Roll Call Alaska 2016

[GGeorge]

I have been planning this trip for 4+ years. It is now time to update my estimates and make my reservations.

Estimate Wash/BC border about 5 May 2016, north on route 97/1/2 to Tok, south to Valdez, make the hump to Anchorage, then to Homer and Seward, north to Denali, Fairbanks, back to TOK and off to Dawson, then south to Watson Lake, Smithers, then to CAN 16 east to Jasper,/Banff, on to Glacier in Montana, arriving early Sept so I can get thru the park then west to Kalispell. South thru the US to Houston area for the thanksgiving holiday and Florida for the Christmas holiday. Since I am sure it will be cold in Ohio I wont return home till April 2017.

Alaska here we come!!!!

G George

On edit, yup it's time to plan 2016. I edited your post to modify the title to be consistent with previous years; it will facilitate future searches for members.

... Eric (Moderator)

[sue_t]

sljohnson1938 wrote:
sally, let me know how the TOP was. we are thinking of going over it.
got to be in Haines, AK for the ferry boat on Aug. 8th.
so we have an extra few days.
stuart

If you go over the Top of the World Hwy to Dawson City, then you'll either need to backtrack or drive south from Dawson to Whitehorse, then northwest from Whitehorse to Haines Junction, then turn south to Haines, Alaska.

If you don't mind drycamping, there are two very nice Yukon gov't campground/parks along the Haines Road - Dezadeash Lake and Million Dollar Falls. The Haines road is a beautiful drive. There's also Kathleen Lake in Kluane National Park, close to Haines Junction.

There are also numerous places to just pull off and enjoy the scenery and stay overnight.

[sljohnson1938]

DakotaCamper wrote:
We are back in Tok for the night (our back nine). Tomorrow we head for the TOW. Looks like there is a music festival in Dawson when we were planning on being there. Hopefully we can find somewhere to stay since I do not have reservations. From there we head towards Jasper and Banff NPs and then on to Glacier. I hate leaving Alaska. Still so many things I wanted to see.

***********************************************

sally, let me know how the TOP was. we are thinking of going over it.
got to be in Haines, AK for the ferry boat on Aug. 8th.
so we have an extra few days.
stuart

[sljohnson1938]

now in Kenai AK. onward to Homer, tomorrow.
wx has been very nice for the past week.
hope all doing well
stuart

[rag-ftw]

Just finished 6 days in Teklanika! What an awesome experience! We bought the TEK PASS and were able to make two round trips every day between Tek and Eielson. We saw the Big 5, some numerous times. The mountain was out in full view all of one day and 1/2 of another.

Kudos to the heavy equipment operators on the park road. One evening there was a mud slide that blocked the road between Kodachrome Pass and Toklat River. The grader driver that we saw at 7:30 in the morning happened to be behind us at 7:00 pm and was able to clear a path for the vehicles after 1 1/2 hours of hard work. We were told he remained on duty all night clearing the remainder of the road for the buses the following morning.

Denali is an experience not to be missed! This was our third visit and we will be back again in the future!

[Yeti_plus]

Oh boy am I glad we left Anchorage on Sunday. Went to Talkeetna Monday. Flew in a Beaver but couldn't see Denali, and weather turned bad so we couldn't do the planned on glacier landing either. The flight was a treat and the scenery was amazing, words can't do it and neither can the pictures I took. We are now in Riley creek and weather isn't too promising for a Denali sighting, but we have had great luck so far, so we'll see what happens.

[Tarheel_2]

We crossed the border yesterday back to the lower 48 and are now is Yellowstone for a few days. Our Alaska 2 months were fabulous but our almost new coach really took a beating. We came back down the Cassiar, but I have say that there seemed to be more bad pavement, construction, etc. than we found on the Alaskan Highway on our trip both up and part of the way back. There is a short distance at the beginning with fairly new pavement (maybe 30 miles) and the section south of the Hyder/Stewart turn off was in good or decent shape. But the 200 or so miles in between had numerous unpaved construction sites and miles of broken pavement.

I wished we had gone back on the Alaskan Highway and skipped the Hyder Bears. Two days produced only one grizzly for us and he didn't stick around but a couple of minutes. Can't blame it on the lack of salmon, they were very thick in the stream. Hopefully those that follow will have better luck.

[sue_t]

DakotaCamper wrote:
We are back in Tok for the night (our back nine). Tomorrow we head for the TOW. Looks like there is a music festival in Dawson when we were planning on being there. Hopefully we can find somewhere to stay since I do not have reservations. From there we head towards Jasper and Banff NPs and then on to Glacier. I hate leaving Alaska. Still so many things I wanted to see.

