Yellowknife
TY 4 Stroke Master
Nice! Looking forward to it. Sounds awesome, now that's adventure!
Topper
Extreme
Good to hear you had a great trip GypsyRoots. Looking forward to your trip report. Topper
GypsyRoots
Expert
Sorry it is taking so long....internet is not working at the house and I haven't really had the time at work. But I should have some pictures and the first few days of the trip up soon.
Thanks for the patience.
Thanks for the patience.
way to go gypsy,looking forward to your post and pictures
Pat M
Extreme
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Gypsy sounds you had a great time. I could only imagine doing something like that but since I live on the right side of the country it is a little difficult to do unless of course I go up to Labrador or Nova Scotia to take any sort of trip like that. Would definitely like to snowmobile in Alaska some time. The last time I was there was in 96 for my honeymoon and will definitely go back again some time. Will wait for the kids to get a little older so they can truelly remember the beauty of Alaska.
yamadoo
Yamadoo is a snowmobile ' aholic'.
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13 Apex XTX 45 anniversary RED/WHITE/BLACK 3K miles
10 Vector LTX Blue 9kmiles
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86 SnoScoot(2) for grand kids
WOW that trip is amazing, were you alone or did you have buddies. I can not wait to see and read about this trip.
Glad your back safe and sound
Yamadoo
Glad your back safe and sound
Yamadoo
GypsyRoots
Expert
Well, I will have to do this in steps, internet is still down at the house...
So I will be editing and adding pictures as I can, at work.
So I will be editing and adding pictures as I can, at work.
GypsyRoots
Expert
First Day - Bethel To Kalskag
After a trip to NAPA and the Yamaha Prop Shop, I left Bethel from Brown's Slough.
I followed the usual trail to Akiachak and Akiak.
This is the same trail used by the K-300 dog sled race as well as the natives for as long they can remember.
I stopped in Akiak to visit some friends and a warm cup of coffee.
From Akiak I followd the "short-cut" trail to Tuluksak. This trail goes over islands and through sloughs, instead of following every turn of the Kuskokwim River. Just bellow Tuluksak, there is always open water, so I was glad to still have some daylight left.
Two years ago, this was the last school in the USA with no indoor plumbing, they used outhouses and "honey buckets" even as temperatures dipped below -40F.
This is the the brand new school at Tuluksak, now the have flushing toilets and hot water.
A quick stop to say hi to some friends and I am off to Kalskag.
Leaving Tuluksak, the "fair" snow conditions quickly deteriorated to no snow, and the river ice turned mean. What I mean is that before we had that warm up period that melted everything, this part of the river looked like a mine field, with jagged ice sticking up as high as 6 feet. As it all melted and then re-froze, what was left was a surface covered in craters and "stubs" about 6 inches in diameter and 4 inches high. Think of it as "river acne". This was very hard on the machine and in order not to break stuff, I rode the 50 miles to Kalskag at 4 to 6 mph. I arrived in Kalskag to find out that they were having an Elder's conference and that my ususal spot at the Upper Kalskag middle school was taken. I called the very helpful principal of the Lower kalskag high school and he opened his school to me. I had the whole gym all to myself, I have always depended on the villagers generosity and they once again came through for me!
The temps that night were hovering around -15F and the wind was howling at about 30 mph, causing a windchill -46F.
Well this was an uneventful ride, other than the fact that I was feeling a little guilty about not being at work and the fact that the snow conditions were so poor. Kalskag "beach" was bare gravel and riding the machine up to the school made me cringe. But there is no way I would have left the sled out on the river, I thought about it hard and decided it was better to have it parked next to the school, that way I could plug it in if it did not start in the morning.
I heated up some water, had a hot chocolate driknk and hit the sack.
To be continued....
After a trip to NAPA and the Yamaha Prop Shop, I left Bethel from Brown's Slough.
I followed the usual trail to Akiachak and Akiak.
This is the same trail used by the K-300 dog sled race as well as the natives for as long they can remember.
I stopped in Akiak to visit some friends and a warm cup of coffee.
From Akiak I followd the "short-cut" trail to Tuluksak. This trail goes over islands and through sloughs, instead of following every turn of the Kuskokwim River. Just bellow Tuluksak, there is always open water, so I was glad to still have some daylight left.
Two years ago, this was the last school in the USA with no indoor plumbing, they used outhouses and "honey buckets" even as temperatures dipped below -40F.
This is the the brand new school at Tuluksak, now the have flushing toilets and hot water.
A quick stop to say hi to some friends and I am off to Kalskag.
