Heading out

Monday, July 5, 2010
Chugiak, AK

Departure day for the the return trip.

On Saturday when we packed, we talked about Jason buying a rack that mounts on the hitch receiver, and in that way we could haul a set of snow tires. We then left until Monday.  Later on the phone we discussed some dimensions because they were building a box to mount on the hitch rack. We talked width and height, but not length. They also assumed my van was as high off the ground as a pick-up truck. In the interest of hauling more stuff, they built a box which ended up being more like a small building. Good and sturdy and water tight, but a bit large. Especially for the Wal-Mart rack underneath.
We fit it on just to see how feasible it could be.

We decided the box was too long and heavy for the rack underneath and would likely be a tail dragger if we tried to use it. Fortunately Jason decided to give up the box and just load the tires on the rack.  It's still out there a bit, but I think we'll be OK.

The four of us.

One last look at the Matanuska Glacier.



Kernal also spotted another moose and calf today.

Our tally so far:
Moose:
  9 cows (or more, we're loosing track)
  1 bull
  7 calves
Black bear: 10 +/-

Caribou: 1 buck
Elk:   1 buck, 1 doe
Porcupine: 2, ( one squashed)
Grizzley bear:  0
Bald Eagle:   0
Mounties: 3
Amish:   0

We made it up to Tok, AK. For some reason Kernal and I now have trouble staying awake.
The moose sighting startled the bejesus out of me.
We were planning to make it Haines Junction ,YT for the night if we could since there is little between Tok and there. It turns out Jason knows some nice people in Tok that have a B&B. They invited us to stay the night for free, so we did.

Tomorrow we plan to make some miles. We should cross back into the lower 48 about Thursday evening, and home sometime Saturday.