hauling trailer to Alaska

[sdickbos]

This group was very helpful to me when I was planning a road trip to Oaxaca (which we have done the last two years with great success).

This time we are thinking of buying an 18ft travel trailer for a trip to Alaska in 2021. I have signed up for the beginner travel trailer forum. Just not sure if this is the right decision...curious as to others experiences. Trying to work out a budget so my main question is, how often do you have to stay at campgrounds or can you boondock much of the time. I'm sure there are a lot of variables but if could point some out to me I would really appreciate it.

[Grit_dog]

sdickbos wrote:
Great advice, just beginning planning hopefully for May-June 2021. Just reading your post is getting me excited. We are looking at a used 18 footer, unfortunately it is a single axle, but the price is right and the layout is good for us. My husband drives and I do all the planning so I really appreciate the advice. If you think of anything else let me know. Would you mind sharing your itinerary from Illinois to B.C. And where did you cross? Thanks again

Driving to and sight seeing in AK is about the best application I can think of for a smallish single axle TT.
And the best application for those ones that look cool with the lift kits and mud tires.
I can't stand getting into these threads because I WANT TO GO BACK! He!!, I'm excited for you!
Generator, yes, spare tires, yes, fishing gear, bring ALL of it!
Plan campgrounds for the crowded areas, like Homer, Denali, etc. The rest you an pretty much wing it and park wherever.
Not literally and it's nice to hit some NF campgrounds, but it's not intimidating once you realize you're in Alaska and there ARE roads and people speak engrish and you can buy gas and don't have to shoot a caribou for dinner and a seal for lamp oil!

[sdickbos]

Thanks everybidy

[PA12DRVR]

Above is all generally good advice.

My $0.015 (prices are down due to pandemic restrictions on travel 🙂 )
- Think about how much time you'd like to take on the trip, then double it. There are limitless opportunities in the NW (I'm thinking, Washington, BC, YT, possibly Alberta, and of course Alaska) where one could park the TT and spend days noodling around with your tow vehicle, hiking, seeing the sights, etc.
- Think about the cost of the trip and double it. Not practical, of course, but while the travel cost is what it is, there are all sorts of paid commercial excursions that, if there's any way possible, should not be missed. Glacier cruises, flightseeing over McKinley, fishing, bear viewing, dog sled rides (that one always puzzles me to be honest), ATV Cruises, Glacier hikes, etc, etc, etc.
- Expect and be prepared for rain. If it doesn't happen, great, but be prepared.
- Bring the best binoculars and photo gear you can. Depending on one's interests, good hiking boots as well.

[K_and_I]

There is a lot of good advice already given. We did a 10 week trip last summer. Due to previous commitments, we couldn't leave until mid-July. We were concerned about the "rainy season" but it didn't happen last year. We spent 23 hours stopped on the Sterling Hwy by Cooper Landing at a road block because of wild fires ahead. It was nice having a generator then. Several people asked to plug in to charge their phones, etc. Wadcutter mentioned about seeing the mountain in Denali Park. We took the longest bus trip, and saw a lot of wild life, but not the mountain. We did see it several times from a pullout just east of Cantwell on the Denali Hwy. We stayed a number of nights at the campground in Cantwell as we had to have a new converter shipped up from the lower 48 when ours went bad. It's all part of the trip. I'm glad we went. Don't know if we'll get the chance again. One good thing about going later in the season, we were able to see the northern lights at Fairbanks 3 different nights. We had been told if we were in Fairbanks in Sept there is a good chance of seeing them. I came to the conclusion early on that you can't do it all in one trip, so focus on the things that mean the most to you.

[ppine]

Adjust your thinking. The North is the Great Wide Open. Talk of Wal-Mart parking lots and state parks is absurd. There are 100,000 places to camp for free. You can be next a river almost anytime you want.

I like early Sept for traveling in the Interior. The tourists are gone, it is fall. Everyone is getting their wood cut and trying to kill a moose to get through the winter. The Northern Lights are out most nights.

[AKsilvereagle]

Just like the recent commenters that have posted pretty much sums it up that I can also verify -

I have no solar power and rarely use my Honda 2000 generator which is mainly for a backup and glad to have it when it is needed....Fairbanks region does NOT get dark between mid May thru the first week of August, so plenty of daylight here during summer - it will get dark south of the Alaska Range like 3 to 4 hours per day in the Anchorage area during June ...

Solid repacking wheel bearings and quality tires is a must for a piece of mind trip like this - you especially don't want mechanical problems in remote Canada unless you want to give up one of your kidneys and first born per se.

I would highly recommend installing new wheel bearings with new races since the travel trailer was mentioned well used condition...

