What to plan for if you're thinking the Al-Can Hwy in a TC?

[Boatycall]

So, I'm in the initial thoughts/planning stages for doing the Al-Can next year. I get 5 weeks vaca per year, and this year, I'm going to have 2 weeks carry over, so next year I'll have 7 weeks on the books.

I'm thinking of budgeting a month to do the Al-Can. So first, is that enough from Seattle?

Some other questions--
My truck is in great shape, but what do you plan for besides flats?
Besides the normal road-trip stuff like extra fluids, belts, air compressor, etc...

Where would I want to stop for sight seeing?

Where to stay for overnighters?

Sat phone?

Time of year next year to go/not go? BTW, I hate mosquitoes(who doesn't)...

What else?

[ejfranz]

We did the trip this summer (50 days and 12300 Km) not enough time to enjoy, but we did see a lot and will go back and spend more time in the places we liked.
Fuel is not a big issue, just fill up when you get near a 1/2 tank in the more remote areas.
We used an old Milepost (2009) as a guide, but I found the book "Adventure Guide to the Alaska Highway" a good resource.
I preferred the gravel Hwys (Campbell, Dempster, Taylor) to the paved as the frost heaves are graded out. On the paved roads slow down and let the faster traffic pass you. The worst frost heaves were on a road to Lake Louise Alaska - it was a roller coaster.
Bugs were bad this year as Alaska and the Yukon had a cool, wet summer.

If you plan on doing any tours get the Alaska Tour saver coupon book.

If you bring your toy, you will not have much use for it once you get into the tundra - not many trails and there are weight restriction on other trails (8 psi per tire).

We left our bicycles at home - wished we had them as many communities have bicycle trails (paved).

Take your time and enjoy.

[deltabravo]

Good batteries in the camper are a must, if you don't plan on doing much camping at campgrounds/rv parks with power hookups. A charging wire upgrade between the camper and truck sounds like a good idea as well, I need to get mine done.

[Golden_HVAC]

My thought is also to get the Milepost book now, and start to study it over winter. You can learn a lot from it, and plan ahead.

What I would want is a larger than stock fuel tank - if you have less than 30 gallons on board. Sometimes the fuel stops are more than 200 miles apart, so as suggested above, fill once you are below 1/2 tank.

I have heard that if you set the CC at 45 MPH on the gravel sections of road, if you come across a pot hole, it should not damage the tires. However at higher speeds, yes it can damage the tires, and lead to the statements that you need to carry 6 spare tires! Most drive at sane speeds, and do not need a spare.

I did buy a tire plug kit to take along. I also got some flares from the local boating store, figured if I could not carry a real gun into Canada, at least the flares might scare off some bears, as they might be able to smell the gunpowder? I also carried a 6 gallon fuel can, but never filled it.

Fred.

[kerry4951]

We were up in 2010 (August-Sept). Bugs were no problem at all. Since we were going up a little later than most, crowds did not exist.
You should be good if you have 7 weeks, especially since you live on the west coast. But it depends on how much time you want to stay in certain areas. We kept moving and we were gone less than 2 months from Pa.
All total we spent a little over $100 in CG fees. These were only the few nights where we either had to stay at a CG or thought it best if we did. Most all nights were spent nestled in large pull offs near the roads. Never had an issue staying in any of those.
We found decent cell phone reception near the larger cities and towns, but dont remember if we had verizon then or some other service.
I had my air compressor along and I carried a plug kit. I figured most flats could be temporarily repaired on the road by using a plug and then addressing the permanent repair once we got to a town.As it turned out we had no flat tires.
Overall the roads were decent. You will definitely hit areas of construction, and it it rains you can expect to have a brown truck and TC. The white will be gone until you find a car wash.
Getting fuel was no problem. We used the 1/2 tank rule for the most part. Fuel was expensive. We learned not to get it from the first station coming into town as they seemed to be priced higher. Usually it was cheaper once you got further into town. If there were no other stations, we turned around and went back to the first one that we passed. Towns arent that big so it was no big deal to go back.
If you ask, you will find that some of the fuel stations have water and a dump somewhere on their property. Most of them will let you use them free if you buy fuel from them. Most do not have a sign out advertising this service so it pays to ask.

