A few pics from my trip through the Arctic, Yukon, Alaska, and Northern BC in my 04 Hippo

So my girlfriend, our dog, and I decided earlier this year that we wanted to set out to explore the north of our country (Canada) all the way up into the arctic. We own a 04 Freelander SE 2.5L Petrol and are based at the bottom of Vancouver Island BC. After months of planning and working on the hippo we finally departed on our month long 14,000km road trip at the beginning of July. Our trip took us along the Dempster Highway into the Arctic. The Top of the World Highway from the Yukon into Alaska. And the 125km descent switchbacking down dirt road into the "Grand Canyon of the North" BC's most remote community: Telegraph Creek.

Unfortunately the Freelander wasn't large enough to sleep in, so we tent camped the majority of the way. But what she lacked in size, she made up for in spirit. Along the 725km Dempster highway into the arctic there wasn't an obstacle she couldn't handle, or a vehicle she couldn't overtake. She climbed glaciers, cruised on permafrost tundra, conquered summer roads through a lava field, and slid along some of the most intense mud patches I've ever seen in Alaska.

Here are some photos of my hippo from our travels: Enjoy.

I upgraded tires before the trip to these Toyo AT ones. I'm still in love with them.


Here is the hippo all packed up on the day we departed.


Ready for Take Off


Here she is at the bottom of Telegraph Creek


And again at Telegraph Creek with the dog checking out the scene:


Next up we were glacier conquering:


Up to Salmon Glacier:


Some midnight sun along the Dempster Highway in the Arctic


Made it to the end of the road. As far north as you can drive in North America: Inuvik NWT


Our Campsite that night:


And it wouldn't be a Landy forum if I didn't include a pic of me working on the rover roadside. Here is a pic of myself working to reattach my exhaust pipe to the resonator after cracking the bracket holding it in place driving through a particularly muddy and rocky section of the Top of the World Highway. Zap straps made do until we could drive the 400kms to the nearest welder in Alaska.

Wow!

For some reason the further you get from the equator (in either direction) the better the scenery and the more more reasonable the population density.

Wow (again),
Is this not grizzly bear territory?

Ha ha hippo! Awesome trip. So envious of having that on your back doorstep. Any plans for another?

Nice work dude. Very jealous of the scenery

Vincemcdonald said:

Wow (again),
Is this not grizzly bear territory?

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It absolutely is Grizzly Bear territory. We encountered 11 black bears along our journey but didn't actually see any grizzlies. Apparently there was one wandering the streets of Inuvik the night before we got into town. And we swung by a very common grizzly site in Alaska along a river where the salmon run, but we just missed them there too, We were trying to be "bear aware" so we only packed dehydrated food and kept it in a dry sack as to not lure bears into our campsite,

Landshandy said:

Ha ha hippo! Awesome trip. So envious of having that on your back doorstep. Any plans for another?

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We are incredibly lucky to have BC as our backyard. There is a lump of land in the centre of northern BC larger than the entire UK that isn't even road accessible. The wildlife and nature up there is too vast to comprehend. BC has 80% of the biodiversity found in North America, and after our roadtrip I have to say it definitely shows.

Yeah we already have our next one planned! We are going to head south down the Washington/Orgeon/California Coast and then drive further south down to the end of the Baja Peninsula in Mexico. probably do there and back in a little over two weeks. Beach Camping the majority of the way.

Great adventure !

NorthernHippo said:

We are incredibly lucky to have BC as our backyard. There is a lump of land in the centre of northern BC larger than the entire UK that isn't even road accessible. The wildlife and nature up there is too vast to comprehend. BC has 80% of the biodiversity found in North America, and after our roadtrip I have to say it definitely shows.

Yeah we already have our next one planned! We are going to head south down the Washington/Orgeon/California Coast and then drive further south down to the end of the Baja Peninsula in Mexico. probably do there and back in a little over two weeks. Beach Camping the majority of the way.

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Sounds awesome, I only hope one day once I've made my money I can do that. I'm currently rushing around prepping my Disco Td5 for a trip to Morocco. Having to go on my own but accept the dangers and limitations as this could be the only time I get a 3-4 week window to do it in (moving jobs so will be going on Garden leave..

Looks amazing. Would love to do something like this one day.

Stunning scenery Hippo and well done. The Freelander was taking on a more natural colour towards the end. How did the Toyos perform? I have some low profile directional ones on my MX5 that really stick to the tarmac on fast winding roads. ( when I feel the need for speed )
I know the Freelander got some bad press from the purists when it was first launched. However watching the videos of them in the last G4 really showed they could perform in the wild. It is a damned shame the F2 has been discontinued as by all reports it is a well performing vehicle.
How was the camping? I know it is overkill but I take two tents with me...OZtent RV4 for reasonable long camp stays and a small 2man one for quick overnight stops. Whilst the Oztent is roomy it is bulky and a roof rack job. There is an RV2 that should weigh less. You can set it up so that the rear door of the vehicle can park just under the extended roof and the small strap can be tied off to the roof rack. Fitting the two side screens can make it quite cosy and allow you access to your gear via the back door in the dry. The other bonus is you can stand up in the OZ.
Of course it appears your future trip could be a dry one anyway. Enjoy the next one and keep on trucking!!

Vicar said:

Stunning scenery Hippo and well done. The Freelander was taking on a more natural colour towards the end. How did the Toyos perform? I have some low profile directional ones on my MX5 that really stick to the tarmac on fast winding roads. ( when I feel the need for speed )
I know the Freelander got some bad press from the purists when it was first launched. However watching the videos of them in the last G4 really showed they could perform in the wild. It is a damned shame the F2 has been discontinued as by all reports it is a well performing vehicle.
How was the camping? I know it is overkill but I take two tents with me...OZtent RV4 for reasonable long camp stays and a small 2man one for quick overnight stops. Whilst the Oztent is roomy it is bulky and a roof rack job. There is an RV2 that should weigh less. You can set it up so that the rear door of the vehicle can park just under the extended roof and the small strap can be tied off to the roof rack. Fitting the two side screens can make it quite cosy and allow you access to your gear via the back door in the dry. The other bonus is you can stand up in the OZ.
Of course it appears your future trip could be a dry one anyway. Enjoy the next one and keep on trucking!!

Click to expand...

We have been looking at an OZtent actually! comparing it to perhaps doing a rooftop tent.

The Toyos are still a constant delight for me. They held up INCREDIBLY well on the trip. just rotated them last week as they were starting to cup a little on the rear tires. They handled 2000+km of offroad driving during that trip quite well. And a few weeks ago I put them to the test again on the north coast of Vancouver Island where they yet agin exceeded my expectations. They grip gravel like no ones business and have seemingly no issues in the mud.

I agree its a shame the Freelander got such a bad reputation. the IRD 4x4 system actually really performs if you know how to drive it. I think its just so counter intuitive in comparison to a low range gear box that people often end up driving it "wrong" so to speak and then never end up seeing its full potential. Granted I tend to stay away from deep snow and water, but there has yet to be ANYWHERE I have taken my hippo that it hasn't been able to perform. I'm definitely a proud owner.

I stumbled on this thread the other day and have come back in for another read today. Great trip and great write up

You seem to have got a lot of us guys from down here in NZ interested