Community Forums

Chris Travels · 05-10-2015, 12:58 AM

Hey everyone, thanks for checking my post! I recently traveled up the Alcan past Whitehorse and the roads were pretty horrible until I hit the Alaskan boarder. I know this is a chronic problem for those of us who drive the Alcan in an RV. While driving on the "road" and fearing my walls would shake off I promised myself I was going to ferry down in the fall. However, after a short conversation with the Alaskan Marine Highway I found out it would be nearly 4k for a one way trip with our 32ft RV.

With that said my question for those who have driven in Fall is this. Are the roads in a better state of repair in Fall? I feel as though crews would be doing some work on the road during the summer months. Is it better to ferry up in the spring? I am wondering if the road was so bad because crews had not had time to get to the roads to fix the damage from winter. Or is that section of road always going to be that bad?

Chris

Ramblin Rose · 05-10-2015, 01:49 AM

Chris, the road is as good as its ever been! I've lived in Alaska for 43 years and traveled the Alcan many times over the years. That section from the border to WhiteHorse is always rough. If you slow down and watch for the flags to indicate the bad sections you will survive, it's all part of the adventure on the last frontier. Good luck with your travels.

Chris Travels · 05-10-2015, 01:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramblin Rose

Chris, the road is as good as its ever been! I've lived in Alaska for 43 years and traveled the Alcan many times over the years. That section from the border to WhiteHorse is always rough. If you slow down and watch for the flags to indicate the bad sections you will survive, it's all part of the adventure on the last frontier. Good luck with your travels.

I was thinking the same thing this year on the way up Rose. However, the road was not paved for a 24 mile section that was rough washboard throughout. When I drove up last year this section was not there. This may be recent construction?

Ramblin Rose · 05-10-2015, 02:05 AM

Every year they tear up sections for repair and it never seems to improve just, just relocates the bad spots. Forty two years ago I Tried the highway on my Harley the whole road was gravel then. It rained for weeks before I got there and lost the engine because of mud ingestion, that was an adventure!

RVingDutchman · 05-10-2015, 04:19 AM

1978... was the last time I drove the Alascan HWY from Edmonton and as far as I remember the pavement stopped when I got of HWY 16 (Yellowed) first it was great graded and packed gravel roads and those slowly (But Very Surely) became more degraded every mile as I got further north! these trips where in winter and spring

And then there where the "NEW" pieces of coarse that where the cutofs loosing a bad corner and to straighten out the road but it often had to be build through SWAMP, base work was done ??? as best they could or so we where told

but you never knew if you where going to make it or disapear into a massive 120'x20' mudhole

and without any warning other then some massive groaning and a splash!

OH Sorry, We'll pull you right through!

Or you where one of the last ones to go through the old hairpin curve around one of those swamps they where trying to eliminate and right behind you they changed the sign for traffic to go over the almost improved section eliminating 1300 yards of curves and bog where you where now stuck!!!!! and they had all forgotten about you so you got to plough through 2' of clay trying to find the forman to get someone to pull you out

So that approximately describes the last two trips hauling up there for McCleod's Hardware Stores. Night driving while the water trucks spayed water on the road so the graders could cut it.

Pitch dark, often the road was just wide enough for two rigs, and at night if you did nothing more that trading some paint or crome on the mirror frames!!! ALL WAS GREAT !!!

Now so many years later I'm planning my trip back up to Alaska, with our RV The EAGLE,

From what I've heard the roads are a lot better and I am not to worried about that part.
I do want to make sure we're prepared well since we plan on doing a lot of boon docking.
That means Solar, Tools, Fluids, Filters, spares, even a high tech compost toilet to save fresh water and expand grey water capacity!

Best Regards,

Ed

Always cleaning keeps
my head clear