North to Alaska 2024

[Mij]

Gotta admit I love this thread! The narrative is excellent and the pictures fantastic!
Did I mention I’m jealous

100% agree. And once again thanks for taking us on a great adventure with you. And the pics were great. Welcome home. Thanks.

 

[gassprint1]

View attachment 355952
I will take one of these along. Both my daughters have been to Alaska many times and are great travelers. She is also close to 30 and is very low drama/low maintenance.

My wife and older daughter are flying up to Alaska in August for two weeks. My wife's sister is so excited. The three of them are going to run around everywhere from Homer to Anchorage, Alaska. My SIL lives in Sterling, which is in the middle of the penninsula.

OMG, that is pretty cool.

 

[BigRed]

Excellent thread.
Thank you for sharing the trip.

 

[92FSTech]

This is an awesome thread, and a lot of really useful information because we're hoping to drive up there next summer for our family vacation. I have a month set aside and I think we should be able to see and do quite a bit in that time.

My son and I just got back from up there a couple of weeks ago. We flew into Anchorage with a couple of buddies, borrowed a car from friends of one of the guys in Kenai, and drove all over the place. We spent two nights in a public use cabin in Katchemak Bay State Park, checked out Whittier (we saw Seward last summer and only had time for one), then drove over for a day in Valdez, then up to Fairbanks and Chena Hot Springs, then back down by Denali and spent the last night at Hatcher Pass before we had to catch the plane back home. We camped the whole time minus a couple of nights at a house in Kenai.

It was an awesome trip, and we were there the same time as you were. We climbed Skyline Trail on May 25th, and could have probably seen your cabin from there if we knew where to look...we should have waved, lol.

Skilak Lake from the top of Skyline


Matanuska Glacier. We spent a week in Glacier View last summer. View was still as breathtaking this summer as it was then.


We drove through Thompson Pass on the way to Valdez and couldn't resist parking and hiking out along the ridge. Absolutely incredible.



We did the truly touristy thing and took the boat out to Columbia Glacier in Valdez. It was worth it.


Camping at Hatcher Pass


We saw countless Moose along the road but didn't get any photos until the last day when we were walking around a park near the airport in Anchorage watching planes land and waiting for our flight. Go figure, lol. No bears this trip...just fine with me since we were sleeping in tents and I had no desire to become a bear burrito.


I did have the 329PD along, but thankfully never had to use it. It hurts to shoot, but it's darn capable, and carries like a dream.

 

[92FSTech]

I saw you said you shoot at WRPC...I'm a member there and I'm out there all the time. Maybe we've met! I have a few questions related to your trip if you don't mind answering them when you get a chance:

1. You said you took 110 gallons of extra fuel. How did you transport that? Was it necessary to keep from running out, or mainly a cost-saving measure due to the outrageous price of gas in remote areas? How hard is it to find gas in Canada, and should I assume I'll have to pay cash? We didn't really have any trouble using a card anywhere in Alaska, even the more remote areas.

2. Realistically, how many miles an hour can you average pulling a trailer on the roads up there? I am trying to get a frame of reference for how long it will take to get up there after we leave the US. I am used to driving and don't mind pulling long days, but I know it's going to be nothing like interstate driving, or even "nice" 2-lane driving down in the lower 48

3. Did you have any trouble finding places to stop and sleep alongside the road? Get hassled by cops or Karens for sleeping in rest areas? We'd be pulling a 12-foot enclosed cargo trailer/camper conversion behind a Suburban, and are very adequately prepared for roadside camping if we can get away with it.

4. Did Canadian customs give you any flak about bringing food in? We usually travel with coolers and stock up at grocery stores because with 6 of us it's a lot cheaper than eating out (not to mention, way easier and more reliable than trying to find restaurants in remote areas). If we can bring a week or so's worth of food from home it'll save a lot of money, but not if customs makes us all dump it out at the border.

5. I know you said you didn't take a gun. I don't like it, but could probably live with that for the Canadian portion of our trip, but I really don't like the idea of camping up there for 2-3 weeks after we get to Alaska with nothing. I know in the past Canada used to allow handguns with barrels longer than 4.1", but I've heard that's since changed. How hard would it be to bring a shotgun or a lever-action rifle? What kind of horror stories have you heard from friends about trying to bring guns through Canada? Do you know anybody who's done it without problems? Worst-case, do you know anybody who has shipped one to an FFL up there, picked it up, and then shipped it back home?

 

[SnoopLoggyDog]

1. My friends put the extra diesel fuel in two 55 gal drums. They bought it for $2.75 a gallon in Utah. Used it in Canada, instead of spending $6 a gallon on the Cassiar highway. Fuel vendors were spaced out every 200-300 miles in the Yukon. In BC, they averaged 100-200 miles apart. Majority of vendors took our credit cards. I had $400 Canadian that I did not use until Watson Lake. The Yukon is where cash is king.

2. Canada was 90% two lane roads. Most of the time, we drove along at 50-60 mph. All the speed limit signs are in KPH. Our speedometers were in freedom units (MPH) so we guessed what the speed limits were. We averaged 600 miles per day.

Once we crossed into Canada, it took four days to reach Alaska. When I drive it next summer, I plan on spending six days crossing Canada. I want to stop and see some stuff.

3. Plenty of roadside rest areas and parking lots to sleep in, on the entire trip. Canada is weird though. You will drive 100 miles and not see a Rest Area. Then you will have five in a row, spaced twenty miles apart. A copy of the Milepost comes in real handy for finding places to park.

4. We had zero fresh fruits, veggies or meat with us. They did ask, and we told them the truth. No issues with packaged snacks or beverages. I plan on having coffee, oatmeal, other packaged food when I drive up.

5. I took a can of bear spray through Canada because Customs pre-approval is a pain. My BIL has transported firearms through Canada. Every time he did, they made him unload his entire truck and RV trailer for a detailed three-four hour inspection at both ends. They are afraid you might be a nasty U.S. gun runner and sell a few to the locals.

Best bet is to ship your pistol to an FFL in Kenai or Soldotna and pick it up there. That is how my shotgun made it's way to Alaska. It stays at the cabin now.

 

[92FSTech]

Thanks for the response! That's a little discouraging about the food, as I'm type-1 diabetic and can pretty much only eat meats and veggies. Guess I'll have to dig into the details of their agricultural import laws.

We also have some side trips that we'd like to do on the way up or back. Banff National Park for one. Thankfully we have some time to work out the details.

 

[SnoopLoggyDog]

Thanks for the response! That's a little discouraging about the food, as I'm type-1 diabetic and can pretty much only eat meats and veggies. Guess I'll have to dig into the details of their agricultural import laws.

We also have some side trips that we'd like to do on the way up or back. Banff National Park for one. Thankfully we have some time to work out the details.

When you cross into Canada from the lower 48, there are lots of grocery stores just across the border.

Coming from Alaska, there are no grocery stores for the first 100 miles of Canadian highway.