And today's question is. . .

Campsite on the Dennison Fork of the Forty Mile River.

 Would you rather camp in a beautiful spot alone in the wilderness where the hawks and eagles soar and the bears, wolves, moose, and caribou run free? Where you can feel the vast indifference of nature to you and your fate?

Gold Panner's RV, Chicken, Alaska

 Or would you rather spend $27 to camp in a dirt parking lot with wi-fi, hot showers, drinking water, and  30 amp hookup?

Chicken, Alaska Airport

  Before you answer, remember that in Alaska, civilization is just a patch on the landscape.  And that out in the wild, as any bear will tell you, anything goes.

Starving in Chicken

3,498 miles after I left Bozeman, I arrived at Chicken, the tiny town in the middle of the wilderness where my Uncle and Slim Williams staggered out of the forest starving.

(click on pics to enlarge) 

There were days when I didn't think I'd make it.

The truck was way overloaded.  Sure, I'd added air springs and anti sway bars, but it was evil on ice.  There were times when I thought it would end up upside down.

When I arrived in Chicken 2 days ago they said, "the food truck hasn't come yet.  It was supposed to be here last week. Maybe next Friday."  In the meantime you can't buy a bite.  Except for little bags of potato chips, two bucks each.  Meanwhile, the border to Canada won't open for another 3 days. Problems with the ferry. The only other way to get to Dawson is to drive 735 miles down to Whitehorse and up on the east side of the Yukon.

 

 

I have a small stash of canned food. I had one can for lunch today.  Pea soup.  Any Questions?

My First Accident

 

I killed my stepstool. 

 

I was in a hurry, backing up and you can't see out the back with the camper on the truck. I was just going for a trial run. I didn't get ten feet, backing up in my driveway when I heard "crunch."

 

I still have 6,500 miles to go to Alaska and back.  This could be a long trip.

Airborne over the Yukon

Retracing Uncle John's motorcycle trek from Fairbanks to Seattle should be easy. GPS, fleece, nylon, thinsulate, smartphone, hemi Dodge Ram Big Horn; I've got a lot of stuff he didn't.

But every time I add something to the pile of stuff I want to take with me to Alaska, I have to add even more stuff.  Which in turn, requires more stuff.

So if I want to put a camper on the back of my truck, I have to add air springs.  These little air-baggies "pump up sagging trucks to carry up to two thousand extra pounds!"  The instructions promised two hours to install but didn't allow for putting the brackets in upside down the first time, trips to the hardware store for stuff to install the stuff.  $237 for the Air Lift springs plus another $67 for drill bits and stuff.

If you add air springs you'll want to bolt a big anti-sway bar on the back axle so the truck won't "handle like the Queen Mary" and try to roll over on the hump back side roads of the Yukon. $232. 

If you do the anti sway bar you will want tie downs for your camper, like Tork-lift's heavy steel flanges you bolt to the frame of the truck to  keep the camper from sliding off the back or flipping over the side. $239.  Plus anchors you bolt into the rear truck bumper for the same reason.  $59.  The truck could use a new heavy duty (and very heavy) battery; $139. New hoses, belts brake pads, ball joints etc. etc. $1,305. 

This stuff adds up and it's only truck stuff. My stuff  (a fork?  two forks?  Power toothbrush or manual? 2,000 watt generator?) will be extra.

While I weigh the cost and weight of a memory foam gel mattress, a sweet deal on a Club Le Med down alternative comforter filled with "down like polyester fibers" on Groupon, and whether or not I should add a pry bar to my tool bag, I can hear my Uncle cackling.

He and Slim Williams made the trip with almost nothing but a motorcycle, an axe and a tarp.  They didn't even have a road.

We Offered A Bison A Ride

 We went over the hill to Jackson Hole for the weekend.

 

 

On the way home we ran into a herd of bison.

We asked one of them if he'd like a ride.

 

 

He said he'd rather walk.