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Excursion04 · 07-29-2016, 08:41 AM

Alaskan trip. It is on our bucket list for next year our 40th wedding anniversary. Plan on getting on the road mid May from St Louis and return July or may be August. I look forward to reading your comments, suggestions on trip to Alaska.
Keep them coming.

MrsChilerick · 07-29-2016, 08:51 AM

We are also planning a trip to Alaska next year. We have been following several currently threads here on the forum. You may want to use the search function and subscribe to a few of them. The three we follow are:

Alaska 2016, Alaska trip, and trip to Alaska. Lots of good info in all of them.

twogypsies · 07-29-2016, 01:41 PM

It would benefit everyone if each year on this forum all Alaska posts go on one continuous post. It would be so easy to read and add to without duplicating a lot of the information.

Woodalls.com has a yearly one under the Canada/Alaska forum and it works out well.

Excursion04 · 07-29-2016, 06:09 PM

I am thinking of ordering Milepost 2016 from Amazon to begin planning our trip. I was wonder if I should wait for next year's edition? I am just too anxious to get started.

twogypsies · 07-29-2016, 08:39 PM

The 2016 will do just fine. They hardly change anything the next year except advertising. Maps and history remains the same. It'll take you some time to get acquainted with reading it. You'll be jumping around a little when going from one highway to another and will read it backwards when going to and from. You'll see.

I'm with you...once you decide on the Alaska trip you want to get started. Have fun!

July or August? Shoot for August...you can always return earlier but I bet you won't.

If you do though, you can use the extra planned time on some areas of the lower 48 that you haven't explored. Re-enter the U.S. at a different point than you entered to see something new.

DrDaveMA · 08-11-2016, 08:28 AM

We did the trip from Cape Cod to Alaska in 2014, see www.capecodtoalaska2014.com for the entire trip, has daily mileage, where we stayed and LOTS of pictures. As previously mentioned I would plan a little more time, you can always come home early, but it is so beautiful you will want to stay longer.

You can get the currently available Milepost, the roads do not change, but the fuel stops sometimes are closed, even if in this years edition they say they are open. Drive on the top half of your tank. We fueled almost every day, sometimes it was only 20 gallons, sometimes more, but I knew I had enough fuel for a couple of days, just in case. Also know that fuel is more expensive on this trip, and the Canadian portion is priced it CD and delivered in liters, so multiply the price by 4 and you will be close. There always is the exchange rate that will help.

vermilye · 08-11-2016, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrDaveMA

We did the trip from Cape Cod to Alaska in 2014, see Cape Cod To Alaska 2014Cape Cod To Alaska 2014 for the entire trip, has daily mileage, where we stayed and LOTS of pictures. As previously mentioned I would plan a little more time, you can always come home early, but it is so beautiful you will want to stay longer.

You can get the currently available Milepost, the roads do not change, but the fuel stops sometimes are closed, even if in this years edition they say they are open. Drive on the top half of your tank. We fueled almost every day, sometimes it was only 20 gallons, sometimes more, but I knew I had enough fuel for a couple of days, just in case. Also know that fuel is more expensive on this trip, and the Canadian portion is priced it CD and delivered in liters, so multiply the price by 4 and you will be close. There always is the exchange rate that will help.

And here is our 2015 trip from upstate NY.

Two suggestions - Stop at the Dawson Creek Visitor Centre and ask for the fuel & campground list. Very handy & up-to-date. Second, get a copy of Mike & Terri Church's Traveler's Guide to Alaskan Camping: Alaska and Yukon Camping With RV or Tent. I found it more useful than the Milepost, at least as far as camping info.

Superslif · 08-11-2016, 05:01 PM

Yes ordering the 2017 edition of the Milepost will have better construction updates. The most current updates can be found on Alaska 511 website and 511yukon.ca. Just print them out just before you leave to see where the major road rebuilding is. This years trip we hit one just east of Laird Hot Springs BC ( Alcan) one two hours south of Denali (Parks Highway) and one section if I remember just north of Dalta Junction on the Richardson Highway SE of Fairbanks. Most involved a 5-10 minute wait for a pilot car to guide you thru

The Alcan was really no issue except near Distruction Bay. Your next biggest worry are frost heavies. Same thing no be deal unless you like to travel at 65-70mph. This morning we were on the Chena Hot Springs road back to Fairbanks and there was a 10 mile section where you would have to slow to 35-40mph because of 5 or 6 frost heavies over about a 1000' of roadway. You had about 10-15 spots like this. Otherwise on the two lane road it's an easy 50-55mph

Ramets · 08-12-2016, 06:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Excursion04

Alaskan trip. It is on our bucket list for next year our 40th wedding anniversary. Plan on getting on the road mid May from St Louis and return July or may be August. I look forward to reading your comments, suggestions on trip to Alaska.
Keep them coming.

Leaving from St. Louie I'd suggest crossing into Canada at Coutts/Sweetgrass from Montana. We've crossed there a number of times and never a hold up. We usually left mid May as you are wanting to do, and then came back 1st part of Sept. One year we went up the Alaskan Hiway, and came back on the Cassier so we could stop for a couple days at Hyder. If you do this I highly recommend a day trip in the towed up to Salmon Glacier, it's spectacular to be high above a glacier without having to be in a plane. It's a trip that will get you wanting to go again. If you're a fisherman the Salmon runs are a hoot. They're mid July, and I'm glad we had an outside freezer. I filled it AND sent the kids about 25lbs. each. I also recommend the Church's book because they point out places to boondock, which we did many nights on the way north. The north country is a place everyone should experience at least once.

Excursion04 · 08-15-2016, 08:25 AM

I like your website and the pictures!
We were thinking of setting up a blog page for our trip.
Did you have to make reservations for RV parks?

Excursion04 · 08-15-2016, 08:25 AM

I like your website and the pictures!
We were thinking of setting up a blog page for our trip.
Did you have to make reservations for RV parks?

twogypsies · 08-15-2016, 12:01 PM

Don't make a ton of reservations. The only ones we made were for the July 4 weekend (Alaskans like to camp, too) and for 5 nights in Denali Nat'l Park's Teklanika campground - the farthest one you can drive. We only made those about 3 weeks prior when we could better judge when we'd be in those areas.

It's a long trip and many things can happen along the way. It's a lot easier to just stay flexible. You'll never know if you want to stay longer in one area or you'll be ready to move on the next day.

Definitely purchase Mike and Terri Church's book 'Alaskan Camping'. It includes Canada and the Yukon, also. It's the only reference you'll need for campsites in public parks, RV parks or just lovely boondocking spots.

Also purchase the TourSaver 2/1 coupon book. One glacier cruise will pay for the book and you'll want to do at least one.

Superslif · 08-18-2016, 05:00 PM

The only reservation I made well ahead of time (5 months) was inside Denali National Park campground ( Tek). Also for Banff and Jasper National Parks in Alberta.

I did make a reservation 3 days before I arrived in Dawson City (Yukon) and Chicken AK.

When the fish are running in the Kenai many of the campgrounds will be full on the weekends. We just made sure we were at a "first come first serve" state or national forest campground for Friday or Saturday nights.

Excursion04 · 08-24-2016, 07:49 AM

one more thought on our trip.
Do we need to take a spare tire with us? We have no storage room big enough to store one in case we decided to take one with us. I thought may be store it on the roof, which means installing some sort of roof rack. Any thought?