jan/feb 2012

Midnight Sun Expedition

by H. Dale Durham

An old parable says that a long journey begins with a single step. On July 16, 2011, our 10,500-mile journey that took seven weeks to complete began with many single steps from different parts of the United States. Our group met in Bellevue, Washington, for the start of a once in a lifetime adventure.

The concept of taking this trip began during our Nine in Nine Expedition in 2009, when driving our Toyota FJ Cruisers, we crossed nine Colorado mountain passes in nine days. At that time, we discussed putting together an extended expedition to Canada and Alaska in the summer of 2010 but unfortunately, other commitments prevented our making that trip. Not willing to give up on our dream, we were determined to make the trek in 2011.

In late 2010, with Johnny Horton's "North to Alaska" song running through my mind, we started planning the trip. Our ground rules were that our primary communication between vehicles would be HAM radio; that we would try not to travel over 250 miles each day; that we would try to stay in a motel only every four to five nights; and that we would boondock camp when we could—or stay in federal, state or provincial park campgrounds instead of commercial sites whenever possible.

One of the first things we did was contact the tourist and information bureaus in Alaska and Canada for literature on roads, trails and campgrounds. This free information was very useful as a reference in planning the expedition. Another invaluable resource was The Milepost, 2011 Edition, containing information on roads, roadside attractions, hotels and campgrounds that aided in our overall trip planning.

Extended expedition planning of this magnitude requires taking a much more intensive look at vehicle preparation, camping supplies, equipment needed and food required. All off-road travel requires a certain level of planning and preparation, whether it is a weekend adventure, a week vacation or an extended trip. Traveling to remote areas requires much more extensive planning and preparation.

We also looked at finding sponsors for the trip. We were fortunate that my local Toyota dealer, Seeger Toyota in St. Louis, Missouri, agreed to sponsor my FJ Cruiser and provided maintenance and fluid changes prior to our departure. ARB also agreed to be a sponsor and greatly assisted us in outfitting the FJ Cruisers for the trip.

Once we determined our route, we turned our attention to vehicle preparation. As a rule, our normal emergency vehicle kit contains an extra fan belt, half-shaft, steering rod and tie rod end. Additionally, we carry extra engine oil, gear oil, brake fluid, radiator stop leak, a tire repair kit, recovery gear and a toolbox. For this trip, we decided to add two spare tires, tire chains for extra muddy conditions plus extra fuel.

One of the first considerations we had for this extended expedition was how we were going to carry enough fuel to get us through the more remote areas. We decided we needed to pay close attention to availability of fuel and our carrying capacity. Given the long stretches of travel in remote areas, we all installed auxiliary fuel tanks on our FJ Cruisers. Three of the auxiliary fuel tanks were 14-gallon cells provided by my local fabricator and the fourth was a Man-A-Fre 19-gallon model. Every FJ carried an additional 5-gallon can of fuel as an extra precautionary measure.

Since we planned on camping most of the time, we paid close attention to the camping gear we would need. Our criteria were that the camping gear be time tested, reliable and easy to set up and take down. We decided that roof top tents were the best choice. Two of us had ARB Simpson tents, one had an Eezi-Awn model and another had a Cascadia tent. Three FJ Cruisers were equipped with ARB roof racks and the other FJ had a Front Runner roof rack installed.

All of our FJ's are equipped with ARB freezer/fridges and since we were going to be traveling through remote areas, we decided to carry as much food with us as we could. Menu planning was a must. Intensive planning went into selecting what could be brought along and how to package and store it. The ARB units provided additional menu opportunities because of the ability to carry perishables without worry about finding ice or food spoiling. To aid in locating food at the campsite, we decided to prepackage meals and to group them in containers by meal category. This made it easy to select a container and retrieve the food.

Tomas Dawson and I pulled modified M416 military trailers filled with our camping supplies and equipment. These trailers are extremely versatile and very easy to pull on the highway and maneuver off-road. Both trailers are fitted with the same size tires and wheels as the FJ's. This allowed interchangeability of the spare tires if needed.

With the vehicles ready, camping gear assembled, menus planned and food prepackaged, we loaded our FJ's and began our expedition. Our fellow travelers came from several different areas of the country. My wife and I came from Buffalo Gap, Texas and our second home in Richland, Missouri. George Salvesen came from Tucson, Arizona, and Tomas Dawson and his family came from Colorado Springs, Colorado. We all rendezvoused at our fellow traveler Kent Bush's home in Bellevue, Washington, to assist him in installing his auxiliary fuel tank and to make his final trip preparations. We then proceeded to Anacortes, Washington, to catch the Washington State Ferry to Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

At Canadian Customs in Sidney, we obtained our firearm permits, as we all brought a shotgun with us for protection. The process to bring a shotgun into Canada is straightforward as long as you follow the correct procedure, bring the required $25 Canadian for the permit and bring three unsigned copies of the form. You must also have your shotgun ready for inspection by the officials. The watchword here is to keep the shotgun and ammunition separate.

