Paid Caravans to Alaska Worth it?

I cannot imagine doing this. When I am camping I like the idea that I can go where I like, when I like and meet folks I like. Why be tied to someone else's plan ?

If you are worried about breakdowns then rent an RV it will cost about half of your figure and will include 24/7 breakdown cover.

Trevor

Acdii wrote:
I can see a caravan for traveling through Alaska, some roads get pretty rough, and having buddies along in case of a breakdown is a plus, but $10,000? That seems pretty steep.

Buddies?
I mean, yeah I'll help someone if they breakdown, but having a pack of people who are afraid of the dark and me being the only guy with air tools, I'm not spending my $10k to fix people's RVs fr a month!

In 2010 we went to Alaska with our fifth wheel and truck shown in my signature. We left July 1st and returned home August 10th. We travelled over 11,000 kms and it cost us $6200.00 in total for everything, fuel, eats, treats , camp grounds, cool ones, attractions, etc.
The only reservations for Campgrounds we made were for Denali, although the Kenai Peninsula truly is busy during fishing season. We went to all parts of Alaska while there.

By my math the cost is over $300 per day.

CGs on your own will be $35-$45 per day, all commercial CGs, not state rec.areas or Canadian provincial parks which are much nicer IMO. Some excursions are included. Prices vary greatly with excursion. Some dinners are included, most likely limited choice menu. Of course all other travel expenses are on you. You get to meet everyone in the group. Some you will like. Others, not so much. You have the security of a leader & a mop up guy in case you break down. If you like the hand holding, fine, but Alaska is not the wild & wooly north with bears & wolves running all over the place. The roads are not the roads you see in old films of the Alcan with bulldozers & army trucks slip sliding all over.

Contrary to reports, mostly from people who have never been there, the North is a very civilised place. The roads are for the most part, good. Those flags marking frost heaves in certain areas are there for a reason. There are long stretches of no cell service. People survived without phones anywhere before. There is no need to have a northern trip planned out to the last day.

If you like somewhere, stay awhile. If somebody gives you a pointer on what to go see off the beaten path or an attraction, do it. If the weather is not great, stay put. There is no reason or pressure to be somewhere.

Done it four times. The itch is growing to do it a fifth time.

In 2014 we left Mexico for the western U.S. then up to Vancouver Island and across Canada, down through the Great Lakes, back into Canada to Ottawa. We flew from there to Nova Scotia for a week, then traveled back down through the U.S.

Gas prices were high (Langley, BC $5.75 a gallon). We covered 10,000 miles in four months. Who needs a guide? Everything is in English, you have GPS, cellphones, we boondocked, took advantage of Passport America parks when we could, forest service, etc.

Had a blast. Why spend so much money for someone to take you places you may not want to go and then pay for most of your expenses anyway. We spent a total of $5500, most of it on fuel.

Sorry, I'm a free bird.

We've made couple trips to AK from Texas in '15' and '18' no way did it cost us $10,000. We did a mix of state campgrounds, Homer spit and private campgrounds.

We have shared campgrounds with caravans seemed like the wagonmaster was the first to arrive and setup some sort of welcome area for his travelers and help them find their assigned space. In the morning there was coffee and donuts I not sure if it was the wagonmaster or the tailgunner that handled that.

Since we were on our own time if we liked a place we stayed an extra day or two. We were in Fairbanks and spent several days there, did the discovery paddlewheeler, did the museum of the north, went to Chena hotsprings and had our Appletini in the Ice Museum. DW wanted to do the restaurants from one of those TV food shows. So we ate at the Silver Gulch Brewery and restaurant and they were going to have brew tasting the following Saturday or Sunday so we added a couple days on our stay. Turned out a front moved in and it rained for three days. The DW did get another chance to try a featured dish from the TV show and I got to taste the Alaskan brewmasters best.

The biggest expence was Halibut fishing charter, the license, processing and shipping frozen on to Florida. We learned, saved on the '18' trip we added a 3cu.ft. freezer to the 5er for the Halibut and Salmon.

While I was out fishing DW was doing her favorite kayaking in the tidepools.

Would I pay for a spot on a caravan to Alaska? No. DW thinks we should signup to work on one even if it only covered our camp fees and a few meals and some attractions.

Edited, no I would not find the value in that.

We have some friends that took a caravan to Alaska and enjoyed it. A couple years later they went back on their own.

DW and I went to Alaska the year I retired in 2012. The whole trip was 114 days and the cost was just about $10,000. Gas was the biggest expense, but the price of gas is lower than when we went. We still keep in touch with a few of the folks we met on the trip. For us the cost of going with a caravan is not worth it, but we know there are people that enjoy going with others.

Have fun whatever you decide.

I've made the trip multiple times by myself or "leading" someone else up and back. When I've done it I kept track of all my expenses (fuel, meals, camp fees, extras, etc) and I can typically do a round trip spending most of the summer in Alaska for a little over %5000. (I have to admit that my camping fees while in Alaska are nothing though as I camp in a friend's backyard.)

I've talked to a couple of people who have done the caravans and the $10,000 price is pretty typical. What I found interesting is that at the stops they make they have one or two pre-arranged side trips you can make to "see the sights". While that sounds nice I was amazed at what the organizers has selected for some of these side trips. Certainly not the ones I would have taken and many of the better sights didn't seem to be on their list of approved/pre-paid sites. So while traveling in a caravan may offer some peace of mind (at a price) it also might be very limiting on what you can see and do.

As for finding camping spots along the way, that's never been a problem for me and I don't make reservations ahead of time. Now once you're in Alaska it could be totally different, especially if you want a spot to stay on the Kenai during the summer fishing season.

And, there's a lot of traffic on the Alaska Highway in the summer months. If you get in trouble and need some help someone will always stop and offer assistance.

What else is included?

20 rigs at $10,000 = $200,000

30 days at say $50/night: campgrounds could maybe justify $1500 per rig (and is probably a high estimate).

Say 2 wranglers getting $10k each is only $20k ($1000 per rig)

With $10k, I can cover the campground costs or save some by boondocking where it makes sense. I can pay for a $200 tour every 3rd day and still have $7k to call for service if I break down (For anything major, you are still going to pay for service if you break down on the paid caravan).

I suppose there may be some camaraderie but I've been on enough tours that I know it's really hit or miss if I want to be around a random group of people.