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Jack Stafford, July 25th
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Journal entries during the "Top of the World Tour" from Vancouver to Inuvik, NWT. This chapter takes me from Northeast British Columbia to Dawson City, Yukon Territory.
The drive from Ft.Nelson to Liard River takes us through two Prov. parks. The terrain is more mountainous with rocky, treeless peaks. There's plenty of game on the roadsides as there's no hunting inside the park boundary. I spot a buffalo and several mountain goats. In the valley is a turquoise lake called Muncho. The group stops here at a campground for lunch. Three of us break off and press on to Liard Hotsprings Provincial Camp.
It's a nice camp with firewood and a boardwalk to the hotsprings. The water is really hot to your right. The smell of sulphur hangs in the air. A small waterfall pours hot water from the first pool onto a bench, then into the second, cooler pool. I sit on the bench and let the hot waters flow over my neck and shoulders.
Back at the campsites I am caught in the stare of a blue Vanagon with a video camera mounted on the instrument pod. Am I on the news ? The driver is Sue from Ohio, working on a film for her college degree. She is looking for a campsite but the park is full. I offer her to double up in my camp. Most of the group introduce themselves and by the next day she's travelling with us in the convoy to Inuvik. Her ride is a diesel Westy shipped over from Germany. At home is a restored '60s deluxe microbus.
Across the way is Sheila and her amazing bubble machine. It's a tube with a strip of nylon and a huge bowl of bubble soap. With a little practice one can wave a bubble 2-3 feet in diameter. Sheila is quite a camping gourmet. Last night she prepared vegetarian black bean tacos.
Bob suggested that clear packaging tape be applied to the headlights. We'd be on the gravel of the Campbell highway for the next couple days. If a stone cracks the glass it won't fall off the car to be run over by the tires. In my case I have H4 lamps that will still burn with a crack in the glass, sealed beams will burn out.
Today we drive from Liard to Watson Lake. We stop for a photo op at Smith River falls. Lots of construction on the roadway. At Watson L. we all stock up on provisions, then meet at a forest of road signs. Here at the junction there are thousands of differant road signs from all over the world.
I get tired of waiting around and decide to head up the road toward Frances Lake. Jorge's green Westy pulls in behind. Highway 4 is a gravel road with three tire grooves in it. The traffic each way shares the center tire groove. When approaching oncoming traffic it's a good idea to slow down and move to the right side. If you move over too early the oncoming vehicle sees you move and takes that center groove all the way. Watch out for the roostertail of gravel kicked up. I picked up a few stars in the windscreen on this trip.
As soon as the group parks at Frances Lake campground a rain squall hits. Now all the dusty vans are streaked with mud. After the shower we set up camp and prepare dinner. Jorge had some trouble starting the wet timber for a campfire. Throw some gas on it. Jorge sets his bangs on fire. We offer up first aid, ice and antibacterial ointment. Salmon.
Leave at 10am for Ross R. It's gravel road all the way and very dusty. Back down to highway 4 and the dust and rocks. Just past Faro there's a government airstrip on the side of the road. Most of our group has settled at Frenchman Lake campground for the night. I take a spot at the top of a hill 'cause my starter solenoid has been playing possum.
The dust and mud from the gravel road has left a racing stripe on the van. I fill the solar shower bag and wash the outside off. Salad for dinner and to bed. The sun is still shining and light outside well past midnight. I've lost KOMO 1000 AM out of Seattle so no Art Bell program tonight.
Wake up call at 8:15 and everyone is ready to go. I get it together in record time. From waking to ready for the road in about 10 minutes. Don's Vanagon won't start. I leave my Bosch FI book with him and drive for Carmacks with Ivette and Jorge.
The first priority this morning is to get Jorge's burns looked at by a doctor. I asked the fuel station attendant if there's a doctor in town. She says there's a nurse (during a conversation heavily punctuated by "eh"). She calls the nurse at home to meet us at a local clinic around the corner at 10am. The first aid was applied by a professional. It turns out to be superficial.
We drive for Dawson City and the Klondike R. camp. I drove right past it and beyond for 10 Km. The posts are all that remain of the provincial park sign. For any campers heading into town unaware they would pass an $8/night camp and 6 miles later past a brightly lit "trailer park" type camp for double the fee (more w/hookups). We speculate on a possible conspiracy.
We prepare a roast beef dinner with mashed potatoes, gravy, corn and a salad. This is my first real sit down dinner of the trip. After dinner I go to the trailer park for a hot shower. The fee is $2 for nine minutes. After that I have a couple beers and sleep at 1:30 am.
Wake up early at 8. Noone is up and around yet so back to sleep 'till 11. Typical breakfast for me consists of vitamins, juice, bread or bagels and one or two pieces of fruit. I usually make two sandwiches for lunch at this time to reduce the preparation time at a lunch stop. I skip b'fast and go right to lunch today.
After a couple hours I get a ride to town with Ivette and Jorge to do laundry. The local trailer park "camp" has a small laundry facility. I cram 1.5 loads of wash into a single washer so a German tourist can do a load. He looks in his 40's and claims to have never used a washing machine. The driers take a very long time.
Jorge has a fuel leak in the engine compartment. Liquid fuel pours from the vapor recovery tubes (he just topped off the tank) onto the fan housing near the distributor. He replaces the rotton fuel line with new and we're back on the road. Back at camp I give him a brass tee fitting to connect this junction to connect to the charcoal cannister.
Ivette, Jorge and I dine at an outdoor restaurant. Salmon for the guys and chicken caesar salad for Ivette. Back at camp we share cocoa for dessert. Sue offers us a ride to the Dome for a 360* view of the area. With 5 people and her dog, Shadow, the diesel overheats at the summitt. Steam billows from the vents in the rear pillars. When we return to camp it's dusk and 2am. Bob is helping a girl with her '72 bus replacing a valve cover gasket and fab. a heat shield. I fade off into sleep. Tomorrow we take the Dempster highway.
Jack (stafford@alloth.hac.com)
January 10, 2000.