Leaving Tuluksak, the "fair" snow conditions quickly deteriorated to no snow, and the river ice turned mean. What I mean is that before we had that warm up period that melted everything, this part of the river looked like a mine field, with jagged ice sticking up as high as 6 feet. As it all melted and then re-froze, what was left was a surface covered in craters and "stubs" about 6 inches in diameter and 4 inches high. Think of it as "river acne". This was very hard on the machine and in order not to break stuff, I rode the 50 miles to Kalskag at 4 to 6 mph. I arrived in Kalskag to find out that they were having an Elder's conference and that my ususal spot at the Upper Kalskag middle school was taken. I called the very helpful principal of the Lower kalskag high school and he opened his school to me. I had the whole gym all to myself, I have always depended on the villagers generosity and they once again came through for me!
The temps that night were hovering around -15F and the wind was howling at about 30 mph, causing a windchill -46F.
Well this was an uneventful ride, other than the fact that I was feeling a little guilty about not being at work and the fact that the snow conditions were so poor. Kalskag "beach" was bare gravel and riding the machine up to the school made me cringe. But there is no way I would have left the sled out on the river, I thought about it hard and decided it was better to have it parked next to the school, that way I could plug it in if it did not start in the morning.
I heated up some water, had a hot chocolate driknk and hit the sack.
To be continued....
GypsyRoots
Expert
Day Two - Kalskag to Sleetmute
I woke up around 6am and started getting my stuff ready. The temp was -29F out so I kinda expected my sled to not start, but I guess it had been warmer all night, and the cold air moved in fast in the morning. Two 5 second cranks and the engine was purring.
I made a donation to the student fund, for letting me use the gym and while I was talking to one of the teachers, she mentioned that they were having a fire starting competition and that the person responsible for starting the school's bigger fire had not come. So I volunteered to help them and spent all morning with the kids. I got a big fire going with the help and advice from some of the native kids. They were very enthusiastic and shared many of their native traditional fire starting methods with me, one of them even brought a bunch of Birchwood bark which lights up like it's soaked in gasoline. I had a great time and left Kalskag with a smile on my face!
The snow conditions, err... the ice conditions just got worse and worse as I went upriver to Aniak.
I spoted several open leads on the way, but my main goal was to find some patches of packed snow that didn't get blown away, so I could colld down the hyfax. Everychance I got I would break up some snow and "try" to fill the skid frame with the prcious white stuff. Patches were far and few , and I could smell the plastic burning most of the way.
One of the things that kinda freaked me out was the clear ice that I saw whenever I was near a tributary that dumped clear water into the Kuskokwim. Riding on white or brown ice and all of a sudden going over a patch of clear ice was freaky because you could easily see 3 feet into the ice, giving me the impression of being over water. That was neat and scary all at the same time, but beautiful nevertheless.
I had a little trouble finding a way up the bank at Aniak because of no snow and gravel everywhere.
Finally after trying several spots, I found a way up to the gas station, where I filled up with 7 gallons of gas (150 miles/7 gallons = 21.42 mpg) and then went straight for the Hound House Sandwich Shop, where Ester hooked me up with one of the best subs I have had in the Bush! If you are ever in Aniak, this is the place to eat!
I checked in with the office back in Bethel and hit the trail again.
All the locals telling me the worse of the trail was behind me, and that up from there would be smooth sailing...boy they were wrong...!
Leaving Aniak there was even less snow, although the river ice was a little smoother. Since the patches of snow were now totally gone, I had to ride near the banks of the river, the only place that even looke white. The problem with this is that I was now riding between the gravel on the banks and huge cracks that form when the river ice drops. One slip and my ski could have gone in to the crack, if that happened I am sure it would just tear off, braking the spindle and whatever else that got in the way. In places the crack was as wide as 2 feet and 3 feet deep! Literally stuck between the rocks and a hard place, I had to ride very carefully, troubles out here can quickly escalate to full blown emergencies and I was just not up to all that. I could see trucks out on the middle of the river, cruising the Ice Road around 50 to 60 mph, and for once I wish I had pneumatic tires instead of solid wheels...hehehe.
By the time I reached Crooked Creek (the village) there was some snow on the ground and I could finally get back on the river and cruise a little faster. Following the native's trails I was able to get my cruising speed up to around 60mph.
The further up the river I got, the better the conditions got, and by the time I hit Red Devil (the village) the snow was deep enough to start leaning the sled and carve out a few wobbly turns on the crusty snow.
A stop to see some friends and a quick video tour of the village and I head up to my final destination for today, Sleetmute Alaska.
The river was actually kinda bumpy, but with plenty of snow it was almost smooth. I pulled up to the Hill's Lodge and got myself a room for the night.
Bambi cooked me some caribou stew and after a bit of talk with her and Henry (they own and run the place), I crashed hard, out cold in less than 5 minutes. I checked the temp just before bed and the thermometer read -23F.
To be continued... Photos are done for this day... captions to come...
