First trip--what would you do different?

The only thing I might have done differently was to spend more time - and it looks like you've already got that covered - we only had 2 months.

Have a great trip.


Jay

Here is some verbiage about my first driving trip to Alaska. This is a cut and paste of a post I did several years back. On edit: cleaned it up a bit.


I found my second trip to be the most stressful, as I knew then what I was getting myself into. LOL

1962 and twenty years old, with a Texaco road map that went as far as the Canadian border. I mean, how much farther could it be to Alaska? I had enough money to cross the border and happened to see and buy a copy of the 1962 Milepost, which I still have.

I must have been around Lethbridge when I found a place to spread out my tarp and sleeping bag for the night. The Milepost was about 60 pages long back then, so read through and came to realize I was only about half way there from Oklahoma, where I grew up and lived at the time. I knew I didn't have enough money to make it there and back, but when you are 20, you know everything is going to work out.

I knew there were 3 towns, Anchorage, Fairbanks and Nome, and wanted to see them all. Made it to Fairbanks, spent a few days, met a guy that said I could store my car at his business and I bought a ticket to fly to Nome. I was impressed with the little old mining town and wanted to come back to live there someday.

But the first order of business was to find a job,as I was close to broke and I had to show $300 cash to get back into Canada. Walking around town, I saw a man working on an old Cat crawler tractor, D 7 with a cable blade as I remember. It had a stuck clutch, engine ran fine but you couldn't put it in gear. He was a miner and needed to get his equipment running and out to his claim, North of town. Told him I was looking for work and that I could help him with the dozer. I must have been convincing as he hired me and then left in his truck to go work at his mine. I couldn't believe I had a job doing something I didn't have a clue how to fix. I thought I was going to be his helper or gofer.

Anyway I figured where the clutch had to be located, and there was a cover, which I removed and there was this huge dry clutch, so I found a large chisel and a sledge hammer. After a few swings with all my might, the clutch disk broke free. So I started the engine and was able to get the dozer to go into gear. Put the cover back on and tightened the bolts back down. The guy that hired me showed back up about this time as I had been working on it for 5 or 6 hours. He was impressed.
I was astonished it worked. But it got me two weeks of work and a shed to sleep in for free.

Caught a flight back to Fairbanks, retrieved my car, and headed back to Delta, south on the Richardson to Paxson, across the Denali Hwy to McKinley NP for a few days. Back to Paxson, south to Glennallen and to Anchorage. My dream was complete with the three towns. Then back to Glennallen, to Tok and at the border, showed my required $300, to the Canadian Border folks and headed back to Oklahoma, in time for the fall semester of college.
I had met another man in Nome that told me he would hire me when I finished college, so in 1964 I made my second driving trip to Alaska, this time to live there . The Parks Highway didn't open till the early 70s so the Denali Hwy was the only way to drive to the NP. Most folks went there on the train from Fairbanks or Anchorage.

I did a lot more planning before the second trip in 1964, actually a bit nervous about doing it. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

In the past 5 years, we have made 3 trips and I would love to go back but hubby wants to go elsewhere this summer. How long you spend in each area depends on individual interests. My husband nor I fish, but we love watching any form of wildlife and enjoy the beautiful scenery. The first time, we spent time in Fairbanks and Anchorage. The 2nd and 3rd time, we spent much less time in those two cities. While Fairbanks was OK, I found Anchorage to be just like another US city and I don't particularly like big cities. Take your time and just go to as many places as possible. Stay as long as you want. Once again, it depends on you preferences, but with the exception of Seward and Valdez, we stayed away from commercial campgrounds. We either boon docked or stayed in Provincial, State or National parks or forests. The journey to and from Alaska is just as enjoyable as getting there and getting around. We really like the YT and BC as well as Idaho and Montana where we spent quite a bit of time.

If you don't forget your credit card you will be just fine. People tend to over plan and RVing isn't that complicated - enjoy the moment.

joe b. ....use paragraphs, hard to read your input.

edbehnke wrote:
joe b. ....use paragraphs, hard to read your input.

Sheesh...be polite and put a question mark or "please" in your wording. :R You won't find better advice about RV'ng to Alaska than from Joe....paragraphs or not.


To the OP...only things I would add to the posts so far:

1) Your timetable may cover it, but if you can spend September in Alaska, you'll see some different scenery than otherwise....yes, I know the RV'ng stuff shuts down by early September, but seeing early fall is worth a bit of hassle IMO

2) Spending September on the way back down to the States (i.e. in Y.T. and NW B.C.) is almost as good as spending September in Alaska. :B

3) Always surprising to me how many folks visit Alaska without good rain gear and without good optics. Invest the $$ to have good quality rain gear to allow you to be outside doing your preferred activities....Invest the $$ to have good camera gear (if you're into photography) but certainly in good binoculars...Alaska is all about the scenery after all.

