2019 Northern Adventure

[bchunter181]

wow amazing pictures sounds like an amazing trip. Birch island eh! I go through there everyday for work.sorry for all the noise haha!

[KBC]

Amazing pics, makes me want to learn how to use a camera more gooder. We did a 4 week trip last July from Mission to Alaska and back and although there are some great pics, they don't do it justice. We were a little less off the beaten path with my 7 yr old son and 1.5 yr old daughter and a trailer but I hope we do the trip again a little more rugged when they are older.

Just re-read my last line and I need to make a correction. I've seen it in this thread already about just doing it and that's it. Don't "hope you do it", do it. We always talked and dreamed about an Alaska road trip but that was always a few years away. Things came up and we decided to stop putting the good stuff off. Do it.

Anyways, thanks for the amazing pictures. Now I need to balance my time figuring out archery and photography hahaha.

[KBC]

One thing I forgot to ad, we bought a new truck for the trip. My last rig was an '01 Xterra, lifted with over 300K. I love and miss it but I can't imagine what you spent on gas for this trip.

[twoSevenO]

One thing I forgot to ad, we bought a new truck for the trip. My last rig was an '01 Xterra, lifted with over 300K. I love and miss it but I can't imagine what you spent on gas for this trip.

10,000km @ 15L/100km = 1500L

If he got 17L being fully loaded ... I doubt the xterra would burn more than 17 .... then 1700L.

Call it $1.35/L and probably somewhere between $2000-$2300

We want to do it one year as well, but I would never convince my girls to do 3 weeks in a tent there and back.

[Husky7mm]

Wow!!! That is really stunning, time well spent, thanks for sharing.

[RICKADY]

Thanks for sharing
great looking place and family

[dana]

One thing I forgot to ad, we bought a new truck for the trip. My last rig was an '01 Xterra, lifted with over 300K. I love and miss it but I can't imagine what you spent on gas for this trip.

What I spent in gas I saved by sleeping in a tent. Learned some tricks from the first time. One was to buy the cheapest gas when you see it and use the jerry cans often. 4 jerry cans does weigh ya down and burns more fuel but the cost savings when you drive by those out of the way gas stations that have high prices is money in the bank. Most travelers I talked to thought I was crazy having 4 cans on the roof but then they would complain about the high prices. Because I was focused on wildlife and wildlife photography, I did a lot of back and forth trying to spot critters. The jerry cans allowed me to not worry about driving too far and not having enough to make it to the next fuel up. When I planned the trip last winter I estimated the kms and how many tanks and average price per tank so I could save enough in our travel budget. Amazingly, I was only over budget by $25 after 3 weeks. But I had it planned to the tea and knew where I would be when and how much added back and forths I would have. Another huge cost savings was we treated the trip like a backpack hunt. All the meals were planned and all the food was bought ahead of time. We only ate out a few times the entire trip. Every meal was packed in indvidual baggies with very little need to buy anything extra on the way. We only camped in the same campsite twice over the entire 3 weeks. That is a ton of set up and take down. And everything had to be packed just right to fit on the top or on the back of the xterra. We heard a ton of comments like 'You sure pack alot of stuff' and it always made me laugh as it normally came from people in large RVs. Hahaha.

[dana]

I've seen it in this thread already about just doing it and that's it. Don't "hope you do it", do it. We always talked and dreamed about an Alaska road trip but that was always a few years away. Things came up and we decided to stop putting the good stuff off. Do it.

Anyways, thanks for the amazing pictures. Now I need to balance my time figuring out archery and photography hahaha.

Exactly my philosophy. We are not getting any younger. There are no guarentees in life. If you want to do something then just get off your butt and do it. I think in this day and age it is so easy to fall into the trap of waiting for better days. But health is not a given. Waiting till retirement might be too late. I saw sooo many people on this trip Living their Dream. Be it on motorcycles, 4x4s, or RVs. All had reached that point of 'Life is too short. Just Do It!' It was very encouraging so see. I talked to many who had come way farther than I had. Some, even in little cars. I met travelers from as far off as Florida, California, Ontario and Europe. Some shiped their 4x4s over from Europe and landed in Halifax to then drive across Canada and then up to the Arctic Ocean. Was very cool to see people just out 'Doing It!'

[dana]

As for photography expense, I still shoot a relatively cheap camera compared to some real photographers I know. I am currently shooting a Nikon Coolpix P900 which is a bridge camera with a crazy large optical zoom. I don't have a fancy set up with a ton of lenses. It is a all-in-one point and shoot camera. The 83x optical zoom is equivant to 24-2000mm so it has a great reach out and touch when it comes to wildlife. It is actually more powerful than my spotter. I came home with more than 8000 photos as I shoot rpid fire on wildlife which snaps 7 photos at a time. One thing I was lacking was I should had got a phonescope adaptor for my phone and spotter which would have came in handy for long distance videoing as the video quality of the p900 is less than a good iphone.

[Ride Red]

Exactly my philosophy. We are not getting any younger. There are no guarentees in life. If you want to do something then just get off your butt and do it. I think in this day and age it is so easy to fall into the trap of waiting for better days. But health is not a given. Waiting till retirement might be too late. I saw sooo many people on this trip Living their Dream. Be it on motorcycles, 4x4s, or RVs. All had reached that point of 'Life is too short. Just Do It!' It was very encouraging so see. I talked to many who had come way farther than I had. Some, even in little cars. I met travelers from as far off as Florida, California, Ontario and Europe. Some shiped their 4x4s over from Europe and landed in Halifax to then drive across Canada and then up to the Arctic Ocean. Was very cool to see people just out 'Doing It!'

Exactly. Our last trip we met a couple from Ireland and we sat to have a drink in Dawson City watching the sun drop at 11:30 pm. They’d come over the last few years for 6 weeks at a time to tour the country. Incredible who you meet from all over the world who are just like us. Those are our most prized trips. Already planning and can’t wait to go again.