On our Way to Alaska!! and Finally made it Home!!

[2wheelbob]

We are finally off!! Headed to Alaska via Missoula and highway 93 north. Hope to see all on the road.


Respect the VanBearPig!! :b4:

peace,

Bob

 

[daveb-SMB]

Re: On our Way to Alaska!!

Enjoy! Bring back some pics.

 

[Stumpalump]

Re: On our Way to Alaska!!

Enjoy! Bring back some pics.

My Dad made that trip and then stoped by the house on his way home with 7 hours of video tapes. I thought "great how much of this will I have to endure before he gets the picture." Boy was I suprise. I watched all 7 hours and loved every minute of them. Hearing the storys first hand helped but that trip is definatly on the "one of theses days" list. Your gonna have a blast and X2 on the picts!

 

[cellularSTEVE]

Re: On our Way to Alaska!!

Hey Bob,
Have a great trip. Try to update us from the road with photos and writeups.
I know this is a trip that many of us hope to do some day.


If you happen to go through Glacier, I highly recommend go to the Polebridge Mercantile and to Bowman Lake. Great place to go.

Enjoy!
steve :c3:

 

[dbone]

Re: On our Way to Alaska!!

Be sure to stop in and say hello if you get to Anchorage, Alaska Leather at the corner of Minnesota and Spenard. If I'm there you can't miss my Van (Quigley not a SM I spotted five SMB's in Tok last Saturday.

Doug

 

[Ford_6L_E350]

Re: On our Way to Alaska!!

Doug,

You're seeing more SMB's than we are. On the road since May 25th and we've seen 3. One parked, one getting off the ferry in Ketchikan, and one heading south to Haines as we were heading north.

I'll keep watching for the next 3-4 weeks as I head home.

I should stop by and see if my mirrors are on your van - I'm in Anchorage to let my wife fly home.

Mike

 

[Ford_6L_E350]

Re: On our Way to Alaska!!

Now it is 4 SMB's, one just pulled into the campground!

I have to go talk to them.

Mike

 

[2wheelbob]

Re: On our Way to Alaska!!

All,

The trip has been amazing. We had to go Missoula to have the XM fixed in our van before heading north (don't ask). We let from there and headed north on 93. Crossed the border north o Eureka. Had breakfast at a cafe downtown. Bacon tasted good. We made a glorious mistake by not planning our route and headed up to the national parks of B.C. (Banff, Jasper, Lake Louise). It was awesome! The scenery was un believable! We met a guy there who recommended heading west from Jasper and towards Prince George. We continued up to Dawson Creek, got the oil changed at Capitol Ford (recommend them). It's a little weird up here as the Ford garage wouldn't schedule us for a change but got us in within an hour. Anyway, we left there and headed up the road... We are currently bivouaced at the Dawson Peak Lodge. We got a campsite tonight and a lakefront cabin for tomorrow. We figured we'd give VanBearPig a break and do some canoing and maybe a little fishing :a1: . I'll try and resize some of the pics and upload them. We saw 17 bears today!! Thanks for the all of well wishes and if we make it to Anchorage, we'll stop by the leather shop.

regards, Bob and Amy

P.S. - The mosquito stories are ALL true!!!

 

[2wheelbob]

Re: On our Way to Alaska!!

As promised....

 

[bettyford-SMB]

Re: On our Way to Alaska!!

I will be right behind ya leaving in 5 week for 1month in Alaska from Jackson Wy. look forward to your pic,

 

[2wheelbob]

Re: On our Way to Alaska!!

More pics....

 

[FISHBREATH]

Re: On our Way to Alaska!!

Thanks for the pics .........Keepem comin :a4:




DAVEF :h1:

 

[2wheelbob]

Re: On our Way to Alaska!!

Update!!

We made it home last night. Had a great trip! We went to Valdez, Ak. and saw some amazing sights. We camped at Allison point campground on the road to the pipeline terminal. The salmon were running in Salomon Gulch and watched bears and hugemungous sea lions feeding. We went on a guided sea kayak trip out to Columbia Glacier. We were the only ones on our trip! We used the Anadyr Guide Service and highly recommend them!! We talked to some folks who had travelled Alaska and they talked us out of Fairbanks and Denali. We headed back to Canada and travelled the Cassiar Highway down from Watson Lake to Meziadin Junction. From there, we headed west to Stewart/Hyder. That was amazing!! We saw bears feeding on salmon at the Fish Creek Viewing Area. We camped the night up high at Salmon Glacier. In the morning, we almost got trapped by a road washout. VanBear Pig got us out o.k. We headed home down through Smithers, B.C. and into Washington at the Ousoyoos (I know I butchered the spelling, my apologies). We stop in Missoula and bought a new canoe in preparation for our next visit. The Cassiar Highway wasn't in bad shape as some as said. I guess it's all relative. Enjoy the pics...

 

[2wheelbob]

Re: On our Way to Alaska!!

rmore pics...

 

[2wheelbob]

Re: On our Way to Alaska!!

Still more pics...

 

[daveb-SMB]

God that looks like some great country. One of these days I have to make it up there.

Glad you had a good trip and thanks for the great pics.
Dave

 

[Jeffrey-SMB]

I'm lovin' it!

Great images. Were you using long lenses?

 

[2wheelbob]

I wish I could impart some Ansel Adams like wisdom but in reality, I'm new to photography. My cousin is a serious amateur and he came to visit us in Wyoming a few years back. I spent a few days taking him around the area on photo excursions and kind of got the bug. I bought a Canon EOS 50D a week before our trip and the lady at BestBuy only had a few lenses for the Canon. It came with a standard kit lense and I bought the 70-300mm, f/4-5.6 IS USM they had. Most of the pictures were shot in the auto modes of mountains and action. I was surprised at how well they came out. I think a 'Bazooka' lense, as my wife calls it, is in my future. I see you are a bit of a photographer, any advice?

peace, bob :a3:

 

[twolost]

Alaska, Sportsmobile, motorcycle, fishing, kyaking... EPIC!!


:d3: :d3:


Cheers,
---TWOLOST---

 

[2wheelbob]

Thanks to all for the comments. We did have a great time. It got me thinking about possibly hosting a get together up here. We've got some great roads to 4WD on and some cool campsites in the Beartooths and also in the McCullough peaks area. There is a herd of wild horses which are simply amazing to see. Maybe next year....

Bob and Amy

Respect The VanBearPig!