Roll Call Alaska 2014

[sljohnson1938]

Anyone traveling to Alaska in 2014? We ,my wife and I, are planning a trip and was wondering if anyone is planning on going in 2014 also.
Would go this year, except we have two weddings to go to in MI, one in late June the other in early August.
So next year we are planning to leave home in NC in mid July, we plan a 2 month trip. We were there in 2004, only that time we were with paid RV tour. Loved it, and would take another paid tour in a 'heart beat', but the cost is now too much.
The reason for the mid July date is looking at the 2013 Alaska postings the wx, road conditions and insects are at their worst. Later in the season all three are better. Plus I want to travel back on the Cassiar Hwy in Sept is supposed to be the best time of the year on the Cassiar, plus less travelers.
Finally, money is an issue with us. So we will 'boon dock', stay at
free or low cost CG's, rest areas, etc. when ever possible.


Hope you all have a great trip and hope to see you some where along the way.

[Kave2u]

Ok folks, i've followed this thread since it was started. I can't believe all you folks cruising around up there in the "Last Frontier" and NO PICTURES, What's up with that??? My motto is if you ain't got pictures then it didn't happen. So for all of us wannabe's stuck down in the lower 48, post'em if you got'em 😉

[Kidoo]

Overnight at Cabellas Anchorage, good place. Dump but water is non potable, probably due to beign close to the dump.

I hope they can keep the place open to overnight parking since Walmart and Fred do not allow overnight in Anchorage. I guess as long as people do not use it like a Campground for a couple days it should be OK. BTW, do not use the big dumpster as domestic dump, the seagull were yapping all morning!

Fuel was 3.99 at Fred Myers Anchorage, best price in AK for me so far. We went shopping, some very nice shop around downtown.

Going toward Kenai today. Have a nice journey!

[Smitty77]

ss573 - We'll be hitting that stretch this week, good timing on your post, as we'll go ahead and stop the night before in Glennallen, and just take our time heading down into Valdez.

And come on guys, ss573 was just sharing his 'post shake' drive. If he was driving too fast, that's on him, suspect he'll go slower on the way out. And he said he was glad he made the trek down. Don't scratch the Big Easy too quickly, it's a fun place to visit too:)! (And as I recall, some goo bridge joint bounces along those roadways too:)! I suspect it was just a comment in passing...

Now, let me tell you about the roads in Baja...

Best to all, be safe, and keep the duct tape handy,
Smitty

[fanrgs]

PA12DRVR wrote:
If one comes to Alaska anticipating or requiring a smooth road as a condition precedent to enjoying Alaska, a serious re-evaluation of the justification for the trip is required.

You couldn't be more right! Last summer, there were some highway segments of 10 to 50 miles where we likely averaged 25 mph or less while towing our trailer. And that didn't even count the 45-minute wait for a pilot car at one construction location on the North Klondike Highway, where we had time to fix and eat lunch and take a hike while we waited.

[sue_t]

x3
Just checked my GPS track from our last trip into Valdez. We averaged 37 mph on the drive from Glenallen to Valdez.

[PA12DRVR]

Hook wrote:

ss573 wrote:
We arrived in Valdez late yesterday. Staying at Bear Paw CG. Right in the middle of "town" on the harbor 🙂

The road was 300 miles of frost heaves, potholes and ruts from pavement separation !! We had to stop once and reseat both slides. Bottomed out once as I missed a dippsey doodle 😞

45-55 the whole way. I admire those who live with this year after year. No offense but you can have it !!

The landscape is beautiful beyond words and I'm glad I came but I can now scratch it off my bucket list 🙂

Happy Camping All !!!

45-55 the whole way when you maybe should have been doing 25-35.

You bet we can have it and we plan on keeping it, Mississippi is not even on my bucket list so nothing to scratch off there.

Hook

x2

If one comes to Alaska anticipating or requiring a smooth road as a condition precedent to enjoying Alaska, a serious re-evaluation of the justification for the trip is required.

[Hook]

ss573 wrote:
We arrived in Valdez late yesterday. Staying at Bear Paw CG. Right in the middle of "town" on the harbor 🙂

The road was 300 miles of frost heaves, potholes and ruts from pavement separation !! We had to stop once and reseat both slides. Bottomed out once as I missed a dippsey doodle 😞

45-55 the whole way. I admire those who live with this year after year. No offense but you can have it !!

