Alaska Bound

[bluevost]

Hey POGgers,

Long time no talk. Driving to Alaska has come up on the site several times over the years, and I want to invite you to "virtually" join Janet and me, along with Tuga and Karen as we travel the Alaskan Highway. I post a journal on a site hosted by MyTripJournal. It's complete with text and photos, I keep a drivers log, you'll see interesting sights, great boondocking spots, what a frost heave looks like, and of course all the touristy things along the way. Hopefully plenty of wildlife too. So if you would like to be notified via e-mail when I put up a new post, here's what you do:
send me an e-mail in the next few days, kenzittrer@mac.com
on the subject line put "journal"
include your first and last names and the e-mail address you want me to use
you'll receive an invitation, and follow the prompts.
We are leaving home on the 27th of May, but the official kickoff day is June 15, at mile 0 in Dawson Creek, BC.

See you in Kerrville,

"Klondike" Ken

[GDeen]

Alright Ken - this should be fun to follow, and instructive. Jennifer and I have Alaska high on our bus travel to do list. Look forward to learning and traveling vicariously along the way with you guys. Have fun!

[Coloradobus]

Have fun you 4... We will follow in your tire tracks next summer 2011.

[stevet903]

Awesome!! You will have a great time!! We did it last summer and would love to do it again. Let me know if you need any info on things to do or routes to take, places to stay, etc. One suggestion that I would make before you leave is to make sure that what ever you are towing has a bra plus some windshield protection or that you have some sort of gravel guard on the back of the bus, or both... You won't be able to avoid the construction and loose gravel. The gravel that gets kicked up will scour the front of the toad. You will see plenty of jury rigged solutions as you travel up there. Be prepared to come back with some battle scars on the front of your coach as well. I had one cracked lower and a good sized bulls eye in the upper windshield when we got back, plus some dings in the stainless. Might be time to break out your plastic shield.... My other recommendation would be to take care of any mechanical issues and scheduled maintenance before you leave - fresh oil change, new filters etc. Bring plenty of spares. Any item that you may be questioning, like tires or batteries, should be taken care of before you leave the US. Prices in Canada and Alaska are outrageous, and you'll find that getting parts and service can take days or weeks. One couple we know had an engine failure (Ford gas engine), and it took them almost 2 months to get it fixed and back on the road.

It's all worth it when you wake up in a spot like this..... and have to wash the bugs off the windshield AGAIN....

[IMG]e:Alcan Hwy.jpg[/IMG]Alcan Hwy..jpg

[merle&louise]

Steve,

Thanks for the advice. I am taking oil, oil filters, fuel filters, air filters, along with my usual inventory of spare parts.

How much was the diesel per gallon. I looked on Flying Js website and around Winnipeg, Manitoba it was $3.80/gallon. How much more is it in the far North?

I have new tires all around the coach so I should be good to go with that.

What were the temps like at night?

Did you have any border crossing problems?

How was the cell phone service? Who is your carrier?

[stevet903]

Diesel prices seem to be what ever the market will bear, with the smaller and more remote areas the worst. Definitely worth tanking up when you find a lower cost option. We left Boston last June with diesel at $2.59. In the Calgary area it was .89/liter and ranged up to $1.29/liter (CDN). In some remote parts of Alaska I saw $4.59/gal. I used this in the Yukon - http://www.esc.gov.yk.ca/fuel.html Currently prices range from $1.08/liter to $1.29/liter. In Alaska, look for a store called Fred Meyers - they are in Washington and Oregon as well. Sign up for their rewards card. Fred's is kind of an upscale Wal-Mart, with food, clothes, small appliances, etc. Most of the Freds in Alaska have fuel, and with the rewards card, you get .10 off per gallon for every $100 you spend in the store (that's easy!!). Most allow overnight parking and have water and a dump station, so it's a good place to stop and replenish all of your supplies - get the smoked salmon spread in the deli. Actually, get two because it won't last long.... Stop at the visitor centers in the towns and get the area book - many have coupons for .10/gal discount on fuel at one of the local stations. I remember one for the Chevron in Tok, and if you fill up they let you overnight in the lot behind the station.
Temps were all over the map - most of the summer the nights were comfortable in the 50's and 60's - I don't think we ran the A/C at all overnight, and only a few times during the day. Days could get all the way up into the 80's, but it was never humid. We left in September when the leaves turned and the nights got down below freezing a couple times. Winter comes fast up there. If you can't sleep with the lights on, you'll need to get some blackout curtains for the bedroom. In June and July, it never really gets dark.
We never had any problems with border crossings - we tried to cross at smaller stations during the middle of the day. They seemed to be most concerned with bringing weapons (including pepper spray) into Canada. To a lesser extent, they also seemed to be checking for certain produce (cherries, potatoes, etc). We just ate pretty much all of the fresh vegetables before we crossed and then stocked up on the Canadian side. Make sure you have proof of ownership, registration, and proof of insurance for both vehicles and your passports. The amount of alcohol that is allowed into Canada seems to be very low. You may bring in one of

