Roll call Alaska 2017

PA12DRVR wrote:
- Having made the trip from Los Anchorage to/from various locations (Cut-Bank, Idaho Falls, Bellingham, Spokane) more or less in 80 hours or less a few times, I don't recommend that method.
- I've always found the farming country of Alberta / Saskatchewan to be nice, but predictable and avoid that route if possible;
- Western /Northwestern BC and the Yukon Territories are almost as scenic as Alaska (possibly more scenic than parts of the "Beaver Creek - Delta - Squarebanks" drive). Don't skimp on time for this part of the trip.
- Having grown up in AK, I can't help but be old codger-ish and think the "old Alaska" is gone.....but the midnight sun baseball game is a bit of a link to the past.

we've been trying for 3 summers to make it up there but we can't seem to make it out of bc.this summer we wandered for a month from the lower mainland,thru the kooteneys over to the omineca then to the chilcotin before we ran out of holidays but we'll keep trying and it will happen.next year we head straight to the omineca region.clearly we don't plan our trips,we just pack up and go,but we really want to fish carp lake so..fingers crossed.on a side note the bc gov. has decided to reinstate the ferry service from vancouver island to bella coola.a very scenic side trip.

^ Second that! With only a couple trips up under my belt and only 2 years spent in the Great State, if you have the means, I'd drive 1 way and ferry the other direction. And ideally schedule it to get off at the various stops for a couple days each. We didn't get to see these areas other than walking off the boat for a couple hours.

"..... just not sure if I'll fly, take the Inside Passage cruise or drive yet again."

FWIW, after a trip Bellingham to Ketchikan last year, I've now done the entire Inside Passage, albeit in separate pieces. I suspect I can't add anything to your Alaska experiences, but FWIW, from a guy who thinks the Revelations in February are beautiful, the Inside Passage in the spring/summer is not to be missed, particularly if one can take the time and spend a few days at the locations along the way. I'd suggest (particularly if one has previously driven the Alcan) that the Inside Passage is a bucket list thing.

I haven't driven the road (I still want to call it the Alcan, but recognize that's frowned upon :) ) recently, but had over 20+ trips "back in the day" when it was all gravel. I drove everything from a Jeep Wagoneer to P/U's to Cabover Pete's and everything in between. What I saw then that I suspect still applies now.

- There are / were parts of the road where 20mph was a bit aggressive speed given the conditions;
- Big rigs going "the other way" are earning a living and unlikely to be concerned about the other direction traffic. They are equal opportunity sprayers of rock: It's not just RV's at risk;
- Slow down for frost heaves, sunk road over culverts, construction areas;
- One of those 20+ trips took something like 18 days to get from Seattle to Los Anchorage and that was driving an oil-field spec (granted, '70's era spec) duece and a-half: I suffered numerous mechanical problems. Why? 'Cause even then and even with a pretty stout vehicle, I was going too fast for conditions since there was a barstool with my name on it back in Anchorage. :)
- I was born and raised in Alaska: I can't bring myself to admit there is better scenery anywhere; that being said, a drive through the Rockies, Northern Idaho, NW Washington, Coastal BC, and the Y.T. is simply not to be missed. One does themselves a disservice not to make this drive.

PghBob wrote:
Keep in mind that the 20-25 miles of road between Destruction Bay and the Alaskan border is all gravel (at least then) and don't try to hurry.

Destruction Bay is historical mile 1083.
Beaver Creek is historical mile 1202.
The Yukon/Alaska Border is historical mile 1222.

I assume you mean the 20 miles between Beaver Creek and the border.

With 11 trips in the last 10 years, we had a flat tire once. The windshield is still intact. The road conditions have improved tremendously. We used to do the trip in 5 days and now take 7 between WA and the Kenai. As you noted, slow down and drive within the limits imposed by the road.

We also drove up with our 40' motorhome towing the Jeep. Neither got any damage. It takes a lot of time to get there because you need to drive it slowly - especially in areas of construction - just like the lower 48.

Don't listen to the passed-down horror stories. They are definitely in the minority.

We went up summer of 2015. The only damage we sustained was a couple of stones hit and damaged the windshield. On 2 different stretches of the Alaska Highway, one north of Whitehorse and the other along the gravel portion of the road just beyond Destruction Bay, high-balling big rigs coming in the opposite direction spewed a shower of stones at us and others. They made no attempt to slow down or move over. We were nearly stopped and as far to the right as we could go. Stones left a couple of marks in the windshield, but it did not need to be replaced.

Other than someone else's stupidity, or carelessness, just take your time, look for the flags along the side of the road that indicate frost heaves, and you should be OK. Most of the road is in pretty good shape, in fact better than some of the interstates in the lower 48.

Keep in mind that the 20-25 miles of road between Destruction Bay and the Alaskan border is all gravel (at least then) and don't try to hurry. If you don't want to drive the RV up the highway, put it on the Alaskan Ferry in Bellingham WA and enjoy the cruise. That way, you will at least have your RV with you in Alaska and once there, the roads are mostly good.

The faster you drive, the more damage you get. We pulled a 35 ft 5er and had no damage at all. You just have to take it easy.

allen8106 wrote:
So a friend of ours had the opportunity to talk to some RVers a few weeks a ago and these RVers indicated that they had been to Alaska and would never return with their RV due to the damage incurred to the RV. They would likely fly in.

We want to make the trip to Alaska one of these days. How concerned should I be about this damage potential?

It's my impression based on what I have read on this forum it's all about taking your time to avoid major damage.

Any inputs?

We have driven it twice, 2009, and 2014. No damage whatsoever. We did see some RVers driving much too fast for conditions.