Overland Journal – August 01, 2019

OVERLANDJOURNAL FALL 2019

136

TAIL LAMP BRIDGET THACKWRAY AND TOPHER RICHWHITE

Continuedon page 134

A

fter meeting each other only two months earlier,

througha mixofrecklesswanderlustandspontaneous

adventure,wecameupwithanidea.Together,wewoulddrive

theplanet.InspiredbyGuntherHoltorf ’s24-yearworldtour,

weputpentopaperanddrewupa 220,000-mileroutethrough

allsevencontinentsand 70 countries.Thiswastobecomeour

lifeforthenextthreeyears.

NeitherTophernorI hadany4WDexperience,mechani-

calbackground,oroverlandinghistory.Andwithourdeparture

datesetforonlyonemonthaway,weknewwewouldhaveto

learnonthefly.

Thisquickdepartureturnaroundallowedustokeeptheen-

tireexpeditiononthedown-low,withourfriendsandfamily

backhomeinNewZealandhavingnearto noknowledgeof

ourplans.Ouraimwastoannouncetheexpeditionondayone,

fromthemostnorthernpointintheAmericas.

WeflewfromAucklandtoVancouver,Canada,andfinally

metourthirdcompanionontheexpedition:Gunther,a 2015

JeepWranglerRubicon.Afteroneweekhewaspacked,kitted

outwithlittlemorethana roofrack,andreadytogo.Weturned

ourselvesnorthandbeganthedrivetoDeadhorse,Alaska,our

expedition’sstartingpoint.After 10 days,wereachedtheremote

miningtownandtheendoftheroad.Sevenhundredmilesear-

lierwehadcrossedovertheArcticCircle,nowdeepwithinthe

northern slope. Heretemperatures were sittingbetween -15

and-30°C.

Guntherwasparkedoutside,andwewereperchedhappily

withina cafeteriapackedwithoildrillersfromthearea.With

nocellularsignal,thisbecameourWiFihubtoannouncethe

expedition to all of our friends and family back home. With

nervousexcitement,andcompletelyoutofourcomfortzones,

welaunchedExpeditionEarthat8:00p.m.onApril7,2018.

Our website was uploaded, Instagram launched, Facebook

statusposted,thetimerstarted,andGarminGPSlivetracker

turnedon.

Themessagewasclear,Followtheexpeditionasweheadsouth,

startingNOW, accompaniedbyour GPSlink.OnceExpedi-

tionEarthwaslive,ouradrenalinestartedtopump.Wefeltas

thoughwewereallofa suddenoncenterstage.Thecomments

werefloodingin,andthelivetrackerviewsbegantoclimb.

It wastimetobeginlegoneofthree,ourdrivesouthfrom

AlaskatoArgentina.WerushedtoGunther,gaveeachothera

hugandkiss,turnedtheignitionand—nothing.Alittlelaugh,

“Imaginethat,”andonemoretry—nothing.

Weknew thatif thecarwassittingidleinthesetemper-

atures,it would benecessaryto plugintoa block heaterbut

hadn’texpectedtheentirebatterytodrainwithinanhour.We

checkedthesystemsandquicklyrealizedthatTopherhadleft

thelightbaron.

Thisfirstchallengebroughta senseofthrill,aswewereea-

gertoputa fewofourrecoveryproductstothetest.Afteronly

a fewminutes,justenoughtimeforthecafeteriastafftohave

clearedout,wenoticedthatourportablejumpstarterkithad

draineditsbatteryfromthecold.Sittingin-30°Ctemperatures

withfrozenhands,wewerenotgoinganywherefast.

Withthetemperatureandsuddeninfluxofcallsandmes-

sagesfromfriendsandfamily,ourphonebatteriesquicklydied

too.Unfortunately,thelivetrackerwasstillgoingstrong.

Tryingtofindsomeonetohelpjumpstarta vehicleat 10:00

p.m. in the Arctic Circle can be quite a difficult prospect,es-

Expedition Earth

An inauspiciousbeginning in

Deadhorse, Alaska.