Community Forums

Whkorson · 01-27-2019, 03:23 PM

Taking our '08 View to Alaska this summer. Any ideas and suggestions would be appreciated. Taking the dog so the ferry might be difficult.

DariusB · 01-28-2019, 07:06 AM

Go to. www.northtoalaska.com. for current info on services and such along the hi way.

Big Bear Local · 01-28-2019, 07:19 AM

Don't feed the dog day of ferry ride.

M8tor · 01-28-2019, 10:37 AM

We took the ferry from Bellingham to Haines. It was about a four 1/2 day trip. We had 2 Old English Sheepdogs along for the ride. We were in a Ford Expedition and not an RV. They allowed us to put our large wire crates on the deck which was nice.

The first leg of the trip is the toughest for the pets because it's 30+ hours without a port call. They have a deck call every 8 hours which is the only time you can go to your RV/Vehicle. During the first leg, they allow the pets to relieve themselves on the deck. Ours (and many other dogs) would not do it on the deck. When we finally reached the first port call, we took the dogs off the ferry and they headed for the nearest grass area. We had frequent port calls after that and were allowed to take our dogs off the ferry for walks.

We ate at the cafeteria for all of our meals. I remember the prices to be very reasonable and the food was good. We had two middle-schoolers at the time and they enjoyed the cafeteria and looked forward to mealtime.

It was a really fun trip. I have done the beautiful AlCan many times but we have a lot of fond memories of our ferry trip.

BillB100 · 01-30-2019, 12:13 PM

Buy a copy of the Milepost Magazine. You can't do without it. Buy it now so you can study it to death. You will love it and you will learn so much by reading it.

rarebear.nm · 02-01-2019, 11:23 AM

We were up there last summer with our 5th. Saw lots of Views on the trip and people seemed to love them on the Alaska trip. Did not take the inland ferry along the west coast so can not comment on that. Good comments above.

I agree get the Mile Post book now and start reading it. Another go to book for us was Church and Church's Alaska travel guide. Whereas the Milepost is great it seems to only list campgrounds that advertise in the book, "pay to play". Whereas; Church's book seems to list every little place you park and camp, well almost. Many are not really RV campgrounds, but totally good sites.

Keep in mind that the Milepost is written like there are stand mile posts every mile- not so on most of our journey through Canada and Alaska. In Canada "mileage" posts are few and far between farther north you go. But if it says the next right, that's fine even if its in fifty miles, because there is no other right turn for fifty miles.

There is sooo much information in the Milepost the reader can wind up just reading it and not seeing the trip. So my advice is to highlight in the book those stops/places you want to see to make it a faster, easier reference.

With a View you can park it almost anywhere. So excluding a few popular places (Denali NP) and perhaps July 4th you should not really need reservations. Our standard approach was that about noon we'd figure out how far we would go that day and then find a CG in one of the two books and/or on the web, if any cell service. Then call ahead and set a reservation an hour or three prior to arrival. Keep in mind many camping places do not have any reservation system, heck there's no one there to take reservations.

Always drive on the top half of your tank in most places up there.

Most important is to make sure your rig (tires) are in good shape and just go and have fun.

NMBluept · 02-02-2019, 10:44 AM

If you do drive the Alaska Highway you need to have the 2019 version of the Milepost book and the most current version of "Traveler's Guide to Alaskan Camping" (Alaska & Yukon camping with RV or tent).
As previously mentioned the Milepost is a paid/sponsored publication so many descriptions need to be taken with that in mind. The maps provided with the book are quite useful and will allow a nice visual for your proposed route. The Alaskan Camping book is a comprehensive compilation of camping sites in the Yukon and Alaska that includes descriptions written by the authors who appear to have traveled the routes multiple times.
Take your time, take your camera, take your binoculars, take your raincoat and have fun on the greatest adventure ever :-)