UPDATE: Unfortunately, the website not longer hosts the video.
Karl Teuschl, a documentary filmmaker from Germany, included a couple of our Alaska Or Rust folks in his newest film that was released yesterday in parts of Europe (Germany, Austria and Switzerland). It’s a beautiful documentary that covers the Alaska Highway and gives viewers a good sense of the road conditions, the scenery and the feel of driving the highway.
Two of the Alaska Or Rust jeeps appear at the 18:30 mark. The interview with Marty Tilford, Don Brown, Rob and Diane Stafford starts at the 19:38 mark. It ends at 20:30. Most of it is in German.
(this was the original link to the video) http://www.3sat.de/mediathek/?mode=play&obj=70882
L to R: Diana Stafford, Rob Stafford, Don Brown, Marty TilfordA good shot of the remoteness of the highway.Nice inclusion of the eWillys sticker 🙂
ORIGINAL POST: On August 5th, 2017, the Alaska Or Rust crew departed Fairbanks, scattering in various directions. We’d completed our goal: Reach Alaska in Vintage Jeeps.
As of August 21st, everyone had made it back home, the last two being Merlin and Brittany and their 1942 WWII Slat Grill MB. There were plenty of adventures on the way home which are worthy of a future post. We’ll put something together when we have the time.
Thanks to everyone along the way who supported us, from sponsors who helped make it happen to the folks we met in Canada and Alaska who made the journey richer and more enjoyable than we could have imagined! There’s nothing like traveling to see just how wonderful people can be!
At the Arctic Circle: Pictured left to right bottom row: Joe’s CJ-3B, Joe, Emily, Bill, Cowboy, Russ, Don, and Jim’s CJ-2A. Picture left to right top: Jim, Marty, and Don.
This is the full and final update related to Alaska Or Rust trip. Our collective objective was to drive as a group from Dawson Creek, BC, to Fairbanks, Alaska.
In the late afternoon of Thursday August 3rd, the group finally arrived in Fairbanks, tired. When we went to check in, there was some confusion, but we got everything corrected. Afterwards, we all went out to have some great barbecue at Big Daddy’s BBQ in downtown Fairbanks. We’d been on the road since early morning, so pretty much everyone was tired.
While awaiting the delivery of our meals, Joe got the idea that we all should drive to the Arctic Circle starting at 3am or so on the morning of August 4th. He calculated the trip would take six hours and that they’d be back before our 11:00am meet-up at the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum. Essentially, they’d be driving on only a couple hours sleep on a muddy, gravel road.
The drive to the Arctic Circle sign. It’s a mostly gravel and mud road with few pullouts and a lot of big rig trucks. It’s a 194 miles north of Fairbanks.
After some discussion, others decided they wanted to go, too. This led to more discussion on when they should leave. Eventually, the group decided to leave around 2am. David told them to have a good time, but also that they should be back by 11am, because they’d all agreed to attend a museum event.
“Oh yeah, we’ll be back in time,” They promised. At one point Cowboy asked David if he’d be mad at them if they didn’t show up in time. He told him that of course he’d be mad. He’d floated the idea of the meet-n-greet by them before having Rick make the arrangements and everyone agreed it would be fun. But, he also told Cowboy that he’d get over it. He appreciated their sense of spirit; he just wanted them to abide by what they agreed and that was to attend the meet that they’d worked to arrange.
To make a long story short, 11am rolled around and they weren’t back. Those left in Fairbanks rolled over the to the museum. When we arrived we learned there were already folks there who wanted to meet us. Noon rolled around and they weren’t back. 1pm came and went and they weren’t there. Finally, about 1:20pm, they appeared at the parking lot. Here are some pics of their journey:
On the way north.Sixty miles to go.The Arctic Circle drive is dirty business. Bill’s face it peaking out over his rolled down window.Marty at the Yukon River crossing.
On Thursday August 3rd we crosse into Canada, bound for Fairbanks.
Some of the team decided to go camp, while others stayed at the Beavercreek Motel and RV Park. It’s rustic. It was the FCA videographer’s last day with us, so he got some last minute coverage, including a long sequence that had us driving away into the distance while a drone followed us.
I was also interviewed to give my thoughts on the trip and Hugo.
Following the filming, we left for the border and to hunt down the campers. The early morning sunrise was very pretty, making for a good photo. The roads were the roughest we’d seen. Melting permafrost portions of the road pretty rough. Various sections were under construction.
A welcome sign gave us our first glimpse of the US. First the campers went past the sign, then the remainder did.