Living here in the arctic region I only use red #2 lithium grease year round for all my rigs and trailer, as it has a very high and low temperature range protection, doesn't break down much and has decent water resistance too.

Frost heaves are sparsely around the Yukon and a few places in Alaska, you really want to slow down while driving thru these bumpy spots or face potential damage to suspension parts or worse...

Binoculars.....make sure you have binoculars onhand too.

[Grit_dog]

sdickbos wrote:
Thank you, lots of good info. Do most people who boondock run a generator?

Yup and no lack of boondocking spots once you get past the big cities in AB/ BC.

[ppine]

Solar is great. It is quiet. In the North in summer you have all of that daylight. Generator is good for back up.

[lakeside013104]

sdickbos wrote:
Thank you, lots of good info. Do most people who boondock run a generator?

We have 150w of solar on the roof and only ran our generator every few days or so, maybe sometimes not for a week. As long as the sun was out or almost out our batteries stayed up.

The only draw down on the batteries was the refrigerator, water pump, and smoke/Co2 detectors. Coach lights were hardly used because it was daylight for so much time each day.

We did not run our TV, microwave, or radio. So much to do outside, the only thing the coach was used for was to sleep or on really rainy days, to take a nap or read where it was dry.

Lakeside

[ppine]

Boondocking is everywhere in Canada and Alaska. I rented a pu and camper in Anchorage and toured the state it was great. A small trailer like your 18 foot idea would be okay with a strong truck. It is a lot of miles to get up there. The road keeps getting better.

The weather can be crappy even in summer, so being able to pull over and get inside is a great advantage. I love Alaska and worked up there and traveled up more than 10 times by air and ship.

[Wadcutter]

sdickbos wrote:
Great advice, just beginning planning hopefully for May-June 2021. Just reading your post is getting me excited. We are looking at a used 18 footer, unfortunately it is a single axle, but the price is right and the layout is good for us. My husband drives and I do all the planning so I really appreciate the advice. If you think of anything else let me know. Would you mind sharing your itinerary from Illinois to B.C. And where did you cross? Thanks again

Just telling about it gets me excited to go again. Strange feeling but it's like Alaska is calling me to return. Had I visited when I was young before kids, grandkids, and other commitments I think I could have stayed. Every day was amazement and the next day was even better.
I've only talked to 1 person who said it was not worth the trip. I ran into him a few years ago in a campground in LA. He said "Don't go. There's nothing there." I replied that's what I want to see, the nothing before someone messes it up. He said "You don't understand. There's nothing there. Just trees and animals." I got to give him that at least. He was right. Trees and animals. That's what I went to see.
If you have a single axle don't sweat it. Lots of single axles on the road. Another couple tagged along and they had an 16 ft single axle. The only trouble they had was a water pump in the trailer. Got it fixed in Whitehorse and that's all the trouble they had.
As another said make sure the wheel bearings are repacked and new tires. I had repacked my bearings but still lost one. Made it 5300 miles before the bearing went. It happens. Just part of the trip.
We crossed into Alberta at Sweet Grass MT. Route basically was Banff, Jasper, Rt 40 (Big Horn Hwy) to Grand Prairie, Dawson Creek, side trip to Ft Liard NWT area, Whitehorse, Skagway, Haines, Tok, Fairbanks, sidetrip to Coldfoot, Denali, Palmer, Seward, Homer, Anchorage, Valdez, Tok, Chicken and Top of the World Highway, Dawson City, Whitehorse, Watson Lake, Rt 37 south to Steward/Hyder, Prince George, Kamloops, and re-entered the US at Oroville, WA.
We saw most of the bears around Ft Nelson area and to Ft Liard.

[sdickbos]

Thanks

[DrewE]

sdickbos wrote:
Thank you, lots of good info. Do most people who boondock run a generator?

When I took my Alaska trip, I did not use the generator, generally speaking. It's worth noting that, with my class C motorhome, the house batteries charge completely with a day's driving and can then last for several days on a charge if a little bit of care is taken in electrical conservation. There's not a lot of need for using the inside lights in Alaska in the summer time, nor for air conditioning often in the evenings or nights. I don't recall hearing many generators running, as a rule, when camping in areas without electric hookups.

There were times when I was glad to have the generator, though, mostly for the occasional microwaving of leftovers or for running my 120V compressor when a tire needed a bit of air to top it up.

[SideHillSoup]

Re-pack all the wheel bearings and or change if required, and all new rubber on your used trailer especially if you only have 1 axel.
When I bought my 1st used 5th wheel and then did our first time to “upper” Alaska, I did that for a few hundred dollars and then I didn’t worry and or have my issues.

Have fun.
Soup.