Ah well, at least I added a varied thrush to my trip bird list.īy late afternoon, I had turned off the Alaska Highway onto aptly-named Atlin Road, which headed south towards Atlin, British Columbia. I proceeded on the Alaska Highway, stopping next at Lake Teslin Campground to search unsuccessfully for a bird observatory. Keeping an eye on me and patiently waiting for sandwich crumbs to fall to the ground were gray jays and ravens, both sure signs of the north. I stopped for lunch at Morley River Recreation Site. It was some fast-moving water travelling downhill. I'm not usually overly excited by waterfalls (maybe because I've seen Niagara Falls and nothing compares to its power?) and this was no different. Within 15 minutes, I stopped at Rancheria Falls and hiked the new boardwalk down to the falls. Bonus! I enjoyed a refreshing shower and shave and got on the road by 9:20 AM. Disheartened, I wandered over to the main building to find out that because of the broken camping showers, campers were allowed to use a motel room shower. I got up at 8:00 AM, devoured my typical on-the-road breakfast of oatmeal and hot chocolate and headed for the shower building. Why does one set an alarm on a vacation anyway? Add it all up and it meant that I slept through my alarm. There weren't any neighbours in the campground. Even though my tent was within a few hundred metres of the Alaska Highway, traffic was rare. This can result in your tire coming off while you are driving which can be extremely dangerous for you and your passengers.Apparently my body wanted to stay in Rancheria, Yukon. Do not attempt to learn on the fly in an emergency situation. Remember, if you have never changed a tire before and you have no one else with you, call for help instead. Finally, put the hubcap back on and you can be on your way. Once that is completed, check the lug nuts to ensure they are completely tightened. You then can lower the car by using the jack again. Then you need to put the lug nuts back on and tighten them completely. Once you have done that, you should remove the lug nuts completely and remove the flat tire.Īfter that is done you can put the spare tire or donut on the lug bolts. You can then raise the vehicle using the jack. After that you can remove the hubcap.Īfter that you should loosen up the lug nuts and then you should place the jack under the car. Next, you should apply the parking brake and put the wheel wedges under the other tires of the car to make sure that it does not start rolling as you are fixing the one tire. Leaving your car on for too long can result in your battery dying or your car running out of gas. With that in mind you should also turn your car off because changing a tire can take a while especially at night and/or in poor weather conditions. You should also turn on and keep your hazard lights on. When you get a flat tire in Alaska it is “safety first” as always, so be sure that you find an area off the road that will be safe to change the tire. However, the general process will remain the same. As we mentioned before, the process will be slightly different for different cars. You will also need to know what you are doing before you ever even attempt to change one or more of your tires. Finally, you will also need a few miscellaneous items such as a flashlight, a small piece of wood, a rain coat or poncho and gloves. This will let you know what you specifically need to do in order to successfully change your tire as each type of car will vary in what you will need to do. This means you will also need your car’s owner manual. This might also include alignment studs as well as a wheel lock depending on the type of car that you have. This includes a lug wrench, wheel wedges and a jack. You will also need a few tools in order to be able to make the change. In order to change your flat tire, you will need a spare tire or at least a reliable donut. This is why it is so dangerous to get stranded here without knowing how or being able to fix your own flat tire. This obviously means that you might not be able to call for help either.Īreas like this are much higher in frequency in Alaska than anywhere else. Not only will help likely be quite far away, but you also might be in an area will cell service is extremely poor or non-existent. That is exactly why getting stranded out on the highway because of a flat can turn out to be an incredibly dangerous situation in Alaska. The population can be dense in city areas such as Anchorage or Fairbanks but it is quite sparse in most areas throughout the rest of the state. There are many areas of vast wilderness and lonely highways. Alaska is, by far, the biggest state in the US.
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