Dispatch from Paul Eklund :
Attached is a picture of us in transit. Among our many other problems, we found that every time we used the FM radio to talk, the power surge caused our rally computer to reboot. YIKES! Talk about a panic. So we switched it off and threw the microphone out the window, but then everyone was "looking" for us even though we we driving in the middle of the pack. We now use a handheld radio (graciously offered by our buddies in "red dog") for broadcasting.

We have just eaten breakfast after morning TSD on day 3. We have to drive 500 miles and start another TSD section later tonight then drive a hundred or so miles to Whitehorse in YUKON. We finish tonight at midnight (we started at 7am). We are currently in second place overall with the Isuzu Rodeo team (former winners, leading). We are a few points (3) behind them and have Ben Bradley in the Subaru Outback a few points behind us.

Still doing OK. Getting used to the cold OK. But if you had to stay out in it -- boy that would be very bad. Last night our buddy "red dog" (BMW 325IX) hit a deer and lost all his lights except two low beams. The crack crews from the Chinook RV teams went to work stripping the auxillary lights from the Chinook support vehicle (these are all WAY cool AWD RV monster rigs) at midnight in blowing ice, and got the BMW bent in shape and with new lights. Talk about FRIENDLY teams. The Chinook guys were loving it, showing off their tools and working like a Nascar pit crew. We helped get some spare bulbs.

We have 2 buddies that we are required to keep track of: Steve Norman and Gary Reid in "reddog" and Satch Carlson, Russ Huntoon and Bailey ? in a spanky new BMW X-5 $$$$ sport ute 285hp "bigdog". We use the radio to keep in touch and keep together on the transits.

So far the highways are mostly clear and easy to drive. We hustle right along. Sorry for messages that ramble.

Larry Richardson is doing a great job navigating. Despite some squirrelly mileages, he keeps the computer on-track. R.Dale is of course driving well, and I am getting better at keeping us on course during the TSDs. Made a couple of mistakes, but not fatal. Stress level jumps quickly.

Another longer ice race at a snowmobile track tomorrow! Monday? My chance to shine. Pardon typos, the car often bottoms out over frost heaves.

I am rooming with a gent named John Fouse (on the official Subaru team). He is a character. (Author of How to Survive a Winter Rally; see below.) He has lived in Alaska for 30 years and works on the Alaska pipeline in Prudhoe Bay. He only sleeps about 5 hours a night. We drank our nearly frozen bottle of "Whoop Ass" homebrew last night, so I slept well. Will try to post pictures to gatherround.com from Fairbanks. TTFN, Pe

Dispatch from Paul Eklund :
Dawn broke cold and dim at the Caribou Inn... (Glenallen, AK) The trees were all totally white. Everything was white. We unplugged the car and were off.

Two TSD sections today, the side trip to Valdez cancelled. The slalom in Fairbanks also cancelled (darn). But we are in good spirits.

After fixing some scoring problems last night (the Italian Subaru which had fallen behind was given our scores by mistake) we have caught up a few points on the Isuzu team and put some distance (10 more points) on the Legacy team.

The first TSD went OK. Mostly ZEROS and a few ones. On TSD two, near disaster strikes. At a CAST change (where we change speeds), the computer tells us that we are about a minute and a half ahead! Normally this would be a correction of LESS THAN A SECOND. R.Dale is anxious, Larry baffled and me panicked. I shout for R.Dale to hold the speedo at 35mph, but Larry is unable to correct the computer. There are two miles till the finish and surely a control. R.Dale holds the speed. There is little to be done. I should calculate mileage hacks to points ahead, but my mind is addled. We pass the control 10 seconds early. Our worst checkpoint yet. The Isuzu pulls back ahead. The Legacy gains on us. But we are still in second place and many miles to go...

Fairbanks tonight and off to Prudhoe Bay tomorrow. It is so beautiful up here. Easy to forget the rest of the world.
TTFN, Pe

Dispatch from Paul Eklund :
Off to Prudhoe we go. Not many groups are ever allowed to make this trek. Weather looks good. But stories of drop offs and white-outs abound.

Rallymaster Jerry Hines spent the night in his car and had to follow the snow plow home when attempting the haul road in 1996 with his wife and child while trying to catch up with the rally which was only a few hours ahead on the road...

Jerry Hines will update scores etc on official wedsite Wednesday night or on Thursday.

Expedition leader R. Dale Kraushaar (r)
and navigator Larry Richardson (l) and
the sturdy Kraushaar Subaru Impreza RS.

In a message dated 2/15/00 7:19:24 PM Pacific Standard Time, LTT1176765 writes:
<< what's the scoop? Are you winning the race? >>

Dispatch from Paul Eklund :
Getting tired of 10 emails hitting every other day? Sorry. I sit and compose these as we bouunce down the road (ergo the occassional typo). Then frantically try to get it out onto the net when we stop. This morning's phone bill at the hotel was $61.25 (ouch!).

