ALASKA 2016

[Tee Jay]

Very true, the "Bump" signs you bether be prepared. The last time I drove the highway (2012), the Canadian road was generally pretty good but you would have to watch the signage until Beaver Creek. After Beaver Creek to the Alaska/U.S. Border the road has always been horrible since my first trip (1979). Cross the border into Alaska is like a super highway compared to what had been just driven.

The Beaver Creek to the border was very good Fall'15, a pretty complete re-build of the road in 14 and 15. I expect to see failures showing up in the spring. But it is much improved over the years. This will be our 11th trip since 2007.

[rickeieio]

We have regular access to the Northern Lights in the Grande Prairie area, just not during high summer season. If anyone has any questions about the southern end of the Al-Can, or the surrounding area, let us know. We love showing off our scenery. I know Rickeieio missed out on some great farming encounters. We know quite a few people in the area,with some unique hobbies and interests, as well.

Too many miles, too little time........

 

I know folks who've gone to Alaska, and back, from the Cincinnati, area, in 21 days. Over 10,00 miles in three weeks, and they claimed they saw it all. In 2003, my parents bought a class "B" motorhome and went, took 25 days. But then, Dad would drive I-80 across Iowa and claim he'd seen the whole state.

 

So, this is a long winded way of saying, take your time and if some one offers to show you around, accept.

[RickW]

I know folks who've gone to Alaska, and back, from the Cincinnati, area, in 21 days. Over 10,00 miles in three weeks, and they claimed they saw it all.

They may have saw it but what did they experience? I mean besides a lot of long consecutive days behind the wheel. That is averaging 475 miles a day, each day .......

[rickeieio]

Exactly. Miles behind you does NOT mean you actually saw anything. I could never get Dad to realize that. The first time we went to Yellowstone NP, he said to allow 1/2 day for Tetons and one day for Y/S. We spent a week between the two and felt we'd barely scratched the surface.

 

If When we return to Alaska, we'll allow at least 7-10 days for the Yukon/BC section of the Alaska Hwy.

[whatsnext]

Unbelievable picture Larry. What a Christmas sight. Thank you for sharing.

[jags1fan]

For the die hard travelers here's picture from home

Fairbanks Dec 19, 2015

Love the Pictures! Thanks for sharing!!!

[Imurphy907]

We are based out of Palmer, Ak. I will be moving my 5er out of the shop shortly to start some major upgrades on the HDT(only 1 14' door on my little 1800sq ft shop).

 

Going to be a few more years before we full time it and hit the road, but we are getting ready. For anyone who makes it up, it would be great to meet up. Or if you want a free parking spot for a day or two we have plenty of room, and awesome views right down the road from Hatcher Pass. Just let us know. We have 5 acres with a great view, a creek, hot tub, 50 amp service, dump station, water and a small hobby farm.

[Larry&Donna-AK]

We are based out of Palmer, Ak. I will be moving my 5er out of the shop shortly to start some major upgrades on the HDT(only 1 14' door on my little 1800sq ft shop).

 

Going to be a few more years before we full time it and hit the road, but we are getting ready. For anyone who makes it up, it would be great to meet up. Or if you want a free parking spot for a day or two we have plenty of room, and awesome views right down the road from Hatcher Pass. Just let us know. We have 5 acres with a great view, a creek, hot tub, 50 amp service, dump station, water and a small hobby farm.

Love to take you up on the offer, one of these years. Right now, we're happy to be Outside, again, and warming up.

[Jim Gell]

Cathy and I are officially undecided on going to Alaska this summer. I am optomistic that we will, Cathy is not convinced we should. I read someplace, probably on the non HDT Alaska 2016 thread, that early reservations are needed to get a campsite at Denali NP. Where have HDT'rs stayed to visit Denali? I don't see any campgrounds there listed in the HDT Campground Guide. If we go, I think I would want to stay a while and take bus into the park numerous times. Never measured, but would not be surprised if we were 68 feet long.

 

Jim

[rickeieio]

When we were there in 2014, we stayed in both Cantwell and Tatlaneeka(sp?), 22 and 45 miles from the entrance to Denali. We had no issues finding a space. IN fact, we made no reservations more than a few hours in advance for the 44 day trip. We were about the same length as you.

