Charlie Shugart Offline Upload & Sell: Off
|
Back when the Canadian section of the Alcan was dirt and gravel- rainy days gave us sleepless nights.
"Us" means those of us who drove (and narrated) these Greyhound-built buses- filled with tourists- between Whitehorse and either Fairbanks or Anchorage. Two-day tours. Six days a week for 4 months.
I did this five summers. It was the scariest job- and one of the best times I ever had.
Rains gave us eight inches of the slipperiest mud in the world (glacial silt).
The Alcan was 18-feet wide- with no shoulders and had a high crown.
The buses were 8-feet wide plus mirrors.
Passing long-haul trucks coming at you were 8-10 feet wide, and it was a real game of chicken. If you got too close to the edge, your rear wheels would slide off the road and take you into the muskeg. But if you didn't get close enough, you risked being hit by a 26-wheeler (In Canada, the 18-wheelers had 26 wheels ).
We bus drivers called it "Pucker Tours," and I don't mean puckering your mouth.
First image:The beauties of our lodge in Beaver Creek- half-way between Whitehorse and Fairbanks.
Second image: A tiny sample of life on the muddy Alcan- 300 miles per day in the mud, every other day. Four months a year for five years.
What fun.
Alcan Highway at our Yukon Lodge
Alcan Highway at our Yukon Lodge
|