GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. — And they’re off.
The “3 Old Guys” — Rob Hallstrom, Rex Hibbert and Paul Dick — departed this morning (Monday, March 6) from Dick’s home in Grand Rapids on the first leg of their epic snowmobile journey to Fairbanks, Alaska.
A video showing their departure was posted on their Facebook page.
If all goes according to plan, the trio will complete their 4,000-mile adventure in about a month. As the video posted Monday morning shows, they’re hauling all sorts of gear, spare parts and gasoline jugs for those portions of the journey — and there will be many — when towns are several hundred miles apart.
They have an outfitter tent they will heat with a wood stove for camping along the trail in those remote areas.
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As I wrote in a story posted Saturday, Feb. 25, they are driving identical Arctic Cat Norseman 8000X snowmobiles with 800cc engines. They drove similar snowmobiles — but with 600cc engines — in March 2019, when they snowmobiled to Hudson Bay at Churchill, Manitoba, and back. I wrote about that adventure, as well. This time, they plan to leave their sleds in Fairbanks, fly home, and figure out later how to get their snowmobiles back to Minnesota.
The three men, all experienced long-distance snowmobile riders, range in age from 66 to 72. Hallstrom, a retired electrician from Park Rapids, Minnesota, is originally from St. Hilaire, Minnesota. Hibbert is from Soda Springs, Idaho, and Dick is from Grand Rapids.
I’ll post occasional updates from their trip as information becomes available. For more information, go to Facebook.com and search for “3 Old Guys Ride to Alaska.”
The Trust Project
