Who wants to do the Alcan 5000 in Summer 2022?

jeepins said:
Not interested in the race despite it looking awesome but sure got my wheels turning about taking a roadie from Texas to Alaska. So many things to see along the way and would be a hell of a trip.

Just curious, would you guys drive or haul your Jeep up there since you're racing them?
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I'll be driving the Jeep since that's part of the fun (for me at least).
 
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Baltimoreed said:
A guy that I worked with years ago drove the Al-Can hwy after his senior year with his buddy [1970?]. They started their trip in NC. The buddy had a pickup and my coworker bought a camper shell. They stocked up on canned fruit, dinty moore and extra tires. By the time they got to Alaska they were out of fruit, had 1 extra tire, hated beef stew and were about out of money. I don’t remember what city they were in but they went to the college there and students there let them get cleaned up. They used the schools summer job bulletin board and found a job on a hog farm. They worked the summer, saved money and got back home. He told some good stories about his summer adventure.
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There's something magical about that time after highshcool but before having a job/house/kids/etc. Not that you can't anymore, but it's way easier to drop everything during that period. This is what I imagine being retired to be like (retirees, please don't ruin my fantasy).
 
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Now that I’ve had a little more time to check it out: woof — that $3,200 entry fee is hard to swallow.

What about creating a TJ forum ride instead?
 
Jeffreybomb said:
Now that I’ve had a little more time to check it out: woof — that $3,200 entry fee is hard to swallow.

What about creating a TJ forum ride instead?
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I agree that the entry fee is pricey... Even breaking it down doesn't entirely help. I'd imagine there's atleast $1000 in hotel rooms, say $200 in food (they don't specify how many meals)?, the organizers need to be paid for their time, and I'm not sure if there's any permits?

However, if I were to guide a trip like this I couldn't guarantee that the small roads are open or even know which ones to take to form a decent route.

Like I said, I'm planning on making a trip up in late 2020 outside of any event. The only costs are your own. If you'd like to join let me know.
 
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Jeffreybomb said:
Another reason I'd be interested in something like this: it really, really means people have to commit.

I can't tell you how many events I've created or participated in evens in which the group's Facebook page suddenly has a lot of cancellations and excuses the morning of an outing, often resulting in a cancellation of the event. It sucks.

In one frustrating instance, I put together a group outing for SMORR in Missouri. Being that SMORR is a drive from the Chicagoland area, I created a date months in advance. I was happy to see a lot of people were interested and wanted to go. A lot of RSVPs were "yes". I ended up burning three days of vacation time at work to go.

You can imagine how pissed I was when participants began dropping like flies. By the night before, everyone cancelled. It was extremely disappointing and put a huge dent in my interest of organizing future events.

Even if I don't go — though who knows what two years holds — I hope you get a turnout for this event. It looks awesome.
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For the past 2 years me and another guy have gone on a cross country trip to northern CA for an event out there.

Both times we try to get more people to go, both times everyone bails by the time we leave.
I've learned that if someone isn't 100% sure they're going to go 6 months prior, they're not going. I don't invest any time in someone that's a 'maybe' anymore.

I've thought about organizing a small group of people willing/able to travel for events from our area... I know of 3-4 people that will if they can.

There's a small group of us going to EJS next year...
 
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The more I think about it, the more I want to do it. As much as I want to take my LJ, I think my WJ would be the better choice. Just have to find a copilot to commit.
 
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Jeffreybomb said:
This is the kind of stuff I'd love to see more of. Day trips to parks are great and all, but sometimes it's hard to justify dumping money into my beloved TJ to ride the same trails over and over.
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Agreed.
I think destination / wheeling trips are the best use of a jeep vehicle. In the last four years I've done Moab, UT, Ouray, CO, Black Hills, ND, and Drummond Island, MI.

I'd be interested in any group planned trip. However, I usually have to pick my vaction time in November for the following year. Would like to do the Rubicon next year, or at least SW Utah.
 
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If someone want to do a road trip to Alaska, I have connections that would be a good guide for some offroading when you get up there...Just bring lots of DEET...
 
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toximus said:
From the sounds of it, I'm far down on the wait list for Alcan 2022 since past participants get priority and I didn't realize registration had opened a month ago.
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Bummer, I hope you get to go. I’ve done a smaller event like this in the past, sort of a Ironman 4x4 thing but pretty extreme off-roading. It was fun and met lots of cool people.

These days, I don’t like as much structure and time crunch things like this are. I do get having a guide would be nice rather than miss things or get lost, but sometimes getting a little lost is the adventure. Best of luck and I’d love to drive up that way someday as well.

Heading to Moab in 4 weeks! Can’t wait!
 
Update: I'm still on the waiting list. It's sounding possible that I'll be moving up the list around either September if they expand the entry list or January of next year once deposits are due.
 
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I'm on the shortlist! Deposits are due soon so if a few people miss their deposits I'm in which sounds very likely. If there isn't enough cancelations at least I'll have priority for Winter 2024.

Talk about motivation to get my engine swapped! 🥳

Video from 2 years ago:

 
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toximus said:
I'm on the shortlist! Deposits are due soon so if a few people miss their deposits I'm in which sounds very likely. If there isn't enough cancelations at least I'll have priority for Winter 2024.

Talk about motivation to get my engine swapped! 🥳

Video from 2 years ago:

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I hope it works out for you!
 
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IPerkWVU said:
If I ever get shipped up to Kenai for work, this would be on my AK bucket list
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We’ll I did get shipped up here after all back in winter 2020. I plan to make a trip south this summer on the Alcan but will definitely be taking the f150, would be a long drive in the TJ!
 
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NDSpeed said:
It is an amazing drive, having done the AlCan a few times, it is a drive every “Driver” should take.
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I disagree, everyone should stay home and leave it to those of us who won’t drive 40 in the fast lane for mile upon miles… I drove it in the winter because tourists just suck on the road in the summer. -40 is cold enough to keep away the weak.
 
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astjp2 said:
I disagree, everyone should stay home and leave it to those of us who won’t drive 40 in the fast lane for mile upon miles… I drove it in the winter because tourists just suck on the road in the summer. -40 is cold enough to keep away the weak.
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It is a desire to accomplish it in the winter. A big desire
 
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