Customs officers told us that some law enforcement jurisdictions in Canada require that a shotgun have a lock on it to prevent it from firing accidently. This is not a federal requirement and we understood that it was more a local jurisdiction concern. We decided to deal with that concern if and when we encountered it. At each Canadian checkpoint, we had our permit available and never had a problem reentering the country with our shotguns. However, you cannot bring personal protection sprays such as mace into Canada. You can bring bear spray and we all had a container.

We drove from Victoria to Port Hardy and explored Vancouver Island on our way up to catch the ferry. Vancouver Island has what may be described as a split personality. The east and southern sides of the island are more densely populated. The north and west sides are aptly described as the Wild West Coast. Our drive to Port Hardy took us along the eastern side of the island. We stopped at Duncan and enjoyed the numerous totem poles throughout the city, created by First Nations residents. Further along, we decided to drive Highway 19A, which is the original highway north and passes through many picturesque villages. We spent the night in the Campbell River Campground and enjoyed a comfortable evening discussing what we had seen and planning our next day's travel. As we drove on north, we began to experience the Wild West Coast atmosphere, with many logging roads and small settlements.
From Port Hardy, we took the British Columbia Ferry to Prince Rupert, where we spent another two days exploring the area. The evening before we departed Prince Rupert, we met two fellow Toyota owners and had a great visit with them. We inspected their Toyota's with envy because both had diesel engines.

We then boarded the Alaska State Ferry for our trip to Juneau. The three ferry trips we took were delightful experiences. The first trip from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert was on a BC Ferry. We left Port Hardy at 6 a.m. and arrived in Prince Rupert at 10 p.m. We reserved seats in the forward lounge and although we spent a lot of time outdoors, it was a nice retreat from the rainy weather. The food on this ferry rivaled 5-star restaurants! We ate the breakfast and dinner buffets and were totally amazed at the quality and presentation of the meals. The scenery was spectacular and we saw a variety of wildlife along the way. At Juneau, we met Tomas' wife Nancy and their daughter LJ, who flew in to join us. We spent two days in Juneau visiting the Mendenhall Glacier and taking in the town.

From Prince Rupert to Juneau, we traveled on the Alaska State Ferry. This 30-hour trip was also very enjoyable. We had the foresight to reserve cabins and spent the night in comfortable beds. Along the way, we stopped in Ketchikan, Wrangell and Petersburg. At Ketchikan, we spent a few minutes with our friend Charlie Johnson, who is a fellow FJ Cruiser enthusiast and it was his sticker design that formed the basis for our expedition logo. Along the route, we passed numerous blue ice glaciers, picturesque fishing villages and lighthouses.

From Juneau to Haines, we again traveled on the Alaska State Ferry, on one of the new fast ferries, the M/V Fairweather. Our trip took 45 minutes in what used to be an over two-hour passage. When we arrived at Haines, the earlier ferry was still loading so instead of sitting offshore, the Captain took us on a fast trip up to Skagway and back. Even with this detour, we still had a 30-minute wait before we could disembark. Along the way—even through rainy skies—we saw breathtaking blue ice glaciers and a remarkable lighthouse.
After a quick lunch in Haines, we headed north toward Haines Junction, where we would join the Alaska Highway to Delta Junction. North of Haines, we crossed back into Canada and camped at a Yukon Territory Park. Southeast Alaska is situated along the western side of British Columbia. Access to this area is either by ferry, aircraft or highway through Canada. If you are traveling from the ferry port on to Alaska, you have to pass through British Columbia and the Yukon Territories.

The drive north out of Haines was very scenic...

The Northwest Territories border is just ahead—somewhere in the fog.

Map © Southeast Overland, LLC

Crossing the steel bridge over Engineer Creek.

George Salvesen leads Kent Bush along the Dalton Highway.

The FJ Cruisers safely aboard the Alaska Ferry.

Refueling one of the FJ Cruisers alongside the Dalton Highway.

Spectacular scenery in Kluane National Park in the Yukon Territories.

Mid-August and the leaves are turning along the Dempster Highway.

The architecturally unique Our Lady of Victory Roman Catholic Church—the Igloo Church.

Photos by Dale Durham, Shirley Durham, Tomas Dawson And George Salvesen