By Jessica Edwards
Six road-weary travelers crossed the border at Dalton Cache March 24,
took a look at the river, and pulled into the 33 Mile Roadhouse.
The scene would be a common one except the travelers crossed the border
aboard identical Skidoo Scandix 600 snowmachines outfitted for long-distance backcountry
travel.
Anchorage architect Mark Pfeffer, one of the six men on the trip, said
they wanted to ride all the way into Haines on the river, but spring thaw had already set
in.
He said the group was able to hitch to town in time to persuade staff
at the Lighthouse Restaurant to stay open long enough for steaks and cocktails to
celebrate the end of their 1,100-mile trip.
Members of the group came from all walks of life – an architect, a
banker, a roofer, a pump supplier, an auto mechanic, and an oilfield worker. The Fairbanks
to Haines ride was the group’s fourth long-distance snow machine ride.
Doug Longacre, a banker for 30 years at Alaska’s First National
Bank in Anchorage, had visited Haines many times over the years, but never by snowmachine.
He was impressed by the stretch over Chilkat Pass. "I couldn’t believe how
beautiful it was."
The sled trip began March 14, and their route generally followed the
Yukon Quest dog sled race route as far as Carmacks, Yukon Territory, where the men broke
off toward Haines Junction and Haines.
Pfeffer said the route consisted mostly of backcountry trails,
including those recently cut by mushers on the frozen Yukon River. "It was very rough
in spots. It was like running on giant Dorito chips."
But freshly plowed roads along the trail created an even greater
challenge. "One thing that kind of surprised us was that with gold prices so high,
they were opening up mining roads early and had plowed the roads," Pfeffer said.
"It was really hard on the skis."
Running on gravelly roads between Eagle and Dawson wore down the
"skags" on the bottom of the skis, the mechanism that allows the sled to turn
easily. The group spent an extra day in Dawson replacing them. "We had to use a lot
of body weight to turn the machines," he said. "That was a sore night."
The riders brought tents but carefully planned their route around gas
stops, lodging and food and generally slept indoors. They covered between 74 and 164 miles
per day, getting about 11 miles to the gallon.
One sled carried 45 gallons of gas. Another pulled a toboggan loaded
with the tents, sleeping bags, food, machine parts, tools, SAT phones, headlamps,
clothing, and cook stoves. "We’ve developed a checklist over the years,"
Pfeffer said. They used identical sleds to simplify repairs.
Longacre said the appeal of long snowmachine trips is seeing and
experiencing his vast home state. "Besides the beautiful scenery, you get caught up
in the history a little bit."
Longacre’s grandfather came to Dawson in 1900 at the tail end of
the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush, and he’d heard stories about places like Fortymile and
Eagle.
Gold rush history struck him at nearly every turn. At Chena Hot
Springs, Circle City, a historic gold dredge on the Yukon, in Eagle and in Dawson,
Longacre saw the link to gold and gold rush history in the present. "All that gold is
what kept them on the map…It’s interesting to think about folks in the early
1900s using various means of transportation. It’s pretty amazing what those folks
did."
The group, which also included Pat Reilly, Steve Deptula, Ellis Smith,
Gary Eolf, is considering a Fairbanks to Bethel trip next year.
