Alaska Bound

[Vermilye]

Well, it is now "Official" - a couple of friends & I have reservations at the Denali National Park Teklanika campground July 12 - 16th. Any suggestions or anyone wishing to join us will be welcome!

[gabeck]

Would have loved that .....but no chance this year .... wish you a wonderful trip , so exciting !

[56reader]

Wow! That will be a great trip! Maybe next year, I hope!

How long a trip for you? How many days you giving yourself to get there and back?

[cyclopath]

Hi,

I love Alaska. I wish you a safe journey up there with your Escape.

[walloe]

Great Jon.!! Here it is March and haven't heard of any trips yet. Wondered what was going on. What route are you taking? It's one I would like to take someday too. I've read posts where people have taken extra spare tires for both their car and trailer because the roads can be brutal. Enjoy your travels and stay safe. Ofcourse, we are all anxiously awaiting those beautiful pictures you take.

[rfs]

Jon , are you taking multiple trailers or just your 17?
Dave

[Grant & Kathy]

Originally Posted by Vermilye

Well, it is now "Official" - a couple of friends & I have reservations at the Denali National Park Teklanika campground July 12 - 16th. Any suggestions!

Take your time, drive slow, and when you get to the frost heaves or construction zones drive even slower.

You may want to take a look at our blog BirdingRVers, the entries for 2008 June - October are about our summer in Alaska pulling a 35 foot 5th wheel.

Grant

[Vermilye]

The details - We will be leaving Oswego, NY around June 7th, take our time crossing the country on US2 as much as possible, and heading into Canada in North Dakota. I will be traveling with my 17B, and the friends (Don & Anne, who some of you may have met at the 1st Annual Eastern Escape Rally) will either be traveling in a Casita 16 (if they can find one) or tenting. We also may have friends from Colorado join us traveling in an Aliner.

No big rush although Anne has planned 200 miles per day. I suspect we will do more than that in the continental US, but less later. In any case, they don't need to be back to NY until mid to late August.

I am planning on staying in the West for the rest of the Fall & Winter. I have always wanted to see the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta in October, and by then it will be far too late to return to Oswego (at least that is my excuse!). Hope to get to Big Bend, some new locations around the southwest, and spend the main part of winter along the Colorado River in southern Arizona. At least part of the time at the Imperial Dam BLM area; I enjoyed 2 weeks there in 2014.

Assuming I have access to the internet, I'll be continuing to post daily journals at both my website (Lakeshoreimages ) and a "lite" version at my blogger page (Jon's Journeys).

[oldclimber]

Originally Posted by Vermilye

Well, it is now "Official" - a couple of friends & I have reservations at the Denali National Park Teklanika campground July 12 - 16th. Any suggestions or anyone wishing to join us will be welcome!

Sounds grand! Best wishes for a safe, happy adventure~
Gae and Ike

[sjnuss]

Hi Jon,
We were there at the same time last year and had a great time. My blog from our trip may have some helpful information for you as well as a trip "wrap up". Let me know if you need the link.

Specifically about Denali NP: before going to Teklanika check at the outdoor center (I think that is what it is called). Several times a week park rangers give free back country guided day hikes in the interior of the park. Check the schedule as you will need to sign up prior to going to the CG. I would also suggest that you get bus passes for each day that you will be at Teklanika. Be sure to check out the evening ranger programs as they are (mostly) quite good. Our weather was quite wet and we never saw the entire mountain.

Near Denali: check out the Denali Hwy (has nothing to do with the park) which is a 100+ mile dirt highway but has great boondocking and good wildlife sighting.

We took the Cassiar Hwy north and the Alaska Hwy south. I would suggest the opposite since you plan to hit the west coast later. Go to Hyder, AK to check the salmon migration, something we missed as well but should be going good by the time you head south.

Although the Mile Post is a good reference book I thought the Traveler's Guide to Alaskan Camping by Church was better a CG reference (at least for our needs).

I will be glad to help more if I can.

Steve

[phxkayaker]

I'm officially jealous. I loved our Summer 2013 trip and I'm looking forward to doing it again in 2016. Assuming our paths cross next winter, I'm willing to bet that your conclusion will be that you wish you'd had more time... just sayin'

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by sjnuss

My blog from our trip may have some helpful information for you as well as a trip "wrap up". Let me know if you need the link.

Steve

Even if Jon doesn't ask for the link I'd appreciate it. We were hoping to go to the Escape Rally and then head to Alaska. It's not clear at the moment if we'll be able to but in the meantime we're starting to gather information etc.

Ron

[sjnuss]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Even if Jon doesn't ask for the link I'd appreciate it.

Ron

Hi Ron,
Here you go, Life Is Good Today!

Steve

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by sjnuss

My blog from our trip....

Sounds like a great trip, Steve. As mentioned last year, this is one of our first excursions once we get a decent block of time to do it. Some good tips in your blog.

I did get a chuckle outta this excerpt. "Canadian drivers take many risks". After driving some of the LA area freeways, and around downtown NYC, methinks these crazies exist everywhere.

[sjnuss]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

"Canadian drivers take many risks". After driving some of the LA area freeways, and around downtown NYC, methinks these crazies exist everywhere.

Jim,
Couldn't agree more with you especially since here in TX we have speed limits as high as 85mph!

Steve

[padlin]

Those of us who frequent NYC don't drive downtown, that's for cabbies and tourists who don't know any better. If you look there are not many cabbies who can claim English as their native tongue, I write off their driving skills as being learned in a country with no rules of the road.

[Vermilye]

Thanks for the web page & info.

[Brian B-P]

I think it's worth keeping in mind that most of Steve's comments, even if they are expressed as generalizations, are appropriately only about the part of the trip beyond where the vast majority of people would ever go. For an example, passing across double yellow lines is rare anywhere I've driven (which is most of the country), but two-lane highways in parts of northern Alberta where the road construction is lagging behind the traffic increase would be where you'll see it.

Most highways in Canada and Alaska are 2 lane 55-65 mph, not interstates we are used to.

65 mph is 105 km/h; while there are limits higher than that in both Alberta and B.C., no two-lane has quite that limit in Alberta or B.C... or anywhere I've found in Canada. Some do have 100 km/h limits. Most long-distance travel across the western provinces is on divided 4-lane (or more) highways (primarily the Yellowhead, Trans-Canada, Alberta Hwy 2, and the Coquihala). In contrast, most border crossings along half the length of the Canada-U.S. border are two-lane highways on both sides of the border.