Update: February 27, Day ?? (5):
Heather called at 3pm from Tanana. They stayed an extra day there after getting out of Manley with a new and repaired sled.
They'll be doing a split 60 mile/60 mile over the next two days to get into Ruby a day behind schedule instead of spliting the same run across three days of ~40 miles each. Otherwise, she indicated the dogs are holding up well and the snow machines seem to be in good shape and holding up so far. Temperatures at night have been down to -60 below on the river. (In Fairbanks it was down about 20 degrees lower than two days before when I woke up this morning, which put it about 4 above zero. A bit nippy, but not too bad. The big temperature issue on the river is wind rather than absolute, which is something I don't have to worry about too much in Fairbanks itself.)
AAA sent out Ron's Towing to pull the QX4 back onto the driveway for me this morning. Walter, the tow truck driver, while showing up a bit late (was helping someone back a couple miles up Chena Hot Springs Road get out of a ditch) was probably one of the friendliest drivers I've run into recently. Most aren't too bad from Ron's Towing, but he went a bit extra and definite kudos. Also made sure I didn't slide right back off the driveway when I headed back to the house before he took off to his next call.
Update: February 26, Day ?? (4):
First off, many thanks to Dustin Rice and Margie Schwartz for their help in coordinating the adventure below.
Woo. Long day today. I got a call about 6pm from Heather asking if I could run some parts up to Livengood (about 75 miles north of Fairbanks up the Haul Road --- A route I've driven a couple of times before). After some discussion I figured it would be easier to just go all the way to Manley (another 60 miles) so I could see Heather and drop off some other items to her... Things like replacement helmet parts I scavenged from my helmet, some vanilla Starbucks Frapichinos, pretzels, and other goodies. I also figured I could pull whatever pictures she managed to get for the first couple of days and post them up.
So... 6pm I leave the house after feeding the cats. I head into town to pick up the part, which Dustin managed to get from Northern Power Sports before they closed. All good, but meeting up with Dustin was going to be a pain so asked he drop it off with Statewide Operations (24x7) and I'd grab it from them. Margie got the part and held onto it for me until I got into town at about 7:15pm. I picked up the part and got directions to Manley while in the office (can't really get lost since there aren't any turns but a physical overview was worthwhile having since I hadn't driven the Elliot Highway all the way to the end before). Got out to the gas station on Farmers Loop about 7:30 and filled the Pathfinder and my extra gas cans for the trip (figured no services in Manley or in case I slid off the road). Also picked up some energy drinks and caffine since I knew it was going to be a long trip (about 340-360 miles round trip). Got $100 of calling cards too since the ones the group had weren't working so well. That took about 30 minutes to complete from top to bottom since the calling cards needed to be initialized.
8pm I left Fairbanks and headed north up the Elliot Highway. Got to Livengood about 9:30pm and turned off the Haul Road out toward Manley. Road condition deteriorated and had overflow (open water and ice) covering the road in a number of spots. About 45 miles out of Manley I went through 30 miles of snow that pretty well cut visibility down to about 20 feet in front of the car. Thankfully the tires (Blizzacks!) gripped great and I was able to keep speed up. Biggest concern was hitting a moose but usually you don't get too much warning since they tend to be taller than the headlight beams will reach. Made it into Manley at 11:30pm and handed off the part to the local mechanic who was doing one of the sled repairs. (The other sled's engine siezed and the owner decided to buy a new sled a local offered for sale.) Met up with Heather and stayed for about an hour talking with her. Grabbed copies of her photos (below) and refilled the Pathfinder for the return trip. (I figured if I stayed I wouldn't get much sleep and I just really didn't feel comfortable sticking around. Heather was doing sweep from Manley to Tanana, a 75 mile run and would need to get some rest for that long haul.) Weather conditions, while blowing snow, were pretty warm (15-25 above zero), so I figured it would be best to just get the drive over with rather than do it with minimal sleep.)
Long story short, Heather is doing fine. She is starting to get into a groove or pattern and the last couple of days have been better than the first day. She has repacked her cargo sled three-four times so far with different layouts to see what works best. Other people are also providing advice when approriate. =) We repaired her helmet back to working condition and I gave her a complete set of replacement screws and washers in case it comes apart again. I also provided some close fitting goggle/glasses that can be used in a pinch. She can remove the jaw guard and turn the helmet into a half-helm worst case so her head and eyes are protected.
