Chicago-Alaska in April?

Having lived in Alaska for many years and fished BC for many more....April is the worst time to travel that area. Even winter gives better roads. I would not consider leaving to head north from Washington till the second week of May. You can easily arrive in Anchorage in two weeks with a little sight seeing and pretty leisurely pace. Earlier than that and you really risk some very bad and unstable spring weather all the way up. There are several passes and even in early June they can be hit anywhere from Merritt BC on to Anchorage. And....the scenery is pretty bleak that time of year.. To you it will look and feel like late winter, not spring.

And weather is just not unpredictable in April, yesterday our kids in Cochrane Alberta ( just west of Calgary) got 10 cm of snow, and are supposed to get another 2 today. On Sunday it was 25c and sunny.
Go figure!

Soup.

May might be too late for us this year (in terms of school and work holidays). I think we have to give this lots of thought and see if this is something we want to be doing this year (or save it to some future year when DH and myself will go full time RV'ing ;) )

We had been leaving in late April or early May for the annual trip to Alaska. In 2013 the son left about 25 April and encountered severe freezing weather and snow, had to lay over a day or two. We were about 2 weeks later and encountered snow in most campgrounds and snow on the road from Glenallen to Anchorage and south on 25 May.

2012 was a pleasant trip with no issues.

2014 had snow early May in Alberta and most campgrounds were closed.

We do this annually. A few years have been fine, but more years than not we have driven in snow and had freezing temps both overnight and during the day. Not every day, not all day, but enough. And that is for early, but usually not the first, of May.

Check Great Alaska Holidays, they go forth about May 10 from Iowa. They are likely full for 2015 but can provide info.


I

Black Ice:
One other issues is in the spring ( as well as fall and winter) when the sun does come out it will melt the snow banks beside the hwy and in some locations the water runs onto the Hwy and then when the sun goes down at Dusk it freezes and you get black ice, which can be a bear-cat if you’re not expecting it.
That ice will stay in the shaded areas all night long until the next day waiting for some unsuspecting driver and it will stay there until the sun hits it or a sand truck comes by and sprinkles his wears. . We have a “special corner” on Hwy around here that catches unsuspecting people every year as the sun doesn’t get back to melting that ice, until just before the sun goes down, so for a few weeks every spring the tow trucks make a killing on that one corner.
Soup

Thanks for all the feedback! Much appreciated! I looked at all the links and it's pretty much what I thought things would look like at that time of year. In case it does get below freezing at night time, is there anything to keep in mind as far as traveling in an RV?

I don't think I can say I have a lot of experience driving in the snow, no. It never snows where we live in Israel. I only had to drive in snow conditions twice, and both times were in the US (crossing a mountain pass in Utah in October, and the Ridge Trail road in Rocky Mountain NP in June). Both were short drives, but enough to whiten my knuckles! I was driving a minivan, no chains or special tires.

I should probably mention that I've never driven an RV, or anything larger than a minivan for that matter. My husband's not very experienced with large vehicles either (though he has some experience with driving military tanks ;) ). Everyone keeps telling me that motorhomes are easy to drive and are fairly stable. With the one-way deal, they can't guarantee a specific model either. It can be anything from 23ft to as large as they rent (40ft?).

I also wonder if 2015 is likely to have more snowfall due to El Ninio. Probably anyone's guess at this stage?

I realize that whether we leave in early April or early May, this is bound to be a huge adventure. We've traveled for over 10 months in the lower 48, with the kids and all. Visited 44 states so far, and spent months in the Rockies and out west. We love mountains, cool weather, nature and long endless roads.

Our other alternative for 2015 is a month's vacation in the Florida area (it's one of the few states we have yet to visit). It's going to be in February, which should be fine for Florida, and just a run-of-the-mill family Florida trip, with the theme parks, the Everglades, beaches etc. No mountains, snow, or long endless empty roads expected there. I'm sure we'll have lots of fun, but there's no doubt my husband and myself prefer an Alaska road trip! An adventure would be awesome. Getting stuck for a couple of days while waiting for them to plow the road would be just fine. What I don't want is to drive at 15MPH because of that for days on end, or worse, end up in a ditch, because the road was icy. Traveling with kids, safety is important to use, even when going out on an adventure.

All the previous comments are valid - April is still late Winter in many of the areas you'll go through. In late April, I drove from Vancouver to Whitehorse in 4 days - you can see about 40 photos and commentary from that trip on my blog starting here.

We are on your route approximately 2,200 km southeast of Sue & 3,300km from Anchorage. Comments in first two posts are valid for here. The last two springs have been cool & late with snow hanging around until end of April. Roads will be clear except for new snow which can come anytime so be prepared to sit out a couple of days. Most campgrounds not open. The few that are probably cater to workers.
Very unpredictably. Example yesterday high was 23C & sunny. Today 2C with probability of snow. In fact it is snowing Edmonton & North today.
April even less predictable.

In addition to tours and attractions not being open, most RV parks and government campgrounds aren't open either. Overnight temperatures may be below the freezing, enough to freeze water in the RV. Snowfall is a possibility in April too, so be prepared to wait out a storm.

I drove from Anchorage to Whitehorse on March 28 this year, see those pictures http://yukonsights.ca/20140328_Anch-Whrs.html

In 2013, we RVed to Liard Hotsprings at the end of March 2013 and drove the Alaska Highway to Whitehorse on March 31. http://yukonsights.ca/20130331_Liard-Whitehorse.html

And the first week of May 2013, an RV trip to Faro, Yukon http://yukonsights.ca/20130503_Braeburn-Faro.html

Some images of Yukon from mid-April 2013 here. http://yukonsights.ca/20130414_SpringYukon.html

Hi. Adventure might be the defining word. A number of RVers on this forum have reported taking RVs to Alaska as a way to minimize costs. The timing of your proposed trip *could* be a problem. I have not been to Alaska (yet) so I can't be any more specific about the weather there in April. But, I can tell you several things that might help your decision making. This past May a member of the Roll Call Alaska 2014 group was delayed a couple of days just after crossing into Canada because of snow covered roads. Additionally, the weather in the northern US in April can be cold and snowy. It is not unusual for it to snow in here in Pittsburgh in April, and we have a milder climate than Chicago and the northern plains. Temps. some nights have been below freezing in Pittsburgh in May and certainly in April, so I would expect below freezing temps in northern Canada and parts of Alaska. Having said that, I know parts of coastal Alaska in the South East often don't see freezing temps. Given the climate you are coming from, have you ever driven in snow or on ice covered roads? If not, an RV might not be the best first-time experience. Good luck with your decisions.

Bob