Helpful Ideas for Alaskan Travels
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We just did our first AK trip. Pulled a 26 ft fifth wheel from Florida. A few thing to think about
1. Have a trusted friend with a key watch your house while you are away. They can come by a couple times a month to give you peace of mind.
2. Leave your info with the local police. That way they have contact info for you and your emergency contact and will probably have volunteers check the house once in a while. We did that. The dept I retired from had that service too.
3. You mentioned vehicle length and height issues. We often one-night in Wal-Mart parking lots when between point A and point B. Wal-Mart in Shreveport Louisiana has a low entrance and a sign saying 12 feet. We pulled in 1/2 asleep, saw the sign and thought "It's Wal-Mart, we have to fit. Nope....Hit the AC unit. No issues at all the rest of the way.
4. Maintenance. I think you said you were rebuilding or fixing up a fifth wheel. Make sure to have the equalizer on the leaf springs checked by a pro. It needs to be checked every 15-20K miles and will cause undue stress on the leafs and tire wear if it is not. I kept wearing tires on the outside and could not figure why. Finally three of the leaf springs snapped. We were not even close to overloaded. An expensive repair that could have been avoided. Wheel bearings. We bought our fifth wheel used in 2009. Been on a couple major trips but it had sat for two years prior to this trip. Had not the wheel bearings inspected and professionally packed since before the last trip. I always just use the Ultra-Lube system and keep them full by checking every 1000 miles or so. We burnt out a bearing and an axle very shortly after having the leaf springs fixed. Thank God this was in Dallas Texas and not on the AlCan. Get them checked and you might consider having them inspected while you are in Ak too.
4. An old adage up there; don't let it get below 1/2 and carry a 5 gallon spare can of fuel with you. Those words of wisdom served me well. I drove a diesel truck and there was a place in the yukon where, because of station closures and remoteness we had 180 miles between available fuel.
5. By a copy of The Milepost when you get up there. It's dubbed The Bible of North Country Travel for a good reason. It's updated yearly with border information, road information, tourist information, gas stations, restaurants, scenic drives and etc. Well worth the $32 we paid at a visitor's center for it.
6. Locals. Locals are a great source of info up there. I asked people about road conditions on particular highways when deciding when and where to go. They were very helpful, in particular the State Troopers.
7. Free things to do. There is a plethora of free things to do for value conscious travelers like my wife and I. Hiking in DeNali was awesome as was the walk up to Worthington Glacier. Believe that was in either Seward or Valdez. If you go past the end of the maintained trail you are on your own but many, including us, kept right on going and walked right up to the glacier. Touching a glacier and drinking water from a melting glacier was quite an experience for a Florida boy and his wife from Thailand.
8. Pullouts. Pullouts all along the AlCan and many of the highways up there provide nice, free places to stay for a night between points a and b. They are remote and you will more than likely be on your own. I choose to carry a 12 gauge in the rv. You can research Canadian Border website and download the rules and paperwork for declaring the gun. Expect to be searched so don't hide anything.
9. Fishing. Spend the money to either deep sea or salmon fish. Fishing is the best I've ever seen. Caught my limit of Halibut and had fish for the rest of the trip. Fresh fish on a grill. Didn't have a freshwater license but salmon were running so thick I couldn't help myself. I waded in and picked two of them up right by the tail!!! Threw them right back of course. New version of catch and release?
10. Reservations. We do not like to make reservations because we like to float as we choose. That said; there are a couple places you at least need to consider making reservations. These are the national parks of the American West and the tourist areas of Alaska. We wanted to stay a few days in Yellowstone but it was all booked up and we wound up with only one night. In the tourist areas of Alaska if you arrive the same time as the cruise ships and RV Caravans you're gonna be S.O.L. We had that befall us in Skagway and we could not get a place to sleep except in an overflow with no hook-ups and we were unable to book a single one of the many things to do because the caravan and ships had everything all sewn up.
11. Have fun-enjoy this trip of a lifetime. Do not be in a hurry. Many of the "highways" in Alaska are very optimistically named. In many places you cannot plan on traveling X number of miles in a day. A highway can be twisty and windy with 25 MPH speed limits for a good distance, could be under construction. You just never know. Just give yourself plenty of travel time and you'll be just fine.
