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Well, retired July 31st and in less than 38 hours afterwards...the 110 Defender, Victoria, and l were heading north by northwest. I'd been planning this trip since 2020, then covid hit, closed border to Canada...so it got postponed.
Locked and loaded, pointing north...Aug 2nd
Didn' t really take many photos at first, not until we were in Saskatchewan.
Home base for the next four weeks.
Took five days to reach the Alcan (Alaska Hwy) in Dawsons Creek.
Spent three days here, on account of the weather. It was in the upper 80's and 90's and Victoria wasn't digging that.
Western Alberta Province.
Haines Junction, BC
Felt good to be on the road again.
Last edited by The Deputy; Sep 14, 2024 at 12:46 PM.
What's the odds...of running into another defender 110 in the parking lot, after l returned from the Dalton hwy, as l was sitting there goggling car washes in Fairbanks. This couple was from Virginia and were doing the Dalton the next day.
Drove to Arctic Circle after lunch at the Yukon river, but got visiting with some folks there and forgot to take pictures. Oh well, really isn't that big of deal.
Talkteena, Alaska. (below)
Denila from Talkeenta, south view.
Last edited by The Deputy; Sep 6, 2024 at 06:58 PM.
Denila Park, Alaska. Did some hiking here, very nice walk.
North view coming into Denila Park.
What's the odds of two defenders pulling into a gas station in Tok, Alaska at the same time. Couple was from Germany, actually was the second couple l ran into driving a defender they'd had shipped over from Germany. This couple came in through Halifax, Canada. Whereas the other couple entered in North Carolina and had already logged 15000 miles. There destination was Vancover Island, where they were having their defender shipped home.
This couple was continuing south, into the states.
Back at Dawsons Creek. Heading home. (Mile marker 0)
Crossed the Mackinaw bridge, Michigan...sure felt like home.
Pulled into driveway about 12:30pm, drive from the bridge felt like a trip to the corner store, 300 miles, after some of the days we'd put in lately.
Roughly about 10,000 miles were logged, over the last thirty days.
Epic trip. Dalton hwy was one of the highlights of the trip, gravel road gave it a true Alaskan feel to the journey north to Arctic circle. Road to Valdez was one breathtaking view after another and ranked right up there. Took several more pictures, but had the camera set wrong and they won't load on site. Found a website that converts them, but it has been painfully slow and it jumbles up the order of pictures...making it mind boggling to get them straight. Anyhow, awesome trip, highly recommend it to anyone who likes to drive. Thought this was a pretty good time to go, also...very few bugs and cooler temps, after the heatwave in Dawsons Creek, were very pleasant.
Last edited by The Deputy; Sep 6, 2024 at 06:18 PM.
And "a man's got to do, what a man's got to do"...
Before my cousin, Paul, passed away in 2019, which he was on 100% disability from the service for the majority of his life, we'd talked about doing a trip west...but things took a turn for the worse, rather quickly, and it was no longer an option. So, before he passed l asked him for his dogtags and told him l'd make sure to get them to Alaska. Mission accomplished!
Last edited by The Deputy; Sep 7, 2024 at 06:47 AM.
Saw all kinds of overlanding rigs. The first one, Earth Roamer, was pretty darn impressive. Tons of Sprinter style van builds.
My build, pretty happy with it. Everything worked well, cabinets and storage compartments held items nicely. I'd added some hooks along ceiling edge and these turned out to be quite valuable. Actually, l believe l could have got away with storing everything inside vehicle, the things l had up top in storage binds were either not needed or could have been inside.
Items that came in handy.
1) Windex and paper towels. Cleaned windshield daily.
2) Rechargeable/portable fan. For warm nights and in the morning to help take condensation off windshied.
3) TP. Not going to lie...some of the rest areas in the eastern provinces of Canada, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, were pitiful/disgusting or worse yet, lacking facilities, period. BC and YT were much better equiped, clean and well spaced out.
4) The electric fridge/freezer was awesome. Kept my injections for RA cool and it worked flawlessly.
Things l wish l'd have taken or installed.
1) Solar unit. The three days that l sat in Dawsons Creek were difficult because l had to drive the rover to recharge extra battery.
2) An extra cup holder. One was not enough, l'd buy two coffees in the morning, because stations were few and far between in Canada, and being a stick shift made it difficult.
3) Heavy duty rear shocks. The Alcan and Dalton hwy are some rough some-bit*hes, when you get into the permifrost areas, and even though the Alcan is paved...it's like Cedar Point Amusement Park on steroids.
4) New foam cushions in seatbacks and bottoms.
Other than that, was very pleased with how the rover preformed and interior build handled rough roads.
Last edited by The Deputy; Sep 7, 2024 at 08:34 AM.
@The Deputy A really good stainless steel thermos is what I use. I have one that fits the cup holder and I can refill my coffee cup while driving, it works really well.
Alaska Trip
