Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
North to Alaska
(Part 1)
PLEASE BEWARE OF BUFFALO ON THE HIGHWAY AS YOU TRAVEL NORTH. THEY
OFTEN LAY RIGHT ON THE DRIVING LANES. BISON ARE VERY LARGE AND CAN DO
CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE TO A TRACTOR-TRAILER UNIT. REDUCE YOUR SPEED
AND BE VIGILANT!
—sign on the door of Liard Hotsprings Lodge, mile 477.8
MY DAD DROVE THE ALCAN for the first time in 1947. He and his friend Omar “Mac” Mac-
donald showed up at the Blueberry crossing in a Lincoln Zephyr. Then the drive was re-
garded more as a trek than a trip and the Canadian government wanted you to be carrying
twenty gallons of water and forty gallons of fuel and four spare tires and extra fan belts and
food and who knows what else.
Dad and Mac had twenty gallons of gas, four cases of beer and two boxes of cheese
crackers. The Mountie looked at that, looked at them and said, “Shit, boys, if anybody
makes it you will,” and waved them through.
The drive isn't anywhere near as challenging today. For one thing, the road's paved all
the way, except where they're working on it, and they're always working on it somewhere.
For another thing, during the summertime at least there is no chance of being stranded any-
where without another car coming along in five minutes, or more likely an RV.
I've driven the Alcan three times, once out and twice back, the last time in 1993. I think
it's a journey that ought to be repeated at least once every twenty years. But this year my
friend Sharyn bought a new car Outside and wanted company driving it home. So I flew
out to Missoula and was introduced to a [then] pristine pale gold Subaru she had named
Monty, in honor of Montana. In the backseat was a coffee pot, for which I'd been instructed
to bring a pound of Kaladi Brothers Kona, ground for cone filter. She had also bought a
ten-gallon cooler. “For our half-and-half,” she explained.
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