These are the Chronicles of Famous Surf Writer Ben Marcus and his trip into the Wilds of the Alaskan Frontier.
Latest Update: October 22, 2000

11:33 YUKON TIME ROOM 108, SOME HOTEL, WATSON LAKE, YUKON, CANADA.

Simon says go snow..

To make a long, seven-hour, 200-mile, no-other-cars, glad-I-didn't-crash-or-get-a-flat-tire story short, I survived the Campbell Highway. It was just that, 200 miles, not one other car, not one other human, seven hours of driving on snowy roads, and then a blizzard, not worrying about gas, but thinking about how much fun a flat tire would be, out in the middle of nowhere.

Lots and lots of this.

Not one other car between Ross River and Watson Lake. The road had a few inches of snow on it, but it was gravel, so it wasn't slidey.

Pretty much like this for 200 miles

At one point I stopped at Mink Creek and actually went fishing. Nice hole, but the fish were probably all in Florida.

No fish. I will return.

Later I crossed the Big Campbell River, which was the clearest fresh-water river I'd ever seen. Didn't see any fish, or any other wildlife for that matter. Saw a big snow owl take off from a tree, and saw a lot of big tracks. Don't know if they were moose or bear, but they were big. There is a big population of Cariboo that live in this area, so maybe it was Cariboo.

I drove and drove and drove, through spectacular back-country, with the sun glistening off mountains in the distance. I listened to the Jam, then Weather Report, and the Weather Report was just right: spooky and moody and beautiful.

A flat tire or a breakdown would have been a real drag, but nothing happened except for a few slips and slides.

Nor cars, nor people, nor nothing. Nice.

I did this all at around 30 or 40 MPH. At around 5:30 I drove into a decent snowstorm that was almost a white out. That slowed me down a little, but I pushed on. Every once in a while I would stop and get out and bend an ear to see if I could hear anything. Nothing.

I finally pulled into Watson Lake after dark. It was nice to see streetlights and cars and people again. I had a calzone at the Gateway Restaurant, and watched TV. Long day. Good thing I didn't slide off a cliff.

Now I'm watching Northern Exposure, a show I've always liked. It's about life in a small Alaska town. I like it better now, because it's pretty spot on. This is the one about flinging things.

Making tracks. Moose knuckles?

Outta here now, it's 12:20. Maybe down the Cassiar, maybe the other way.

A drunk in the bar last night said I should go the other way. Should I listen to a drunk?