The ALCAN Diary - Episode 1, the beginning

The ALCAN Diary - Episode 1, the beginning

Day, 47, Saturday, 9/24, Alaskan Hiway ALCAN)

Today started out beautifully, a good night's sleep in a marvelous, isolated, empty forest camp (Wolf Trail) just short of the ALCAN, crisp cold air, eventually sunny sky, and a lazy drive down the ALCAN to our next camp on the way to Haines to catch the ferry south on Thursday.  My hope was to stay at one of the wonderful camps in Kluane Park in Destruction Bay, 210 miles distant, although three years ago they would not permit tent camping within 50 miles due the the unusually large presence of Grizzlies.  I was hoping for better luck this time, especially to avoid having to sleep in the cramped Defender, which I had to do three years ago for the first and only time.

At the risk of repeating myself, the drive on the empty ALCAN was nothing short of splendid, punctuated only by a few abandoned gas stations or accommodations. The first signs of any large presence of civilization showed up 90 miles down the ALCAN, and that consisted of two gas stations, maybe a lodge or two, and the headquarters of the RCMP, at least that I could see. I gassed up (always a wise thing to do at every opportunity on the ALCAN) and moved on.

In addition to watching the beautiful scenery unraveling before my eyes on both sides of the road in an uninterrupted queue, and the road itself, I was particularly interest in whether the Yukon camps along the way would be open.  The three or four I passed were not.  At just after 5:00 p.m., two hours before the sun would disappear behind the tall mountains, I pulled into some of their gated entrances anyway to see if there was a good place to bivouac for the night.  There wasn't, so I moved on, intent on reaching Destruction Bay, more than 70 miles away.

Just before  6:00 p.m., exactly 50 miles from Destruction Bay and just inside the grizzly zone, the Defender started to inexplicably slow down.  Then it started sputtering, even backfiring. Then it was okay for a few miles.  That sequence repeated itself a few minutes later.  At this point I knew I had a problem.  My hope was to make it to the next outpost of any civilization, Destruction Bay, so I slowed the engine down so as not to make matters worse.  When it happened a third time, I pulled the Defender over to check to make sure I did not forget  to put the gas cap back on, which can cause problems like this. It was on. But when I got into the Defender, the engine had died and it would no restart. It was about 6:00 p.m., one hour to sundown, 38 miles from Destruction Bay, in the middle of nowhere, make tgat cold nowhere.

The Defender had stopped just over the crest of a hill, so I let it glide downhill about 100 feet more and off on the narrow shoulders more to give oncoming cars the chance to see me.  Beyond the shoulders were steep drop offs of about six feet and beyond that no place any brave soul would dare to pitch a tent for the night.

The first thing I instinctively did was to get out of the Defender and place three reflective emergency triangles on the highway.

The next thing I did was to pull out my satellite phone and then try to get a connection by wandering up and down the highway looking for the sweet spot holding the phone high above my head looking like someone divining for spirits. Donner, in the meantime, was tied to the Defender so he would not think I was engaging in some new play for him and interfere.  After I got a satellite connection, I called AAA, but the connection was lost twice and so I had to re-establish the connection each time, which took valuable minutes to do so.

The third time I called, as bad luck would have it, I got AAA's most incompetent representative, so I hung up.  I called back a fourth time a said to the new rep, "I must speak quickly before I lose my connection. II am in a dangerous situation on the Alaskan Hiway 38 miles west of Destruction Bay.  Everyone is okay but my car will not start.  Here is my AAA number.(I read it to him.)   Send a tow truck as soon as you can."  He assured me he would send a truck but did not know when as service is limited in thst area and the distances vast."

Several times during these calls, several cars or trucks came by and most stopped and asked if I needed help.  I assured them that I was okay and that AAA would come through and sent them on their way.  I could see the pity on all their faces, except the truckers, who were most kind, but probably used to these scenarios. Some people asked if I needed anything, and I took water from one couple, although I had enough, just in case.  No one, however, offered advice on where I might have the Defender towed to, which told me there might not be anyplace. 

To be continued when I get more battery.

Sorry for the errors and ambiguities. I don't have battery left to edit.