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Old 11-11-2017, 01:39 PM   #61
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If you mean 2 weeks from the time you arrive in AK then I would say yes but you certainly will have to plan carefully to fit in what you are wanting to see/do. We have made a couple of one-way trips with our motorhome starting from southern california on one and Portland, OR on the other. We had a full three weeks each trip and always felt a bit rushed.
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Old 11-11-2017, 08:49 PM   #62
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We are definitely interested. What dates are you looking at?
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Old 11-12-2017, 08:40 AM   #63
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We'll be heading that way as well after we pick up our new Escape 21 in June. A family event in Fairbanks will occupy most of our time (3 birthdays, a family reunion and a wedding, all around July 4th), so little opportunity to coordinate travel with others. However, info posted in this thread is of great interest to us.

I lived and worked there in '76 and have been up several times since, so this will be a fun trip back. If you are going, plan at least 2 weeks (mid June thru July are best for weather) as Ak is a BIG state and you'll need to do some traveling to see parts of it. If you can, plan to take a train ride as you'll see parts of the country that would be difficult to access otherwise. Also, if there is a budget for it, do some of the Inside Passage (as we did in '76). If you catch good weather, the trip could be a great lifetime experience.

Hope to see others along the way.
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Old 11-12-2017, 10:11 AM   #64
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We have been planning on going up to Alaska after the Escape Rally. Our current plans are to leave Osoyoos on Sunday May 27. We will be following the posts to see how we can do some coordination with other folks.
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Old 11-12-2017, 11:27 PM   #65
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We are definitely interested. What dates are you looking at?
They told me group rate has to be 10+ RV's... I don't think we're gonna get that many folks :
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Old 11-12-2017, 11:43 PM   #66
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You guys are hitting on a favorite topic of mine. I have been laid pretty flat this weekend with a cold ... brain won't work. Want to add my 1 cent worth ....

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Old 11-14-2017, 08:15 PM   #67
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Funny, but we are picking up our 5.0 in late June and planning a trip into Canada. We love to join you for a while if it works out.
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Old 11-14-2017, 10:52 PM   #68
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Booked a changeable week at end of June in Denali.. will adjust and plan from there.
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Old 11-15-2017, 11:23 AM   #69
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Thanks for sharing the log. Very interesting and informative. I am curious - did you research and make reservations at all of those campgrounds or did you just have a list of possible campgrounds in the vicinity of where you thought you would be each day? In other words, is is possible to just "wing it" and have some confidence of finding a place to stay or is it essential to plan carefully with advance reservations? We are in a perfect starting locations for points north with Alaska, BC, Yukon and NWT in our plans once we have our trailer.
Sorry for taking so long to follow up - The only reservations we made before starting the trip was for the Teklanika Campground in Denali National Park. Glad we did - it was fully reserved when we got there.

As to the rest, we often called a campground we expected to reach by the end of the day during the morning (if we had cell coverage) to check for space. We made a few reservations, but most of them said they had plenty of room, just stop in. We only got turned away at one campground (they had 2 caravans arrive) and they checked with another near by campground for space, which they had.

I do have to say I'm the type that doesn't do reservations except for rallies & some holiday weekends. I prefer to be able to spend extra days (or fewer) at locations along the way so reservations would drive me nuts!
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Old 11-15-2017, 04:46 PM   #70
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Sorry for taking so long to follow up - The only reservations we made before starting the trip was for the Teklanika Campground in Denali National Park. Glad we did - it was fully reserved when we got there.

As to the rest, we often called a campground we expected to reach by the end of the day during the morning (if we had cell coverage) to check for space. We made a few reservations, but most of them said they had plenty of room, just stop in. We only got turned away at one campground (they had 2 caravans arrive) and they checked with another near by campground for space, which they had.

I do have to say I'm the type that doesn't do reservations except for rallies & some holiday weekends. I prefer to be able to spend extra days (or fewer) at locations along the way so reservations would drive me nuts!
Thanks that is good to hear. We also prefer to wander and explore without a set schedule or reservations.
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Old 11-15-2017, 08:30 PM   #71
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I am definitely interested in heading to Alaska after the Osoyoos Rally. I have been researching the idea on my own and am glad to have found this thread! I have a sister in Soldotna and I visited last year before I had Wild Thing. I'd love to make the trip up in the trailer and with a group!
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Old 11-16-2017, 08:21 PM   #72
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I would be interested in an Alaska trip, but I think I need to wait until 2019. Good idea, though.
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Old 11-19-2017, 04:56 PM   #73
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Those who have definite plans to visit Alaska in 2018 should think about purchasing the northern lights coupon book. They are $55. We buy one every year and use it mainly for restaurants/coffee stand discounts but they have a good selection of discounts for all sorts of visitor activities and the savings on just one big ticket item will pay for the cost of the book.

