First trip--what would you do different?

[Damdifino]

I'm thinking of a solo trip from San Antonio to AK this summer, for a total of 3-4 months. Maybe leave in July so I can catch a touch of chill on the return trip. I've read a lot on this forum over the years, but I can't escape the nagging feeling that I'm overlooking something pretty obvious that I should be paying attention to. Which begs the question: what would you have done differently on your first trip to AK, knowing what you know now?

[Damdifino]

beeman1 wrote:
Clearify "Solo" for me. I am headed out of NH late May with no time frame,no reservation,no nothing. I am alone and will have only my dog..:)

Solo means the same for me, only starting from Texas and without a dog. Enjoy your trip!

[beeman1]

Clearify "Solo" for me. I am headed out of NH late May with no time frame,no reservation,no nothing. I am alone and will have only my dog..:)

[joe_b_]

Thanks eagle. This upcoming summer should be a good one for heading north. When I checked today, the Canadian dollar was costing $.788usd to buy it and some of the forecast have it dropping even lower this summer. It will be an expensive summer for Canadian visitors to th US, but that is why they make the big bucks up north. LOL The Canadian economy has become very dependent on the world price for crude oil. With the oil price down, so is the value of the Canadian dollar. When some people talk about the US dependence on foreign oil, they forget that our number 1 supplier, is our northern neighbor, Canada. Our number 2 supplier of petroleum products is our southern neighbor, Mexico. Doesn't sound so bad when I think about that. LOL

[hone_eagle]

Great stories joe ,you tell good tales.

[wanderingdawgs]

Great advice from all the previous replies. I agree with everyone who said to be flexible. If we had been on a strict schedule we would have missed so much.

We made the trip from Georgia in 2013. We left Georgia in mid May and got back home September 1. We would have left earlier but we were waiting for a grand baby to be born!

There are two main things I would do different:

1. Spend less time getting to Alaska and more time in Alaska.

2. Spend more nights in State and Provincial Parks and less time in commercial campgrounds. We chose not to boondock.

The only reservations we had in Alaska were at Teklanika in Denali National Park. Other than that we played it by ear and made many decisions on the spur of the moment as to which way to go next. As others have said, take your time, drive slow, and be prepared to stop to take in the beauty all around you.

Our favorite place was Haines! Don't miss it! And don't be afraid to drive the Top of the World Highway!

You can see our 2013 Alaska trip campground list and posts about the trip on my blog.

[lonnie4801]

Trip in 2005, 2009, and 2013. Didn't do anything different on the 2nd trip. A little different on the 3rd trip because our grandson spent 17 days travelling with us, so we had to adjust our schedule.

The only things we carry with us in the way of parts are the same thing we carry in the lower 48: a spare for the motorhome, a spare for the toad, an extra fresh water pump, an air compressor, and a patch kit. Have used all of them at one time or the other.

If you would like, you can review my travel log listed in my signature.

[joe_b_]

A re-occurring comment, from most of the more experienced northern travelers, is to stay flexible. Everyone needs to decide why they want to go to the north country? It is a long expensive adventure, for most of us. Decide before you go, why? Do you mainly want to fish, take scenery photos, wildlife photos, etc, learn more about the history of the north, such as the gold rush era, etc

But stay flexible on your trip, and it is your trip, for you and your companions, no one else's. Think about fall back plans. A couple of summers back, one of the forum members took the trip with one and only one reason, that to take scenic outdoor photos. However he had picked a rainy summer to go, not the best for photography outdoors. His comments were to the effect that the rain had ruined his trip. It made me feel sad for him as he didn't have the flexibility or a fall back plan in case of bad weather.

To me, he could have hopped a flight to Barrow, and photoed many of the local residents in the local tourist shows available. Or flown out to Dillingham, and take a few thousand shots of the Bristol Bay fishing fleet. Alaska is so huge, if the weather, smoke from the forest fires, volcanoes, etc are not to your liking, go elsewhere. If you are in one of the areas where flight seeing is available, stop in and talk to the people running the place. They may be able to take you to a place that will be the high light of your trip.

After the first trip, most visitors have a better idea about what they want to see and do in northern Canada and Alaska. Others seem to make the same trip, numerous times, which appears to work for them. In reading comments here on the forum, we all at times have to ask ourselves, if the poster is qualified to have such an opinion. Not always easy to decide

But again, it is your trip, so make sure it fits your needs, not someone else's unless you are a copy of that person. Some people can take as long as they wish for their trip, and others can't as they have something/someone to get back to at some given time. But most of us, have some time restraints on how long we can stay gone, be it a job, family, schools, medical care, volunteer services we offer when home and the list goes on.

I have a cousin in Seattle, that gets to Alaska about 125 to 150 times a year, but as an Alaska Airlines captain, he only see the state from 35,000 ft or when landing or taking off from one of the towns serviced by AA. But he would not be my go to person about RV camping in Tok. LOL Great pilot, high time Wild Weasel driver and Wart Hog pilot for the US military.

[traveylin]

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

[GarySandra]

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

[2hams2alaska]

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

[tonymull]

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.

[PA12DRVR]

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.

[edbehnke]

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

[ksg5000]

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.