12.... ENJOY!!!! Hope this helped.
1. Have a trusted friend with a key watch your house while you are away. They can come by a couple times a month to give you peace of mind.
2. Leave your info with the local police. That way they have contact info for you and your emergency contact and will probably have volunteers check the house once in a while. We did that. The dept I retired from had that service too.
3. You mentioned vehicle length and height issues. We often one-night in Wal-Mart parking lots when between point A and point B. Wal-Mart in Shreveport Louisiana has a low entrance and a sign saying 12 feet. We pulled in 1/2 asleep, saw the sign and thought "It's Wal-Mart, we have to fit. Nope....Hit the AC unit. No issues at all the rest of the way.
4. Maintenance. I think you said you were rebuilding or fixing up a fifth wheel. Make sure to have the equalizer on the leaf springs checked by a pro. It needs to be checked every 15-20K miles and will cause undue stress on the leafs and tire wear if it is not. I kept wearing tires on the outside and could not figure why. Finally three of the leaf springs snapped. We were not even close to overloaded. An expensive repair that could have been avoided. Wheel bearings. We bought our fifth wheel used in 2009. Been on a couple major trips but it had sat for two years prior to this trip. Had not the wheel bearings inspected and professionally packed since before the last trip. I always just use the Ultra-Lube system and keep them full by checking every 1000 miles or so. We burnt out a bearing and an axle very shortly after having the leaf springs fixed. Thank God this was in Dallas Texas and not on the AlCan. Get them checked and you might consider having them inspected while you are in Ak too.
4. An old adage up there; don't let it get below 1/2 and carry a 5 gallon spare can of fuel with you. Those words of wisdom served me well. I drove a diesel truck and there was a place in the yukon where, because of station closures and remoteness we had 180 miles between available fuel.
5. By a copy of The Milepost when you get up there. It's dubbed The Bible of North Country Travel for a good reason. It's updated yearly with border information, road information, tourist information, gas stations, restaurants, scenic drives and etc. Well worth the $32 we paid at a visitor's center for it.
6. Locals. Locals are a great source of info up there. I asked people about road conditions on particular highways when deciding when and where to go. They were very helpful, in particular the State Troopers.
7. Free things to do. There is a plethora of free things to do for value conscious travelers like my wife and I. Hiking in DeNali was awesome as was the walk up to Worthington Glacier. Believe that was in either Seward or Valdez. If you go past the end of the maintained trail you are on your own but many, including us, kept right on going and walked right up to the glacier. Touching a glacier and drinking water from a melting glacier was quite an experience for a Florida boy and his wife from Thailand.
8. Pullouts. Pullouts all along the AlCan and many of the highways up there provide nice, free places to stay for a night between points a and b. They are remote and you will more than likely be on your own. I choose to carry a 12 gauge in the rv. You can research Canadian Border website and download the rules and paperwork for declaring the gun. Expect to be searched so don't hide anything.
9. Fishing. Spend the money to either deep sea or salmon fish. Fishing is the best I've ever seen. Caught my limit of Halibut and had fish for the rest of the trip. Fresh fish on a grill. Didn't have a freshwater license but salmon were running so thick I couldn't help myself. I waded in and picked two of them up right by the tail!!! Threw them right back of course. New version of catch and release?
10. Reservations. We do not like to make reservations because we like to float as we choose. That said; there are a couple places you at least need to consider making reservations. These are the national parks of the American West and the tourist areas of Alaska. We wanted to stay a few days in Yellowstone but it was all booked up and we wound up with only one night. In the tourist areas of Alaska if you arrive the same time as the cruise ships and RV Caravans you're gonna be S.O.L. We had that befall us in Skagway and we could not get a place to sleep except in an overflow with no hook-ups and we were unable to book a single one of the many things to do because the caravan and ships had everything all sewn up.
11. Have fun-enjoy this trip of a lifetime. Do not be in a hurry. Many of the "highways" in Alaska are very optimistically named. In many places you cannot plan on traveling X number of miles in a day. A highway can be twisty and windy with 25 MPH speed limits for a good distance, could be under construction. You just never know. Just give yourself plenty of travel time and you'll be just fine.
12.... ENJOY!!!! Hope this helped.