The landscape is beautiful beyond words and I'm glad I came but I can now scratch it off my bucket list 🙂

Happy Camping All !!!

45-55 the whole way when you maybe should have been doing 25-35.

You bet we can have it and we plan on keeping it, Mississippi is not even on my bucket list so nothing to scratch off there.

Hook

[Hook]

notlost wrote:
Sheltierv
We're in soldotna now. Thanks for the info. We'll look them up. Sounds like fun.

Also does anyone in the soldotna/Kenai area recommend a good processor who can smoke our salmon for us ? I'd prefer a recommendation rather than just trying someone we looked up in the yellow pages.
Thanks

Echo Lake on K Beach RD. 283-8456

Tustumena Smokehouse Tote Rd 262-0421

Hook

[notlost]

Sheltierv
We're in soldotna now. Thanks for the info. We'll look them up. Sounds like fun.

Also does anyone in the soldotna/Kenai area recommend a good processor who can smoke our salmon for us ? I'd prefer a recommendation rather than just trying someone we looked up in the yellow pages.
Thanks

[sheltieRV]

If you are in the Kenai/Soldotna area and looking for something fun to do, check out 3 Guys No Wood (threeguysnowood.com). They offer woodworking classes for various levels of expertise. We took the 1/2 day basic class and turned a chunk of wood into beautiful bowls. I have absolutely no talent, and was amazed at what I created (with the instructor fixing my mistakes!). Great class and gives you a good taste of woodworking.

[sue_t]

Regarding the northern end of the Alaska Highway in Canada (Haines Junction to the border) did you know that under a 1977 agreement, funding responsibilities to reconstruct and improve the highway lies with the United States and ongoing maintenance is delivered by Yukon.

The US has historically funded these improvements because this highway link is the only year-round connection between Alaska and the North American road system. The US also funded the upgrades to all of the Haines Road. The Haines Road and the northern end of the Alaska Highway are a critical corridor for civil security, economic growth and energy development, with Americans accounting for 85 per cent of its traffic.

The US wanted that infamously rough AK Hwy section paved. Previous to being paved it was possible to grade the highway smooth each year or after bad weather affected it. It wasn't so bad back then. Beaver Creek is my home town so I'm very familiar with its highway!

Each spring that portion of highway is battered with the semi-trucks hauling to Alaska. The freeze/thaw effect, and then the heavy loads, cause the highway to break down. The section between the Donjek River and Beaver Creek is mostly permafrost and muskeg, making it even more vulnerable to heaving.

In 2012 the US government removed funding for the AK Hwy from its federal highways act funding. So there have been no major upgrades to it for two years. Thus, it is in about the worst shape I've seen it.

Further, to stabilize and pave the 145 miles from Destruction Bay to the border will cost about $100 MILLION, almost $700,000 per mile!

There's no easy answer. So...plan for it, take your time, enjoy looking at the little sticks of spruce trees that are struggling to grow in the harsh conditions and watch for moose.

[terrax]

South-Klondike highway is open again for most of the day:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/south-klondike-highway-chilkoot-trail-open-again-in-yukon-1.2698...

[06ViewH]

We are now in Juneau after the ferry ride from Haines. The ferry ride was great with many glaciers, goats, and Whales along the way. We had mostly sunny skies so the mountains were completely visible. Sunny and nice so far in Juneau. We'll hang out in Juneau today and tomorrow morning take the ferry to Sitka.

[traveylin]

Made it to Tok after 28 days of driving north ever north. Leaving the Yukon was memorable driving with the road condition. Met some very nice role call folks along the way and seen many bears. The next 6 weeks will be spent between Valdez and Homer. About 60 miles west of Whitehorse I pulled to the shoulder for bear pictures and promptly sunk the right wheel to the axel. The good looking shoulder had been burrowed by ground squirrels. Unhooking the toad, I was able to back out to firm ground after a lot of tension in the cabin. The bear watched the whole time and completely circled my recovery operation laughing his bare but off.

traveylin

[ss573]

We arrived in Valdez late yesterday. Staying at Bear Paw CG. Right in the middle of "town" on the harbor 🙂

The road was 300 miles of frost heaves, potholes and ruts from pavement separation !! We had to stop once and reseat both slides. Bottomed out once as I missed a dippsey doodle 😞

45-55 the whole way. I admire those who live with this year after year. No offense but you can have it !!

The landscape is beautiful beyond words and I'm glad I came but I can now scratch it off my bucket list 🙂

Happy Camping All !!!