West US

[hick]

Cassiar Highway begins (solo now)




Shot you while I was driving! I'm good....pat on the back.

You too beeowch!



Teslin, Yukon

[hick]

Horses for courses......BEAR!!

So have a toke

And a meal.

[hick]

Picked up a hitchhiker who made the grave error of exclaiming that I have a lovely singing voice.



Two hours and 3 sets later, I'd bet he regretted saying that.


Flat Top Mtn, Anchorage.

Finally made it to the thriving metro. Last run was 16 hours - thank Gawd for that hitcher.

[hick]

Forgot some of you have desperate uploading speed. Solly. I'll start posting 1-2 pics per post.


Wife's first real snow. Not like that fake shit in the dubai mall.

[hick]

Flat Top, ANC

That's all for now. It's "Buddha Day" and the "Thigh" people at the local massage shop clued us in to the local temple where we may praise our deities in ascending or descending order. Apparently it is "up to me," whatever that means.

Enjoy

[bsnub]

Great pics Hick! Already a bang up thread!!

[happynz]

Beautiful part of the world.

[bsnub]

Beautiful part of the world.

Come winter time you may think different.

[AntRobertson]

Some great pics Hick, keep it up!

Apropos of fock all though... I keep blanking on this thread and I don't know why?? It's great.

[TizMe]

Fantastic pics Hick

[hick]

Cheers



40 miles inside Denali National Park

[hick]

Ptarmigan holding onto winter plumage.

[katie23]

Thanks for the pics & stories hick. You rock!

pics reminds me of the movie Into The Wild, part of which was filmed in Alaska. Sad ending, that one ...

[hick]

We're sitting in a bar/restaurant about 15 miles from the trailhead, katie.
It's 10 miles to the river he forded and another ten to the bus but the river's too high and fast now.

[hick]

[hick]

[tomcat]

...fantastic hicks, Pic!...

[hick]

U thank!

N of Fairbanks (fam report):

"The mosquitoes here are helicopters with an attitude (about 35 miles N of Fairbanks - freekin signal out here)
Low bear sign, not many other campers.

8:37 pm - 50 F - sun sets at 11:13 pm, rises at 4:20 am.

6 hour drive to the Circle tomorrow w/o signal."



Above the line had similar conditions (to Fairbanks area) but 10 degrees lower and almost no wind. Dead silence (at times) in the woods.

Met this heavenly character who plugged my tire about 1/2 way up (alongside the Yukon river).
His family moved there in 1984 onto acres his father had bought.
6 days after arrival a forest fire erupted S and decimated 15,000 acres (mostly birch and pine) including their plot.
They escaped and finally built outside the burn zone.

Don't let his appearance fool you. He's the warmest, most polite and generous of types.
He does boat tours and runs a lodge w/ his mother. We'll be going back.

He was also on "Ice Road Truckers" as a guest (hitchhiker / no script) and National Geographic wants to pin a show on him, but he's "holding out," for now.

He shot the bear last year as it was "terrorizing the village."

[OhOh]

Fantastic photos, thanks.

I lived in Alberta for a few years, just south of Calgary where my wife and I worked.

Furthest north was Edmonton.

East to Saskatoon. My wife trained "trotting horses", I assisted but the crazy stallions were hard to control. They new exactly when they were to race when being dressed with their race harnesses. Sweating and stamping on the stable floors, being led out, somewhat in control. Upon release the drivers fought them into position until the bell went.

Then the explosive force of horse power, all trying to be in the lead, took over. Only slowing at the bends to stop the buggies rolling over. Sitting on the two wheeled buggies, reins in hands and the stallions back hooves arching upwards between your legs, inches from your nose was exhilarating, but also very scary. She tried going on the "circuit" but quickly gave up as the life of a "trotting horse trainer" on the road, was not for her. We used to take friends to the Calgary trotting horse evening races. They were amazed at our betting success. Once you knew who the quality pilots were and appreciated they only drove quality horses, the odds of winning rose considerably.

West mainland to the Cape Mears, Oregon. We were heading for Vancouver Island but the Canadian ferry was out. We were told that there was a ferry from Port Angeles, Oregon, so off we went. Drove south, through a small border post in the middle of nowhere. We stopped, an american border control officer's head appeared from the office window to ask, "nationality?, we replied "English", he replied, "Off you go then". Nary a stamp, a vehicle inspection or dogs checked. Those were the days.

We stopped at a gas station near Portland and asked the food stop manager for advice on a motel. She showed us some and suggested Cape Mears, off we go again. Soon onto small tarmac roads. Lots of trees, very dark and no traffic, on and on. We did wonder if the manager had any idea but we had a full tank of gas, full bellys and in the end were pleasantly surprised.

By the time we got there it was pitch black, but the manager had phoned ahead so a bungalow was ready. We slept to the sound of the waves. We awoke the next morning, opened the large curtains and before us was the Pacific Ocean. Roaring waves, lots of tree trunks washed ashore on the white sandy beach, an incredible view, for me. Another first for us.

We stayed for a few days and went off to Vancouver Island, Stayed with friends, went horse riding and were introduced to the family pets, Raccoons. Finished off with a party where the neighbours, a lively mix, were invited to meet the "foreigners". Back on the, now running Canadian ferry. to Vancouver, through the many islands and back over the Rockies to Alberta.

The landscape you portray is very familiar. The winters in Alberta were very cold but the Chinook winds melted the winter snow so not much lasted many days. The occasional white out but generally the highways were well ploughed, the secondary gravel roads less busy so an emergency pack always carried. Only one drive required digging out and that was just me "trying out" my 4wd Toyota FJ40 jeep in the snow. Same to this but AFAIR, no red stripe:



I used to take the roof , side/back doors and side panels down to the red line, off, in the summer. Even the windscreen folded down over the hood, for slow drives.

Grand memories you are evoking, maybe a return is in order.

[hick]

^ coolness

All my really good pics/video are on Canon and/or GoPro, and the tightass hotels (including Embassy Suites in
Anchorage) won't allow guests to plug into their desktop pcs or download photo software. Kunts

[hick]

Hatcher Pass / Wasilla, AK This AM

[hick]

[hick]

[SKkin]

Wasilla, AK This AM

Did you stop in to see the beauty queen?




Nice thread and pics jimbo.

[hick]

Thanks Eso, I should book an appt. Wifey might let me fuck her.