Alaska Trip

BrianBP · Sep 25, 2017

Sandy and I would like to fufill a long time dream: A road trip to Alaska. 1. I would like to hear from BigHorn owners that have made this trip; 2. How did the camper hold up; 3. I would like all kinds of advice on planning then implementing.

Our initial plan is to make the trip in the summer of 2020 and to take 6 weeks.

Looking forward to your comments and advice

dlw930 · Sep 25, 2017

We made the trip this summer in our Landmark. Our camper seems to have held up well. There was lots of dust, mud and bumps, but if you slow down for the rough spots, you'll be ok. Take your time. We were almost 10 weeks from the time we entered Canada (British Columbia) from Washington state until we came back into Montana and still didn't do and see everything we wanted.

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MTPockets · Sep 25, 2017

Six weeks is doable; from Columbus, Ohio to Fairbanks, AK is over 3800 miles one way. That's the most direct route, which leaves very little wiggle room to see and explore the hundreds of possible side trips. So, you will need to plan on at least 10,000 miles round trip. Also, there are plenty of probable delays due to road conditions, Forrest fires, construction. So, plan on lots of driving time. You'll be pretty tired at the end of six weeks. We did the trip in 2011 from FL and took six months and drove 18,000 miles, could have spent more time.

Mrsfish · Sep 25, 2017

MTPockets said:
Six weeks is doable; from Columbus, Ohio to Fairbanks, AK is over 3800 miles one way. That's the most direct route, which leaves very little wiggle room to see and explore the hundreds of possible side trips. So, you will need to plan on at least 10,000 miles round trip. Also, there are plenty of probable delays due to road conditions, Forrest fires, construction. So, plan on lots of driving time. You'll be pretty tired at the end of six weeks. We did the trip in 2011 from FL and took six months and drove 18,000 miles, could have spent more time.

Btw Terry- just to remind you and June... you have 2 1/2 years to get your act together for our trip to Alaska. The Dances and the Haddock's are counting on you.

travelin2 · Sep 26, 2017

Use the forum search engine and you'll discover many threads on Alaskan adventures.
We took our 3010 BH there and back in 2015. No problems but one always needs to be cognizant of ever changing road conditions. Start out with new tires all the way around
Never to early to start planning. Enjoy the adventure

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Piperflyer · Sep 26, 2017

You can always fly up to AK and then rent an RV like a lot of people do.

BrianBP · Sep 26, 2017

Piperflyer said:
You can always fly up to AK and then rent an RV like a lot of people do.

NO Way! That is why we have our own camper, the adventure of getting there!

- - - Updated - - -

travelin2 said:
Use the forum search engine and you'll discover many threads on Alaskan adventures.
We took our 3010 BH there and back in 2015. No problems but one always needs to be cognizant of ever changing road conditions. Start out with new tires all the way around
Never to early to start planning. Enjoy the adventure

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I am new to this. So the tip of the forum search engine is great. Can you save me some more time and tell me how I get to the forum search engine?

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MTPockets said:
Six weeks is doable; from Columbus, Ohio to Fairbanks, AK is over 3800 miles one way. That's the most direct route, which leaves very little wiggle room to see and explore the hundreds of possible side trips. So, you will need to plan on at least 10,000 miles round trip. Also, there are plenty of probable delays due to road conditions, Forrest fires, construction. So, plan on lots of driving time. You'll be pretty tired at the end of six weeks. We did the trip in 2011 from FL and took six months and drove 18,000 miles, could have spent more time.

I would love to do the trip in 6 months, but I am still working and can not take that kind of time off. Prayerfully, we can do this 6 week trip in 3 years, then when I retire, we do the 6 month trip.

danemayer · Sep 26, 2017

Here's a link to a long thread detailing NABO's recent Alaska trip.

The search bar is on the right side of the page, near the top, just under "Settings".

BrianBP · Sep 26, 2017

danemayer said:
Here's a link to a long thread detailing NABO's recent Alaska trip.

The search bar is on the right side of the page, near the top, just under "Settings".

Thanks so much.

travelin2 · Sep 26, 2017

Piperflyer said:
You can always fly up to AK and then rent an RV like a lot of people do.

