The adventure begins

Greetings all.  I am now embarking on the requisite blogosphere adventure that comes with the territory whenever my generation travels.  I will keep this blog updated as much as possible to include family and friends on my adventures through the last frontier.

My journey began with a 2,436 mile drive from Seattle to Anchorage.  The Alaskan Highway was constructed during World War II to bring supplies to our troops in Alaska where they feared a Japanese attack.  The US government built the road through previously unaltered terrain where only small wagon roads and steamboats had been before.  Canada let the US build the road as long as they maintained control of it after the war.  It was the most expensive project of WWII, costing the equivalent of 1.8 Billion dollars today.  The road begins in Dawson Creek.

I connected though Craigslist Rideshare to find someone else driving up who wanted a buddy.  This furthers my assumption that if you're flexible enough, you can use craigslist to do anything.  I drove up with Irene and the matching was great.  And as it turned out, we went to the same elementary school back in Minneapolis (albeit 7 years apart).  I love small world connections.  After a quick stop at Costco and 18 lbs of cheese later we were on the road.

The drive through BC and the Yukon is beautiful.  Canada has such an abundance of space.  This was signified by mountains, forests, and rolling hills as well as the various abandoned towns throughout the countryside.  It seems that in Canada, when you want to move, you just leave your house (town) there and move on.

Pics are linked here

All of Canada seems to be on a schedule that nothing is open until May 16^th (maybe this makes sense because 2 weeks ago it was 30 below).  This is really nice when we didn't have to pass RV's every 100 yards, but it also meant that three quarters of gas stations were closed along the way.  One day we literally had to buy gas from an old guy out of a bucket ($40 for 5 gallons if you're wondering…and we needed two buckets).

We camped all three nights at a closed, snow covered campground, a parking lot of a hot springs, and a scenic lookout point.  The third night we set up camp at 11 pm and it was still light out, it felt like 6 pm.  This summer I imagine that I will be very productive or go crazy without a regular sleep rhythm, or both.

The second night we stayed at a hot springs and met the best celebrity ever.  We met the 'hands' that are in the Sham-Wow commercial (not the sham wow guy who is in jail for beating up a prostitute).  He gave us all sham wows, it was awesome.  He was just on vacation and as a testament to the product, he just used a little sham wow as his towel, and being over 300 lbs, that was quite a feat.   The hot springs were an incredible break from the monotony as butt-soreness of driving 1200 miles.

The mountains on the way to Anchorage are beautiful.  I'm used to the towering single behemoths of the Cascades, but these ranges are sustained at 10-15,000 feet and are awe inspiring.  I'm going to like this place.  Now I'm in Anchorage.  I'm really happy that I committed to driving, it helped me to slowly be introduced to Alaska, gave me time to think about my upcoming adventure, and it feels like a right of passage.  Everybody up here has their own Alaska Highway story and they welcomed me with open arms.

My first day was a whirlwind.  I bought a car, met my boss, and schmoozed it up at a guiding company expo.  Things are moving very fast up here, but I feel ready for it.  Today I head down to Girdwood and start to explore the backcountry that I will be taking people out into in a couple of weeks.  Also, as I guide, I get hooked up with complimentary trips in helicopters, planes, kayaks and wildlife safaris.  It is going to be an incredible summer and I hope you all stay around for the ride.