Roll call Alaska 2017

My boys are still in school (8th and 11th grade), but we would not feel comfortable with leaving them alone the last crazy school days/weeks and having them fly out. It is definitely doable in later years.
We would certainly like to spend more than 64ish days on this trip, but it is our last summer together before my oldest heads to college, we sell our house, and move across the country somewhere warmer with fewer people. ALaska is a must do for us now. The 4 of us have traveled the US extensively each of the past 6 summers, so this is our last "hurrah" together.
When my youngest is out of the house, we will definitely be on the road more, and I am sure we will revisit AK and Canada (and lots of other great places) and take our time...

thedavidzoo wrote:
We are also heading up to AK the summer of 2017!
We'll be driving all the way from the Washington DC area via all the typical routes - Banff & Alaskan Hwy up, Cassair down...at least this first time.
Leaving 3rd week of June (as soon as kids' school lets out) and returning 3rd week of August. Wish we could make it longer.

Are you kids old enough to fly together? Our "kids" are teachers, and we ran into the same problem with their school year end when we made our trip in 2015. Our solution was to head out before the end of school and had them fly to Calgary to meet us on the way. We saved a number of days doing this rather than waiting for the end of the school year.

Golferdave78 wrote:
We are looking at doing Alaska from Atlanta in 2018.
I assume we won't have any issues navigating our 2015 Dutch Star through Canada and Alaska.
Hopefully by then we'll be towing a jeep
Any advice??
I am trying to read as much as I can and get as much input before we make the trip

You will have absolutely no problems on any of the roads with your Dutch Star. There are no low tunnels to worry about. Semis travel the roads all the time.

Get Mike and Terry Church's book 'Alaskan Camping' which includes Canada, also. It's all you need to plan your trip. It will give you RV parks, public campgrounds and great boondocking spots and the sizes of the sites.

Also get the Milepost which is great for the history and maps. We kept both books open all day. We took turns driving and reading the history to each other. :)

The only reservations we made were for the July 4 weekend (Alaskans like to camp, too) and for 5 nights in Denali's Teklanika campground. For those we only made them a few weeks prior when we could better judge when we'd get there. As it turned out we were early for Denali so on a whim we boondocked nearby at a beautiful spot and pulled into the park early morning. We easily secured a spot in Riley Creek campground without a reservation. We spent 10 nights in Denali and saw 'the' mountain 7 of 10 days and every one of the big five critters in the park - more than once. We were in Denali mid-August - colors starting and the firewood at its peak - beautiful!

It really is an easy trip - just long. Don't think of it in terms of the total mileage. Break it into a day at a time and it won't seem so bad. It shouldn't be a rushed trip. Take it nice and slow and explore Canada and the Yukon, too. Some places are just as lovely as Alaska.

Have fun planning!

TxGearhead wrote:
Yeah, I'm wanting to go 2017. I passed on caravanning with a friend this year. I asked the wife if she wanted to go....in the cabover. NO. Well maybe.
I need advice on routes. Is there any reason to get on HWY2 at Whitehorse and go to Dawson and on to Tok and Fairbanks, other than avoiding seeing the same scenary twice on HWY1 from Whitehorse to Tetlin Junction on the way back? Or just take HWY4 from Watson Lake to Carmacks and on to Dawson. Then south on HWY3 to Wasilla and back to Tok. Is the HWY37 loop to Prince George BC, then Kamloops and into Washington good stuff? I wouldn't mind seeing coastal Washington and Oregon.
It'll be a bunch of miles from Houston.

If you want to do the Coast, get on 101 in California around Napa and Vallejo. That will get you the Redwwods as well. I prefer the Coast going north as the sun glare going south is brutal.

Some western parks such as Glacier do not fully open until July due to snow, so schedule them for the trip home.

The basic trip is Dawson Creek, Watson Lake, Whitehorse, Tok and then decide Valdez first of Fairbanks first. If the weather is nice in Valdez, go there first. The side trips to Dawson and Carmacks and Haines are optional. The Cassiar (Hwy 37) is popular, as is the side trip to Hyder to see bears in August. If you do that, stay on 16 thru Prince George and go to Jasper, then take 93, Icefields Parkway, south to Banff and Lake Loiuse, see them and continue south on 93 to Radium Hot Springs and on south toward Missoula. That will get you to Glacier and Yellowstone without hitting any major population areas and staying in the mountains on good roads.

We are looking at doing Alaska from Atlanta in 2018.
I assume we won't have any issues navigating our 2015 Dutch Star through Canada and Alaska.
Hopefully by then we'll be towing a jeep
Any advice??
I am trying to read as much as I can and get as much input before we make the trip

Look at the web sites for Fantasy Tours or Adventure Tours for their Alaska 40+ day caravans.

We are currently planning on leaving Ohio in April and returning in late July.

Still searching on where we want to spend time. I was told about a website where you can get suggested itineraries but have been unable to find it. Does anyone know what the site is?

Yeah, I'm wanting to go 2017. I passed on caravanning with a friend this year. I asked the wife if she wanted to go....in the cabover. NO. Well maybe.
I need advice on routes. Is there any reason to get on HWY2 at Whitehorse and go to Dawson and on to Tok and Fairbanks, other than avoiding seeing the same scenary twice on HWY1 from Whitehorse to Tetlin Junction on the way back? Or just take HWY4 from Watson Lake to Carmacks and on to Dawson. Then south on HWY3 to Wasilla and back to Tok. Is the HWY37 loop to Prince George BC, then Kamloops and into Washington good stuff? I wouldn't mind seeing coastal Washington and Oregon.
It'll be a bunch of miles from Houston.

HollardawgUSMC wrote:
Interesting Alaska statistic.

Alaska is almost 2.2 times the size of Texas.

Therefore, if you cut Alaska in half, Texas becomes the 3rd largest state.

And at "LOW TIDE" we are 3 times the size??

Interesting Alaska statistic.

Alaska is almost 2.2 times the size of Texas.

Therefore, if you cut Alaska in half, Texas becomes the 3rd largest state.