Alaska 2005 - Comments and Suggestions
Updated: 11/30/08
If you are planning a journey to Alaska, we hope the following helps make your journey as enjoyable as ours.
(If new items are added, they will be inserted at the top of the list and dated.)
Going to Alaska
?
Our Recommendations and Comments
Original list . . . Additions . . .
10-15-05 We added two 'off-road' lamps to the front of our truck. Headlight use is required in most of Canada and a good idea especially in the Yukon and Alaska. They are activated by a switch separate from the headlight/parking light switch so all the truck and trailer lamps do not have to be 'ON' at the same time.
10-15-05 Our two large mudflaps did a good job blocking most gravel. However, we should have had a mudflap that included the center rear of the truck. That would have avoided the little chips in the center of the lower front panel of the HHII that cannot be seen but felt when it is waxed.
October 14, 2005
Plan your trip in
advance. We found the time spent months before leaving home took the stress
off our time in
We used: - Travelers Guide to Alaskan Camping (Author: Church)
- Milepost (get the latest edition)
- Alaska for Dummies
- Maps, Tour Books, Trip Tic from AAA
- Information from Tourist Bureaus
- Information from Chambers of Commerce
- Articles collected from several magazines
The Milepost gave useful information. It is best to read ahead in preparation for the next day’s drive. Keep it on the seat next to the navigator. However, we found using the Milepost to be a little frustrating – partly because many ‘mile posts’ along the roads were missing. The Milepost was not totally accurate. All of a sudden a location listed in the book would appear and you could identify what ‘mile post’ you were near.
There is a lot of work to do before you can leave home – we prepared a BIG list of items that needed to be done before we could leave for our Alaska Adventure. Some items are: gather cash for trip, insure bank account balances will cover bills, arrange mail handling, set-up someone to pay bills not paid automatically, have someone provide home maintenance and security plus other items suited to your personal situation.
We failed to contact our prescription drug supplier with the correct questions. We could have
received advance refills. It was very expensive and special documents were
required for our daughter to mail our medicine “internationally” to
We also maintained a log of our mileage, truck and other expenses. The log included mileage, truck, food, attraction fees and all other expenses. Be prepared, when you get home, people will ask a variety of questions about your experience.
Investigate each of your credit card company’s policy regarding how they will handle Canadian transactions and what it will cost you. One of our cards charged no conversion fee, one charged a 2% fee and the third credit card company charged a 3% conversion fee.
We liked the direction
we traveled because we went from flat terrain, to mountains, to majestic
mountains and then to the sea. We liked our route because we traveled through
the rough and wilderness of
If you are going to
include Chicken in your itinerary, there is another reason to travel from
We recommend you do not go to Eagle. The road is narrow, winding and in bad shape in many places – you come out the same. Don’t even think about taking anything larger than a pickup camper or small class ‘C’ motorhome. Eagle does not have much to offer for the almost full day of driving.
Carry a list of
valuable items and their serial numbers. The U.S. Customs will certify it
and attached it to their form. This will avoid the American Customs considering
the items purchased during your visit in
Allow at least 1.5 hours at Canadian Customs. Since 9-11 everything has changed. You may be selected for a full search. Two agents searched our tow vehicle and fifth wheel – from stem to stern for over a half hour. That was after all the paperwork and interviews with immigration. This seems to be a bigger issue the first entry from the Lower 48. After that we were in the computer and entry and re-entry was a five minute ‘question and answer’ session.
Keep all your cash, traveler’s checks and jewelry in one place if you can until crossing the border. The Customs Officers asked us to remove them so they could inspect the truck and fifth wheel without the risk of being accused of stealing those items.
At the visitor’s center immediately across the Canadian border, purchase some Canadian currency. We arrived at a campground late in the evening, 30 miles from the border and needed cash. The exchange rate is about 2% worse than at a bank plus a 1% transaction fee. It is still a better deal than you will receive at any campground or business along your route. Or, bring Canadian money with you from your local bank.