We have had the best Chinese food take out one could have! The Chinook RV team microwaved up some fresh Chinese food they got this morning in Fairbanks (what resturaant makes Chinese at 7am?) and served it to us at Coldfoot above the Arctic Circle. Coldfoot is a gas pump, 2 room inn, and a cafe with self-serve (honor system) of microwave burritos, sandwiches and cans of chili. The Chinese food was HOT and delicious--best I ever had. Funny how you remember certain meals depending upon who you are with and the circumstances under which you ate them.

We are now on the final 244 mile drive to Deadhorse. The Brooks Mountain range is simply breathtaking and awesome. BIG chunks o' snowy granite sticking up out of the tundra. Saw our first moose up close and personal loping along the road. Takes 3 steps into the woods and it vanishes. How does 1300lbs of moose vanish?

Trees here are a little different than back home. One, they're white. ALL WHITE ALL OVER and coated with so much ice and then snow that I don't know how they are alive. They are also about 15' tall at max. Most are about 8' tall. Looks like a pygmy forest. The pipeline is always on one side of us or the other, but it is not that big and really makes little impact upon the landscape. Mostly above ground, but occassionally dropping below ground.

The truckers think we are crazy for wanting to drive up here, but are for the most part pretty friendly. We take to some at Coldfoot for a while. They all have stories of moose and wolf and whiteout and mud and stuck trucks and the like.

Wednesday February 16th
Somewhere near the Arctic Circle

 

We have now driven 3119 miles from the start in Seattle. We had only 1/2 a gallon of gas as we rolled into Coldfoot. Did I tell you that we ran out of gas 5 miles outside of Whitehorse and had to be towed to the gas station? Another story for another time. Let's just say that a Subaru Impreza 2.5RS fully loaded with a big pod on top running fairly brisk speeds over icy highway will go just about 256.4 miles before running out of gas...

The temp is dropping. Now about 5 below, but all the locals say this is like summer and that the usual temperature is 25 to 35 below. No wind yet (thankfully). Pretty clear so we can see the awesome vistas.

We have now pulled into the Arctic Oilfield Hotel. After a security check, we will tour the oilfields and drive about 60 miles north, to the northernmost point one can drive in North America on a private oilfield road. Today was a non-competitive day, but we did make it to the checkpoint and therefore do not accrue any penalty.

For those of you who find this the least bit interesting, you should seriously consider entering this event when it gets run again in WINTER in 2004. It is a great adventure rally. There is even a class called "DALTON CLASS" for those who just want to tour along. You just need to make the checkpoints. We have even picked up Mrs Dalton whose family this highway is named for (we are travelling on the Dalton Highway).

Haven't seen the northern lights yet. Something to look forward to. Goodnight, Pe

Dispatch from Paul Eklund :
The food's good at the end of the world. The Arctic Oilfield Hotel includes as much of it as you can eat in your $86/night charge. And with that comes a dorm-style room (only smaller and more used) and a communal bathroom. Therese, the manager there, makes sure that all guests get what they need, whether a midnight sandwich, fax phone line or more hot water for the shower. People are friendly, and wonder what the dickens we are all doing here. Had steak and halibut for dinner, with fresh apple pie for desert. No skinny people in Deadhorse...

The ground and the sky meet seemlessly. It is SO WHITE and SO DESOLATE up here that you literally can not tell when the ground stops and the sky starts. It is cold and white in every direction. No polar bears today.

The wind has kicked up. The 15 below now feels REAL COLD. All those stories I have been told begin to take on some meaning. Frost forms in my nose when I breathe. Hands without gloves lose all feeling in about 1 minute and 30 seconds (we "tested" this). The wind make tears, but they freeze to my skin as they run down my face. It is imperative that I put on a mask or I feel like I will die. I have been outside for about 7 minutes.

Yikes! We have now had 2 flat tires and the crack in our windshield, from the morning before the start, continues to meander around the glass. The trip in on the Dalton Highway (haul road) was so easy yesterday that we made jokes about all the warnings and hype. Sure locals keep telling us that this is unusually nice weather, but it only takes mother nature to move her pinky and the wind goes to 20 mph and snow begins blowing across the road. Hard. And in drifts. This is "nothing," yet as each car in our caravan trying to leave Prudhoe gets swallowed up in the swirling white crystals, a sense of dread falls over me.

I wanted to experience some "real" Alsaka weather. After 30 miles of only seeing a part of the taillight of the car ahead and not being able to see the shoulder of the road (and god forbid the oncoming big rigs). I am worried. It is getting thicker up there. Our leader says we are now in Phase 1 conditions. I had read the bulletin board at the hotel. It means limited visibility. Phase 2 is real bad weather. Phase 3 you seek shelter and hunker down.

Proud Service Team

The fast ones:
Primitive customers Engstrom,
Lynn and their Impreza

Paul Eklund and Karen Price at the awards banquet. The tux came all 5000 miles