I have absolutely no connection to the company who publishes the book, we just really like them. The discounts coupons usually run through the end of August to Mid September since that is the end of the summer season. I'll include a pic of the cover and the table of contents for the activity section.



www.alaska-discounts.com
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Old 11-19-2017, 08:17 PM   #74
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We had to change our plan from 2018 to 2019 but appreciate if anyone previously travelled can share their experience on road condition, did anyone experienced dirt road. What is the ideal tow vehicle for pulling 19’, do we need to have lots of HP and torque for Alaskan terrain?
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Old 11-19-2017, 08:46 PM   #75
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We had to change our plan from 2018 to 2019 but appreciate if anyone previously travelled can share their experience on road condition

It's highly variable. But then just driving across the country is also. Expect lot's of good road, some fair, some construction and some ugly.


did anyone experienced dirt road.

Well, not outside of construction zones. Some rough and sharp rock though on the Top of the World Highway but still worth doing.

What is the ideal tow vehicle for pulling 19’, do we need to have lots of HP and torque for Alaskan terrain?
Well I did it with a lowly Ford Ranger, with canopy, two kayaks,two bikes etc. Actually it's easier than a lot of than the lower 48 in terms of high mountain passes.


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Old 11-26-2017, 08:32 PM   #76
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If anyone plans on coming to Alaska in 2018 and will take a trip on the Alaska Railroad (not to be confused with the railroad that runs out of Skagway) send me a PM and I can give you information regarding a ticket discount.
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Old 08-03-2018, 08:53 AM   #77
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We had to change our plan from 2018 to 2019 but appreciate if anyone previously travelled can share their experience on road condition, did anyone experienced dirt road. What is the ideal tow vehicle for pulling 19’, do we need to have lots of HP and torque for Alaskan terrain?
Conditions change every few days. Its all about construction. My last trip to AK, I encountered just two construction zones where pilot cars were required on the way to Alaska. (I saw many more than just two construction zones, but the pilot car sections were usually where they were tearing down the road and building a new road beside it. So the pilot car would lead you through the construction.) Non-pilot car construction sections tended to be less involved.

On the way back one week later I encountered SIX pilot car zones! I did encounter a lot of "extreme dust conditions ahead" both ways which meant freshly paved (sort of). They count on traffic to compact the gravel/chip into the meager amount of seal they use. The main highway is paved all the way (actually, its not paved, its chip and seal, heavy on the chip, light on the seal).

Where there is construction, road turns into a gravel/sand/dirt mix. So you will see dirt/gravel sections. Summer is construction season. If it is dry, they will bring the water trucks through to wet it down. So then you get some mud. Just go slow.

I found the AK terrain to be less taxing than the mountains here in NC.

Ideal tow vehicle for the Escape 19 IMHO continues to be the F150. Plenty of towing capacity, plenty of power, very good gas mileage, etc. If you don't like Ford, then a full size GM or Dodge would also be good choices.

We head out next week for AK 2018!
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Old 08-03-2018, 10:49 AM   #78
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Ideal tow vehicle for the Escape 19 IMHO continues to be the F150. Plenty of towing capacity, plenty of power, very good gas mileage, etc. If you don't like Ford, then a full size GM or Dodge would also be good choices.

!
I agree with the points you made. Driving in Alaska is mostly less onerous than driving many other places in the US and Canada. We towed our 19 with a Ford Ranger and it didn't have to work very hard. Certainly not as hard as doing 10,000' passes in the lower 48.

Ron
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Old 08-03-2018, 11:36 AM   #79
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Definitely, living in the northern Rocky Mountains and having traveled all over the western US, and based on my one trip to Alaska on the Al-Can in the late 1990s, it should be much easier to tow to Alaska than almost anywhere in the western US, as long as a person doesn't mind slowing down when road surface conditions aren't ideal. Of course, less-than-ideal surface conditions are possible just about anywhere. The only suggestion I'd make is to think through a contingency plan in the case of a break-down... when I drove it, there were stretches where services were few and far between. Also, to weigh in on the "ideal" tow vehicle for a 19, for me that means a truck or SUV that has the optimal mix of capability, comfort, and efficiency. Although certainly an F-150 has more than enough capability, that would be my point... I think it's more truck than needed for a 19, as are the other full-sized half-tons. The option to capably tow a 19 with a Colorado/Canyon or a mid-size SUV was one of the reasons I went with the 19, instead of a 5.0 TA. Of course, if one already has or wants a full-sized truck, F-150, Silverado 1500, and Dodge Ram 1500 are great choices! And then there is the Tundra; there are many folks on this forum who won't tow with anything else. Great choice for a 19 as well!
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Old 08-03-2018, 12:01 PM   #80
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We had to change our plan from 2018 to 2019 but appreciate if anyone previously travelled can share their experience on road condition, did anyone experienced dirt road. What is the ideal tow vehicle for pulling 19’, do we need to have lots of HP and torque for Alaskan terrain?
We just drove from Skagway to Bellingham three days ago via the Cassier Highway. There were a couple of construction zones with a pilot car but it wasn’t too bad. British Columbia and the Yukon both have 511 sites with road conditions. We usually drive the Cassier which has more wildlife at times but it is desolate with few services. I would drive the Cassier one way and take the eastern route though Dawson Creek the other way. I also would go to Laird hot springs and drive through Banff and Jasper. Get a book called the Milepost, it will be invaluable. We store our trailer in Bellingham so we drive without a trailer.
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