Keep in mind that fall in AK starts in late August. By the first week in Sept. fall colors are great, earlier than that farther north, say Denali or Fairbanks. Depending on your driving experience you might want to get on the right side of the Canadian Rockies before the end of Sept to avoid snow. By the end of October fall is pretty much done even in southern BC. I'd head up there by mid June.

We have made three RV trips to AK since 1998 and plan another for 2015. If there was anything I learned from that first trip it would be the following:

1. Don't over plan with reservations. As many have said, the only times you will need to schedule a campground is for Denali (particularly Teklanika CG which is the place to stay, IMHO) and for Seward if you plan to be there on the 4th of July. We used state parks, provencial parks, parking lots and boondocked many nights. The nights we used commercial CG's was due to the need to do laundry or be near a certain attraction.

2. If your allotted trip time dictates you must make several hundred miles a day, you won't enjoy the trip For many this is a once in a lifetime trip and you would be best served to wait for a summer where time is not a limiting factor. A minimum of 10 weeks if you really want to see things. Even then you will be planning for the next trip while on your way home.

3. Be flexible. You never know when an unplanned stop or attractive side trip will present itself and having to pass it up due to time constraints will not be pleasant. Several stops that were on our original to do list never happened and others crept onto the list as we journeyed and our interests changed.

4. Don't over pack. Our friends to the north don't lack for anything you might need to purchase. The Canada Stores, Fred Myers, etc have everything and then some. You can buy most anything there you need along the way. On our first rip we carried too much in non-perishables. We ended up bringing much of it home with us.

5. Don't track daily costs or try to stick to a budget or plan developed before leaving. You will spoil the trip with money worries. Enjoy the trip, scenery, people and wildlife. Hang the costs as you may only this trip once. If you have to, use plastic and spread the trip costs over several months once you are home.

6. Don't worry about internet connections, satellite TV, cell service etc. Yes there are sections of the Alaska Highway and Top Of The World where there is no cell service but we found it a minor inconvenience. We used our standard USCellular phone in Canada and Alaska and we always could call when there was service available. Yes, we did have high roaming charges in Canada but we used it so seldom we didn't mind. As for satellite TV, leave the dish home as once just 60 miles north of the US boarder it is not useable without using a very large dish. Rip the TV out and use the storage space for something else. With all the scenery you won't miss it. As for internet, we did have a laptop along as now many commercial CG's have wireless service as do visitor centers, rest stops, libraries, restaurants, motels, etc. We never had trouble finding a spot to connect and check emails, do our on line banking and report in with the family every few days.

7. We fretted about breaking down due to the road conditions. Don't worry about the road conditions. You will read many accounts of how terrible the Alaska Highway is. Don't believe the hype. The highway is paved all the way and is comparable to a state highway in the US. The one thing it does not have is wide shoulders in most stretches. The problems people experience come from not slowing down when encounter a rough area. Once north in BC and in the Yukon and Alaska, frost heaves are a real issue. If you obey the warnings, keep an eye out for the small red warning flags and slow down, really slow down you wont have a problem. Many rigs have been torn up and even destroyed by being launch off of a frost heave at high speed. We took our time, slowed down when necessary and never had an issue.

8. We carried a moderate assortment of tools, extra engine supplies, belts, and hoses along on the first trip. Never used them. Have questionable belts, hoses etc replaced prior to leaving. If you do need something, it is available. Make sure your tires are in excellent condition and fairly new. Most RV tire manufacturers say you need to think about replacements every 7 - 10 years.

Hope this helps, see you along the way in 2015.

Mike and Arlyce

My 2 cents worth. I have made 6 trips to ak. Four while living in San Antonio. I prefer to leave the last week of May. I see snow cap mountains, iced over lakes, more wild life, less traffic, beat most highway construction, cooler than Texas. I also prefer to leave Alaska the week after Labor Day. Don't forget Lake Louise. Fuel cost is the same you are gone one or four months. I hope to make another trip this year & to leave the first of June. Have a great trip.
GN

you did not give much in the way of interests so I went back and scanned your prior year posts for a basis to my recommendation.

Starting in Rockport a day south of you There are only 2-3 direct routes to Great Falls Montana and neither are interesting till great falls. From there The route up through Ice roads pkwy to Dawson creek is favored. My return would be down the Cassis hwy further west.
From Dawson Creek to Whitehorse, a long way there is only one road, can't get lost. At this point its west to Tox or North to Dawson city. I would come back through Dawson city on return.

That's the generic stuff. In Alaska I have enjoyed

Dalton highway, Prudhoe bay road and I would try to time it for first week of July to experience the 24 hour daylite above the artic circle. Gravel road 400 miles each way 2-3 gas stops. Stream side camping. Don't take your new rv

Valdez, best place in North America for Mountains glaciers and Sea

There are lots of other places well described in tour books

My next trip We will probably go to Valdez and set up for a several week stay while I go on the ferry boat system west on the Aleutians as far as it takes me with a motor cycle and back pack

Traveylin