Roll call Alaska 2017

[colliehauler]

I will try to get to Alaska next year, dreamed about it for years.

Anyone else planing a trip for next year?

[SBradley]

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR
We are gaining 11 seconds Thursday, on our way to spring.

[fanrgs]

ford-willy wrote:
I just read this "2017 marks the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation and we invite you to celebrate with Parks Canada! Take advantage of free admission to national parks, national historic sites and national marine conservation areas for the entire year." -- So does this mean we do not need to buy a parks pass to visit Banff & Jasper or any other Canadian National Park on our 3 month 17 trip. I hope so.

If you order a Discovery Pass from Parks Canada, the answer is "yes" for free daily park admissions. But camping fees are not included nor are any park tours or other park events or services that entail a per person or per vehicle cost. In other words, it works just like the US Federal Senior Pass, but without the half-price campground fees.

[exportman]

This is a great thread.
We visited Alaska by cruise ship in 2002 and loved it so much that we decided to travel there by RV. So, our first exploring trip by RV was in 2004 when we traveled North up the west coast of the U.S. to B.C. British Columbia is awesome. We have RV'd in 9 of the 10 Canadian provinces and B.C. is our favorite. If you can, explore it from Vancouver Island to the beautiful Okanagan Valley, across to Prince Rupert and then up the famous Cassiar highway to pick up the Alaskan highway in Yukon at Watson Lake. Doing the Cassiar was fun, scenic and memorable with a side trip to Stewart-Hyder.
From there we headed west to AK visiting Whitehorse, Haines, Valdez, Anchorage, Seward, Homer, Denali, Fairbanks, Chicken, Dawson City, Whitehorse (again), Dawson Creek, Prince George, on to magnificent western Alberta to Jasper, the Icefields Parkway (arguably the most beautiful high road in all of North America) to Lake Louise and then worked our way back to the U.S. and to central Calif.

For 2017, we have our newest Milepost, Mike and Terri Church's book mentioned earlier in this thread and our memories to guide us in our planning for 2017.

We do plan to do a Spring to early summer trip. This way we are ahead of the summer crowds and the beautiful snow clad mountains have just begun the melt.

I am available to answer questions publicly in this thread or by private mail for anyone with any questions. This forum has helped me for over a decade and I love giving back.

[sue_t]

TravelingLady66 wrote:
Sue.t... thanks so much for the photos etc... I have a Roadtrek and several have said I need a 4 wheel drive to do this trip -- Yukon,NWT etc.. on to Newfoundland.. and from what I have read, with good tires, springs, shocks etc.. .I should be ok.. just me and my dogs --

My little Honda Fit with minimal clearance did just fine - no 4-wheeling needed :B

[Yeti_plus]

We drove the Dempster in 2016,. Beautiful drive. All gravel , but well graded and the graders are out daily along with water trucks. If it is raining it gets muddy, if it is not raining it is dry and really dusty.( Take along a vacuum cleaner type of dusty,we had to buy one.)
This summer the new road from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk should be open, so you will be able to drive all the way to the Arctic Ocean.
After we finished the Dempster drive, I said that we could drive it every day for a year and see something new and different on every trip, and my wife agreed!
We also did the Dalton, the easy way, on a tour coach from Fairbanks. Left early 6 A.M., got back 11:30 P.M. All we did was look out the windows and take pictures, a very welcome change to driving. We had planned 4 days to do this if we drove, 2 days up and 2 back, so we had an extra 3 days to explore.
I never had to use 4wd on any of the roads we travelled, either to the North or to Newfoundland.
Brian

[TravelingLady66]

Sue.t... thanks so much for the photos etc... I have a Roadtrek and several have said I need a 4 wheel drive to do this trip -- Yukon,NWT etc.. on to Newfoundland.. and from what I have read, with good tires, springs, shocks etc.. .I should be ok.. just me and my dogs --

[sue_t]

We've been on the Dempster numerous times. Especially enjoy the trip to Tombstone park and campground. Lovely area!

http://yukonsights.ca/DempsterHwy.html

http://yukonsights.ca/20150630_ArcticCircle.html

August 2015 there was a washout that closed the Dempster for a few days CBC News - Dempster washout

[TravelingLady66]

hi.. sue.t... meant to say "Dempster Hwy"...

[sue_t]

Which highway are you referring to when you say "Dawson Highway"?
The Klondike Hwy runs between Whitehorse and Dawson City.
The Dempster Hwy runs from Dawson City to Inuvik.
The Top of the World Hwy and Taylor Hwy run from Dawson City to Chicken & Tok.

The Alaska Highway runs north from Dawson Creek towards Alaska.

[TravelingLady66]

Leaving for Alaska, Yukon, NWT and on to Newfoundland --- June 1 from Taos, NM -- getting my Roadtrek updated.. etc... started planning.. excited to go! Reading all the forums, conditions of Dawson Highway.. etc.. anyone been on the Dawson H.?

[PA12DRVR]

"Retiring in May 2017 and leaving for Alaska from Texas. We have not done a lot of planning yet. Getting pretty excited about the trip."

Expect terrain and climate just a bit different from Livingston....says the guy that just got back to AK after 10 years more or less in Ewe-stun.

[dhill462]

Retiring in May 2017 and leaving for Alaska from Texas. We have not done a lot of planning yet. Getting pretty excited about the trip.

[ford-willy]

I just read this "2017 marks the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation and we invite you to celebrate with Parks Canada! Take advantage of free admission to national parks, national historic sites and national marine conservation areas for the entire year." -- So does this mean we do not need to buy a parks pass to visit Banff & Jasper or any other Canadian National Park on our 3 month 17 trip. I hope so.

[sue_t]

I don't use bug spray or nets. If I get into an area with lots of bugs, I just keep moving so they don't have time to settle on me. They tend to prefer shady damp areas, whereas I like open sunny areas so we tend to not have many conflicts 😄

[PA12DRVR]

"Normally you will not need a net, but expect mosquitos in wooden areas. If you go on the Dalton highway up to the Artic Circle and you plan to walk around I would bring it, last time is July there was plenty. You sure need bug spray."

X2. The further one goes off the beaten path and off the driving roads, the more likely to encounter mosquitoes, gnats, blackflies, etc. Any hiking near bogs or most lakes will likely see some bugs and if one does go into the wooded areas, particularly in the afternoon stretching to evening, you'll likely encounter bugs.

I always carry a headnet as I don't like the sprays, but headnets have drawbacks as well.