Alaska

Travels and adventures.
pdemarest
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Re: Alaska

Post by pdemarest »

Hi Chin_k - Thanks for the info. We are going to be in Denali one day before the Savage River campground opens so we'll be at Riley Creek instead. After watching some YouTube videos and reading your review I think we've decided to take the "un-narrated" tour and will probably do the one that's about 6 hours. We are also hoping to see the sled dog demonstration that the park puts on. I definitely want to see Denali and I know that there's no guarantee that it will be visible from the park that day so we will also be taking a seaplane flight later in our trip that goes around Denali and the surrounding area. This will be the longest road trip I've ever taken, both in terms of miles and days. Sprinkling in some motels and VRBO rentals to make the trip easier for my wife but after just over two weeks into the trip I will put her on a plane home so she can get our dog out of boarding and resume her duties caring for our two grandsons. After that I will be RVing all the way back home, boondocking most nights at turnouts or government campgrounds. This will give me a chance to do the Top of the World Highway to Dawson, the Cassiar Highway, Hyder and the Salmon Glacier and then through Whistler, BC before I get back in the US. I had originally planned on late August to begin the trip but then realized that there was no reason to wait. Hope to post some reports and photos from the trip.

Paul
Paul Demarest
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chin_k
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Re: Alaska

Post by chin_k »

I did not see you mention any visit to glacier, and I would suggest that you do one. The one near Anchorage is readily accessible (just a short hike from the road), and it is called the Matanuska Glacier. We just walk up to it on our sneakers, but there are some tour groups better prepared with spiked shoes (for climbing on ice) and helmets, etc.. Another way to visit a glacier is to have helicopter take you to one. A coworker of mine do that on many visits to Alaska and he enjoyed it every time. We never take any ride because our budget was tighter, and short on time. You may want to take a look at the copter ride if you feel it is worth it.
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pdemarest
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Re: Alaska

Post by pdemarest »

We'll be in Anchorage for 3 nights so hopefully we'll have time to check out the glacier. We looked at a flight that would land on a glacier but decided to do the Denali flight instead so having a glacier that's accessible will be great. Really excited to be headed to Alaska - been wanting to go there since I saw the movie "North to Alaska" with John Wayne when I was 9 years old. By 13 I had sent for and received brochures for the Alaskan truck camper, which I figured would be the best way to tour Alaska. That was back before the Alaskan Hwy was paved and people would carry at least two spare tires and jerry cans of gas to make it between fueling stops. I realize its much tamer now but still has its challenges.
Paul Demarest
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pdemarest
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Re: Tips for travel to Alaska

Post by pdemarest »

Hi all - just back from a 3 week trip to Alaska and back, just over 8,300 miles. Here are some tips I'd like to share for those who are thinking of going there.

1. Stop thinking about it and do it. This was the trip of a lifetime and its impossible to overstate how vast and spectacular the scenery is in both Canada and Alaska. I've been all over the U.S., parts of South America and Mexico but nothing compares to this area.

2. The best time to go is mid-May. I've also read that some people wait until after Labor Day but my understanding is that September can be quite rainy and many attractions and facilities close on Labor Day. Besides, its Fall so a lot of areas will be brown instead of green. On our way up there was very little traffic so it was easy to pass slower vehicles and stop quickly to see animals. The trees had just turned a brilliant spring green and there were lots of spring baby animals to see grazing on the fresh grass alongside the roads. And, no mosquitoes. By the time I began my trip back - just after Memorial Day - the roads were filled with RVs, trailers, and cars headed up the Alaskan Hwy. Some were traveling in caravans of 4 - 5 RV's together, which would make it impossible or at least very difficult to pass on the two lane roads that take you up to Alaska. To add to this problem many of the rigs are rentals, some obviously being driven by people who had never driven anything larger that a pickup truck. There was very little rain and the potholes had been freshly filled and major ruptures in the roadway were clearly marked with small orange cones or flags to help avoid hitting them too fast. And by Memorial Day the mosquitoes are beginning to hatch. I had none on the way up but one the way back everytime I opened my door some flew in.

3. Most RV parks open by May 15th and there are plenty of them along the way. I had reservations but there were lots of vacant sites at that time. One park had no working water hookups as the ground was still frozen but they did have water for filling your tanks available up at their office.

4. There is no need to carry gas cans; there are lots of gas stations along the highways - Alaskan, Cassiar, Yukon, Sterling - gas was available about every 50 miles or with few exceptions. That said, given the PRIUS-like fuel consumption of our rigs its never a bad idea to gas up once you get down to a half tank or less.

5. Gas is no more expensive than it is here in California. Canadian gas prices look pretty high at $6 a gallon ($1.35 to $1.65 Canadian dollars per liter) but with the exchange rate the actual amount in U.S dollars will be about 20% less. I did find that my rig got better gas mileage with the fuel in Canada - not sure if they add ethanol to their gas, which reduces both gas mileage and horsepower, but my mileage went up about 1 mpg.

6. Many gas stations have automatic cut-offs once you've pumped $75 to $100 worth of fuel. Petro Canada gas stations have a system where you insert your credit card and ask for authorization for a maximum amount to be pumped. Other pumps require a PIN to use your credit card. We found this out last Fall on a trip to Eastern Canada and had to contact our credit card company to get one over the phone; some credit card companies will only send you a PIN through regular mail, which doesn't help much when you're on the road. This PIN situation also applies to some other retailers like hotels and restaurants so make sure you have PINs for the credit cards you plan on using. Also, some of the gas stations are basically just huge square tanks with a small enclosure where you step in, pay for your gas, and then go back outside to use the pump.

7. Make sure your cellphone will work in Canada and Alaska seamlessly. Unfortunately we have Consumer Cellular (CC) as our service. They assured us that our phones would work in Canada and Alaska and said they had turned on an International roaming feature. The truth is that CC leases air time on cell towers that belong to the larger providers like T-Mobile, Bell, Verizon, etc.. When our phones wouldn't work we could only reach the T-mobile help line and they were unable to get the phones to work. Reception is sketchy along the route but our phones and cellular data access didn't work even in areas where the phone showed full reception. It is not a good idea to be up there on those roads without a cellphone so confirm with your carrier that the phone will work and store numbers for any helpline they may have.

8. For those of you who boondock there are many rest areas along the way, most with outhouses. In some areas there are simple turnouts that allow for parking overnight. Rest areas nearer to larger cities sometimes prohibit overnight parking.

9. The roads are rough; potholes, frost heaves, patches of gravel are regular features of all of these roads so I strongly advise that tires be aired-down and that you have good tires to start with. I ran 50 psi in the front and 55 in the rear and it was still pretty brutal at times. FYI, I had no flats and when I did see someone changing a tire it was usually on a trailer.

10. Okay, probably obvious to most but even though we knew that it would stay light much later up there I was surprised at how light it was even at midnight. In Anchorage there was still light at 2:30 am one night. Make sure to get an eye mask to help you fall asleep. Even when you're tired from driving all day its hard to fall asleep with full light until after midnight.

If anyone has questions feel free to ask.

Paul
Paul Demarest
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