Dawson tends to get full during events. Even the Yukon gov't campgrounds can get a bit busy.

If so, consider heading 70km (50 miles) up the Dempster to Tombstone Park. It is beautiful there. The highway is in good shape as far as the park. Good gravel. Easy drive, just a couple of hours. Well worth it. Nice campground there, with no hookups though. Lots of good hiking around the area.

http://yukonsights.ca/DempsterHwy.html

The white spots alongside the highway, way down there, are at the campground area

[MORSNOW]

Just a quick heads up for anyone want to drive on the Seward Highway just south of Anchorage, there is a large wildfire that has traffic backed up for hours!

http://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2016/07/19/pilot-car-guiding-seward-highway-traffic-past-mc...

[DakotaCamper]

We are back in Tok for the night (our back nine). Tomorrow we head for the TOW. Looks like there is a music festival in Dawson when we were planning on being there. Hopefully we can find somewhere to stay since I do not have reservations. From there we head towards Jasper and Banff NPs and then on to Glacier. I hate leaving Alaska. Still so many things I wanted to see.

[lizzie]

We will be leaving Creekside Motel and RV Park in Anchorage in the morning. We have been here since Friday and have found it to be satisfactory despite it's terrible reviews. Yes it is a gravel parking lot with minimum space between sites but it is has full hook ups,cable TV and excellent WIFI for $39. It really is beside a creek (not accessible), but the greenery and coolness from the trees is helpful. The motel is freshly painted and has lots of flowers. Parking is orderly and there are no seasonal campers here. This is our third time "camping" in Anchorage and we were unwilling to go back to either of the other two RV parks so we gave this one a try. lizzie

[petrel]

After regrouping in Tok, we have moved to Eagle RV park in Valdez. Just a gravel parking lot with barely enough room between sites to deploy our awning. Park is clean and staff is pleasant.

The ride in was the best part. Can't wait to leave for Ninilichik. Hopefully the family will get glaciers and kayaks out of their systems by Thursday.

[GGeorge]

I too am on the back nine as of 7/22, when I leave Homer and I do not play golf, but I like to ride in the cart.

Oceanview Campground is rated by GS 7.5/10/9.5. If I recall the rating system stands for 7.5 = facilities, 10 = restrooms and showers, and the 9.5 = visual appearance. I would like to meet the reviewers for this campground, I think they were blind. The grass has not been cut this year. Yesterday a kid (17-18) came by with a weedeater and cut the grass around the pole with the number in front of the RV. He only did the empty site 2 sites down, but skipped the empty site beside me and all the rest of the grass. I only saw him do 3 numbered posts. Tarheel2 mentioned it was tall enough for him to get wet while washing his coach for $10.00, now it is $15.00 to wash and I will not get wet or forfiet more funds to this campground. The ad in GS directory says paved roads, which I have not found yet, dust everywhere even in mid park, those at the bottom of the hillside can't even open their coach windows, many picnic tables need repair, cable is additional charge. Grass is also mid calf between coaches. Many sites are not level. I have one wheel 1 inch off the ground on the drivers side, and the passengers side is off the ground by 3+ inches. Back rear jack on drivers side is touching the ground for stable purposes and passenger side is 4 inches up.

Tour group just pulled in for next 3 days.

WiFi will get ugly tonight. Gotta go.

GGeorge

[wr1032]

https://www.google.com/?ion=1&espv=2#q=mackenzie+bc+rv+parks&rflfq=1&rlha=0&rllag=55328192,-123093271,281&tbm=lcl&tbs=lf:1,lf_ui:2

[2gypsies1]

Quartz Creek national forest campground is extremely nice as is the forest service one, Williwaw, at Portage Glacier on the Kenai Hwy.

[CabinetmakerII]

GGeorge wrote:
In Homer: Oceanview RV Park is overrated by GS. Sights are not level, cable is $170 extra for 5 nights, dust everywhere and the grass needs cut. NO refunds.

We were in Homer a couple of days ago. Not having any reservations and fishing season in full swing, we ended up at Mariner Park CG on the beach. All of the beach front sites were occupied so we backed in against the highway. Hard to sleep with cars whizzing by not 30' from your head. No amenities are included with the exception of a picnic table and a fire ring. But for $15/night it was fine.

Homer being our farthest point from home, we consider this "Making the Turn" and we are now playing the "Back Nine" as we work our way back to Idaho.

BTW, there is a great USFS Campground just East of Coppers Landing named Quartz Creek. It has nearly 50 campsites right on Kenai Lake. Some sites are by reservation while others are first come first serve. There is a Dump Station across the road with potable water. This is one of the best USFA CGs we have ever stayed in.

CM