TeamD Adventures

We started in Whitehorse and then headed for a 2pm control in Tok, AK. Then finished the day in Fairbanks, AK. The Alaska Highway on the Canadian side of the border was full of frost heaves. We bottomed out the car a couple of times as did most cars. There’s one very big chip in the windshield. The road was better on the US side.  After a quick lunch at Fast Eddy’s in Tok, we started the Tok Junction TSD. Kacee and Oliver in car 6 had the best score of the day.

The mileages are big now. We’ll rollover 4000 today. We’ll do the Chena Ridge TSD and then go for an extreme contol in Cantwell by following the old Denali Highway. Bob Gobright walked up to the group in the parking lot last night. He works up here and has a place nearby.

Tonight we’ll stop in Valdez. Everyone is tired, but still having fun. Tuesday, day 9, is the last day.

We started this morning in Dawson City and ran the Midnight Dome TSD.   It was a brisk 41 degrees.   We’d only seen the section in the snow 2 years ago, so we were surprised to see that it was mostly paved.  We’d heard that the section was written in 2006, but that never been run in a rally.  After the section, we took the ferry across the Yukon just below where the Klondike joins it over to Top of the World Highway and found a geocache. Usually ferry rides, don’t bother us, but the water was moving so fast, we were both dizzy.

We transited back to Whitehorse, YT.  We’ll leave at 6am tomorrow for a 2pm TSD at Tok Junction and then it’s on to Fairbanks.  It’s our first time in AK.   There are 5 TSDs, one extreme control on the Denali Hwy and one DIY (not scored this time) left in the rally.

We’re sitting at 44 points to 35 in Car 2.   This does not include drops for days 5,6,7.  We think we’ve figured out why were picking up points.  But that is another post.

Ahhhh, after a grueling day yesterday on the South Canol, today was easy!  We dropped off the flat tire at the local tire store and ran Long Lake TSD out of Whitehorse. We did this section on the Winter 2008 AlCan.  I had made careful notes of important things!  But we almost managed to miss the turn before the hospital again.  We did well.  Our score on the section was lower than any other team.  We have closed the gap on  Car 2 by 2 points, (5 behind now not counting drops).

After the TSD, we picked up the tire on the way out of town.  The tire place was able to repair it.  Car #1 had to buy to new tires for a total cost of $550. We felt lucky to part with only $22 to fix the tire.

We drove to Dawson Creek  YT, a neat mining town. Reminds me of Cripple Creek and Durango, CO.    Looked for a geocache with no success.

Tomorrow it’s a new TSD called Midnight Dome.  We know the road well, wink.  Then it’s off to Whitehorse, again.

Starting to check for Aurora Borealis status to see if we might get to see it.   Our hotel staff will wake us if it becomes active.   We might take them up on the offer.  It’s 10:15pm at night and light enough outside to drive without lights on.

We started in Watson Lake and ran the Watson Lake TSD, a new one for us.   Jerry, the organizer, greeted us with bagged lunches as we pulled out.   We ran the section with no issues then headed up to Ross River for an ‘extreme control’.

We now call the Campbell Hwy/South Canol Hwy, the  Mini Dempster.  It is full of ruts, potholes, gravel and road crews.  We made a number of serpentines through work crews, ran the car up several new dirt ramps spanning culverts.  It was pretty, but everyone was happy to see pavement.

The body count for the 6 cars:

Car 1 – 2 flats

Car 2 – check engine light

Car 3 – no issues

Car 4 – 1 flat, lost a shield for the gas tank, check tire light won’t go off

Car 5 – rear skirt came off in a dip

Car 6 – 1 flat, 2 magnets or sensor fouled

Car 8 bypassed and went straight to Whitehorse

Tomorrow should be an easy day.  One TSD in the morning and then a transit to Dawson Creek.   Oh and scores, with drops for days 1 and 4, we are still in 2nd place.  Car 2 has 21 points, we have 28.   Not many people are talking about doing the extreme control and instead plan to do the new Midnight Dome TSD.    BTW, Marvin is doing a fabulous job with scoring.  He has them ready at the hotel when cars arrive!

We started in Dawson Creek and ran the Old Alaska Hwy TSD and then the Kansas TSD.   OAH went well but 2 semis pulled out in front of us .7 into the section on the ‘Looks like we’re in Kansas’ section.  Faced with hairpins and switchbacks ahead, Marinus did a bold pass and we managed to get by them near a control.  We took only one 1 point on that section.

After day 3 we are holding onto 2nd place.  Car #2, the veterans, lead by 7 points now.  Tonight we’re in Watson Lake.