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Contact:  Ron Lussier           229 8th Street Suite 4
EMail:    info@vanagon.com        San Francisco, California  94103-3910
Phone:    +1 415.241.0815

Volkswagen bus trek to the top of the world

Trip to Inuvik, Northwest Territories organized over the Internet

Cupertino, April 6, 1996: We've seen in our midst those adventurous iconoclasts taking their VW busses to god-knows-where. Maybe we've even envied them. On July 22nd, 1996, they'll be at it again. More than 20 Volkswagen busses will leave Vancouver on a 2,600 mile (4,200 km) journey to Inuvik, in Canada's Northwest Territories. Inuvik is the northernmost point one can drive in Canada. The trip will include several thousand miles of travel over dirt, gravel, and shale roads. 27 travelers have signed up to join the trek, in busses ranging from a 1966 microbus to a 1991 Westfalia Vanagon. The venturers will start from as far away as Montreal and the San Francisco area.

The folks making the trip will all share a love of Volkswagen busses, and not much else. One driver is a flautist who was the �voice' of Woodstock from the old Charlie Brown specials, and another is a conservative from Orange County, California. One van will be piloted by a mechanic known for his sermons on life and vehicular maintenance. One traveler is the founder of an Internet software start-up company. There are several families making the trip with their children.

Internet Dispatches

As the journey progresses, members of the convoy will contribute to electronic dispatches to the Internet. These dispatches, complete with photographs, will be posted as often as possible to the Inuvik web site at http://www.chaco.com/inuvik/. In addition, the text of the dispatches will be posted to the Vanagon mailing list (described below.)

One of the goals of the trip is to construct a �virtual journey'. This will allow the many people who cannot make the long journey to experience it vicariously.

4,000 miles of Rugged Wilderness

The trip officially starts in Vancouver, traveling north through the forests and mountains of British Columbia and the Yukon, and then the tundra of the Northwest Territories. Along the way campers will stay at government campgrounds near scenic lakes and rivers. Lots of time has been planned for just hanging out and relaxing.

On the fourth day out of Vancouver, the convoy will stop at Liard River Hot Springs provincial park for a relaxing afternoon soaking in the two hot spring pools. Moose and bear frequent the pools. The hot springs create a micro-climate which nurtures several varieties of rare and unusual plants.

The last leg takes the 758 km Dempster Highway from Dawson City to Inuvik. This road, "the greatest wilderness highway in North America," heads straight towards the Arctic Ocean, crossing the Arctic Circle along the way. The Dempster is constructed on permafrost, and is paved with shale. Some stones are shaped like arrowheads, and can disable a bus for days. Many of the travelers will be packing more than one spare tire, as multiple flats will be common. Big rigs travel the Dempster, not slowing down for anyone or anything, and throwing up lots of gravel and stones.

The trials of the Dempster have their rewards, however. The scenery is beautiful. Mountains soar above the first part of the road, and then give way to the sprawling Mackenzie River delta near Inuvik. The group will arrive at Inuvik on the ninth day of the trip, having travelled over 2,500 miles.

Inuvik (pop. 3,400) is a government-planned community built to replace nearby Aklavik, which succumbed to Mackenzie river floods. Inuvik was built between 1955 and 1961. From Inuvik, the group will charter a flight to Tuktoyaktuk (pop. 800), on the Arctic ocean. It is possible to drive to Tuktoyaktuk over ice bridges, but the route melts in the summer.

Returning from Inuvik, some will break off to take the Alaskan Marine Ferry system through the lush Alaskan panhandle. The Marine Highway route will spend time in Petersburg and Ketchikan. Petersburg is a Norwegian-founded fishing village. The colorfully-painted buildings of Petersburg, the LeConte glacier across the bay, and the backdrop of 10,000 foot snowy mountains make Petersburg a very scenic setting. Ketchikan is known as the wettest spot on earth, with measurable precipitation occurring on the average of 224 days a year. The largest collection of totem poles in the world can be seen in and around Ketchikan.

Travelers who don't take the ferry will travel the gravel Stewart Cassiar Highway through the rugged mountains of western British Columbia. Along the way they will take the side road to the remote town of Telegraph Creek. The road to Telegraph Creek is a challenge even for experienced mountain drivers. Drivers will need to watch out for large rocks, deep mud, and sheer drop-offs. At the end of this journey is Telegraph Creek, a turn-of-the-century town which has changed little since the gold rush days.

Further south, the convoy will stop to watch the Bear Glacier calve icebergs into a lake before staying overnight near the towns of Stewart, B.C. and Hyder, Alaska. Hyder was a silver-mining boom town at the start of the century, but its population has since dropped to 85. Today Hycer is known for its night life and has the nickname "The Friendliest Little Ghost Town in Alaska."

Information available on the Internet

This trip is being organized through the Internet's Vanagon mailing list, a �virtual club' for drivers of Volkswagen busses. Internet users with Email can join the list by sending mail to listserv@lenti.med.umn.edu. The body of your letter should contain the following line:

subscribe vanagon your_email_address

Information on the journey, including the list of participants, a travelogue from a bus owner who has made the trip, and tips on Inuvik from residents, is available on the Inuvik web page. On the world-wide web, surf to http://www.chaco.com/inuvik/.

Internet users with Email who are interested in joining the discussion list for the trek can subscribe to the Inuvik mailing list by sending a letter to inuvik-request@chaco.com. The body of your letter should contain the following word:

subscribe