Alaska
Back to Trail Reports Main Page

ROCKCRAWLER
Back to the Features Page

Story by Ben "King-B" McCumby


Wheeling in the Last Frontier
Anchorage, Alaska

The Rigs:

  • King-B: '88 Jeep (MJ) Comanche (mostly able)
  • J-Boy: '86 S-10 Blazer (almost able)
  • Rodger Dodger: '90 Jeep (XJ) Cherokee (bone stock)


Alaska
This is the place we were trying to ultimately get to, but a new, larger river channel cut through and hindered our progress.

The trail head was about a 2-3 mile excursion down a roadway composed of rock, some light mud-holes, and multi-thousand year old glacial silt that twisted and turned it's way down to the river bed. At the end of the entrance trail, we were awestruck at the vastness of the river valley. Thousands upon thousands of square miles ( most of it completely accessable) of dry river bed, minor hills, river crossings, mud holes, water holes, and trailheads that lead to the surrounding mountains, and near the Knik Glacier.

Alaska
Our 1st water hazard of the day, solid bottom but a little deep.

Alaska
The lead dog gets the braggin' rights to "1st stuck of the day." Here, RD stands on the Glacial quicksand with no problems. But for the 4600 lb. truck it was a different story.

Alaska
I swear somebody swapped off my 31's for a smaller tire while I was snoozing!

Alaska
After some shovels and elbow grease I was able to back right out.

We came across what seemed to be an impassable flood area. Judging by the other areas we had crossed earlier, we were afraid of the typical murky bottom associated with such flooded areas. So, on went the hip boots (a wonderful accessory in the Alaskan backwoods. We acquired an old broken stick to measure depth and to measure bottom. To our surprise, the bottom was a firm gravel/rocky type. On the down side, the water was almost over my boots before I could get halfway across. This may have spelled trouble for RD in his stock Cherokee. We decided to chance it since J and I knew we could easily make it. We tied on the tow strap to RD's rig just in case he did not make it. RD is the most inexperienced of our group and seemed to like to plow through every obstacle at Warp 9.9, even with coaching from the last stream crossing. Well with luck we all made it through unscathed and it was onto the mountains. We reached the base and decided to try to go further after setting up camp.

Now at this time I did not have the nifty use of a GPS unit to tell how high that we got on the mountain trail. Well...if you want to call it a trail. We set off for the mountainside, via a goat trail, complete with paint scratching, mirror breaking shrubbery on both sides. We traveled back and forth, sometimes making our own path through the tight turns. We reached about 5-600 feet up, I would imagine, when we realized that loss of paint was too much to yield. After all, I can't afford a new paint job and the hardware store is out of my favorite can of Krylon ™. Of course, living in our democratic society it seems I am always voted in as lead dog. Naturally, I am the one clearing path and receiving the most harm. So we decide to call it a night and start fresh in the morning to attempt a different assault to another Glacier site.

Alaska
Here the King shows just what Bigger tire dia. and a 4" lift does when compared to the stock XJ. I've still got a good 6" of clearance till my frame would scrape.

Alaska
Yes, we were plagued by water crossing on this trip, mostly caused by the excessive snowfall from the winter. We ran into lots of mud and runoff flooded areas.

Alaska
At the end of the day's wheeling, I snapped this pic for all you "lower 48'ers" This is an Alaskan sunset at around 1:30 am. ( NO JOKE) In the land of the Midnight Sun you can wheel all day and all night if you wish. Sleep when you're tired, eat when hungry, and wheel wheel wheel, 'cause it's almost never dark.

We begin our journey by contacting family and friends listed above from the Greater Anchorage area. We assembled early so that we could begin our day with great enthusiasm. The site of exploration was about a 20-30 mile drive from Anchorage. It was the middle of May and the temperature was around 60 degrees F. After a quick stop at the local fill-up station to top off the tanks and the reserves, we grabbed the necessities ( Twinkies, Ho-Ho's and other miscellaneous non-perishable items) and were on the road.

Alaska
The lineup of our safari. From left: Roger Dodger's '91 stock XJ, KingB's '88 Comanche MJ, and J-boy's '86 S-10.

To access the prime dry bed "Glacial sand" mini-dunes you must be prepared for some minor water crossingr or you may follow the extinct bed lines to the base of the mountain trailheads. Whatever your pleasure, you will be sure to find something that you like as far as wheeling goes. With the exception of major major pucker factor rockcrawling, I find this area to be appealing to all I have invited along.

We began our day by trying to make it across the basin ( about 2-3 miles in my best judgment) which would enable us to possibly reach a small glacier foot after first making a small stream crossing. After crossing we aired down for some play in the mini-dunes. We hit a snag about halfway across the basin. I was lead dog with the old trusty MJ and by far the most able and agile rig of our small group. We were tooling along aimlessly when all of the sudden ……Shlloooop! I was immediately sucked under and buried to the axle housings in some Arctic Glacial quicksand. Now I must stop and explain for all you non-Alaskans to understand this concept fully. The sand looks like hard packed moist sand. In fact the average Joe-Schmo 6'2", 200 lb. individual can walk on it with little or no trouble at all. This is partly what we had been running on the whole time. Only difference is that you stop abruptly, not by choice. When in a 4500 lb. 4x4, you immediately think to oneself " Uh-oh" or some other appropriate word that one prefers in the instance of the "immediately buried" occasion. You may be saying to yourself at this point..."Well Mr. King - B, you must be an idiot for breaking rule #1 of off-roading. Which is? TO KNOW YOUR TERRAIN B E F O R E ……..YOU DRIVE IT !" Honestly, you can not tell you are in trouble until you are at a dead stop, having plowed into the sticky, gooey, suction-cup like substance.

So, we broke out the trusty shovels and tow straps. After about 20 minutes of digging I was able to back right out of the goo with only a small human push from my two colleagues. OK, back on track. We staked out the area further, hiking almost half a mile. Unable to find a safer route of passage to the other side of the river basin, we gave up and headed back towards the mountain trailheads.

Alaska
J-boy makes it through the 2nd water hazard no problem and right up a little bank.

Alaska
Whoops! A bit too much on the throttle. No worries and no broken parts...that time

Alaska
RD swoops through the small water crossing...

Alaska
...only to high center himself in the middle of his frame. A few pushes from the J-ster backed him off.

Alaska
After some shovels and elbow grease I was able to back right out.

Alaska
King makes his way through the Flooded trail.



Day 2





©1997-2010 ROCKCRAWLER 4x4 and Off-Road Magazine. All Rights Reserved.