[Bill w/bus]

We went in 2001 without reservations any where. Close in Dawson Creek, parked in the wash bay.

Telkinta (SP? to lazy to check,) Campground is some 30 miles into Denali NP. Reservations suggested as min stay is three days for an RV. I will also reserve somewhere for our stay during the Tanana Valley State Fair in Fairbanks. If things are full then a pull off will work.

We are planning on a six month trip from South Texas and return. About 14K miles or less than 80 miles/day. We have worked out a rough trip plan first week of May Bannf, first week of June Denali, then south to Homer, 4th of July in Valdez, Fairbanks for the Fair, then start heading south to Bremerton by 15 September for a submarine crew reunion. Back in South Texas by mid October.

 

Bill

[BandBuds]

Hi, Jim and Norma, We wish you a Merry Christmas, too. We enjoyed seeing you both in Whitehorse, Yukon and Ft. Nelson, BC. We stayed at Chicken Gold Camp, Chicken, AK, and had a wonderful 30amp pull through. No sewer hookups so we used their showers. We stayed 5 days. In 2014, the Top of the World Hwy was still not recommended but in 2015 at the end of the season Jeff & Cindy Brett drove it with no issues. I hope Jeff and Cindy will give us some comments about their experience. We plan another adventure to Chicken Gold Camp - and hope to be there late August 2016, so we can enjoy the fields of color AK gets around that time.

We did drive the Top of the World Highway back from Chicken to Dawson City in early September 2015 with no problems at all - just go slowly and enjoy the view. We also drove the Denali Highway with no difficulty by keeping the speed down to an average of about 15 MPH. On the Denali we figured that there are lots of pull offs with room to turn around if the road was really ridiculous, but it really wasn't that bad. We did pay for a van ride from Kenny Lake to McCarthy and on to Kennycutt. It was definitely worth the $90 a head and was absolutely the WORST road and ride I've ever experienced - 3 hours to go about 90 miles in a 15 passenger van with a driver being paid by the trip NOT by the hour! It was brutal, but the only way to get to McCarthy. We made reservations at the Seward military campground, in Valdez and again at the village at Denali National Park. Those reservations were made because we had friends and our daughter come up to visit with us. Get used to driving about 40 MPH when you think you could do 55, so you will have plenty of time and distance to slow down to 15 - 20 MPH for the frost heaves marked by the red flags or traffic cones. It is the trip of a lifetime, so take your time and enjoy the ride!

 

Jeff

[SuiteSuccess]

Jeff, is the mine at Kennycut open for tourism?

[Al F]

As far as driving to McCarthy and the mine, this guy drove his Prius on the 59 miles of gravel road w/o a problem. Here is a link to his blog entry.

[BandBuds]

Jeff, is the mine at Kennycut open for tourism?

No Carl the mines (5 of them I think) were linked to the ore processing building by cable which brought to ore over the mountain for processing. The building is amazing - 14 stories tall with NO foundation! A very cool tour. The amount of machinery and huge metal stuff left just lying around is too much to believe until you see it. They just left it all behind. Look into staying overnight there if possible.

[SuiteSuccess]

I just remember there was some show on Nat Geo or Discovery about McCarthy and some dude ( Neil I believe) was going to open the mines for tourism. Show went off the air so was curious.

[Al F]

I guess I am unclear about the question about the mines being open. The grounds are open to some extent to look around the buildings from the outside. So from that perspective the mines are open. As far as going underground, then no they are not open. Also most of the building are too unsafe to go inside. Check out the link to blog I gave earlier.

 

Also here is a link to the Nat. Park website for the mine.

[BandBuds]

I just remember there was some show on Nat Geo or Discovery about McCarthy and some dude ( Neil I believe) was going to open the mines for tourism. Show went off the air so was curious.

Yes Carl, there was a show titled "The Edge of Alaska" about McCarthy and the Kenneycutt mine (the motherlode). We saw the show while in Valdez and decided to make the side trip on our way back to Denali National Park. Definitely worth the time to go see it.

[bigboomer]

We will be heading north this summer. We will cross border May 15th and head thru Alberta thru Banff and Jasper on the Icefield Parkway and will return down the Cassier's crossings back to the lower 48 last week in August.

