Three snowmachiners who reside in the Lower 48 have completed a long backcountry trek starting from Minnesota up to Alaska. They’re referred to as the 3 Old Guys aged 70 years old Rex Hibbert of Idaho and 72-year-old Paul Dick and 65-year-old Rob Hallstrom Both hail from Minnesota.
Hallstrom says that the three friends have done a lot of snowmachine long distance races and ridden over the years and were in search of an exciting new challenge.
“When the idea of adventures comes to mind, Alaska appears, naturally,” Hallstrom said. “I started looking through an outline map and thought about connecting old trails, rivers and lakes, and then we thought about ways in which we might be able to achieve it.”
The team took off on March 6, for the journey of 4,500 miles. Hallstrom states that the first a thousand miles were in trails. However, that changed when they arrived when they arrived in Flin Flon, Manitoba, where the next section followed an abandoned cat track for a long time that required bushwhacking.
“Cutting down willows and trees -We had a struggle to get through some of those sections,” he said.
Following that, Hallstrom states that she rode them across Lake Athabasca, down the Slave River, across Great Slave Lake and along to the McKenzie River to Inuvik, and then up to Ft. McPherson, and through the Richardson Mountains to Old Crow.
“At Old Crow, we rode through to the Porcupine River,” he declared. “About 350 miles of river travel, where there was no one else, so this was the only trail we broke.”
In the course of their five-week journey, Hallstrom says they drove on a variety of roads.
“Broken Ice, slush, stones the size of grapefruits, deep powder snow road gravel,” the man said.
They also got stuck a couple of times.
“Our record was three snowmobiles as well as sleighs that were stuck in slush at the same at a time” He said.
There were some breakdowns, which included several issues this week that caused them to stop their journey a bit early on the Steese Highway.
“We did not ride to Fairbanks,” he said. “But our intention was to go to Alaska So we think that it was successful.”
Hallstrom claims that her trip was a highlight because of the amazing country.
“No day was the same as the previous day,” he said. “I I mean, at every time I went to the river there was something to be discovered which was both enjoyable and difficult.”
And Hallstrom stated that they had encountered a number of wonderful people who assisted them along the route.
“We would go to the small community and they would inform us”Well, you’re coming to this place, and they’ve got dinner waiting for you. It’s possible to bring your machines there and start working on your machines. This man has a shop.'” Hallstrom said. “They will have everything laid out for us, and they would will do whatever they can to assist us. This was the best part of the journey so much easier.”
A bit sore and much less swollen, Hallstrom says the 3 Old Guys are all set to go to their homes and relax and recover, but he believes that within a couple of weeks, they’ll be thinking about another adventure.
