The Rover-Landers of BC

Hi All,

We learnt a lot of valuable lessons on crossing fast wide deep rivers on Sunday. Not as easy as one would think :shock:

We now have a good idea of what it will take as far as tools and brute-strength to get to the "far side"

Check out the latest photos in the "Canol Ferry Sea Trials" folder in the photo gallery,
Thanks Bill for posting them up.

cheers,
Andy

Interesting... at least I don't see any pics of rovers upside down in a river ;)

I think you guys are starting to understand some of my earlier concerns with the power of moving water.

Hi Craig,
Sounds like we'll only be 3 or 4 days ahead of you guys and given that we plan to back track on our way out, I'm sure our paths will cross. We'll be on CB ch. 4 and 146.460 on the VHF. Post up a few photos of your Rovers. We'll look forward to having a beer around the campfire with you.

Regards,
Pete

Craig are you guys driving up through BC or Alberta? I have a place just outside Hope BC if you needed a lawn to camp on for a night either heading up or down.
Ray

Hi guys and gals,

I have been watching this thread with interest during my sabbatical in Holland, especially all the planning and practice for dealing with water obstacles.

Since it is D-6 and you are about to depart, I want to take this opportunity to wish those taking part good luck and a safe but adventurous journey.

Looking forward to seeing the pictures and hearing the stories.

Hi Guys,

Really wishing I was able to make this trip but instead I will live vicariously through your words and pics this time. Will be watching your progress via the SPOT beacon with great interest.

Now that you're ready to go, pretty much, what is the final roster? Who's running support and who's punching trail?

Thanks for the great thread!!!!

cheers,Bill
Edmonton ALRE

FvanWeelderen wrote:Hi guys and gals,

I have been watching this thread with interest during my sabbatical in Holland, especially all the planning and practice for dealing with water obstacles.

Since it is D-6 and you are about to depart, I want to take this opportunity to wish those taking part good luck and a safe but adventurous journey.

Looking forward to seeing the pictures and hearing the stories.

Thanks for the wishes. Speaking with Pete last night....we just want to get going!!!!!!!!!!! The amount of preparation has been incredible. I think that is all I have done for the last 2 months...at least....at least that's what the wifey is telling me :shock:

Our current Group is;
Pete L. - 110
Kris M. - 110
Shawn D. - 109
Dave F. & son - 109
Norman & Friend - D90
and a Unimog from Alaska - Charlie

...and Corey in his 110...if he can get his old 2.5 installed in time.

We will all be doing the trail as we discarded the "support" idea some time ago as the numbers started to dwindle. We will be posting a website on the thread where you can all watch our progress through a SPOT satellite messenger. We have video camera's, still digital cameras so expect to see lots of pics upon our return.

We will be bringing our "fully loaded" expedition equipped vehicles to Ricky's for the meeting this Wednesday. Come kick some tires and wish us off.

Cheers,

Dave_F

Thanks for the update Dave, sounds like D-Day is almost here!

I still have one more shot at the Lotto on Wednesday, Win Big, quit work and join the expedition (yeh, sad I know :roll: )

It would be great if we can get a few "pings" from the Spot satelitte transmitter before you leave. That way we can confirm that the link works and the "ping" is loud and clear....???
See you at the meeting on Wednesday,

Andy

ANDYD wrote:It would be great if we can get a few "pings" from the Spot satelitte transmitter before you leave. That way we can confirm that the link works and the "ping" is loud and clear....???
See you at the meeting on Wednesday,
Andy

Not to worry the Spot is working just fine as I've seen three pings so far. Unfortunately their all in the same parking lot in Edmonton :lol:

Bon Voyage!!!!!

I tossed my track and waypoint file up in Google Earth format onto my website.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source= ... 09&t=p&z=7

I don't think there is a way to automatically integrate with the SPOT page, but I'll see what I can do...

I have not had success so far joining my track log with the SPOT data, automatically. I can do it manually later on and post an update.

Anyway, the shared page to view the ALRE SPOT location history is: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/face ... 5PnbzcLEMy

This only shows a week of history. I will make up a different page later on to show the whole trip, but those do not auto-update.

