Alexander Mackenzie Trail

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kRiS · #1 Post by **kRiS** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 10:25 am

It's time to start planning our trek to Alexander Mackenzie Trail, one of out longest trips for this year.

This is out third time as a club to visit this remote and beautiful part of BC , for those of you who are not familiar with Alexander Mackenzie trail here's a link to a great description of the trail and it's heritage

http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/ex ... almack.htm

Here's a great write up by Dave which should give you some idea of what the trip is all about :

http://newmedia.typepad.com/landblogger ... befor.html

Although the dates have been set for August 4th to August 15th, this is still in planning stages and were looking for your suggestions and input.
The previous two times it took us a week and a weekend to complete the trip with some time to spare. This year however were planning to head to Bell Colla after the Mackenzie trail and take the ferry to the island .
This is why were planning on two weeks, but it's possible for anyone wanting to do just the Mackenzie trail to head home from Anahim Lake which is where we end up after the trail.

Kris

This is a list of people who are interested in joining us on this trip:

Kris Maksymiuk, Lower Mainland, Land Rover 110
Mark Maksymiuk, Lower Mainland, Land Rover 110
Pete Lembesis, Lower Mainland, Land Rover 110
Phil Armstrong and Debbie, Lower Mainland, Land Rover 90
John Barge and his son, Calgary, 90 - 200TDI
Karl Nylund and Shane Annandale, Lower Mainland, Range Rover
Bill Inch, Edmonton,D110 200tdi pickup
Dave and Pamela Blair, Interior BC, Series IIa 88"
Dave & Pete Tebbutt, Mission/Vernon, Range Rover
Ryan Ulansky, Lower Mainland, Land Rover 110
Greg Pollock & Bob, Lower Mainland, Land Rover 109

StuartL · #2 Post by **StuartL** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 9:18 am

Thanks Kris for championing this great trip.

After being so enthusiastic it looks like other commitments will preclude us this year....enjoy!!! :D

Lovejugs · #3 Post by **Lovejugs** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 6:59 am

hi kris, Dave mentioned this trip a while back while he was over here in Edmonton and it has got a lot of interest from the alberta club.I was wondering if you would not mind 4 or 5 of us joining you.

HeadDamage · #4 Post by **HeadDamage** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 11:55 am

I've been hoping to do this trip but it looks like I might be spending the month of Aug working out east near Moncton NB.

kRiS · #5 Post by **kRiS** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 6:45 pm

No, not at all ,
anyone is welcome to come along,
the more the better !

Kris

Revor · #6 Post by **Revor** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 6:16 pm

Hi guys,

I would like to attend, but likely only the one week version.

Ryan

binch · #7 Post by **binch** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 9:30 pm

:D

Dave Lovelock has been keeping our gang informed on this trip and since Dave Blair came to visit with his slide projector I've been waiting for the invite. I'll be there with Bell's on!!! We'll wait and see who will be in the passenger seat though....

cheers,Bill

DaveB · #8 Post by **DaveB** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:10 pm

Hi Peter,

To answer your questions...

In my opinion, this trip is as close as you're gonna get to a Camel Trophy on north american soil in the 21st century. It may not be as out and out tough, but it is very long and can be quite grueling. My wife and I took our border collie with us last time, and there was one other dog on the trip. Both were exhausted every day from the constant bouncing around, and I don't think we'd bring him along again, although he goes with us on virtually every trip we go on.
Wives, yes, there were almost as many women as men on the 2005 trip. Kids, well you be the judge. One of our club members has brought out his son to virtually every run since he could walk and the kid fits right in. But he hasn't done the AMT, only weekend runs. I think an easy going child that enjoys off-road would see it as a big adventure.
Don't forget you'll also have to be carrying around 4 or 5 jerry cans of fuel and all your supplies for 5-6 days in the bush, so room in your truck is going to be at a premium. Also, in my experience, you don't want to overload your roof and leave the lower level of your truck empty as it will make you top heavy which is very stressful with numerous side-slopes and low hanging fallen trees... last time I had to do exactly that to accommodate our dog, and it resulted in many white knuckled moments...

You can browse our photo gallery here for photos of the 2005 trip.

cheers, Dave

HeadDamage · #9 Post by **HeadDamage** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 11:03 pm

I'm trying to figure out if I can swing the time off... sounds like a great trip.

AxelR · #10 Post by **AxelR** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 11:00 pm

Is this trip a Land Rover exclusive event or would a very well equipped Toyota driver be welcome. If it helps I used to own a landrover. :lol: Well technically it was owned by the company but they let me drive it.

DaveB · #11 Post by **DaveB** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 1:44 pm

As a general rule we don't restrict Rover-Landers trips to Rovers only or to members only, although we'd like you to be both a member and a Rover owner. :lol:

So, if you can put up with the occasional ribbing, we won't have any problem putting up with your non-Rover truck.

cheers, Dave

AxelR · #12 Post by **AxelR** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 4:51 pm

Well fortunately for me I have fairly thick skin. The member part I could probably do but I'm pretty attached to my Toyota. Too much into it now to switch anyway.

