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| August 10, 2008. Day 60 - Dawson City, YT - Top of the world highway - Alaska- Chicken, AK |
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| Unsurprisingly, we woke to another morning under heavy cloud cover. Marcelo
got up early to give Mike and Sharon a ride to the airport and took the
opportunity to take a look at their imaculate Beaver aircraft. On the way
to the airport Marcelo spotted the "walker". A guy that apparently
was walking from Argentina to Alaska. We had heard about him in a number
of occasions since Whitehorse. So, "walker" (we don't know your
name), we wish you a safe jorney. We recomend you don't pet any wolfs. We packed up our belongings from our luxurious temporary Triple J home. Mo and Carrie took the van to get groceries as the new team members - Alex (Guelph, Ont.), Lucien (Halifax, NS), Michael (The Netherlands) & Morgan (Halifax, NS) arrived. Marcelo gave the new crew a heads up about what to expect from the upcoming journey while Carrie & Mo did some other pre-excursion prep. Out in the parking lot, we noticed the back tire was flat and while working to remove it, broke the tire changing tool. Marcelo did some creative thinking (essential for any home made solar car trip) and came up with a solution. While we were working, the clouds cleared to reveal a beautiful deep blue sky wowing everyone - it's been a long times since we've seen such a sight. We took some parting photos of our gracious host, Brad, in front of the Triple J and made it to the ferry line-up at around 1pm. As usual, whenever the XOF1 stops, a curious crowd gathered. The new crew members were well prepared for the questions and answered the standards with ease. The crossing was quick and soon we were taking on another great challenge, making our way up the Top of the World Highway. The highway was a mix of pavement and gravel and aptly named - we navigated our way through peaks and valleys along the crest of the hilltops. Breath taking views. The second flat tire of the day happened halfway to the border and the new crew got a chance to practice their new solar car skills on the road. Mo happily handed over the highly sought after "tying the bungee cords to a block of wood under the back" task to Morgan who was able to start his own collection of grit in his eyes and mouth.The bunge cord started being used on Dempster highway (Todd's idea) to help secure the array onto the chassis. The potholes were overwelming, bouncing the solar car in every direction. The temporary easy fix was proved effective. We made it to the Yukon/ Alaskan border at around 6:30 Yukon Time.The border police took a photo of XOF1 as it pulled up and allowed only one of us out of the van to help spring Marcelo. We were pulled to the side for more questioning but besides getting Mo (our beloved German) to fill out a visa form, our entry into the USA went without a hitch. Though the terrain didn't change with the border, the type of traffic and the road did. Soon every second vehicle seemed to be a rifle equipped quad with a camo-clad driver or a truck carrying a few rifle equipped quads behind on a trailer and the road was plagged with potholes. Though orginally Chicken was meant to be our halfway point, with the late start to the day, gravel and hills - Marcelo made the decision to stop in Chicken for the night. We arrived around 8pm and set up the array which was able to catch a few rays between brief rain showers. We got a campfire going to heat up the h2o for the Mr. Noodles and toast our bagel sandwiches (a la chef Mo.) We learned that the population of the town in winter is 7. Marcelo reviewed photos and videos of the day, Mo and Carrie took a walk to check out "Pedro Dredge" and Morgan played his guitar - garnering new fans from the surrounding RVs. Special thanks to; Arvind Vashishtha from Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada for adopting 8km. |
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