Leaving Nor Cal in Early March
We have been considering making the drive to the Anchorage area. My wife is a travel nurse and will be finishing up her assignment here in Pacifica, CA (about 25 minutes south of San Francisco) in ear...
Forum Discussion
I will just talk about the first region you will hit in your way north, BC.
You not only have be watching pot holes and narrow roads, you need to be aware of frost heaves. Those frost heaves if not identified by markers on the side of the road, will snap a leaf spring or send you for a ride to the rhubarb if your not careful.
Also campgrounds in BC historically don’t open until the third weekend in May. Your going to have to find places to dump your black and grey water. You will find campgrounds open Year round, but are they on your route, and if so how far apart are they.
The weather farther north, the colder it will be and you will run into snow anywhere in B.C. on your way north in early March. Heck I’m still snowmobiling until mid April and I only live 3 hrs north of Spokane.
You say you don’t mind boon-docking, those places will have to be in a town and most likely a parking lot. The problem is that as you drive north especially if there is snow on the ground or it is snowing the area that you can pull off and park in, usually are the last thing to get plowed out during winter months. Also you will also be required to have winter tires or Mud and Snow ( M/S ) tires on 95% of the hwys in BC until March 31st.
Don’t get me wrong, you can do exactly what you are planing, but you should put some thought and a lot of research in to leaving that early heading to Alaska. You say you have some cold weather camping below zero, well in my opinion that’s not winter camping. I have done some winter camping in my camper while snowmobiling over the years, but that’s only for a short period of time and I don’t use any of the campers plumbing.
You also say you don't have any winter driving experience, and pulling a 5th Wheel on winter roads is not fun, and if you have never driven in snow, and not pulled a heavy trailer you have no idea of what you can expect or can happen.
I have only touched on a couple of things you need to be aware off, there are a lot more.
There are a couple people on the here that monitor this site who do winter camping and live in the Yukon, these two people are the ones you need to be talking with. sue.t & explorenorth
Good luck .
Soup
You not only have be watching pot holes and narrow roads, you need to be aware of frost heaves. Those frost heaves if not identified by markers on the side of the road, will snap a leaf spring or send you for a ride to the rhubarb if your not careful.
Also campgrounds in BC historically don’t open until the third weekend in May. Your going to have to find places to dump your black and grey water. You will find campgrounds open Year round, but are they on your route, and if so how far apart are they.
The weather farther north, the colder it will be and you will run into snow anywhere in B.C. on your way north in early March. Heck I’m still snowmobiling until mid April and I only live 3 hrs north of Spokane.
You say you don’t mind boon-docking, those places will have to be in a town and most likely a parking lot. The problem is that as you drive north especially if there is snow on the ground or it is snowing the area that you can pull off and park in, usually are the last thing to get plowed out during winter months. Also you will also be required to have winter tires or Mud and Snow ( M/S ) tires on 95% of the hwys in BC until March 31st.
Don’t get me wrong, you can do exactly what you are planing, but you should put some thought and a lot of research in to leaving that early heading to Alaska. You say you have some cold weather camping below zero, well in my opinion that’s not winter camping. I have done some winter camping in my camper while snowmobiling over the years, but that’s only for a short period of time and I don’t use any of the campers plumbing.
You also say you don't have any winter driving experience, and pulling a 5th Wheel on winter roads is not fun, and if you have never driven in snow, and not pulled a heavy trailer you have no idea of what you can expect or can happen.
I have only touched on a couple of things you need to be aware off, there are a lot more.
There are a couple people on the here that monitor this site who do winter camping and live in the Yukon, these two people are the ones you need to be talking with. sue.t & explorenorth
Good luck .
Soup
