Greetings from Mile Zero... aka Dawson City, BC.  We are now at the start of the Alaska Highway.

 Let me catch you up just a bit as it's been a few days since we've had internet coverage.  Sunday morning we ran the Long Lake TSD out of Whitehorse for a second time (we did much better this time around as it was early Sunday and there was no traffic), then went back to Schwatka Lake for the second Ice Slalom of the event.  April once again was the quickest for our car, so I was able to have some fun... since it hadn't snowed much since we'd run the course a couple of days prior, it was even slicker this time around.

I took it real easy on my first lap, just to see where there might be some traction, and then kicked it up just a half-notch too far on my second lap... the good news is I was able to reverse off the snow bank and was only about 2 seconds slower than my first lap.  The bad news is that the lower front valance is now being held on with the help of a couple of zip-ties.  Sorry Mo, but you told us you were crushing the Outlanders when we return them anyway.  ;-)

 Following the Ice Slalom, we began another long transit down to the Liard River Lodge.  Along the way we had a great day of wildlife spotting, including cariboo, moose, and a huge herd of Buffalo.  Once we arrived at the lodge and had a quick dinner it was off to the natural hot springs across the highway.  There's nothing quite like sitting in a pool of 105 degree water with snow/ice all around under a clear sky with nothing but moonlight above.  Except that is for the whole having to get out and walk back to the lodge part... many thanks to Columbia Sportswear for the toasty warm socks that kept my feet from freezing to the boards again, and for the Titanium snow pants and parka that kept the rest of me warm for the walk back.

Yesterday we drove from Liard to Fort Nelson for a quick TSD around the airport, where we took a total of 3 points.  Then another transit down through Fort St. Nowhere (Fort St. John) and into Taylor for another TSD that we ran perfectly clean getting nothing but zeros!  We then drove into Dawson Creek where we were greeted by Keltie from the Visitors Chamber and given a letter from the mayor and a Mile Zero pin.

Going into the final day, we are solidly second in class and fourth overall.  We only have one TSD today, so I don't expect much to change.  Time to go pack the car and get some breakfast.   Tonight we'll be at the finish in Jasper.

Greetings from Inuvik, North West Territories.

Once we checked into the control tonight, we were handed certificates for crossing the Arctic Circle... I'm still not convinced we really did even though we stopped at the Arctic Circle kiosk and took a bunch of team and sponsor photos.  Afterall the big dotted line that runs across all of the maps was missing... we tried raising the Mounties on the radio to form a search party, but they were all busy watching curling don't ya know.  Besides, the last team they sent out became famous as the Lost Patrol...

Enough silliness... it was an absolutely gorgeous day for the 450+ mile drive from Dawson City to Inuvik.  The Dempster Highway has to be one of the more scenic winter drives in the world.  Other than a few solitary structures, there is no sign of civilization (other than the highway) for 200+ miles between the junction with Hwy 2 and Eagle Plains, located about 25 miles south of the supposed Arctic Circle.  Beyond Eagle Plains it's another 100+ before you get to Fort McPherson.  The whole drive is breathtakingly beautiful with mountains surrounding you, and seemingly endless tundra plains covered with stunted spruce trees.  The sun sets early up here as well, so we were treated to another awesome display of nature as we covered the final few miles into town.

The description of the lodging accomodations we were given last night in Dawson City, didn't quite match up with the reality we discovered once we arrived.  While the Capital Suites is a nice new motel, the rooms only have one bed... luckily I beat Matt at the ice races, so I'm making him sleep on the floor tonight!  Since we have six people on our team, Matt and I have been roomies with Jeff/Gary and April/Marcus pairing up in the other rooms.

The weather here is downright balmy!  It was only 19 degrees F when we arrived in town tonight... we were hoping for some true arctic weather, and we've heard from the locals that we're lucky we weren't here last week as it was way cold, and looking at the forecast it's going to get colder again starting on Sunday. 

