Senior plus 30' 5th wheel

I wish to thank all of you for your responses. Being 75 and now alone I just get apprehensive, just a nervous old man I guess but there is so much to see and enjoy! God willing and at my side I will make it in 2016.
GaryCQ

scorpion wrote:
I did it 15 years ago with a 26 ft fiver when I was 60ish. I would not hesitate to do it again today. (I have a 30 footer now) Take your time and enjoy the trip. With 4 months that should be easy.

Scorp.

X2 Went in 2006 with 30 foot 5th wheel and 4x4 pickup truck. Tallied 10,500 mile by the time we arrive back home after being on the road for 3 months. If you really want to 'see Alaska', an RV is the only way to go in my opinion. I was 62 at the time.

Go, relax and enjoy the trip of a lifetime. Wishing you the best.

Ray

I am 68 and my CEO/Navigator is 66. We have driven to Alaska twice, once in a 34' fifth wheel and once in a 34' gas motorhome. We loved the trip and will very likely be going again in the next couple years.

garycq wrote:
I have wondered how many seniors out there would take a 5th wheel to Alaska and spend 4 or more months up there. At the present time all I have is a 30' 5'ver and I have debated taking it up there to see the seeming last wilderness area of the US.

I'm not sure if you think a 30' 5th wheel is too small or too large for the trip.

However, it is neither too small or too large. Folks travel to Alaska for an all-summer trip in everything imaginable - from a tent and motorcycle, bicycles, tiny RVs and huge bus RVs. It's really not difficult - just a long trip.

Also, I'd say the majority are retirees. We did it at 70 yr. :)

Go for it. It's a trip of a lifetime!

All you need in preparation is the 'Milepost' for history and maps and Mike and Terri Church's book 'Alaskan Camping' which includes Canada and the Yukon, also.

Go to the top of this forum and there's a 'Sticky' of Alaska Hints. It's worthwhile to read it for ideas on what to do, were to eat, roads, etc.

Tee Jay wrote:
No problem. .... We are only mid-70's, I doubt we will get to be seniors for another 10 or more years. Leave in early May, return in September. Enjoy the trip.

Ditto what Tee Jay says! We are 68 and spent 5 months up there in 2012 and again in 2014. We are planning on going back in 2016! You only go around once and need to have an empty bucket list when the final trip is complete!

Your 4 month plan is a good one. This will not be a trip to rush!

The unmarked frost heaves are really hard on equipment if you hit them to fast. On our last trip we saw a fifth wheel that didn't sow down setting about 150' off the road. He had pulled the hitch out of the bed of his truck when he hit a major frost heave at 60 mph! When the white line on the road in front of you gets wavy SLOW DOWN!

Let us know when you are leaving. We might see you on the road if it is next Spring!

I would and I do all the driving of my mh or towing of fifth-wheel, whichever I have at the time. Go for it. As I have read, we only regret thinge we haven't done.

No problem. We currently take a 40' 5er, and have used a 27' TT and a 30' TH. We are only mid-70's, I doubt we will get to be seniors for another 10 or more years. Leave in early May, return in September. Enjoy the trip.

I would say the only issue you might have for the trip in the far north is if you were looking for any 50 amp hookups at a private campground from central BC-Alberta on northward you might not find anything higher than 30 amp hookups in the far north which are the norm in this region....

In the far north, people travel with every type of RV imaginable with ease, many 5th wheels are on the roads here.....pretty much anyone can bring any size RV one feels comfortable with using on a trip to the far north.

As far as mountainous terrain is concerned, there are many hills to conquer but you wont see anything generally higher than 9 percent grades as they are not long distant haul grades as compared to the grapevine or grants pass type of long haul grades on I-5.

Although I do not own a 5th wheel rig, but if I did I would feel comfortable towing one on most roads here in the far north and just SLOW DOWN on the frost heaved and gravel surfaced roadway stretches and take your sweet time if you do not want to potentially tear up your rig.

As in comparison if I were towing a 5th wheel to Running Springs California I would personally want something smaller, and I haven't been to Running Springs since 1974 when I was at the boy's club camp on three occasions as I done relinquished my California citizenship back in 1982 as a former Southern California native of the LA basin, Coachella Valley, and Orange County....many people on this site return to Alaska on numerous occasions that visit and others stay all summer or year round.

Enjoy your future far north trip.

Debate no more.. Easily doable, follow your dreams.

I did it 15 years ago with a 26 ft fiver when I was 60ish. I would not hesitate to do it again today. (I have a 30 footer now) Take your time and enjoy the trip. With 4 months that should be easy.

Scorp.