One of the local Manley shops let her pull her machine into their cargo bay and melt it out. She managed to engage the helper springs (apparently there is a special tool to do this and the one provided with the machine isn't the right size! Something to definitely follow up with Northern Power Sports when she gets home) and also found out there is a secondary height setting for the track that lifts the back a bit more than usual. Looking at the machine while there it is definitely sitting better for the load she is pulling and the weight of the cargo she has on the snow-go itself.
The Serum Run folks were nice when I was in Manley. Definitely
appreciative of the fact that they could keep one of the snowmobile
support people going rather than having to drop out that early in the
trip.
12:30pm I left Manley. Return trip I went slower and knowing where the overflow was allowed me to slow down when I came to those spots. Visibility dropped to 20 feet again about 15 miles out of Manley and didn't let up until 30 miles out of Fairbanks. By this time it was coming up on 4am, Thursday, so I was pretty exhausted. I kept stopping at pull offs, running around the car a couple of times, and then would go about another 10-15 miles and repeat the process to keep awake. Got to the Hilltop Truck Stop (last services out of Fairbanks until you hit the Yukon River when heading north) and topped off the gas tank.
I ended up getting in the door of the house at 4:45am. Cats felt compelled to great me with a "we're hungry" cry, so they needed to be fed again. Called Gene, my boss, to let him know I made it back into town (called him before I left Manley and asked him to send an S&R (somewhat jokingly) if I didn't give him a holler by 8am --- Not a bad idea since sliding off the road is a serious possibility --- Or hitting a moose or wolf on the trip would disable the vehicle. Conditions weren't bad or life threatening, but it made me feel better knowing someone on the other end was expecting me by a certain time and would followup with the state troopers if I didn't check in) and that I would be in sometime "later." Crawled into bed about 6am, 24 hours after I woke up on Wednesday. Talk about a long day. I ended up going to work and then class later Thursday night. Got home at 11pm and prompted slid the QX4 (Pathfinder was coated in ice from the overflow on the Elliot and stank of spilled gasoline from the jerry can refill spills) off the driveway onto the ATV path in front of our house. I pretty much grabbed my backpack and locked the car. Figured to call Greg (Ilana's husband) and see if he could come out for 15 minutes while I used chains on the Pathfinder to pull it out. An easier method I thought of later was just call AAA in the morning to send a tow truck out --- Wouldn't cost anything and I'm paying them for these services anyways.
Anyways, enough about my adventure in this...
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Update: February 25, Day 3:
Got another update from Heather last night while she was camped in Manley:
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So we are in Manley - maybe for longer than expected - it looks like I might be a day later than expected. Also I need another screw for the helmet - fell off today - the other one was fine. I'm not sure where to ship it - I'll let you know if we will be a day later and maybe you can have it sent soonest. I hate riding without it. I'm going to look for a screw that will work in the mean time.
Much better the last two days - much happier. No lost stuff today and I road with a nice partner.
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Sounds like things are getting into a routine and looking up. =) Looks like one snowmobiler has dropped out due to a machine issue and a second is having drive train issues that may not be able to be repaired while stopped at Manly. The group is already staying an extra day to attempt the machine repair and rest the dogs before the 55-60 mile run to Tanana.
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Update: February 23, Day 1:
Got an update from Heather at 8:37pm last night when she got into (Old?) Minto camp:
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Don't have the right personality for this. Lost the blue heet and one white gas - had to go back for it - heet bottle has a crack and the poor white gas canister is a mess. Ended up having to carry a dog - Scott jinxed me I guess.
Exhausted and no idea where I'm sleeping. They fed us though and the people who live here are very nice.
Kent says very easy to put helper shocks on, That weird little tool in my engine kit is a special tool to make that easy - will try that in the morning.
Just talked to Ilana and we might tent it tonight.
Caught some air when coming into town - I'm exhausted.
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Re: Kennel: We ended up using the dog kennel for some storage area, which meant if a dog was placed in there space had to be found for the items elsewhere... Not good to have a dog require being carried the first day out.)
Re: Helper Springs: The snowmobile was pretty heavily loaded and requires some additional lift to keep the studs and track from scraping the inside of the tunnel. The Bearcat Heather has includes helper springs for heavy loads. We tried to enable them before she left but ran out of time on trying to engage them. The load wasn't too bad to run for a day like that but either the redistribution or enabling the helper springs would make for an easier ride (although it does tighten up the suspension too, so depending on load and terrain it might be worse.)
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