Daily 1998 event reports and scoring updates
DAY 1, August 29
 Perfect autumn weather welcomed the 1998 Alcan 5000 Rally entrants and workers to British Columbia on Saturday.  Even the Customs Officers were in a welcome mode, exhibiting more interest than suspicion when the vehicles entered, emblazoned with rally decals, sponsor stickers, communications antennas, and enough auxiliary lighting to illuminate a night football game.
 Day 1 began, as usual, in Kirkland, Washington.  After a backroad TSD in Snohomish County, the rally crossed into British Columbia at Sumas, and motored up the always spectacular Fraser River Canyon.  Five hundred + miles after the start, the merry band arrived in Quesnel, after another TSD in the Soda Creek area west of Williams Lake.
 Day 2 will include Prince George, Smithers, the ‘Ksan Indian Village, and infamous Hyder, Alaska.  From Hyder, the Rally backtracks to Prince Rupert and the ferry to Skagway.
 Results at the end of day 1: Quesnel, BC
   Vehicle            Team        Score     Place
BMW 325ix        Kammer/Adams       10        1
Chev Blazer      Jones/Deno         17        2
Subaru SUS       Lowry/Johnson/     35        3
                   FitzGerald
Subaru Impreza   Cramer/Gowdy       19        4
Jeep Cherokee    Boyce/Dolan       153        5
Saab 900         Johnson/Gregory/  178        6
                   Johansen
Audi Quattro     Breazeale 2      Touring class
Subaru Legacy    Schneider 2      Touring class

DAY 2, August 30
 An 8 AM start for the 1998 Alcan Rally adventurers led immediately to the first TSD, a 22-mile run through the backroads north of Quesnel.  An assortment of one-lane bridges and a few dozen blind curves kept the rally drivers and navigators alert, more than making up for the second cup of wake-up. No time for that with 500 miles to go.
 Back on pavement we were again impressed by the quality of British Columbia highways.  Considering the short summer season available to the roadbuilders and road maintenance crew, BC roads are amazing. And then there is the scenery.  North on Highway 97 and then west on 16, the lakes, forests, and mountains produce visual delights, each turn of the highway more impressive than the last.
 Our first "bear jam" (traffic blockage) was just southeast of Smithers, where we watched a large black bear feeding and three cubs playing in a golden field of grass.  Then down the mighty Bulkley River, on to Hazelton, and the 'Ksan Indian Village.  There was time for brief tour and some photographs of the totems before we embarked on the final TSD, 48 miles of twisty BC logging roads, plus another 12 miles back out to the paved surface of the Cassiar Highway.
 Soon after the left turn off the Cassiar  to Stewart, BC and just across the border Hyder, Alaska,  the rally runners had more bear sightings, some of them right at the roadside. Tired, but wired, from an exciting day, we descended on the Sealaska Inn, for bed, board, and an explanation of "Hyderized."
DAY 3, August 31
The luxury of a 9am start was appreciated by all, and teams left Hyder on a TSD past Bear Glacier (including a brief photo stop).  From here the rally returned south then west to the beautiful port city of Prince Rupert.  Teams had time for shopping and dinner in town, then boarded the Alaska Marine Highway system's MS Matanuska about 9pm for a 34-hour trip north.
 Results at the end of day 3: Prince Rupert, BC
   Vehicle            Team        Score     Place
BMW 325ix        Kammer/Adams       30        1
Chev Blazer      Jones/Deno         45        2
Subaru SUS       Lowry/Johnson/    151        3
                   FitzGerald
Jeep Cherokee    Boyce/Dolan       345        4
Saab 900         Johnson/Gregory/  377        5
                   Johansen
Subaru Impreza   Cramer/Gowdy      403        6
Audi Quattro     Breazeale 2        Touring class
Subaru Legacy    Schneider 2        Touring class
DAY 4, September 1
Day 4 was an "off" day for rest and relaxation, while the Inside Passage rolled by.  Highlights included port time in Wrangel and Petersberg, 21 miles of "up close" scenery in the Wrangel narrows, Forest Ranger presentations, and of course a showing of Isuzu's film from the Alcan Winter Rally.  (Most of the 1998 Alcan entry field are first-timers, and look at this as a good warmup for the 2000 Alcan Winter Rally...) 
DAY 5, September 2
At 6:45 AM teams exited the Alaska ferry Matanuska for downtown Skagway.  After a brief stop for breakfast and shopping, we departed in a steady rain up the Klondike Highway for Whitehorse.  The agenda in Whitehorse included a tough TSD, a visit to the SS Klondike, lunch, and radio interviews for CBC Yukon....
From there teams finally departed to drive the remaining 330 miles North to Dawson Creek.  Highlights of that trip included numerous wildlife sightings (check out the lynx photo on Jeff Gowdy's web site!) the remains of a very recent wildfire, and some killer fall scenery with miles and miles of leaves in every shade.  Mechanical gremlins struck the Saab 900 team, who spent the day in Skagway for repairs and will rejoin the event Thursday in Dawson City.
 Results at the end of day 5: Dawson City, Yukon
   Vehicle            Team        Score     Place
BMW 325ix        Kammer/Adams       34        1
Chev Blazer      Jones/Deno         52        2
Subaru SUS       Lowry/Johnson/    156        3
                   FitzGerald
Jeep Cherokee    Boyce/Dolan       429        4
Subaru Impreza   Cramer/Gowdy      603        5
Saab 900         Johnson/Gregory/  777        6
                   Johansen
Audi Quattro     Breazeale 2         Touring class
Subaru Legacy    Schneider 2         Touring class

