Reference to the more remote places in western Canada, as mentioned :
Once in a while it can be a crapshoot for fuel availability for unleaded or diesel in the remote places...
A scheduled fuel delivery can be delayed -
Generator Power could be out -
A fuel card purchase interlink could be out of service -
Generally it is not a problem however if you want to be prepared without delays, as noted - top off your tank(s) at the major cities or towns, and carry spare fuel like I do.
Just a note at the western end of Jasper at the Petro Canada station and restaurant, they do not have diesel available there as one would have to resort to the Esso or Shell station....The other Petro Canada station on the east end of Jasper has diesel there.
After taking my first trip in the Northwest Territories in 2008, I was glad I was prepared because I did not know what to expect other than it was probably going to be the most remote road trip I had ever taken which still holds up true today....
First stop was in Fort Liard as the establishment was reluctant to sell me fuel until I mentioned I only wanted about 45 to 50 litres tops to top off my one tank.
After thinking back on it, I think they were running low on supply and they wanted to stretch what fuel they had remaining for their locals as the pow wow was going on 30 miles away (that I also attended).
I always carry 10 gallons of spare fuel in my camper rig while in Canada or driving remote anywhere in the far north.
When I arrived in Fort Simpson, the one gas station was closed for two days, and the other one was expecting delivery in three to four days while they were out of fuel, so after some serious calculating and feather throttling on the drive leaving Fort Simpson, I actually made it to Fort Providence on fumes in my dual tanks the following day as I almost resorted to the spare fuel.
Upon returning from Anchorage to home this past 4th of July holiday in my camper, I stopped to stretch my legs at the South Denali Viewpoint at mile 136 Parks Hwy., and this man from Brazil with broken english was telling me how far Trapper Creek was from our current location and told him yes it is 20 miles away....then I finally understood him more when he assumed that I was going to take him and his wife there to get a little gas and drive him back (as he knew he did not have enough fuel in their rental car to make it to Trapper Creek and buy some gas), as I nodded my head 'no', I was not heading in that direction and that I was already late and behind schedule to make it back to Fairbanks to work the following day - wished him the best of luck as I did not carry any spare fuel as I can make it to Anchorage easily in my rig on just fuel in both tanks alone...if I did have spare fuel I would have helped him out.
Turned out he drove this rental car starting in Anchorage and drove all over Denali and thought he was close enough to many gas stations to get gas whenever it was low.
- and when I stop I always walk around the rig feeling the hubs to see if any are running warm.
I do the same thing with the wheel bearing checks, however I use my infrared thermometer laser pointer to check each wheel, I also check temps of differential housing and pinion bearing, exhaust temp, each engine cylinder temp, water pump temp, intake temp...this device comes in handy for monitoring these things and early detection is very key !
It is also nice to check any lake or river temp, ground temp, and any other surface imaginable with this unit - worth every penny.
There is leaded gasoline available in Canada and Alaska however there is a catch to get it (defending Sue's typo here) :
You will need to know the security gate code to gain access and hopefully they will sell it to you when they ask "where's your plane" as I point to my 1970 Ford Thunderbird (which I still have).
This picture below is from June 1994, one of many trips in and thru Canada purchasing 100 octane low lead fuel at Whitehorse International Airport on the tarmac... I driven this rig from Fairbanks to Los Angeles and back six times between 1985 and 1991, during the tent and sleeping in the car days, well before I obtained my current RV camper rig back in 1996.
Leaded fuel purchase...filler up, please !
