Daily Updates

Day 1 - Thursday, February 23, 2012

Kirkland, WA - Quesnel, BC 

 

Today we set out on the Alcan 5000 Winter Rally!  We started at the Baymont Inn in Kirkland and headed north, through the Sumas border, and along Highway 1 through the Fraser Canyon.  We competed in two timed challenges today, one just north of Kirkland, and the other in Williams Lake.  We ended the day at the Sandman Inn in Quesnel, where we were greeted by the Quesnel chapter of the Kidney Foundation!  What a great way to end a great day!  For more info about our day and to see photos, check us out on Facebook.

 

 

 

Day 2 - Friday, February 24, 2012

Quesnel, BC - New Hazelton, BC 

 

Today was a long day, not because of the distance we had to travel but because of the weather.  There was a lot of unexpected snowfall and so we weren’t able to do our daily TSD competitions and instead just all headed out for a slow drive through Prince George and on to New Hazelton.  As it was, a drive of only 340 miles ended up taking the whole day. 

 

Be sure to check out our Facebook page for photos.

 

Day 3 - Saturday, February 25, 2012

New Hazelton, BC - Whitehorse, YT 

 

We woke up early today (5:30) so that we could be on the road by 6.  Today was one of the longest days of the rally (about 733 miles).  We had great weather the whole day, including bright sun and blue sky and we even had the sun roof open for a couple hours.  We had a nice lunch in Dease Lake and then set out on the last 400 miles of the journey which took us up into the Yukon, on the Alaska highway (which at one point crosses back into BC) and finally into Whitehorse.  Much of the road was snow covered and/or had slippery sections so it was slow going, especially after dark and so we didn’t get into Whitehorse until 11:45pm!  The photos from today will be posted soon!   

 

Day 4 - Sunday, February 26, 2012

Whitehorse, YT - Dawson City, YT 

 

So today we woke up only to find that we had a flat tire!  And would you believe it, no tire stores are open on a Sunday in Whitehorse!  So we called up the Kal Tire 24-hour emergency service and they sent out a truck to help us out.  It turns out a small, sharp rock had worked its way into one of the sipes on our tire.  We got our tire fixed and made it to Dawson with no problems.  It was a nice drive today, 90% on snow-covered roads.  Very different scenery too, as you will see once we get the photos posted. 

 

Day 5 - Monday, February 27, 2012

Dawson City, YT - Inuvik, NWT - Dawson City, YT 

 

Well, today we were supposed to get to Inuvik but the Dempster Highway was closed at Eagle Plains with no plans to re-open today so we had to head back to Dawson.  We did have a great drive today and a nice lunch in Eagle Plains, but of course it is disappointing to not be able to make it to Inuvik and Tuk.  What this means is that we’ll head back to Whitehorse tomorrow and then on to Tok, Alaska the next day at which point we’ll be back on schedule.  There will be some photos posted on our Facebook page later tonight.

Day 6 - Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Dawson City, YT - Whitehorse, YT 

 

We set off early today for Whitehorse.  The drive started off great.  The roads were snow covered but it was quite compact and we made really good time.  After our gas stop, however, we got to a stretch of highway where there was deep snow (in the order of 6 inches or more) and it hadn’t been plowed (that is, until we drove over it with our very low clearance BMW)!  Some other vehicles got stuck in the snow and had to be rescued by the Sweep, but not us.  Daniel did a fantastic job of getting us through the deep stuff and back to the nice clear roads just north of Whitehorse.  We visited our friends at the local Kal Tire to have our wheels balanced (since we figure we scraped off the wheel weights when trying to clear snow out of the rims) and they also hosed down the M3 so that we had the only clean car of the group!  (The other’s were quite jealous!!)  We all went to Bocelli’s Pizzeria for dinner where the food and service was excellent!!  They are looking forward to seeing the summer Alcan group in 2014! 

Day 7 - Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Whitehorse, YT - Tok, AK 

 

Today we woke up to a beautiful sunny day in Whitehorse.  We started off the morning with two TSD challenges and then headed off for Alaska.  It was another great day of driving (aside from an extremely rough section of road north of Whitehorse before the border into Alaska).  We stopped for lunch in Destruction Bay and then continued on to Tok.  Be sure to check our Facebook Group as well as our Facebook Page for more updates and photos! 

Day 8 - Thursday, March 1, 2012

Tok, AK - Valdez, AK 

 

Today was quite a short day (at about 270 miles) but that was in order to have time for our Ice Slalom event.  The event took place in Valdez where the city created a track for us and everyone got a chance to drive 2 laps.  It was a lot of fun.  The temperatures were much higher too, at around -3 Celsius.  And we couldn't believe how much snow there was.  Driving down the city streets was like driving through a tunnel.  The snow banks along the sides of the road had to be easily 15 feet tall.  To see the photos from today, check out our facebook page.

Day 9 - Friday, March 2, 2012

Valdez, AK - Anchorage, AK 

 

Well, our rally has now come to a close.  But we did it!  We made it safe and sound to the finish line in Anchorage, Alaska.  We all had a fantastic time and we met a lot of really great people.  We’re all now talking about when we can sign up for the next one!  This has been a great experience and we’re so glad that we were a part of it.  We will be staying in Anchorage another day and then we’ll start out on our trek home.  We will be stopping in Prince George, Quesnel and Kamloops for some press events with the Kidney Foundation and so we will update the website with more information about that later. 

 

Thank you to all our faithful followers who have tracked our progress throughout the rally.  And don’t forget, sign up to be an organ donor today!