DAY 6, September 3
Teams had a variety of options for this day in the northern Yukon.  Many choose the 560-mile round trip up the Dempster Highway to the Arctic Circle crossing (including Ker Boyce, who has done 2 Navy tours of duty in Antarctica...).  Others choose air charters and boat rides, while all entries participated in the Magellan Challenge: For the separate prize of a new Magellan "ColorTrack" GPS unit, teams were given a list of 18 GPS locations and/or physical landmarks to find and identify. (Magellan has also furnished loaner unit to each team for use during the Alcan event).  The missing Saab team also arrived in Dawson in the late afternoon, after spending 24 hours in Skagway waiting for fuel injection parts and repair. 
DAY 7, September 4
Teams were on the road at 7:30 AM in Dawson City to begin a 611 mile day of driving.  The first section was a TSD up to "Midnight Dome" and back down, with a long pause at the top for a group photo.  From there the day's agenda included a 330 mile transit to Whitehorse, another TSD, and finally back on the Alaska Highway for the start of a 2-day drive down to "Mile 0" in Dawson Creek.  Wildlife sightings were again frequent, including caribou, fox, and wolf...
 Results to the end of day 7: Watson Lake, Yukon
   Vehicle            Team        Score     Place
BMW 325ix        Kammer/Adams       46        1
Chev Blazer      Jones/Deno         64        2
Subaru SUS       Lowry/Johnson/    229        3
                   FitzGerald
Jeep Cherokee    Boyce/Dolan       607        4
Subaru Impreza   Cramer/Gowdy      764        5
Saab 900         Johnson/Gregory/  972        6
                   Johansen
Audi Quattro     Breazeale 2         Touring class
Subaru Legacy    Schneider 2         Touring class

DAY 8, September 5
"If it's Saturday this must be the Alaska Highway"
This was the longest driving day of the 1998 Alcan, at over 14 hours.  Today's 643 mile route included the highest and steepest sectons of the Alaska Highway, plus a 65-mile TSD on secondary roads from Fort St John to Dawson Creek.  Additional difficulty was provided by highway construction, dust, and dozens of sheep & caribou on and around the road through Stone Mountain park.
The pressure on the leading BMW team increased this morning as poor Watson Lake TSD scores dropped their lead to 7 seconds, though they regained 5 seconds on the final TSD.  No positions changed hands today, though the 3rd place Subaru SUS took a big score due to a major off-road excursion near Blackfoot Park about 9pm (yes, we have pictures...).
 Results to the end of day 8: Dawson Creek, BC
   Vehicle            Team        Score     Place
BMW 325ix        Kammer/Adams       65        1
Chev Blazer      Jones/Deno         77        2
Subaru SUS       Lowry/Johnson/    401        3
                   FitzGerald
Jeep Cherokee    Boyce/Dolan       638        4
Subaru Impreza   Cramer/Gowdy      835        5
Saab 900         Johnson/Gregory/ 1050        6
                   Johansen
Audi Quattro     Breazeale 2         Touring class
Subaru Legacy    Schneider 2         Touring class

DAY 9, September 6
The final day started at 7am near the "Mile 0" marker in Dawson Creek, BC and finished at 2:30pm in Jasper, Alberta.  Total event distance was about 4,000 miles.  There were 7 finishers and 1DNF.  Though the Subary Legacy SUS team arrived at the finish, there was not enogh time to recover and repair their vehicle from the previous evening's off-road excursion near Dawson Creek.  Final positions and point totals are shown below, more information will follow soon...
Final 1998 results: Jasper, Alberta
   Vehicle            Team        Score     Place
BMW 325ix        Kammer/Adams       72        1
Chev Blazer      Jones/Deno         81        2
Jeep Cherokee    Boyce/Dolan       649        3
Subaru Impreza   Cramer/Gowdy     1001        4
Saab 900         Johnson/Gregory/ 1198        5
                   Johansen
Audi Quattro     Breazeale 2    (Touring)  Finisher
Subaru Legacy    Schneider 2    (Touring)  Finisher
Subaru SUS       Lowry/Johnson/                    DNF 
                   FitzGerald

1998 Awards:

Walt Kammer & Jackie Adams:  First place, First in Class I (passenger cars, unlimited equipment).  Driving lights from PIAA, case of oil from Red Line.

Revere Jones & Brian Deno:  Second place, first in Class II (SUV's. unlimited equipment), first place tie for Magellan Challenge.  Case of oil from Red Line.

Ker Boyce & Donna Dolan:  First in Class III (SOP), 1st place tie for Magellan Challenge.  Driving lights from PIAA, case of oil from Red Line, new ColorTRAK GPS from Magellan.

Chris Cramer & Jeff Gowdy:  Second in class I.  Driving lights from PIAA, case of oil from Red Line.

Ray Johansen / Brian Johnson / Anne-Marie Gregory:  Third in Class I, longest distance traveled.  Case of oil from Red Line.

Jim & Cristy Breaseale:  1st place tie for Magellan Challenge.  Case of oil from Red Line.

Mary Lowry / Jack FitzGerald / TJ Johnson:  The Satch Carlson memorial "finished without your vehicle" award. (Created in 1984 when the Carlson team "set the standards for form and distance in the 'flying Saab' competition".  Fortulately, this award is rarely presented...).

All team and control crew members also received the 98 Alcan "Klondike Award":  These were specially engraved lead crystal "rocks" glasses (in Libby's "Alaska" pattern, of course).