Hi All,

The attached link will allow you to watch our progress throughout the trip. A friend of a friend was kind enough to lend me his SPOT and even set up the following web site for you all to enjoy.

Just copy and paste this into your browser.

http://jasonjonas.org/spot/tripViewer.do?id=2443

Cheers,

Dave Fraser

http://www3.telus.net/shade/Rover/Canol%204x.jpg (alt+p)
:s3green: :dormy: :doublecab: :rolly: :rev:

The Canol expedition is on the road!
Just spoke to Pete, they are heading North, just passing Hope!

The first Spot "ping" is showing their stop in Abbortsford at Whatcom Road.

They plan to meet Dave Blair in Cache Creek for a a quick exchange of goods and a photo op for the next newsletter,

stay tuned to the Spot link to track the progress....

cheers,
Andy

I got a satellite ping from Norman and Andy, out of Edmonton too. Looks like they've hold up in Ft St John for the night. When they left there were loaded for bear so they should be in for a good run.

We're all looking forward to watching their progress.

cheers,Bill

Meet up with the group last night in Prince George. Celebrated with a great meal at Earl's and then brought them back to Baldy Hughes for the night.

Everyone was in good spirits and glad to be on the road. They left this morning at 9 and headed to Gerald's for coffee before heading north.

Here are some of the pictures:

http://www.geocities.com/seriesdad/steakanprawns.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/seriesdad/FirstNight.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/seriesdad/goodmorningchris.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/seriesdad/BaldyHughes.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/seriesdad/TheyROff.jpg

I gave them a wave as they left Hope yesterday.

Ah Ha .... thanks Stuart,

That explains the mysterious turn to the South at PG on the Spot tracker!

Looks like they are enjoying more than Trial-rations! Those steaks look really good!

Andy :D

Looks like Norman and Andy have made Watson Lake yesterday and their there again today. I'm assuming that's where the gang is going to meet up before heading off the beaten path :D

Looking forward to watching their progress on the SPOT

cheers,Bill

1:30 this afternoon the guys have arrived at the Ekwi River at the spot that has turned around the motorcycleexplorer.com group, and most others that documented their trips. Hopefully we'll see their spot reports pick up on the other side soon... :wink:

Good luck guys.

Dave

...and they're now showing up on the other side and almost a kilometer further... I love this Spot thing!

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/face ... 5PnbzcLEMy#

Only 4 more crossings of the Ekwi River, boys.

Dave

Hi All,
Just spoke to the group tonight via sat phone. They are in good spirits and still making progress. The main obstacles have been boggy Beaver ponds and pushing through the bushes as there is only a single track hiking trail in most places. They hope to make the Twitya river in the next couple of days. (they haven't needed the raft yet).
No major mechanical problems, all trucks are running strong. Shawn did lose a oil sump plug? They all have extra pin-striping from bush whacking!
Bugs are not at all bad. Weather mainly cloudy but quite dry.
Close to zero at night but no frost yet.
Then I lost the connection.
They are thinking the biggest problem will be the time running out!
cheers,
Andy

Hi All,

Before I suddenly lost my connection with the Canol party I wanted to ask Pete the number of his Sat. phone so I could get some more updates to share on the website.

Any chance anyone out there knows the number of the phone they are using?

If so, please PM or email me [email protected]

cheers,
Andy

We've been watching them daily and posting what info we can from our remote location in a nice comfy chair. We have been posting daily info as best we can but that sat-phone call was Gold!!

If you'd like to read a bit more about it I'm posting as much info as I can manage at: http://www.landroveraddict.com/smf/inde ... c=379781.0

What a tremendous effort and all very exciting too!!!!

cheers,Bill Inch

Thanks Bill for the link and update.

The latest message we have tonight from the group is that time & fuel is almost up and the group will begin their retreat some time tomorrow.

So close to their goal of reaching the Twitya river!

But what a great effort, certainly set a high bench mark for others to follow.

cheers,
Andy