Roll Call Alaska 2014

Dease Lake to Stewart - We elected to top off fuel in Dease Lake, hit the combo gas station grocery for a few things, and then move on down the road. We stopped at Mountain Shadow RV, and liked the owners (Steve and Anne), and their nice park and location, so stayed an extra night. (Nice little hike down to the lake. Good views. We took a back in spot, so we could have our passenger side facing the mountain and lake view.)

The roads from Dease all the way down to Stewart, were generally good. Some areas to watch for ice heaves, and a few construction zones too. Many stretches were very good roadway.

At 37A, the scenery kicks into a different level. We drove most of the day coming down 37 in some on and off again heavy rains (this is now 5 days ago). The rains seemed to stop just before we reached 37A, but the clouds remained sprinkled over the sides of the mountain, the creeks/rivers were misting heavy, and a sort of on and off again light fog added to the adventure. Bear Glacier was perfect, and I think we stopped counting at 15-17 waterfalls. And of course, one small grizzly to add to the drive animal count!

We stayed at Bear River RV, and drove back and forth into Hyder. Saw one grizzly at the Fish Creek, but he was full, and just kind of looked at the river. But, earlier that day, the Ranger reported two or three bears had some fun going up and down the creek below the crowds. One Mom with a small bear with her, walked the area the next time we stopped by, but we missed them by about 5 mins. (SAFETY ALERT: We were told that a small bear had been hit hard enough to be knocked down, by a driver on the road. The bear got up and walked into the bushes, right along the viewing area of Fish Creek. We had seen another grizzly in the gown of Hyder as we drove thru. Keep your eyes wide open, and drive safely for yourself, and the bears.)

We drove to Salmon Glacier the next day, and glad we did, as the clouds cleared well for us. Do allow enough time to hike up the hill behind the main Salmon Glacier viewing parking area. Some nice alpine like sections, and good flowers abound.

Stewart to Prince George - Again, great roads most of the way. We broke this up into a two day run. Stopping just South of Smithers one night. Enjoyed Smithers, and were pleased with the 'let me help you now if I can' attitude of Traction Truck Repair shop. (Had an item I wanted another set of eyes to look over. The mech stopped what he was doing, walked out, looked it over. And then went and grabbed a socket wrenched and crawled under the rig again to tighten some heater hose clamps that had worked a bit loose. Did not want to charge me for this, between talking, looking, then working up and tightening the clamps, just under 30 mins. I insisted, and yeah, I paid 1/2 hour of their shop rate. But, just such nice people we've met along the way. This was a Truck Repair & Parts shop, not an RV shop - and they took the time to help a traveler on the spot. Way cool!)

BC16 does get a bit narrow at times, and we hit much heavier traffic then we've seen in along time as we got closer to Prince George. We are out of town by about 8 miles on 97S, at Bee Lazy RV Park. A smaller older place, well cared for by a neat couple that have been doing it for several decades. Small pool, with lots of grandparents and grandkids having a good time. Laid back is the term. Yep some road noise the closer you are site wise to the road, but still a good night or two to stop.

For fuel, we topped of at the Eso on BC16, just as you start coming into Prince George, good side pump for Marine High Octane, and a commercial pump is available for Diesel, so high speed fuel stop!

And yes, the warmer weather has hit us, we actually ran the roof AC for a few hours late yesterday afternoon.

Best to all, and those heading up - enjoy, enjoy, enjoy! Those working down towards the South - hope you too enjoy this section of the journey! We are!!

I doubt I'll post any more info after this, we'll be hitting Cache Creek on 97 next, we may just run down and cross the border on a long day drive. (We need to be back in San Diego by the week before Labor Day, and I want to check a few of the shops around Junction City for 3-5 days, on some cabinet work and other bigger mod's we want to do to our RV later this year.) But, if we end up doing a side leg loop to Canada's Glacier NP, I'll add an update on this.

Best to all! Alaska 2014 has been a blast for us!!!
Smitty

On Edit: I neglected to mention that Onstar for our coach, stated to kick in pretty good below Dease Lake. Some spots of no signal, and some with a few 'stutters' during the song. But heck, I know most of the Vinyl Classic songs - and my wife loves my singing... *NOT!*

The Anchorage BBB is taking action against B&B RV Rental after a lot of complaints. If you've had problems with B&B you should contact the Anchorage BBB.

Bill

BBB vs B&B RV Anchorage Clicky

We have been doing that, and found the best so far is in Soldotna. St Elias brewery right next to Freddies!

For those of you who like craft beers, check out the Alaska beer trek guide. You can pick one up at some of the craft beer places. We got our's at Hoodoo in Fairbanks. We have visited all but 2 of the craft brew houses that you can drive to. All the beer hase been good some places excellent. If you are going by Denali, be sure to stop in at 49th State; the food and beer is great!
We are currently in Valdez and sadly they have no craft beer of their own.

Anyone know how the roads are on the alcan ? We start heading back to seattle on wednesday, from anchorage.

Here we are in Dawson Creek. We left Tri-Cities Wa. on Monday, 7/28 and we are having an amazing trip. Seems that we will be the last group to make the trek north this year! Heading to Kenai, then back to Anchorage, over to Palmer for the state fair, then up to Fairbanks and finally Denali Park for 4 days since we won the driving lottery!

We should have at least 6 weeks in Alaska where we can just relax and enjoy the sights. I am dying to see the northern lights!

Thanks to all for sharing your info on your travels and may you all have safe trips home.

Found excellant king crab at Fred Meyers in soldatna for 10.60$ per pound. All king crab is frozen, king crab at Fred,s is likely to be frozen many times less than the upscale grocery in Austin Texas. Wife and I had steamed crab two nights in a row at a five dollar a night fed campground east of soldatna. Pops

sue.t wrote:

hr0082 wrote:
...other than some screws shaking loose.

In you, or the rig? :B

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny again, after today's steady rain/drizzle. Our creek is up 18" and running murky.

If that creek is up that high it must be coming close to flooding the driveway, high 30s here after lots of rain too Sue, Hope you and Steve are havin a good summer. Gonna try and get back to the Yukon one day soon , maybe next yr. Take Care.

hr0082 wrote:
...other than some screws shaking loose.

In you, or the rig? :B

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny again, after today's steady rain/drizzle. Our creek is up 18" and running murky.

After spending a very wonderful week in Valdez, we are now in Whitehorse. On the way, we stayed one night at Eagle Trail Recreation Area campground outside Tok and Congdon Creek Yukon Park near Destruction Bay. We will stay a night or two at Walmart here in Whitehorse and then head down to Hyder. We had planned to go to Haines, but this is the week of their fair and we figured it might be a bit crowded. We have previously been to Haines and will call upon those memories, rather than going this time.

We have been in rain for the past two days and my husband and I both think that the road between Beaver Creek and Whitehorse is in worse condition than when we went up 6 weeks ago. We drove slowly and I don't think we did too much damage other than some screws shaking loose.