Date: Sun, 11 Aug 1996 21:54:52 -0400
From: Eddiehintz@aol.com
Subject: Trip Report: Southbound
Hey now,
We're southbound. It's 5 August and I'm at Stuart Crossing waiting
on the others. I went ahead to find a parts bus reputed to be here,
but someone towed it away a few days ago. Oh well.
We headed out of Inuvik on the afternoon of the 3rd.
Had a late start after an interview and photo op. with the local
paper, and hit the Dempster again. Southbound was much nicer after it
had dried up. We doodled 
along, took pictures, chatted on the CB and generally
lazed along. Ran into Jack Bateman and crew just past Fort McPherson,
as they headed north, and they brought along some real cool Top of
the World buttons. It was really neat to meet another list member...
Towards Eagle Plains things started to look nasty however. 20-25 knot
crosswinds picked up and big black clouds loomed threateningly
ahead.
So, Bob Hoover, Sue, Doug Freeman and myself decided
to push on to Dawson City-we didn't want to slog through the mud
again. Bob and Sue were running on little sleep, so they stopped at
Engineer Campground, once they were out of the mountains, and I
passed out in the back of the bus while dad took the rest of the leg
into Dawson. We arrived at the Klondike Campground at about 7am, and
passed out. Shortly thereafter, the Mad Bomber Squirrel started to
cuss and throw pine cones at our busses from the top of the trees.
The Freemans got the worst of it, as the things kept hitting on their
pop-top, but we got a few clanks as well. The Mad Bomber kept it up
for as long as we were there... The guide books list the Top of the
World Highway (the Alaska part) as poor road conditions, so
after the ravages of the Dempster, Bob Hoover, Sue,
Pete & Sally and myself decided to skip that leg, take it easy
for a day at Klondike, then get down to Whitehorse a day early. This
also worked well for Gary & Corinne, as they had always intended
to split from the group at this point and head down to Grande Prairie
to visit with friends. So, all of us are now en route to Whitehorse.
We stopped about an hour ago at the Partridge Creek Farm again, and
are going to have a big community salad and stew tonight, with fresh
veggies, and corn and beets cooked over the campfire... Makes me
hungry just to write about it. They also bought 2 Strawberry/Rhubarb
pies for dessert... Eat your hearts out folks... ;-) These couple of
days have really been great, as we have developed a tighter sense of
community. Stopping for a few days and having a smaller group really
makes it easier-with a big group it gets difficult to share the same
little fire, and everyone is always doing something different. But
the last two days we've had virtually everyone in the same spot, and
it's been very enjoyable. I think in the future when we do these
things we should plan for
more lazy days, as they really get nice after a few weeks of
driving... Things are starting to break apart now. We made our
concentrated effort for Inuvik, and now people are beginning to
scatter. Our first loss was Dave, who headed back to Alaska a day
early from Inuvik. I will also soon be parting from the group, as I
must pick up Samantha at SEA-TAC on the 12th, so the next few nights
will be the last I spend with the group, and in less than a week I
will be reunited with Sam. It's been hard to be without her, but I
think she was happier this way. She doesn't care much for the
hardships of an early westy, having spent over a year touring Dead
shows in a '74. Next time we do this kind of thing I'd like to do it
in a Synchro Vanagon Westy... I know, dream on... ;-)
So I'm finally on the journey home. Many miles lie ahead, but each
one brings me closer to home. I'm ready.
Peace,
Eddie
Back to the Main Trip
page
We headed out of Inuvik on the afternoon of the 3rd.
Had a late start after an interview and photo op. with the local
paper, and hit the Dempster again. Southbound was much nicer after it
had dried up. We doodled 
along, took pictures, chatted on the CB and generally
lazed along. Ran into Jack Bateman and crew just past Fort McPherson,
as they headed north, and they brought along some real cool Top of
the World buttons. It was really neat to meet another list member...
Towards Eagle Plains things started to look nasty however. 20-25 knot
crosswinds picked up and big black clouds loomed threateningly
ahead.
So, Bob Hoover, Sue, Doug Freeman and myself decided
to push on to Dawson City-we didn't want to slog through the mud
again. Bob and Sue were running on little sleep, so they stopped at
Engineer Campground, once they were out of the mountains, and I
passed out in the back of the bus while dad took the rest of the leg
into Dawson. We arrived at the Klondike Campground at about 7am, and
passed out. Shortly thereafter, the Mad Bomber Squirrel started to
cuss and throw pine cones at our busses from the top of the trees.
The Freemans got the worst of it, as the things kept hitting on their
pop-top, but we got a few clanks as well. The Mad Bomber kept it up
for as long as we were there... The guide books list the Top of the
World Highway (the Alaska part) as poor road conditions, so
after the ravages of the Dempster, Bob Hoover, Sue,
Pete & Sally and myself decided to skip that leg, take it easy
for a day at Klondike, then get down to Whitehorse a day early. This
also worked well for Gary & Corinne, as they had always intended
to split from the group at this point and head down to Grande Prairie
to visit with friends. So, all of us are now en route to Whitehorse.
We stopped about an hour ago at the Partridge Creek Farm again, and
are going to have a big community salad and stew tonight, with fresh
veggies, and corn and beets cooked over the campfire... Makes me
hungry just to write about it. They also bought 2 Strawberry/Rhubarb
pies for dessert... Eat your hearts out folks... ;-) These couple of
days have really been great, as we have developed a tighter sense of
community. Stopping for a few days and having a smaller group really
makes it easier-with a big group it gets difficult to share the same
little fire, and everyone is always doing something different. But
the last two days we've had virtually everyone in the same spot, and
it's been very enjoyable. I think in the future when we do these
things we should plan for
more lazy days, as they really get nice after a few weeks of
driving... Things are starting to break apart now. We made our
concentrated effort for Inuvik, and now people are beginning to
scatter. Our first loss was Dave, who headed back to Alaska a day
early from Inuvik. I will also soon be parting from the group, as I
must pick up Samantha at SEA-TAC on the 12th, so the next few nights
will be the last I spend with the group, and in less than a week I
will be reunited with Sam. It's been hard to be without her, but I
think she was happier this way. She doesn't care much for the
hardships of an early westy, having spent over a year touring Dead
shows in a '74. Next time we do this kind of thing I'd like to do it
in a Synchro Vanagon Westy... I know, dream on... ;-)