Alaska (last update 7/16/2008)

One day, I wish to make this trip, so, when I ran across this, I added it to my site.

John of The Adamss Family

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NEW 7/2008: Link to someone’s 2008 blog, California to Alaska:  http://travelswithriva.blogspot.com

 

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Alaska Trip -  Coupon Books

Posted by: "William Barnard" Wbarnard@twmi.rr.com   billb800si

Sat Mar 31, 2007 3:12 pm (PST)

Been hearing about the Tour Saver book.  TourSaver Book  and The Northern Lights Entertainment Coupon Books.
Northern Lights ?  Anyone have some comments on these?  Wondering if they both are worth it or not?
We plan on a 3 month trip to Alaska starting June 20th.

Happy trails,   Bill B. (Michigan)

 

The Alaskan Highway (7/25/2006 update)

 

Also found someones log: http://home.earthlink.net/%7Elcantwell/Alaska1.html    http://home.earthlink.net/%7Elcantwell/Alaska2.htm  http://home.earthlink.net/%7Elcantwell/Alaska3.htm

. By all means, take the smallest rig you're comfortable in. It gives you so many more options.

Prince George, BC has a Wal-Mart. Local campground owners tried to close the parking lot; they won and then lost when the public reacted.
Fairbanks parking lots are closed. With a small rig, stay in the airport parking lot for a dollar a night. Jueaneu and Anchorage do not allow
parking lot use. Fred Meiers at Soldotna does.

Along the main Alaska highway, they have pretty well closed up most of the boondock sites with either chains or no over night signs. We went up in 03 and were blocked. But we met a couple who went up the same time and paid not a dime for parking. Their secret was to take a side road to no where.  He said that within usually a quarter to half mile, there was a wide spot for pulling over. You have those options with a small rig.  If you're a bit flush with cash, you can also then take the inland ferry system back from Haines. If you stop at every town for 2 to 4 days, it will add about 2 to 3 weeks to your return, and it is a different Alaska.

 

 

From: MSN NicknameJustHarrythree  (Original Message)

Sent: 12/9/2003 10:46 PM

 

I am planning a trip to Alaska to pick up my son from college (UoA, Fairbanks) in May, 2004. My wife has decided we should leave the 5W at home and take the Popup (1990 Coleman Sequoia), which is in good shape. I will also take the slide-in sleeper so I will have a place to put my son's "stuff" when school is out.  We live in New Mexico and plan to drive up thru Montana then into Canada where we will pick up the ALCAN. I have several questions. 1. Should I install a brush guard and headlight protectors on my truck? 2. Is it safe to cook in the PU while camping? 3. What type of heater should I plan to take for use in the PU that will be safe to use inside? I know we are going early, but school won't wait. My truck is a 4x4 Chevy K2500HD, so I am not worried about the truck. That said, what spare's should I take (other than tools). I will have new tires and will tune-up the engine before I leave.  Thanks for any help you can provide.  Harry    (My wife thinks I am crazy, but that goes for her too, she has put up with me for 28 years.)  By the way, is there any fishing along the way and how expensive is it?

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I did the Alaska trip with our first popup in 1999. There are some pictures with narrative here at the community at http://groups.msn.com/popuptrailercamping/alaskatrip.msnw. I also have a canned email with additional information that I can send you if you wish. It is a fantastic trip and well worth it. We went in July so I have no idea what weather conditions you will encounter. When we went the road was fully paved except for some extensive sections that were being rebuilt. I suspect that May will be the beginning of the road building season so you will probably encounter worse road conditions (frost heave) than we did.

 

The only reason you might need rock protection on your truck for the construction areas will be if you are trying to keep up with the idiot ahead of you. Our popup got quite muddy but we didn't experience any damage, but then I went a decent speed. Even if you decide against rock protection you might want to consider some bug protection. I used some hardware cloth (1/8 or 1/4 inch mesh) to help keep the bugs off the fog lights and out of the radiator.

 

I took lots of spare stuff both for the car & the popup (including tires, bulbs, clutch, wheel bearings) but didn't use anything besides a tire for the popup due to wearing it out from overloading. You will be putting on close to 10,000 miles so take lots of extras and plan on servicing everything during the trip (including the trailer wheel bearings). Take at least a 5 gallon can of fuel. There are plenty of gas stations but sometimes they are far between. We got into one town needing gas and the power was out. We had to wait several hours before we could get gas and continue our trip.

 

We stayed almost exclusively at campgrounds where I could get reservations so there was power almost every night. For heat I recommend one or two small electric heaters. For those times you may be without electric, then something like a "Mr Buddy" portable heater would work. They are certified as being safe.

 

We only stayed in one campground where there were bear restrictions so we cooked in the popup all the time. In fact we didn't see much in the way of wildlife during the whole trip.

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From: Maggadog

Sent: 12/10/2003 2:01 PM

 

Greetings!

My family and I made this trip 10 years ago. What a blast! Some things you might want to take with are:

A current copy of The Milepost. This is a mile by mile guide to the Alcan. It should have campgrounds, service stations, and local attractions listed.

Plenty of film.

A current campground directory. Remember that some CG's may not be open yet, depends upon when in May you leave.

A CB radio. Your cell phone probably will not be of much use to you on the road.

Plenty of film.

Check the road conditions before you leave. You may need to take chains.

Plenty of film.

High speed internet connections are few and far between, so if you do a lot of email, set up a forwarding system with your friends, so you can spend more time enjoying and less time waiting.

Have fun.

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Photos: http://groups.msn.com/popuptrailercamping/alaskatrip.msnw