Hellamatic - Build Thread

Dawson City

We stayed across the Yukon river from Dawson City the next night, and got an early start the next morning. We were going to go head down some mining roads in the gold fields, but the miles were starting to wear on me (I did all the driving on the trip.) Instead we drove up Midnight Dome, a large hill overlooking Dawson and the Yukon river valley. Made a quick trip to see a couple touristy things, had a delicious burger at a local restaurant, then took the ferry back across the Yukon to head up the top of the world highway.

Can't beat the view.
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I really like this shot.
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I'm very mature for my age.
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The pics start getting sparse at this point - I'd already been to these places 9 years earlier, and the driving was really starting to wear me out. We took the Top of the World highway into Alaska - it's an incredibly beautiful drive, and there's some nice fun twisty sections.
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The next night we were going to camp at Glenallen, but were immediately swarmed by mosquitoes. So, we pushed on towards Valdez and made camp near the junction where we were going to turn and take the trip into McCarthy/Kennecott.

I really wanted to take the McCarthy highway after seeing the Expedition Overland crew took it on Season 1. Any tourist info I looked at talked about how it was such a shitty road, 4x4 recommended, etc. I was excited when we first hit the start of the road - it looked quite promising/fun:
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However, most of the road was paved and uneventful. Still a pretty nice drive. McCarthy is a bit of a tourist trap - pay for parking, pay to take the shuttle into town, pay to shuttle to Kennecott, etc. We decided to forego the trip into town, since we didn't want to pay for the shuttle or take the 8 mile walk. This was the first time I was wishing I'd brought along the mountain bikes. We left and started making our way towards Valdez.
 
Road to Valdez

Drove into Valdez that night, grabbed the first hotel room of the trip, had some delicious seafood, then left for Anchorage the next day. For anyone considering heading north, the drive into Valdez is absolutely beautiful.
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Drove from Valdez to Anchorage the next day. I took very few pics this day because we were starting to run short on time and had to make some miles. Grabbed another hotel in Anchorage that night and headed down the Kenai Peninsula the next morning. We went to Seward last time we went up, so decided to go through Soldoltna and head to Homer this time. Another beautiful drive along the Cook Inlet, and Homer was a very nice spot. Homer Spit is a narrow strip of land heading out to the ocean, and it's lined with little pubs, restaurants, tourist spots, etc. It would be a great place to spend a little more time in the future.
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The days really start to blur after this. We rolled out of Anchorage Saturday morning. We reached Tok in the late afternoon, and I decided I could push on to Kluane lake to camp a little later in the evening. Shortly before we reached the campsite, we saw our first grizzly of the trip foraging in the ditch.

Then we got to the campground and saw this:
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So we kept driving. Then stopped at the next campground and it was full. Long story short, I had to push on all the way to Whitehorse that night. Just under 1,100km in one day. We stopped at a fairly decent looking hotel, but they only had the executive suite with a king sized bed and pull out couch. It was reasonably priced and we were dead tired, so we took it. It ended up being a ballin' room! I was happy to see it had a jacuzzi tub, which was welcome after all the driving. Then, at 32 years old, I shared a bed with my dad for the first time in probably 30 years, haha.
 
Back on our own turf, hosers!

As we rolled through towards Whitehorse the next day, we stopped at the border crossing rest stop and took a pic. I took this opportunity to reflect on my time in the States, and came up with a summary:

-Liquor is WAY cheaper than in Canada
-Bear spray is infinitely easier to procure
-They really need to finally hop on board with the metric system
-American money ALL LOOKS THE SAME!!! Everytime I'm out of Canada, I really appreciate being able to glance at my wallet and pick out bills based on color.
-I'm really glad Canada got rid of the penny

<a href="http://s1262.photobucket.com/user/kelseyreder/media/IMG_3798_zpsb4v1ckig.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii615/kelseyreder/IMG_3798_zpsb4v1ckig.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_3798_zpsb4v1ckig.jpg"/></a>

Once back across the border, we decided to head down the Cassiar highway. One thing you never hear about the Alaska Highway - its boring as **** for hundreds of kilometers at a time. So we added 400km to the trip to get some varied scenery. Plus, ever since I bought my kayak I've wanted to paddle Boya Lake. We camped there the next night.
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The night after, we stopped at Mediazin lake and were swarmed mercilessly by flies. Then the next morning we encountered probably the worst mosquitoes I've ever been through.

From there, it was the last leg home. We briefly considered camping on the way, but I didn't want to stay in Communist BC any longer. The next spot to camp would've been Jasper, but it's only 3 hours from home so I just need to keep driving once I roll through. The last leg was 1,260km and I was absolutely beat as we rolled in.

All told: 8,600km in 13 days. I think if I ever go back to Alaska, I'll fly to Anchorage and charter planes to a couple spots. The only exception would be to drive to Fairbanks and head north to Deadhorse to complete that section of the Pan-American highway.

I'm already considering where I'll head next year. Maybe Moab.....
 
