Very nice trip report & pics, Harold!  I think I can say we all appreciate the time & effort you put into doing the whole shebang.

Thanks,

Mr. BZ-teachers w/ Summer off?

On Feb 15, 2011, at 1:33 PM, Harold Teer wrote:

> If you only want to look at the pictures, scroll to the bottom of the email
> and go to the picture link.
> 
> In the summer of 2005, my wife and I took an incredible 14,000+ mile and 77
> day round trip journey from Harrisonburg, VA to Dawson City, Yukon.  After
> returning home, I posted some trip information to the list but with
> hurricane Katrina hitting our family members hard right after we returned, I
> had my hands full with other matters and never followed through with
> pictures.  Inertia took hold but I have finally taken the time to go through
> the pictures and select ones that I think provide a good overview of the
> portion of the trip in British Columbia and the Yukon.
> 
> A trip of this magnitude would have been pretty scary had it not been for
> the knowledge that had we had problems, there was the entire Vanagon list
> community to call on for help.  While I am not a regular contributor to the
> list, I have religiously read most of the posts since I purchased our van in
> 1996, and have gained a lot of knowledge, ideas, and my fair share of
> paranoid thoughts about the van.
> 
> We were fortunate to have a van that had been properly maintained by the
> previous owner and I have tried to do the same since over the years.  Before
> the trip, the van had a full tune up including new belts, fuel lines, some
> ball joins, and tires.  During the trip, I changed the oil and oil filter
> twice (Mobil 15-50) and every evening or morning, I checked the coolant
> level and the oil level and frequently checked the condition of the belts
> and the hoses and looked for any oil or coolant leaks.  I carried tools that
> were enough for my mechanical ability and an extra distributor cap, rotor,
> plugs, oil filters, belts and a few other parts.  OK, just in case, I also
> carried duct tape, marine epoxy, wire, etc. and am happy/lucky to say that
> we had absolutely no mechanical problems on the trip.
> 
> We made a deliberate decision to avoid as much as possible the interstate
> highways on the way out and West and to not use them until we were in
> Washington State on the way home.  While the exact trip route was not
> planned, we did carry a copy of the book �*Roadtrip USA*� and we made
> decisions as we drove on where to spend each night.  All we knew is that we
> wanted to spend a lot of time in British Columbia.
> 
> From Virginia, we took smaller roads through WV, OH, IN, IL, WI, MN and
> ended up spending some great time along the western shore of Lake Superior
> before taking highway 2 through MN, ND, MT, to Glacier National Park.  After
> a great hike to Iceberg Lake and a night in the van, we hoped to drive the
> Road to the Sun through GNP.  But, it was cold, rained all night, and the
> Road to the Sun was closed because of 8" of snow during the night.  Then we
> headed to the North Cascades NP and to Olympic NP.
> 
> After about 20 nights in the van, we took the ferry from Port Angeles, WA to
> Victoria, BC and spent 3 nights in a hotel in Victoria.  Those were the only
> nights we didn't spend in the van until we had been on the road for about 70
> days and were hurrying home in the US on the interstates.
> 
> Before our trip, Shawn Wright who lives on Vancouver Island, provided a lot
> of advice on things to see and do on the island.  Paul Guzyk's emails, trip
> report and pictures of his travels in British Columbia inspired us --thanks
> again Shawn and Paul!.  Because of their advice and that of numerous helpful
> people along the way, we went to China Beach, Mystic Beach, and Long Beach.
> We rode a working boat out of Port Alberni, a float plane trip out of
> Tofino, and a whale watching boat out of Telegraph cove before we got on a
> ferry from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert and then a ferry up to Skagway.
> 
> Several years before our trip, Paul Guzyk posted pictures of Atlin, BC and
> his pictures enticed me to make the detour (and it is a detour) to Altin,
> BC.  It is one georgeous place.  My wife and I happened to be in town when
> they were having an annual fund raiser tea for a old boat (Tarahne) and my
> wife rented period clothes at a local store/shop/something  and we attended
> a tea on the boat and sat at a table with some fascinating people.  Whether
> on purpose or not, I don't remember, but it also happened that a caravan of
> old restored vehicles from Anchorage were in town that day.  What a
> memorable couple of days.
> 
> After Atlin, we headed north to Dawson City before heading back down to BC
> to Liard River, Fort Nelson, Prince George, and Jasper. We hiked in Mount
> Robson Provincial Park, Jasper National Park, Yoho NP, Kootney NP, Glacier
> and Mt. Revelstock NP.  If you are a hiker, you must hike in the Lake O�Hara
> area of Yoho, NP and Jades Pass in Mt. Revelstock NP --incredibly beautiful
> hikes.
> 
> People along the way couldn't have been more friendly and helpful.  At each
> campsite and on our hikes, people gave us recommendations and we sifted
> through all the advice and made decisions on where to head next.  Frankly,
> we never intended to go into the Yukon, but on the ferry from Port Hardy to
> Prince Rupert where we planned to start our exploration of BC, people on the
> ferry convinced us to take the ferry from Prince Rupert to Skagway and
> continue north to Dawson City.  The ferry ride itself was unbelievably
> beautiful.  In Skagway, AK we bought a copy of �*The Milepost*� which
> provides invaluable information about roads, things along the way, etc. We
> typically spent only one night at a place and that evening or in the
> morning, we would look at "*The Milepost*" and decide where we might stop
> along the next day's drive.  Without the Milepost, we would have "never"
> stopped at places like the fascinating "George Johnston Museum" in Teslin,
> southeast of Whitehourse.
> 
> While we thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Dawson City and the Yukon, there is
> more than enough to do in BC to take up all of your time. We returned to BC
> in the summer of 2008 and if our plans don�t change, we will go to Alberta
> and BC in the summer of 2011.
> 
> We camped mostly in State Parks, National Parks, and Provincial parks and we
> never made a reservation.    In the most popular parks, the trick is to get
> there early in the day, however we only found about 3 that were really
> crowded and most of the Provincial parks were surprisingly empty.  In only a
> few cases, we stayed at commercial campgrounds--in Dawson City and at Watson
> Lake we stayed at ones that provided wireless Internet service so we could
> send email and check on family members.
> 
> I can't imagine having nearly as much fun and freedom in any other type of
> vehicle.
> 
> I have posted more than enough pictures to bore even the most energetic
> person.  There was just so much to see that I didn�t know where to quit
> posting.  I wish I were a photographer instead of a "point & shoot" guy with
> a "point & shoot" camera so I could do the beauty of BC and the Yukon
> justice.
> 
> Link to Pictures:  "
> https://picasaweb.google.com/teerhb/BritishColumbiaAndYukonTripIn2005?feat=directlink
> "
> 
> Ask if you have questions.
> 
> Harold and Faye
> ___
> Harold Teer
> 1991 Westy (Vangaux)
> Harrisonburg, VA