Along with the pictures (see previous post), Mingo sent me pages from his expedition journal. Here are a few excerpts.

June 16
Left Vegas and Crystal’s house. Headin’ on 95 past relentless, boring, barren desert. I thought that this would be a whole 13 hour driving day. Instead, I found some unexpected beauty near Alamo, NV in lakes, animal life and very beautiful scenery.

June 15
Crossed into Canada and went through customs with no problems. Then started my trek through B.C. Pretty country but I just want to get this journey moving…. I am tired of driving 10 to 12 hour days. I want to kayak long days. It is 9:32 pm here and still daylight. You could easily hike now. I hate the cost of gas in Canada, over $4.50 a gallon. Causing havoc on my budget. Later-out.

Thurs, June 18
Completely insane day. Paid about $9.00 a gallon for gas. Got 2 flats repaired. Saw hundreds of miles of absolutely beautiful mountains. Northern Rockies are spectacular! God’s country but it takes driving like hell to get here. I went to sleep around 12:30 AM with the sun just setting. Up at 6 AM with the sun way up. This is so weird. Today will be another long day but hoping to make it to Tok, Alaska.

Fri, June 19
Yesterday I drove another 10 hour day and made it to Tok, Alaska. Nice to see cheap gas again, $3.20 a gallon! …At the Boundary gas station and restaurant, I met a couple - Mike and Tawnya. He offered his land for my packing lot. [My truck] is safe there and on one will use it. Cool folks…. So logistically this thing is coming together at a higher expense than I thought. I hope that many will help support this expedition. I am a bit stressed at this time. Money is a problem and I am also stressed by the waiting. Make me think way too much.

I think that solo expeditions are many times harder than team expeditions. It is hard to remain unfluttered by all that needs to be done. The next two days will be difficult psychologically. This runup time is tough. Once on the river with my emotions in check I think I will settle down into my job. But now I am stressed and not pleased being stuck in town. Emotionally it is also difficult in that I miss my friends and family.

Today (and the next few days) was all about driving. Yesterday, Mingo made it to Las Vegas to drop off the food resupply packages and finish up last minute details (like testing his new satellite phone) with his youngest daughter, Crystal. This morning, he hopped in the truck and began the long drive north toward Canada.

I talked to him at various points throughout the day. After getting out of Vegas on Hwy 93 and driving “into nothingness,” he was awestruck by the beauty of central Nevada. As he passed through Ely, NV, he commented that the town looked like something you’d see in the mid-west: “I expected to see Dorothy walking down the street.” Needless to say, he really enjoyed this part of the drive.

That is until he hit the rain, pouring rain, and hail. “Hail was the last thing I thought I’d see in June,” he said. “A car a few miles ahead of me slid off the road and crashed because there was so much water and hail on the road.” Mingo stopped to make sure the passengers were OK (emergency services were already on the way) then continued driving toward the Idaho border.

He reached Twin Falls, ID about 3:30 pm (MST) and jumped on I84 to head toward Boise for the night. Mingo said he was looking forward to getting out of the weather and sleeping in a nice comfy bed - the last for awhile. He said he would also be repacking clothes. “I didn’t expect it to be this cold!”

All and all, he sounded like he had a good travel day - even if he was in the truck all day. Tomorrow he’s hoping to push as close as he can to the Canadian border before he stops for the night. He wants to be able to cross into Canada first thing Monday morning.