September 24, 2008. Day 105 - Mile 183 Alaska highway - Mile 109 Alaska Highway

A bright and chilly morning, one of the coldest we had so far. We got to write ice on the solar car cover again, frost everywhere; leaves, vehicles, etc... even the small puddle of water near by was frozen. the usual morning, got a fire going to warm up, coffee and tea a la Yukon camping style. Marcelo installed an onboard camera to capture some of the amazing views and action from the solar. As the day went by the camera was placed at different locations. We got some great footage. Anticipating more major climbing ahead we opted for a late start in order to get a good charge on the batteries. The morning charging started out well, clear sky above but thin clouds far in the horizon, by mid morning a thin haze formed in the sky filtering the sunlight, by 11:30 "on the road again". Fort St.John's is about 300km away. As the day went by the haze thickened (we'll have to talk to a meteorologist to get the terminology right), compounded by the hilly the terrain and the Sikanni river crossing damped Marcelo's hope to arrive in Fort. St.John's by the end of the day. "You are a truly optimistic Marcelo"- said Mark on the radio. We pushed as far as the batteries would allow us to drive. By late afternoon we pulled over, batteries were flat. It was a mediocre location, it had a sour gas well near by we didn't feel very comfortable with that but it was a black bear near by that made us decide to find another location for the night. It is bear country, better to avoid and be safe. No worries Marcelo didn't try to pat the bear. Back on the road, we drove about 2km, entered a logging road and found a large clear area. Since it was already quite late and dark we didn't set up the array, placed the solar car under its cover for the night. Good night XOF1! We got a fire going, Taro and Marcelo seems to be enjoying the Yukon camp fire style a bit too much. Mark did some night painting with a 1,000,000 candle light flashlight on a 360 panoramic photo. Taro played guitar and Lew did a little fire dance when his pants got a bit too hot from being too close to the fire. It was funny :) We all had a good laugh watching Lew cool down his pants, later his chair was the farthest away from the fire. It was another spectacular night full of stars with a noticeable Milky Way.

	Just a thin coat of ice, soon we may see snow
	Frost everywhere. The frosted support van windshield
	Some cars go to a gas station, Some cars plug in This one is only fueled by the sun :)
	Back on the road,
	Lew adjusting the onboard camera
	A snap shot of the onboard camera mounted on the left side of the canopy. The solar car about to cross the Sikanni river
	A snap shop from inside the solar car with the onboard camera aimed at the driver, a log truck passes by
	Taro and Lew near the edge of a cliff waiting for the solar car to drive by on the road below. Lew right by the edge of the cliff is being held back by his pants.
	Frozen Marcelo got bundled up in a sleeping bag, gloves and a hood
	Much warmer and looking happier. Can't make a Yukon fire inside the car
	The hazed sky combined with the constant up and down damped the hope to arrive in Fort St.John's
	Lew, talking about the project to some people who spot the solar car on the side of the road
	A beautiful streak of a mix of haze, clouds at sun set
	A black bear near were we planned to camp for the night. Since we are the intruders, we moved to another location. It is the bear's land.