 

To insure campgrounds able to handle us we booked almost all of our sites already except for the unreservable Yukon Provincial CG's.

 

Thanks to all above with the info and hints of what to do and not do. Look forward to sharing and collecting more info from everyone.

[Jemstone]

Even though this topic is pretty much over, I wanted to add a post script. For anyone contemplating a trip to Alaska, purchase a current copy of the Milepost. This publication has been the basic guide to the Alaska Highway since the 1940's. Virtually everything of note on the highway is in the Milepost and, as the name implies, the entries are located by their mileage on the highway. The highway is driven twice per year to assure accuracy. Since services can be miles apart and are sometimes seasonal, the Milepost is essential for planning the drive. The Milepost has several planning maps to help design the trip and covers all the main highways of the far north that branch off the Alaska Highway.

 

If you are going to use a camp ground, call ahead for reservations, if possible. Large caravans of RVers (us folk in big groups) tend to tie up most campsites at some parks. There are limited facilities on the highway and they can be overwhelmed by large groups.

 

There is one stretch of the highway that deserves slower driving and close attention. At Haines Junction the ferry traffic from Haines joins the highway. From that point to the Alaska border the road maintenance is spotty. The Yukon refused to pave that section when the rest of the highway was paved. Almost all traffic is US travelers and Alaska was invited to pave the Yukon stretch if pavement was wanted. Once the stretch was paved, maintenance was assigned to a small group of beavers. Sadly the beaver have neglected that duty. The purpose of those small orange flags is to build false confidence in the driver, who begins to believe the nasty sections have all been flagged. This sets you up for the camouflaged pit just over the crest of the hill. One table, two chairs and kitchen items broken from the impact in our case. Even in this case the Milepost notes recent bad patches of road.

 

For families, good luck telling the kids it's bedtime while it looks like it's three in the afternoon outside. The long daylight can be disorienting to kids, which then translates to a headache for parents. Packing some blackout material for the windows will help, as many RV shades transmit a lot of light. Allocate plenty of time for the drive. There are sights so beautiful it takes time to absorb them.

[RickS]

We will be heading north this summer. We will cross border May 15th and head thru Alberta thru Banff and Jasper on the Icefield Parkway and will return down the Cassier's crossings back to the lower 48 last week in August.

 

To insure campgrounds able to handle us we booked almost all of our sites already except for the unreservable Yukon Provincial CG's.

 

Thanks to all above with the info and hints of what to do and not do. Look forward to sharing and collecting more info from everyone.

 

We will be in Banff, Tunnel Mtn Trailer Court May 20-23. If you are in the area stop in for a visit. Site 224 There are a few sites still available there but they are going quick.

[bigboomer]

Rick,

 

We will be in the Banff area 5/19 to 5/23. Since we could not book at Lake Louise before 6/20 we were looking at the alternatives such as Tunnel Mtn. Are the sites there big enough to handle us larger rigs in the 65' plus range?

[Darryl&Rita]

The last time I was in there, Tunnel Mountain was essentially a collection of parallel roads. The sites were basically off the edges of the roads. Early arrivals got to park easier, without any parallel parking. There were lines to delineate each sites parking, but the first and last could hang over the grass without penalty.

[bigboomer]

Thanks Darryl and Rita,

 

Our plans are to stay at Lake Louise with alternates for Tunnel Mtn. if we do not get a spot at LL first. We will be coming in from Calgary early so we are hoping to get a good site since they are not reservvable until 6/20.

 

Most folks we have spoken with said that based on the time of year we should not have an issue (I hope!)

 

If not we will just boondock it at one of the pull overs on the Parkway.

[RickS]

Rick,

 

We will be in the Banff area 5/19 to 5/23. Since we could not book at Lake Louise before 6/20 we were looking at the alternatives such as Tunnel Mtn. Are the sites there big enough to handle us larger rigs in the 65' plus range?

Yeah, no problem parking the longer rigs. We use Tunnel mountain trailer court for our shorter long weekend stays. Reservations can be booked online already and with part of the park under construction this season the long weekend will be busy. Here is what the sites look like.