One last post for the evening - my CBI rear bumper arrived a day after I returned. I'm still waiting on the jerry can holder and the reverse lights, but this is how it sits for now. Next purchase is a proper spare - I probably won't grab a matching rim; I just bought a Smittybilt spare tire cover and it looks ok.

One observation on the bumper - if you buy it with a swingout, I HIGHLY recommend also getting the fold down table. It's going to be indispensable on my next camping trip.

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And on a side note, some of you may have noticed my missing ditch lights.... A couple weeks before I left, some crackheads stole my ditch lights. They also got a pair of 2x3 LED work lights and my 52" curved bar off my F250. Dicks.
 
Jhalko said:
Nice, looks like a fun road trip, on the outhouse, personally I like the ones with no roofs (all over around Moab). Not so good when it rains!

:rain:
:toilet:
Click to expand...

I love a good outhouse almost as much as I love a good road trip. I just wish I had more time up there - it's really hard to relax and see anything in just a couple weeks.

And I hate to admit it, but a 4runner/tent isn't a really ideal vehicle to head north in. A guy really needs a little Sprinter motor home or something.
 
Hellamatic said:
And I hate to admit it, but a 4runner/tent isn't a really ideal vehicle to head north in. A guy really needs a little Sprinter motor home or something.
Click to expand...

Soft... :bolt:

Other than the bear threat I love sleeping in a tent or my 4Runner especially when it's cold. Now an RTT would be a nice upgrade, if my wife and I ever decide to leave corporate America and travel the country I'd go trailer w/RTT though, it'd take me back to my southern roots. As a Canadian, you might not get that reference, haha :naughty:
 
Hellamatic said:
As we rolled through towards Whitehorse the next day, we stopped at the border crossing rest stop and took a pic. I took this opportunity to reflect on my time in the States, and came up with a summary:

-Liquor is WAY cheaper than in Canada
-Bear spray is infinitely easier to procure
-They really need to finally hop on board with the metric system
-American money ALL LOOKS THE SAME!!! Everytime I'm out of Canada, I really appreciate being able to glance at my wallet and pick out bills based on color.
-I'm really glad Canada got rid of the penny

<a href="http://s1262.photobucket.com/user/kelseyreder/media/IMG_3798_zpsb4v1ckig.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii615/kelseyreder/IMG_3798_zpsb4v1ckig.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_3798_zpsb4v1ckig.jpg"/></a>

Once back across the border, we decided to head down the Cassiar highway. One thing you never hear about the Alaska Highway - its boring as **** for hundreds of kilometers at a time. So we added 400km to the trip to get some varied scenery. Plus, ever since I bought my kayak I've wanted to paddle Boya Lake. We camped there the next night.
<a href="http://s1262.photobucket.com/user/kelseyreder/media/IMG_3809_zpsczoiiips.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii615/kelseyreder/IMG_3809_zpsczoiiips.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_3809_zpsczoiiips.jpg"/></a>

The night after, we stopped at Mediazin lake and were swarmed mercilessly by flies. Then the next morning we encountered probably the worst mosquitoes I've ever been through.

From there, it was the last leg home. We briefly considered camping on the way, but I didn't want to stay in Communist BC any longer. The next spot to camp would've been Jasper, but it's only 3 hours from home so I just need to keep driving once I roll through. The last leg was 1,260km and I was absolutely beat as we rolled in.

All told: 8,600km in 13 days. I think if I ever go back to Alaska, I'll fly to Anchorage and charter planes to a couple spots. The only exception would be to drive to Fairbanks and head north to Deadhorse to complete that section of the Pan-American highway.

I'm already considering where I'll head next year. Maybe Moab.....
Click to expand...


Just looked through your build thread and really loved all these pics. Looks like some gorgeous scenery. Thank you for sharing!! Best, Kristy
 
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marshal said:
I don't wish made to order bumper companies on anyone
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Faaaaccck. Hope it speeds right along - I can't wait to see it all back together again! Next I hope that someone goes out on a limb to section up the rear doors/openings to open up the rear fenders as well. I sat and stared at my rear jambs, beer in hand, for about 10 mins today. It would be a huge undertaking, but I think it would ultimately be doable with some extensive surgery.
 
great looking rig man, can't believe I hadn't looked through your build before this. we wheel around Prairie Creek and Ruby Falls a fair bit. I'll shoot you a msg next time we're heading out!
 
Jono.ful said:
great looking rig man, can't believe I hadn't looked through your build before this. we wheel around Prairie Creek and Ruby Falls a fair bit. I'll shoot you a msg next time we're heading out!
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Thanks dude, I appreciate it! I'm out in the prairie creek area a couple times a year as well - haven't been down there this year yet though. I'm about an hour north of Rocky, so it's a fairly short trip down. Typically I'll head out past the Braz, hop on the Wayerhauser Nordegg River Road off the Sunchild, then hit up the trunk road to get me down there.
 
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