Tag Archives: alaska

Two truckers caught in an avalanche

Two truckers were caught in an avalanche Monday night on the Dalton.  Jack was not involved and neither of the drivers were seriously hurt.  The road is now closed and the State is working on trying to trigger avalanches before they reopen.  We’ve had tons of snow, seems like a record breaking year for snow actually, but for some reason no one made the decision to deal with this before it got to this point.

There is a short dash cam video on the Alaska DOT Facebook page.  And from the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner:

Two tankers in an avalanche - The Jack Jessee Blog

Photo credit: Jonothan James Kasak via the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner website

“One of the trucks that was stuck was a tanker carrying methanol; the other one carried glycol. When the highway reopens, the state Department of Environmental Conservation will evaluate whether there were any spills. The other two trucks were able to proceed with minimal assistance from a Department of Transportation crew, Bailey said.

Atigun Pass is one of a handful of mountain passes where work crews frequently fire Howitzer artillery at snowcovered slopes to trigger avalanches in order to prevent unplanned slides. Avalanche gates were installed on the south side of the pass three years ago to stop vehicles headed into avalanche danger. This was the first time the gate has been used.”

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A normal winter day on the Dalton

Not a calm winter day, but a normal winter day.  These were from last year, and actually the first three are from early April and the rest are from one day in mid-April 2016.  Click on the first one and scroll to the right for best viewing.

Snow Drifts on the Dalton

There’s been plenty of wind and snow on the Dalton lately.  Here are snow drifts at Ice Cut that have been plowed away by a loader, creating one lane which is better than nothing!  Video by fellow trucker, John Slater.  Hope everyone is having a great 2017 so far.

Dr. Dee: Alaska Vet

Have you guys been watching Dr. Dee: Alaska Vet on Animal Planet?  Jack and I love it!  Dr. Dee is the most adorable, funny, amazing woman.  And we know this for a fact since we took our two dogs and two cats to her over the years.  Every interaction with Dr. Dee is a positive one, since even when you’re putting your pet down she is as insightful and endearing as is possible at that moment.  The same goes for her staff – they are all very caring and terrific people.

Dr Dee Thornell, via aknoahsark.comDr. Dee: Alaska Vet shows the surgeries she does on a variety of animals, and she flies her bush plane out to various towns and villages.  The animals featured are dogs and cats of course, but also birds, horses, goats, and once, a bull.

A few years ago when a production company was filming a teaser about her to try to sell to a cable company, Jack made a cameo with our dog Sport.  Here are photos, click on the first one and scroll to the right.

And by the way, production people like the ones shown below are highly professional and friendly people.  That is the experience Jack had with all of the guys and gals who came up here to shoot Ice Road Truckers, and we want to make sure that everyone understands how great they are at their jobs.

You’ll love Dr. Dee!  You can watch video clips on the Animal Planet website, and also full episodes.

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Overturned truck

Another set of photos from years past… this guy was coming over a small rise and when he got to the top he saw some hunters in a pick up truck turning around in the road, so he was forced to go off the side and into the snow instead of hit them.  Unfortunate.

Lost load, an explosion box

Years ago Jack came across this load that fell off a truck north of Coldfoot.  Click on the first one and scroll to the right.  More info on the captions.

 

Jack is pretty sure this is an “explosion box”, a portable unit that’s probably used as a break room next to a rig most of the time, but it’s most crucial use is as an explosion shelter. If there’s a an explosion individuals can stay in it for protection. It’s actually upside down here and the damaged attached boxes are probably heaters or ventilation units.
The driver was looking to the left, drove off the road on the right, then turned the steering wheel abruptly to get back on the road, breaking the chains that held the box down and tossing it off the trailer.
Marks where the box first hit the ground.
This is most likely how the fallen load was tied down. This truck is carrying a similar unit.
There are four chains here. The fallen load was probably tied down correctly but the force was enough to break pieces of the trailer, probably not the chains themselves.