[gpascazio]

Did that trip in 2012. Our rig is almost the same has yours, we have a 2010 Eagle Cap 1160 and 2008 Ford F350 6.4 L Diesel. We were gone for five months. We were in Dawson Creek on July 2, 2012 and got to Fairbanks on July 8 2010. Our expeience was similar to previous posters. We stayed at provincial parks as much as possible. However, we did have to stop at RV parks every 3rd or 4th day to make sure our batteries were fully charged. I brought a battery charger with, for this purpose (Wiring is too small from truck to camper). We made sure that we filled up whenever we saw a gas station that carried diesel. The lowest we got was 15 miles of diesel left in the tank, as we pulled into the gas station in Kluane National Park (I was very nervous to say the least).
There are places to stop for information all along the highway, do it they have brochures on gas stations, RV dumps, RV parks, Provincial Parks and anything else you might want to know.
That last 100 miles of the Alaska Highway in Canada was the worst. This section has numerous frost heaves. The majority of the heaves are marked my cones/markers, which is great. But some heaves were barely a little bump and some were real rattlers. the first time we hit one of these I thought for sure we were in trouble. Luckily nothing happened. So we slowed down to the 25 MPH. However, we did not experience any mechanical breakdowns whew!!!.

Places we liked :
Laird Hot Springs a must stop we spent a couple of days here. However the mosquitos were terrible here. Comparatively speaking there were no mosquitos the rest of the trip.
Muncho Lake was a favorite.
Teslin campground saw my first Bald Eagle as it flew about 10 " over me.
Kluane National Park was also spectacular

Here is a link to DWs blog https://jcgoodlife.wordpress.com/2012/07/page/2/ this link will take you to the Dawson Creek entry you can navigate from there.
If you want need any more info PM me.

Whatever you do enjoy the trip it is the experience of a lifetime.

[D_E_Bishop]

Unfortunately for those of us who remember the AlCan, all you need besides your RV is money and a camera. I know many folks won't sit and read the thousands of posts in the Alaska & Canada forum, big mistake.

For those who don't understand the first sentence, it is now the Alaska Hwy. The AlCan has been paved and has lots of gas but not as much adventure(this according to the really old folks). The countryside is still fantastic and the people you'll meet, what can anyone say about them that does them justice.

[FreeLanceing]

I went in July. I went by myself with my dog. I left Mi went to MT then north. I did this with my family when I was 13, in 71. Its a lot different now. Really no different than taking the backroads anywhere. You do have to plan for fuel a little and don't look at the price if have HBP. It depends who you ask too. One lady coming down said the last 100 miles were almost impassible. I found it to be a little bumpy and dusty, then muddy but no biggie. I took a 2500hd with a lance 815. I did punch a hole in the Transfer case north of Fairbanks, which I repaired with JB weld in the Fairbanks WM parking lot. I also broke a fitting off the heater core on the Top of world highway. That took a little more imagination. I duck taped the heater hoses shut. I kept stopping and adding water out of my fresh tank. I limped back into chicken. They told me I had to call a wrecker from Tok @ $900. I found some old dusty anti freeze in there storage room they forgot they had. I found a gold miner that sold me a short pipe nipple and 2 hose clamps for $25. I made the canadian border before 8pm shut down and still rolled into DC in time for the midnight follies. I never stayed in a CG. I found water and dump availible and never paid for that as well. I have small tanks. I bypassed my shower long ago. I stopped at most look outs and would glass the area. I saw wildlife most tourist never see. I counted 14 moose on one small lake in BC. My phone never worked in Canada. Wi Fi is at most fuel stops and at every info center. I brought 4 cans of bug spray never used any of them. You want to see skeeters come to mi in May. Up there like most things up there its mostly myth. I think any time tween the summer holidays would be good to go. Lots of folks were heading back as I was going up. I never had a flat and only saw one peoson with a flat. They were hauling a TT down the road with only steel rims on one side. Maybe they left that way? Again mostly myth from the old days. All in all it was a great trip. I was a little disapointed because it was not remote enough, not like I remembered. I secound Toad river, and Laird Hot spring. In Alaska I enjoyed Valdeez the most. The Kenia reminded me of tourist towns up north, need a tee shirt? All the fishing is snagging not legal here in Mi. We actually have better fishing. The scenery is unmatched anywhere I have been and I have been around. In alaska you can always see a mountian. Its definetly one for the bucket list, just dont look at the pump in N BC.