Everyone made the trip to town safely, and we're all excited about tackling the ice road to Tuktoyaktuk, which is about 109 miles north of Inuvik, tomorrow.  We'll drive down the boat ramp and out onto the Mackenzie River about 6am tomorrow, so we can be in Tuk by about sunrise. We'll then drive up onto the island and out to the very end of the road and do some more sponsor shots, before hitting the store and gas station and returning to Inuvik for more fuel.  Then it's back out on the Dempster for a run down to Eagle Plains, where we will overnight.

Saturday will be another easy day with no TSDs, just a long drive from Eagle Plains back to Whitehorse, where we can restock ourselves with TimBits.  The rationing is going well so far, but it's tough to stop once you have a couple.

For those of you following along from work, by the time you check back in on Monday I'll be about 1,400 miles southwest of Inuvik in northern BC at the Liard River Lodge, getting ready to start a 400 mile day to Dawson Creek, better known as the official Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway.  Have a great weekend!

Greetings from Dawson City!

Today started with a quick turnaround TSD, where we left the SS Klondike parking lot and ran along Schwatka Lake and up a hill before turning around and running back down the hill past the same 4 control locations. Unfortunately for us, our start time was at the peak of rush hour at 8:24am... from about 8:22 there was a steady stream of traffic going past the parking lot exit and we were unable to get out early. by the time we made the turn down towards the lake we were way late... April did a great job of driving to get us back on time after passing the first control, which we luckily get to drop from our total score as we get to drop our worst score from day 2, 3, or 4. We have in-car video, but I'm not sure we'll post it anywhere for fear of incriminating ourselves... ;-)

Following the TSD, we drove out onto Schwatka Lake for the first ice race of the event. The results of the ice race are tabulated by taking the fastest time and calculating the differential to everyone elses time, and awarding 0.1 points for every 0.1 seconds behind to a max of 5 points. Each team is allowed up to 4 runs, with 2 runs per driver, with the best two runs counting. By the end of the second runs, most of the snow was scrubbed off the ice, leaving the course very slick. April drove the first two runs for Team Mitsubishi Car 24 and I drove the last two with Marcus recording lap times of everyone so we knew what the mark to beat was. Gary Bockman was driver 1 for Car 21, with Matt Tabor as driver 2. It was clear that the third runs would be slower (benefit of being the last car!), so Matt and I were able to go out and just have fun... from Marcus' log, I turned the second fastest time of the third runs while Matt Tabor in the other Team Mitsubishi Outlander spun on the last corner. For my second run I was able to get a bit better start and was setting a pace just a bit quicker than my first run, when the back end of the Outlander came around and I decided the best way to correct this, was to go for style points and do a complete 360 spin in the middle of the course and continue on. Once I was pointed the proper direction again, I set up a beautiful drift through the final hairpin and set a time that was only 10 seconds slower than my first run. Matt had a clean second run, so we split the head to head intra-team competition but my combined two laps were faster than his. We'll see what the rematch brings when we return to Whitehorse in a couple of days. We have in-car video of all four of Car 24s run, which we'll work on getting posted either here or on YouTube, but that may have to wait until we get home.

Following the ice race, it was back to the hotel to load up the car and head north to the home of Jack London, Dawson City. The drive up Highway 2 is another amazing journey... we saw two large bobcats or lynx cross the road in front of us and disappear into the woods, and miles upon miles of stunning moutains and frozen rivers. Again we drove into a stunning sunset, unfortunately to have a great sunset you need clouds which obscured our view of the lunar eclipse. With April and gary driving today, we covered the 530ish kilometres in about 4.5 hours.

Knowing that there are no Tim Horton's north of Whitehorse, we stocked up with the big box of TimBits so we'd have something to snack on until we return. We're rationing them out so we don't run out of them too quickly. Tough to do though as the Honey Dipped TimBits are yummy.

Tomorrow we venture up the Dempster Highway, crossing the Arctic Circle and ending up in Inuvik, NWT. There are no TSD sections for the next few days, just lots of miles driving up to the end of the road in Tuktoyaktuk which is about 110 miles north of Inuvik and only reachable by car in the winter by using one of the many "Ice Roads" of the north.

The scoring crew hasn't arrived yet, so I don't have an update for you. We're about halfway through, and the competition is very tight. Team Mitsubishi is sitting in a very good position to challenge for the overall victory when competitive sections resume in a couple of days.