Category: News

Alaska Or Rust Schedule

This is the Alaska Or Rust schedule as of July 20th:

Thu July 20: Joe Beadenkopf and Merlin are tentatively scheduled to head out from the Maryland/Virginia area

Fri July 21: Scott Gilbert leaves Cincinnati, OH, and arrives in Paris, IL

Sat July 22: 1:00am Fernando and Hugo Vidal fly into Portland, OR
– Scott Gilbert arrives in Madison, WI

Sun July 23: Bill Riess Leaves Pennsylvania for Tobermory
– Scott Gilbert arrives in Barnesville, MN

Mon July 24: David and Ann Eilers and Fernando and Hugo leave Pasco, WA for Castlegar, Canada
– Scott arrives in Winnipeg
– Bill crosses river on early ferry then heads west

Tue July 25: Scott and Bill meet up in Winnipeg and meet up with Jim Fowler (and Merlin and Joe?)
– David and Co head for Calgary (via the starship enterprise in Vulcan)
– Russ Lawton heads out of Paris, IL.

Wed July 26: Scott, Bill and Co overnight in Saskatoon.
– David and Co go through Banff and Jasper NPs then stop in Hinton.

Thu July 27: Scott, Bill, and Co arrive in Edmonton
– Marty Tilford and Rob Stafford leave for Dawson Creek and meet up with Wade Smith
– David and Co go to Dawson Creek (basically allows a cushion day)

Fri July 28: Everyone (except Russ) arrives in Dawson Creek. Andreas Gruson joins us.

Sat July 29: Day of rest (and or fix jeeps) and have a nice dinner together and launch party
– Russ Lawton arrives in Dawson Creek.

Sun July 30: Leave at TBD time. Visit Rainier Grimm. Rob drops of truck/trailer
– Arrive in Fort Nelson for meet and greet with Todd Penney at Dalex Auto

Mon July 31: Leave For Nelson for Watson Lake

Tue Aug 1: Leave at TBD time. Meet David And Zack Hydock just south of Whitehorse (will confirm) they will meet us in their GPW.
– Arrive in White horse.

Wed Aug 2: Leave Whitehorse to meet with Sue Thomas about an hour north of town
Arrive in Beaver Creek

Thu Aug 3: Leave Beaver Creek (long day so probably early departure)
Cross Border
– Meet with Richard Austin (and possible others) @ Delta Junction
– Arrive without any breakdowns or trouble in Fairbanks (that’s the plan anyway)

Fri Aug 4: Banquet/nice dinner of some kind, possible meetups still being finalized

Sat Aug 5 Another Meetup? everyone heads their separate way
– David and Ann head to Anchorage
– Marty and Rob head for Dawson City

Patterson is Almost Ready

Patterson is Almost Ready

David Eilers DJ-3A is almost ready for the trip. He *thought* it was ready, but a frozen front brake wheel cylinder convinced him otherwise. Still, he did get his first random signee of the trip. If you see his jeep, ask to sign it! You might also be able to make out his mother’s signature on the left side of the dash.

 

Getting All Dressed Up

Getting All Dressed Up

Scott Gilbert’s Wagon is getting all dressed for the trip. We’ll all be wearing stickers once we get to Dawson Creek!

July 1st — The Countdown to the Start of Alaska Or Rust Begins

July 1st — The Countdown to the Start of Alaska Or Rust Begins

The countdown to the start of Alaska Or Rust begins. First off, some updates are in order. Our original goal was to have 25-30 jeeps. Interest was high in the beginning, so much so that we had over 100 people expressing interest from several different countries. Over time, some people found the dates didn’t match their schedule. Other folks couldn’t get the time off. Still others found their Alaska plans unexpectedly interrupted financial, medical, work, and family obligations. As a result, we have thirteen jeeps and twenty-one participants. The good news is that a smaller group means we can travel together more often (the large group meant dividing up into two or three stages as to not block traffic too badly).

Hugo Vidal with his recently restored CJ-3B being honored in Brazil for his 4×4 efforts.

The participant who will travel the farthest to join us is also our oldest participant, eighty-four-year-old Hugo Vidal from Brazil. Hugo first traveled to Alaska in a CJ-3B in 1955 as part of Operation Pineapple. When he read about Alaska Or Rust, he saw it as a wonderful opportunity to once more make an epic jeep trip north. This time, he’ll be joined by his son, Fernando Vidal.

Many of us participants have had to rebuild our jeeps so they’d make this journey. Bill Reiss turned a rough, former 1965 CJ-5 Dually Trencher jeep into one capable of making the trip from Pennsylvania. He’s almost finished:

Bill Reiss’ 1965 CJ-5 Dually that was a former trencher jeep.

Merlin’s been rebuilding his MB. He recently installed a new block from Allied Jeeps, who is also a sponsor of Alaska Or Rust. We are looking forward to seeing how his engine performs!

Merlin’s new engine block from Allied Jeeps.

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