Ok, David Schwarze put together the GNATT earlier this summer, so I'll 
propose a trip for the summer of 1996 for all you folks!  David's GNATT 
took him through the western US as far as the Mississippi River.  
Christa and I are planning an adventure that will take us a little 
farther afield.

WHAT:	  Vanagon@lenti Top of the World Tour 1996
WHEN:	  August 1996
WHERE:	  To Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada (near the Arctic Ocean)
	  This is the farthest north one can drive in North America.  
	  There are no public roads in the Western Hemisphere that will 
          take you higher.  Oh, sure, there are ice roads in winter that 
          will take you a few miles north of Inuvik, but we'd need a few gas 
          heaters per bus to deal with 57 days of darkness and temps 
          down to -50 C (-60 F)!
WHY:	  You tell me. 
DURATION: 14 - 17 days return from Vancouver, B.C., Canada
WHO:	  Tobin Copley & Christa Ovenell
	  Martha and Sarah Rubin
	  Bradley Prunehead?
	  David Schwarze????
	  Joel Walker?  (C'mon, you told me yourself how you've always 
	 		 wanted to do this...)
	  Absolutely anyone and everyone else who wants to join in!  

I've tried to plan the trip based on a 4-week holiday, and have tried to 
keep the driving time/day down to sane levels, and have planned in a few 
non-driving days to allow for relaxation, repairs, etc.  I think we can 
learn an important lesson from the Schwarzemeister's GNATT experience: 
too much driving in too little time can make a tour more wearing than 
necessary.

The main staging area for the trip will be my place in Vancouver, B.C.  
Vancouver is located about 2 1/2 hours north of Seattle, WA, so is easily 
accessible by interstate highway from anywhere in the US.  Canadians may 
want to join up with the tour in Vancouver, in Prince George, B.C., or in 
Watson Lake, Yukon Territory, depending on your location and time frame.

Vancouver is one day's drive from Missoula, MT, and the California 
border, and is 20 hours driving time from the Bay Area.  Realistically, 
Vancouver is a little over two days from San Diego, and almost 4 days 
from Chicago on interstate highways.

Once we leave Vancouver, the pace will be slower, and we will have time 
to enjoy the sights and smell the flowers.  I think we should plan to 
stay in (free!) Forest Service campsites wherever possible.  These sites 
are typically located on alpine lakes, next to waterfalls, or next to 
rivers or alpine streams.  They are often several miles off the main 
road, accessible by dirt logging road.  Off-road vehicle modifications 
should not be necessary, although anyone with a front air dam may want to 
remove it before starting the trip.

While we should plan to be as self-sufficient as possible (including 
shower/bathing equipment), we will stop every few days somewhere where 
Martha can have a hot shower.  :)

Most of the route is paved, and apparently even fairly large RVs are 
making the trip to Inuvik these days, so this is not Baja off-road type 
stuff.  

This is some of the most beautiful, desolate, and remote country you 
could ever expect to drive to.  The Northern Lights should be 
spectacular.  There will be about 18 - 19 hours of daylight per day, and 
temperatures will likely be between 55 and 75 degrees F in Inuvik, and 
may be substantially warmer in Northern B.C and the Southern Yukon.  
August is typically a dry month in the Far North.  Bugs will be a 
problem, but will not be neary as bad as in late May - July.  I would 
hope we could take the short bush plane flight from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk 
on the Beaufort Sea for day trip.  Cost for the one day flight to Tuk is 
$95.00 CDN per person.

Summary of the planned route and mileage (distances in km):

Vancouver to Prince George		738 km (via Whistler, Lillooet)
  Hwy 16 W to Hwy 37 nr. New Hazelton  	482
  Hwy 37 N to Watson Lake, Yukon	756  (approx 120 km unpaved)
  Hwy 4 NW to Carmacks, Yukon		588  (approx 550 km unpaved)
  Hwy 2 N to Dawson City, Yukon		357
  Hwy 5 N to Inuvik, NWT		777  (Dempster Hwy: all unpaved)

Return:
  Hwy 5 to Dawson City, Yukon		777  (  "  )
  To Beaver Creek, Yukon 		970  (via Tetlin Jct AK 479km unpaved)
  Hwy 1 E to Whitehorse, Yukon		457  (Alaska Hwy)
  Hwy 1 E to Watson Lake, Yukon		454  ( " )
  Hwy 97 S to Fort Nelson, BC		525  ( " )
  Hwy 97 S to Prince George, BC		815
  Hwy 97 S to Vancouver, BC		738

TOTAL:	     			       8424 km / 5235 mi from Vancouver
		      Unpaved distance 2703 km / 1676 mi

If this trip interests you at all, why not call these numbers for some 
very nice information packages.  Tell the nice people what the planned 
route through their area is, and they'll fix you up.

Tourism BC: (800) 663-6000
Tourism Yukon: (403) 667-2915
Heritage Canada, Yukon: (403) 667-3970
Tourism NWT: (800) 661-0788

Christa and I, and Martha and Sarah, are definitely going to do this next 
summer, and we're all pretty stoked about it.  We'd love to get some more 
vanagon@lenti folks in on this, so speak up!  I figure a year is long 
enough notice to arrange whatever vacation time/quitting the job time is 
necessary.  ;)

Northward ho!

Tobin

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tobin T. Copley                  Currently              =============  
(604) 689-2660                    Occupationally       /_| |__||__| :| putta
tobin@freenet.vancouver.bc.ca      Challenged!        O|             | putta
                                                       '-()-------()-' 
Circum-continental USA, Mexico, Canada 15,000 miles... '76 VW Camper! (Mango)