We were scheduled to meet a 35 day tour in Dawson Creek May 15th and just received phone call it is cancelled. :SWe are stilling going, plan to stick to the same basic schedule. If anyone else had those plans and wants to join us let me know.

sljohnson1938 wrote:what tour company ?I will post the name after my deposit has been returned.

Also would be interested in what tour company. Did they give you an alternative date to join another tour? May seems a bit early to me for that trip - maybe they did not have enough participants. I would not be concerned about going to Alaska/Yukon on your own. Make sure you get a copy of The Milepost.

I think that you will enjoy taking the trip by yourselves. We did. Along the way you are going to meet up with others. May travel a day or two together, then go separate ways just to meet others.Have fun. Take lots of pictures.

why use a tour company from Dawson creek. There is only 1 road cannot get lost, five gas stations fill up at each and repair parts are a two week wait at at the dealership regardless. Go by your self. the freedom is outstanding. If you can make it to dawson creek you can do the whole trip. Take 60 days instead of the 35. Stay ten days in valdez its all great...

Alaska Caravan Co just cancelled our tour | Good Sam Community

oldbeek
Explorer
Mar 03, 2015
Had to stay in a cg near Denali with a tour group. What a mob! Going with a tour , you are crammed in with no space to breath. Second trip I found a boondock spot on the Denali Hwy just out of Denali. Do not miss the Denali Hwy. 100 miles of dirt but worth it. I spent 3 days just crossing that 100 miles. Saw caribou, bears, moose, nesting loons and swans. Beautiful scenery. That is the solitude I was looking for.
jmckelvy
Explorer
Mar 01, 2015
2gypsies wrote:
Hmmm... in 2009 we were in Denali 10 nights and saw 'The Mountain' 7 out of 10 days. We thought it was a beautiful summer. Our only problem areas with fires were going up and one was at the highway around Liard. There was a lot of smoke in Fairbanks. One good thing that dry year - no mosquito problems. :)

My previous statement wasn't very clear. We didn't get to see Mr McKinley due to weather not smoke. There was no smoke in Denali at that time IIRC. We did have smoke in many other places, Valdez or Seward (not sure which now), Fairbanks, and on the Haul Road.

We enjoyed the trip in spite of the smoke in many areas.
explorenorth
Explorer
Mar 01, 2015
tonymull wrote:
explorenorth wrote:
tonymull wrote:
That is way too early! Even Alaskans don't venture out of Anchorage till Memorial Day Weekend...good luck finding a campsite that weekend, but the way. June in Alaska will look like April in Michigan. Best to be in Alaska in July, August and early Sept.

We disagree. Our first motorhome trip this year is booked - 5 days in Haines April 2-7, but May is the best month of the year.

May can be great for spotting wildlife I'd agree, but things are kind of bare. Check out the pics above. It's like winter camping down below. I'd still go for July and August. August was always my favorite month in AK.

LOL - you say "kind of bare" like it's a bad thing!
tonymull
Explorer
Mar 01, 2015
explorenorth wrote:
tonymull wrote:
That is way too early! Even Alaskans don't venture out of Anchorage till Memorial Day Weekend...good luck finding a campsite that weekend, but the way. June in Alaska will look like April in Michigan. Best to be in Alaska in July, August and early Sept.

We disagree. Our first motorhome trip this year is booked - 5 days in Haines April 2-7, but May is the best month of the year.

May can be great for spotting wildlife I'd agree, but things are kind of bare. Check out the pics above. It's like winter camping down below. I'd still go for July and August. August was always my favorite month in AK.
sue_t
Explorer
Mar 01, 2015
We usually do our first camping trip in May. The Haines Road is quite nice then, our favourite boondock spot has many, many willow ptarmigan gearing up for mating season and I love photographing them.

The trip in 2014:
http://yukonsights.ca/20140507_HainesRd.html

In May 2013 we drove all the way into Haines AK:
http://yukonsights.ca/20130525_HainesRd.html

This is our favourite May camp spot:

Traffic on the Haines Road in May can hold you up a bit though:
explorenorth
Explorer
Mar 01, 2015
tonymull wrote:
That is way too early! Even Alaskans don't venture out of Anchorage till Memorial Day Weekend...good luck finding a campsite that weekend, but the way. June in Alaska will look like April in Michigan. Best to be in Alaska in July, August and early Sept.

We disagree. Our first motorhome trip this year is booked - 5 days in Haines April 2-7, but May is the best month of the year.
2gypsies1
Explorer III
Mar 01, 2015
Hmmm... in 2009 we were in Denali 10 nights and saw 'The Mountain' 7 out of 10 days. We thought it was a beautiful summer. Our only problem areas with fires were going up and one was at the highway around Liard. There was a lot of smoke in Fairbanks. One good thing that dry year - no mosquito problems. :)
jmckelvy
Explorer
Mar 01, 2015
traveylin wrote:
We were there in 2009, a dry year with lots of forest fires. It really limited the distant views of the mountains. Totally different trip in 2014 saw great iews

X2. Our two trips were in those exact years. Lots of smoke in 2009 and didn't see the "mountain". Last year, 2014, no smoke and saw the mountain. Magnificent!
traveylin
Explorer
Feb 28, 2015
We were there in 2009, a dry year with lots of forest fires. It really limited the distant views of the mountains. Totally different trip in 2014 saw great iews
sue_t
Explorer
Feb 28, 2015
This winter has been an interesting year in the north. Not much snow.

The Iron Dog snowmachine race is struggling with minimal snow.

The start of Iditarod sled dog race has been moved from Anchorage to Fairbanks, but even so, there's not much snow.

It seems all our snow went south. Present fear is for a dry summer which could mean a high forest fire risk. Visiting earlier might be better if that happens.

http://www.irondog.org/day-1-of-the-iron-dog/