* 1.5 litres (50.7 US ounces) of wine, including wine coolers over 0.5 percent alcohol, or

* 1.14 litres (38.5 US ounces) of liquor, or

* a total of 1.14 litres (38.5 US ounces) of wine and liquor, or

* 24 x 355 millilitre (12 ounce) cans or bottles of beer or ale, including beer coolers over 0.5 percent alcohol (a maximum of 8.5 litres or 287.4 US ounces). We were a rolling liquor store when we went through. Barbara had put together a spreadsheet of the wine and liquor that we had on board. We handed it to the border guy and he laughed and told us go get out of there... I believe that it's important to be pleasant, honest, and make sure you tell them you are on the way to Alaska. It's worked for me.... More on customs here:

http://canadaonline.about.com/od/cus...r_Services.htm

Cell phones??? HAH!!! Get a satellite phone if you want reliable coverage. We had Verizon and ATT. We bought a SIM card from Rogers in Calgary to get on a Canadian network. None of these worked while in Canada once you got very far north of Calgary and Vancouver. They would sometimes work in an area around a large town, like Whitehorse or Dawson Creek, but there are a lot of miles with no service. Prepare to be self sufficient for a couple of days (think water, fuel, and food) - if you need a tow it may take that long to get a truck big enough to your location. If you need to make a call, you may need to disconnect and drive to the next town - keep the toad full of gas just in case... In Alaska, ATT and Verizon work around the big cities - Anchorage, Fairbanks, Skagway, Homer, etc. I had a Verizon data card - It was slow in most areas - I think there was only 3G in Anchorage and Fairbanks. You'll find that you'll rely on campground connections for internet. Bring some DVDs, there's no TV either. My DirectTV stopped over the border. Around the larger towns you'll find that you may be able to get a mix of digital and analog signals, maybe two or three. Don't bother getting a Canadian plan for your cell phone, it wouldn't be worth it, and there simply is not enough coverage to justify it after the first couple days of travel.

[sawdust_128]

Have fun Ken. I hope it all goes well.

[Larry W]

Fred Myers is part of the Kroger chain so a Korger card will work for the fuel discount. Of course this many mile and this much fuel .10 off oer gallon is >>>>>.
Have a great trip. We lived in Fairbanks for 30 years. Made 11 trips over the road 1995 to 2000.

[merle&louise]

Steve & Larry,

Thanks for the info. Ken Zittrer told me about the satellite phone being the only thing that would work, but I just had to ask. Guess I was just hoping that the technology had improved from the last time Ken was up there. Ken is bringing his Iridium 9505 satellite phone and I have a SIM card so we should be go to.

I realize that the trip will be expensive, but it is a once in a lifetime trip for me. Guess we will just have to acclamate to the absence of cell, internet and satellite coverage. I don't think that losing those services will be all bad.

My coach has black out window shades so sleeping in a dark room when it is daylight out won't be a problem.

I hope we're ready - June 5th can't come fast enough. One more month!

[Larry W]

If you do as the north people you won't need black out shades. Just keep going until you are so worn out you have to get some sleep. How about a 11 PM tee time, in Fairbanks go to the midnite baseball game, bnest time to see wildlife is afdter midnite, you will get ti all sorted out. We found we did not need as much sleep in the summer time. Enjoy the north as it is totally different than the outside. ( Term used by Alaskans to denote the lower 48).