[joe123]

We went to Alaska 3 years ago, may June no bugs we did not do the Alcan but we did the dempster to the artic circle instead mostly all gravel, go slow and pull over for large vehicles especially those going fast this may help prevent the window loss or light loss. Good luck, we camped free on the whole trip wherever except in town.

[americanrascal]

Forgot to answer your specifics. We went up in August- not sure what it would be like earlier or later.

No significant problems with mosquitoes in August-- they were worse here in GA.Might want a bit of deet along just in case. We never needed it.

Rotary RV Park at FT St John as clean and well managed but would not open the gates to let us out until 7 AM.Also wanted $$$ for showers.

Yukon RV Park at Telsin lake was a nice way station stop overnight

As mentioned we liked Toad River the best.

Thw worst CG was at Haines Junction, Kluane RV Park mile 1586. It was marginal at best.

There is something worth seeing about every hour or 2 along the way,but I swear I saw the same pine tree for 6 days.

[americanrascal]

We just finished the run from Georgia to Anchorage in our Lance 865 TC. It was great. One heck of a lot of piney type trees on a long, long road, with intermittent spectacular sites and lots of furry animals. Stop and enjoy vistas and noteworthy turnouts every chance you get. Not sure of your cell phone service but we didn't have any and thoroughly enjoyed not having it. Most CG's we stayed at had wifi.

Make sure you acquire a Milepost book and Church's Alaska camping book. They were lifesavers for us on our run last month up the Alaska Hiway. Most of the roads are pretty good. Stop in Whitehorse at the visitors center for updates on the last 100 miles which has the most frost heaves. We averaged 25 mph on that stretch.

Always drive on the top half of your tank and avoid dropping below half a tank and you should be fine. Milepost will identify gas stops. Be prepared for expensive fuel.

Along the way we had no problems with the F250, but I broke one water line at the connection to the bathroom sink associated with road roughness/vibration, lost a bolt connection on the rear awning, and had to readjust each cabinet door. I caught one rock in the windshield but luckily it did not crack. Loose gravel and rocks are a problem with passing trucks. All in all it was not too bad. Duck tape as usual was a temporary fix.

Road surfaces are primarily gravel on tar surface treatment. We only found hot asphalt mix paved roads in the bigger cities. But they are for the most part well maintained. I estimate we ran on about 80 miles total on dirt with no pavement that was under construction. Other than delays on those stretches (one lane pilot car segments) the dirt segments were actually pretty smooth. But they were dusty.

Toad River was our favorite way station and campground. Fell in love with the place. Some folks dry camp and just pull off at turn outs and have no problems. Momma and I like it a bit cushier and hit the full service campgrounds along the way. The tanks on our TC are small and I like the water supply and sewer connections at full service CG's. We pushed it a bit hard trying to do 360 per day and that was a bit hard. I'd have like to have moved slower but I have ants in my pants trying to get somewhere and we needed to get to Anchorage.

Good supply stops are places like Wal-Mart in Dawson Creek and Whitehorse. Have a good camera ready and take lots of pics. You'll have fun and make lots of memories.

We experienced one major crisis. The biggest overall problem we had is that as southerners we are sausage and biscuit and grits type folks being form the south. We didn't stock enough biscuits and sausage , ran out and had withdrawal symptoms by the time we hit the Canadian border. We had to learn to eat cinnamon roles lest we turn into skeletons. Unfortunately we are now cinnamon roll addicts and may have to enter some program to get off of them.

[Turbo_Diesel_Du]

You're NOT going to a third world country. Plan for normal wear/tear and extra gas stops.