lying in the snow "sunning themselves."

Still not done, we made a final stop where an even larger herd of thirty or more were enjoying the same sort of a leisurely day.

Unfortunately, my camera battery went dead and the back-up battery that was purchased in order to be a good boy scout and "be prepared," - also failed! And so, I am still trying to find someone who has a memory card that I can download the buffalo photos from (thus far without success.)

The day was not done, along the way; we stopped at Laird Hot Springs for relaxing, and much appreciated, dip in the hot springs. More missed photo opps (darn, darn, double darn!)

After arriving at Watson Lake group had a meeting to discuss a new plan; and before the day was done MichCanSka resurrected the old plan and Whitehorse is back on the schedule for the next stop. Unfortunately, the plan is still to keep the snowmobiles in the trailer and drive the 250 miles west to Whitehorse.

Despite the fact that they have been unable to snowmobile as scheduled for over four days, during which time we have trailered a distance of over 900 miles the riders spirits are surprisingly good.

By all reports this is the least amount of snow that the entire region has seen in over 50 years! MichCanSka has had the misfortune to have selected a terrible year to try to snowmobile from Michigan to Alaska; but even so, they realize that it is still an experience of a lifetime to see all the things that they have and to be able to collect an enormous amount of money for the Diabetes Research Foundation in addition.

Muncho Lake, British Columbia

We got a late start out of Fort Nelson today due to the fact that the riders took a short (3 hour) ride around the Fort Nelson trail system. They were led by a group of five local schoolboys who were, all too happy to skip school (with their parents' approval); to "entertain" the MichCanSka riders and to help promote the cause of the Diabetes Research Foundation.

After completing the morning ride, the "sleds" were again loaded on the trailers, and we began the short drive to Muncho Lake.

The drive was short in distance, but "long" on scenic beauty. We made a couple of quick stop to capture some of the best scenes, but most of the pictures that were taken were, "shot" through the windshield or out of the side window, with the window rolled down. They were a compromise at best, but I was happy to have been given a break from my driving duties in order to shoot some photos while riding "shot gun."

Muncho Lake is the halfway point from Fort Nelson to Watson Lake in Yukon Territory; and is the only year around stop, along the Alaskan Highway, between the two cities. It is a beautiful, full service resort, but nonetheless, only a resort - there is no City of Muncho Lake.

Given the poor snow conditions, MichCanSka is striving to make the best of a bad situation. Everyday new plans are being made in effort to find more snow and get back on the trails. Just today, the decision was made "scratch" Whitehorse off the list of scheduled stops, and instead re-routed the trip to Contact Lake (where the anticipation is high that they will find more snow.)

Therefore, as of today, our schedule for the next three days is: from Muncho Lake to Watson Lake, Yukon Territory, then to Contact Lake and finally to Dawson City (the final stop before Tok, Alaska.)

No Snow - No Snowmobiling

It's a sad state of affairs; for the last two days we have trailered from High Prairie in Alberta to Fort St. Johns, British Columbia and then to Fort Nelson, British Columbia. This is not the way it is suppose to be. Despite the conditions, MichCanSki continues its quest to make it to Tok, Alaska. If they have to trailer for a few days - so be it - they will forge ahead, undaunted.

Actually, they made an effort to get back on the trail today, but without success. After leaving Fort St. Johns, we traveled north to Pink Mountain (about 100 miles north of Fort St. Johns), where they unloaded the snowmobiles departed for Fort Nelson.

Despite the appearance of sufficient snow, there had been no fresh snow in weeks, and as a consequence (when combined with the unseasonably warm temperatures) the snow was crusted over and the riders reported that when they broke through the crust they were left with "sugar snow" which made it almost impossible to maneuver their snowmobiles. Then too, at this point, there are no groomed trails to ride - only "ditch-banging" - and the ditches are wide (sometimes) and deep that force the riders to ride on one side or the other of the "v" - not a good situation.

They had traveled less than a quarter of a mile before they "dumped" two sleds, and promptly returned to the point of departure; mission aborted, they re-loaded the snowmobiles and continued down the highway to Fort Nelson.

In the last three days, they have snowmobiled little more than 100 miles of the approximately 650 miles traveled, and no one is happy about it - myself included.

Traveling with five in the truck, all of whom are frustrated by the conditions, makes for short levels of tolerance; and as a consequence we are at "each others throats." Hopefully the snow conditions will improve, the riders will return to the trails and peace will return for all.

On a side note, Dick Woodruff whose sled was repaired in a metal-fab shop, broke down again - the repair job could not hold up the to the tuff trail conditions, and once again he is relegated to chase driver status.

In addition, there are pair of riders, MichCanSka calls them the "renegades," who broke away from MichCanSka and, after acquiring the all the motel accommodations sites and the trail routes, they struck out on their own in a quest to beat MichCanSka at their own game. Without the benefit any support vehicles they are severely handicapped.

Most recently they are believed to be suffering from the same problems that MichCanSka has - namely, the lack of snow. However, without support vehicles to rescue them from their dilemma, they are in a real quagmire. At last report, they were stuck in failed effort to find more snow; and are now believed to be striving to find someone to haul them to Fort Nelson.

Were it not for the reported fact that: 1) they are passing themselves off as MichCanSka representatives, and 2) they are even, reportedly, collecting funds for diabetes research - one would be inclined to respect these pair of adventurers, but as the case is, they have not earned that respect.