Well then I would like to sign up for this trip. It's a ways off but I don't foresee any problem with being able to do the whole 2 weeks. I should be unemployed for the summer.

binch · #13 Post by **binch** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 1:17 pm

Did I hear some mention of video footage from one of your last trips????

cheers,Bill

DaveB · #14 Post by **DaveB** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 9:40 am

Here's a link to the video from our first trip, 2002. It was done by several of us, obvious amateurs, but it gives an idea of what to expect...

http://roverlanders.bc.ca/videos/AMT2002.mov

A caution, it is a big download — 320 MB, so even with high speed expect it to take 20 minutes. You will need to download Quicktime player to view it.

Dave

DaveB · #15 Post by **DaveB** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 9:55 am

For those interested in this trip, some good reading, if you go to your local used book store, is the series of books by Rich Hobson Jr., Grass Beyond the Mountains, Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy & The Rancher Takes a Wife. Some of these stories were also made into a series on CBC about 20 years back. The focus on the stories is almost exactly halfway along the Mackenzie Trail. The hero of the stories, Pan Phillips, still has several children living in the area, and one runs the Pan Phillips Fishing Camp, which we stopped at last time we were through.

cheers, Dave

binch · #16 Post by **binch** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 10:32 am

Hi Dave, Thanks for the link to the movie! Unfortunately I'm having a heck of a time downloading it, even with high speed. I may have to wait until later this evening when the traffic slows a bit.

The TV series "Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy" you mentioned...I used to watch that?!? I got a real kick out of it and enjoyed it a lot. Now this put's a new light on the trip in August too! Thanks!

binch · #17 Post by **binch** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 4:06 pm

Thanks muchly for the vid link dave. Watched it last night and will be taking it to our montly "Gathering" on Wednesday, to share with the guys.

Thanks muchly :D

AxelR · #18 Post by **AxelR** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:12 pm

This was probably mentioned somewhere that I can't recall but how many km does this cover. Just the offroad "no services" portion. Trying to determine how much extra fuel I might need to bring.

kRiS · #19 Post by **kRiS** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 8:19 am

I think it's somewhere in the 400 km range.

We will have a meeting in a month or two to throw some ideas around and come up with a plan.

Kris

Green Giant · #20 Post by **Green Giant** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 8:31 pm

I'm in!!!! The Range Rover WILL be ready!!!!!!!!!!

JD · #21 Post by JD » Sun Mar 16, 2008 10:04 pm

Is it recommended that ALL trucks on this trip have a winch? After reading Dave's account of the last trips ending through the bog...

JD

DaveB · #22 Post by **DaveB** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 8:27 am

While there were a couple of trucks in both of the trips we did without a winch, they did end up quite regularly on the end of someone else's cable. We work as a group through stuff like this, so obviously everyone made it through, but having a winch is going to take the pressure off you depending on someone else's winch, and putting the resultant wear and tear on a piece of equipment that you didn't pay for... If I recall correctly those that didn't have winches before the trip, now most of them do.

I would also like to caution those that think this is just another camping trip to bring the wife, kids and pets along. This is, in my opinion, the closest thing most of us will ever get to a Camel Trophy, and as such isn't really the place for kids, and only for wives and pets if they're really into getting grubby, muddy, sweaty, oh and did I mention muddy? There were several days where we rolled into camp in the dark, spread tents out on wet muddy ground and just fell into our beds. This takes a toll on all parties. We've decided that while our dogs love the outdoors and rovering, it is a bit much for them as well.

So if your wife is game to be your winch monkey, go out into a mud pit this spring and get stuck a half dozen times and have her drag the winch cable, tree strap and shackle out for you. Then see how you feel about going on the Mackenzie Trail — it may sound so, but really, I'm not being facetious.

Dave

JD · #23 Post by JD » Mon Mar 17, 2008 8:40 am

Dave,

You don't sound facetious at all. That was the information I was looking for. Exactly.

JD

exmod90 · #24 Post by **exmod90** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 3:45 pm

Hi Kris , Gerry B here from Prince George . My northern wheeling side kick [ Mike Allan ] and I took the opportunity yesterday to do some exploring . We headed up the Batnuni FSR to the Alexander Mackenzie Trail head ; the snow on trail is still approximately 2 1/2 feet and melting quite nicely as the nights here are warming up [ -2 c ] to + 8 c during the day . Mike Drives a 92 Toyota Forerunner and I was driving my 1996 7000 lb + 3/4 ton Dodge Ram [ with Rover-Lander decal affixed ] . Both vehicles are equipped with double bead lock wheels which enabled us to air down to 6 pounds and 9 pounds respectively . I would imagine my 90 [ with chains ] would have performed equally as well . Off we went . We covered approximately 30kms of the trail effortlessly [ despite the snow depth ] ; did the Titetown river crossing and back and proceeded towards Kluskoil Lake . We plan to do the complete trail over the next 6-8 weeks [ based on availability of free ' being retired ' time ] . To me , the trail/scenery is as beautiful as ever with the geese returning . Lot's of moose , grouse and ' white rabbits ' abound ; NO BUGS ! Great for spring time camping . Not much pine beettle dead fall accross the trail as far as we went ; we will see .

It's amazing to me that a 7000 lb + vehicle aired down to 9 pounds just floats atop the snow in 4x4 low . I will be trying my 90 with chains very shortly for comparison .

Gerry B [ living in Northern Lights country ] :D

Doc Tari · #25 Post by **Doc Tari** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 11:31 pm

Gerry, your info is worth it's weight in gold! Great news, thanks.

Regards,
Pete

The Rover-Landers of BC

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Alexander Mackenzie Trail

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