Purchase a Canadian
telephone calling card at Wal-Mart as soon as you cross the border. They are
much less expensive to use. All calls made in
Investigate the entire town before purchasing fuel or other items. The fuel can have different prices at the other end of town. Sometime one station will offer free wash or free camping with a fill up. However, regardless of fuel cost, always drive on the top half of your tank.
The best thing you can do to protect your equipment is to take you time traveling, drive slowly. Watch the vehicles ahead of you to see how they are riding – smoothly or bouncy. Do not assume the next ‘bump’ or railroad crossing is as smooth as the last. If you see an orange flag or warning sign expect the worst. If the problem is in your lane and no one is coming from the other direction, use the left lane at that point.
Carry a full mix of
clothing. We wore our parkas and long pants and our shorts and t-shirts. The
best comment we heard from a resident was that in
We found the air very dry, take Chapstick, hand lotion and a moisturizer.
Take an insect repellant that is 100% Deet. Carry a small container of it with you at all times.
Check tire air pressure and water in batteries more frequently than usual.
We did not carry a lot of spare parts – none for the truck. We assumed the fifth wheel parts
would be harder to find than truck parts. We carried a RV water pump, a LP
regulator, a 30-amp repair end and a refrigerator thermal coupler to
As we observe RVers driving motorhomes, we came to the
conclusion that Class ‘A’ owners should bring their towed vehicle. If you have a smaller Class ‘C’, you may be able
to go most places you would choose to go in you motorhome. But, to be assured of
being able to see whatever you want to see in
Fuel stations are not an issue in most segments of the road. However, there is some comfort in carrying at least two 5-galllon jerry cans of extra fuel just in case. Don’t forget, red is for gasoline and yellow is for diesel fuel.
You should plan on taking more photographs than you expected to take – a lot more. We overhead several people looking for batteries and film for their camera at several tourist attractions. After returned home, one person we met told us by e-mail that she used 54 rolls of 35mm film. A couple digital camera owners wished they had larger or extra media cards for their camera. The best solution - take a laptop with you so you can organize your photographs periodically during your trip. If you don’t, you will be overwhelmed when you get home. The glow of laptop screens could be seen throughout the campgrounds every night as photographs were organized.
The ideal RV for
travel in
We took an empty 3.5-gallon drywall compound pail and a 2-gallon garden sprayer for washing our RV windows. Our long handled brush fit in the larger size pail and the sprayer filled with plain water was used to rinse the windows, a squeegee finished the job. We learned this from a guy who washed his entire RV this way – it could be done, but it would be a long process.
Food prices are
high in
Food and fuel prices
are high in
Three methods of
camping are popular in
If you are going to free
camp or dry camp, you will need
a generator. The weather in many parts of
Plan ahead – services
are not always available. Know your rig’s capabilities and limits when
heading out for a few days. Always have at least one LP bottle full, holding
tanks empty, fresh water tank full and food in the refrigerator before arriving
at a new location. (Note: Be prepared to change your plan and stay at a location
longer than expected and you will enjoy
Know your RV’s capacities vs meter readings. In an attempt to run as light as possible on rough roads, we underestimated our water supply and ran out in Chicken, AK. Leaving Tok and thereafter, we carried our usual full fresh water tank the remainder of the journey.
A green plastic door
mat or similar item will keep a lot of the small pieces of stone/rock out of
your RV. Few
Make sure you carry a tube of rubber roof sealer and a tube of window and trim caulk. It may be needed due to the flexing your RV may do on the rough roads. It would be a good idea to inspect your RV frequently.
Before you re-enter
the
After using our new generator a few times, we found that a 2-gallons gasoline container held enough gasoline to use our small generator and was easier to handle during refueling. We used the original 5-gallon gasoline container only to fill the 2-gallon can.
Take your computer software with you in case your computer system needs to be refreshed. Our photo editor was not working properly so we reloaded the program and it worked for the remainder of the journey.
We are glad that we took both a boat tour of the
We also took a one day
water taxi ride to
We struggled with our decision to use or not use the Cassier Highway as a return route. Reports that it was not in good condition this year (2005), took it off our plan. Conditions change quickly so check current road reports before you attempt it. We experienced a beautiful fresh snowfall on our alternate route – justifying our decision.
Do
not hesitate to contact us if you have a question.