Alaska

[memevow]

We are thinking of going to Alaska in 2010 and would like to hear fsom someone who might know about the roads there.

We have heard that they are very bad and will be hard on the coach. Does anyone know anything about this? Where are the best destinations? We will have three or four RVs traveling together.

Thanks.

Meme

[tbutler]

Meme,

We spent the summer in Alaska in 2006. First, get the bible on travel in Alaska, The Milepost. It will give you a near complete listing of possible things to see. Depending on the time you have to stay there, you can drive most every major highway in Alaska in a season. There is no way you can see anything near everything in a season!

Now for more good news. On your way to Alaska you will travel through British Columbia and/or Alberta and then Yukon and if you want you can see Northwest Territories, all beautiful and amazing parts of Canada. It will take some time to see some of the sights here. We spent almost 3 weeks getting to Alaska and another week coming back to the lower 48.

Now for the roads. Of course, my report is now 3 years old. That said, the roads to Alaska were generally good. The Alaska Highway pavement was fine through about the first half of Yukon. As you go further north from there, the roads begin to show the effects of the harsh winter. You will develop an eye for the closet dumpers! These are dips in the road caused by frost heaving and slumping. They are about the right length to cause your coach (trailers too) to settle down on the suspension and then coming out of the dip toss the rear end upward so as to cause all the clothes hangers to rise off the closet bar! Viola, a closet dumper! Once you have an eye for those you learn that 45 MPH is a good speed to travel, it allows you to slow just a bit to avoid the big down/up movement of the motor home.

That was the good news. Road repair in Canada and Alaska is an on-going process and I'm sure you will see many miles of road under repair. You will drive over packed rock/dirt that is wet down with Calcium Chloride to reduce dust. Being damp this will sling Calcium Chloride laced dirt all over your motor home. Fortunately, most RV parks accommodate washing either with a free washing policy or a paid wash area. I washed the motor home just about every time we drove from one place to another. We were there in a very wet year according to veteran Alaska travelers and this probably contributed to the mud/dirt problem. Also, be aware that you will find few places where the parking lots for gas stations, grocery stores, souvenir shops are paved. Instead you will find them pot-holed and if it has rained, muddy.

Is such a trip hard on your coach, yes. Would I go again? We are already planning to do just that, if not in 2010, likely 2011. Our next trip will be via ferry on the way north to see the coastal areas of Alaska, Juneau, etc. Our coach has more scars from other more civil locations than we got in Alaska. In our old home state of Missouri we had a flat tire on the left front steer tire in the fall of 2006, on I-29, none in Alaska! In the spring of 2007 we took a large rock in the windshield, again in Missouri, I-44 this time. We got plastered by tire debris from a highway department mower on I-80 in Utah in the fall of 2007.

Now, we did see a motor home with a large patch on the upper rear quarter, apparently a sign or a tree caught the rear of the coach when making a turn. We saw a fifth wheel that had run off the road. There was a path of run down vegetation at least 300 feet long. We watched as a wrecker pulled out the pickup truck and fifth wheel as a single unit and they then drove away under their own power. I'm sure there was damage but it was still drivable. Caution is essential, don't schedule yourself into being in a rush. Take your time and enjoy the great experience that is Alaska.

In preparation for our trip to Alaska, we made sure we had new tires on our taod. We purchased a cover for the hood and windshield of our toad and used it as well as the Guardian that we already had with our Roadmaster Tow Bar. We also purchased and installed a Bra for the front of the motor home. Big, ugly and black, it gave us extra protection for the nose of the motor home. We saw all kind of home-made devices to protect motor homes, windshields and toads. I think it makes sense to prepare though as it turned out, we could have likely done fine without these steps during that particular trip.

Fuel prices in Canada and Alaska will be higher than in the lower 48. In 2006 we paid about $3.50 to $4.00 per gallon of diesel. On a drive to Inuvik, NWT we paid $4.50 for regular gas! That was the only station in a stretch of about 300 miles on that highway. Given the nature of fuel prices, I would prepare for prices greater than these for your 2010 trip. If they are less, you'll be prepared!

[cluney@verizon.net]

Meme,

We have traveled to Alaska via motorcoach twice since 2004. We took the Alcan Highway and had no problems. We kept to the major highways in Alaska never veering off to Top of the World Highway and other gravel surfaces. Of course on the Alcan Hwy there were some portions where they were repairing which is normal after the winter. But we drove the speed limit, slowed down when we saw warnings of frost heaves (bumps or broken surfaces caused by cold weather). We had a great trip both times In '04 we toured & fished. '07 was mainly a fishing trip. Get the Milepost, current edition, and it gives step by step directions on sites and road conditions. Hope you decide to go and have fun.

cluney

[tbutler]

I ran across this blog from a writer for RV magazines. It has references to roads and some of the things they saw along the way. Their routing was different from ours but they ended up seeing many of the places we saw.

Here is the web site: http://rvstufff.blogspot.com/

Fair number of pictures as well as well written dialog.