How do you get from Minnesota to Alaska? You could drive a snowmobile. That’s what three men who call themselves the “3 Old Guys” did! Rob Hallstrom, Rex Hibbert, and Paul Dick drove snowmobiles about 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) from Grand Rapids, Minnesota, to Fairbanks, Alaska. It wasn’t easy, but the 3 Old Guys had a lot of support and a great time.

The 3 Old Guys (they chose that name because they are all in their 60s or 70s) left their homes in Minnesota on March 6. They had planned the route carefully. They would take snow-covered trails northwest into Canada and then Alaska. What they didn’t count on was how many challenges they would face. Even in March, the weather in Canada and Alaska is freezing cold—and a snowmobile provides no protection from low temperatures. Sometimes snowstorms made it hard to find the trails. At one point, a stick got stuck in one of the snowmobiles, and the group had to stop for repairs. 

“Every bend in the river seemed to bring on a new challenge of some sort,” Hallstrom told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). 

But the 3 Old Guys also had plenty of help. When people read about the men’s journey online, they started keeping track of where the guys were. At times, the men would arrive in a small town and find people waiting for them. Sometimes they were given meals and even warm beds.