I woke up around 6am and started getting my stuff ready. The temp was -29F out so I kinda expected my sled to not start, but I guess it had been warmer all night, and the cold air moved in fast in the morning. Two 5 second cranks and the engine was purring.
I made a donation to the student fund, for letting me use the gym and while I was talking to one of the teachers, she mentioned that they were having a fire starting competition and that the person responsible for starting the school's bigger fire had not come. So I volunteered to help them and spent all morning with the kids. I got a big fire going with the help and advice from some of the native kids. They were very enthusiastic and shared many of their native traditional fire starting methods with me, one of them even brought a bunch of Birchwood bark which lights up like it's soaked in gasoline. I had a great time and left Kalskag with a smile on my face!
The snow conditions, err... the ice conditions just got worse and worse as I went upriver to Aniak.
I spoted several open leads on the way, but my main goal was to find some patches of packed snow that didn't get blown away, so I could colld down the hyfax. Everychance I got I would break up some snow and "try" to fill the skid frame with the prcious white stuff. Patches were far and few , and I could smell the plastic burning most of the way.
One of the things that kinda freaked me out was the clear ice that I saw whenever I was near a tributary that dumped clear water into the Kuskokwim. Riding on white or brown ice and all of a sudden going over a patch of clear ice was freaky because you could easily see 3 feet into the ice, giving me the impression of being over water. That was neat and scary all at the same time, but beautiful nevertheless.
I had a little trouble finding a way up the bank at Aniak because of no snow and gravel everywhere.
Finally after trying several spots, I found a way up to the gas station, where I filled up with 7 gallons of gas (150 miles/7 gallons = 21.42 mpg) and then went straight for the Hound House Sandwich Shop, where Ester hooked me up with one of the best subs I have had in the Bush! If you are ever in Aniak, this is the place to eat!
I checked in with the office back in Bethel and hit the trail again.
All the locals telling me the worse of the trail was behind me, and that up from there would be smooth sailing...boy they were wrong...!
Leaving Aniak there was even less snow, although the river ice was a little smoother. Since the patches of snow were now totally gone, I had to ride near the banks of the river, the only place that even looke white. The problem with this is that I was now riding between the gravel on the banks and huge cracks that form when the river ice drops. One slip and my ski could have gone in to the crack, if that happened I am sure it would just tear off, braking the spindle and whatever else that got in the way. In places the crack was as wide as 2 feet and 3 feet deep! Literally stuck between the rocks and a hard place, I had to ride very carefully, troubles out here can quickly escalate to full blown emergencies and I was just not up to all that. I could see trucks out on the middle of the river, cruising the Ice Road around 50 to 60 mph, and for once I wish I had pneumatic tires instead of solid wheels...hehehe.
By the time I reached Crooked Creek (the village) there was some snow on the ground and I could finally get back on the river and cruise a little faster. Following the native's trails I was able to get my cruising speed up to around 60mph.
The further up the river I got, the better the conditions got, and by the time I hit Red Devil (the village) the snow was deep enough to start leaning the sled and carve out a few wobbly turns on the crusty snow.
A stop to see some friends and a quick video tour of the village and I head up to my final destination for today, Sleetmute Alaska.
The river was actually kinda bumpy, but with plenty of snow it was almost smooth. I pulled up to the Hill's Lodge and got myself a room for the night.
Bambi cooked me some caribou stew and after a bit of talk with her and Henry (they own and run the place), I crashed hard, out cold in less than 5 minutes. I checked the temp just before bed and the thermometer read -23F.
To be continued... Photos are done for this day... captions to come...
GypsyRoots
Expert
yamadoo said:
I was alone, there was not enough time to find anyone to go with me...plus I don't really like babysitting, so I prefer to travel alone most of the time.
I know there is a higher risk, especially so far out from help, but I rather fall to my own mistakes...
Thanks I am glad everything worked out too!
GypsyRoots
Expert
Pat M said:
Come on up! My door is open anytime, it would be great to do a TY ride up here!
GypsyRoots
Expert
OK! Internet is finally back on at the house, so I have started adding some pictures...
Hope you guys enjoy!
Hope you guys enjoy!
Phazed-Coug
Expert
Wow.. looks/sounds crazy. Ever think of ice scratchers to help cool the hyfax? not sure how they would work with bullet proof ice, but worth a try?
GypsyRoots
Expert
Phazed-Coug said:
Hahaha! Some people use them here, but they usually get left behind on the trail somewhere, they just don't take the pounding over time...
And you are also right, -20F or -30F ice is very hard and those scratchers are more effective in hard packed snow, in the these conditions I dont think that even studs could help very much.
Topper
Extreme
Great pics GypsyRoots. Took me awhile to get them downloaded on my slow dial up connection but it was well worth the wait. I was wondering what that wooden contraption in one of your photos was? Topper
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