VERY expensive trip to rent one of those many Mini Winnies seen on AK highways.
Several acquaintances did just that, checking prices. Their words for it...jaw dropping

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MTPockets · Sep 26, 2017

Mrsfish said:
Btw Terry- just to remind you and June... you have 2 1/2 years to get your act together for our trip to Alaska. The Dances and the Haddock's are counting on you.

That would be soooo cool... doubt it'll be the in the cards for us, but you never know!

HornedToad · Oct 1, 2017

Piperflyer said:
You can always fly up to AK and then rent an RV like a lot of people do.

My tailgate neighbor was telling me about his 2 1/2 month RV adventure to Alaska this summer with his Airstream buddies.

He made a comment that if he ever did it again he would fly up and rent an RV!!!

I'm with the OP, how could you justify renting a trailer when you own one?

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Nabo · Oct 1, 2017

Here is our trip this year - https://heartlandowners.org/showthr...ka-2017?highlight=nabo+alaska+adventures+2017

AKDallBH · Oct 1, 2017

I live in Alaska, and have hauled our Bighorn out once. Roads are fine if you take your time and travel according to conditions. 6 weeks is a doable, but you may want to prioritze some of the things you want to see/do.

Figure 7 - 10 days to get up here, could shave a few days off that going back, but you will be tired. Banff/ Jasper are well worth going through on the way up. Spend a night at Liard Hot springs. A day trip (no camper) from Whitehorse to Skagway is also worth it. Denali Park will likely be high on your list. You will want advanced reservations and allow several days there. Are you wanting to fish? River fishing for salmon trout are time specific, halibut are not nearly so. You will not see everything on a 6 week trip, so pick what you want and spend more quality time doing it!

Scott

davebennington · Oct 2, 2017

We went to Alaska back in 2011 and had a great time. Here is the log of our trip LINK

jrzygrl64 · Oct 2, 2017

Bill and I took our Landmark in 2016 - take it slow and you will be fine.

We workamped near Seward for the summer and I did 2 summary posts on my blog, along with a whole summer worth of posts. See the summaries here:

http://bkamericanodyssey.com/2016/06/05/getting-to-alaska/

http://bkamericanodyssey.com/2016/10/15/recap-alaska/

Have a great trip and let us know how it goes!

dave10a · Oct 2, 2017

That trip is on my bucket list. However, I am not willing to make that trip with my present trailer because I simply do not trust the suspension. I would need to invest near $10k to get it robust enough to feel comfortable to make that trip. When I get back to Florida this winter, I will be trading my unit for one that has a robust enough suspension to make that kind of trip. I have put over 50k miles on my trailer in the USA and have become very familiar with its short falls. My stock trailer was not engineered to with stand rough roads in a sustained manner.

danemayer · Oct 2, 2017

dave10a said:
That trip is on my bucket list. However, I am not willing to make that trip with my present trailer because I simply do not trust the suspension. I would need to invest near $10k to get it robust enough to feel comfortable to make that trip. When I get back to Florida this winter, I will be trading my unit for one that has a robust enough suspension to make that kind of trip. I have put over 50k miles on my trailer in the USA and have become very familiar with its short falls. My stock trailer was not engineered to with stand rough roads in a sustained manner.

If you trade in your trailer to get a more robust suspension, I think MorRyde may be your only choice.

MorRyde Independent 8K Suspension, which is probably as good as you can get, cost $3,650 at last June's Goshen Rally. Probably closer to $4,000 without the rally discount.

No need to trade in your coach to get MorRyde; you can install it on your 2012.

dave10a · Oct 2, 2017

danemayer said:
If you trade in your trailer to get a more robust suspension, I think MorRyde may be your only choice.

MorRyde Independent 8K Suspension, which is probably as good as you can get, cost $3,650 at last June's Goshen Rally. Probably closer to $4,000 without the rally discount.

No need to trade in your coach to get MorRyde; you can install it on your 2012.

I agree this would be a more robust suspension. Here are some pictures of my experience with the stock suspension.

shearing the bottom half of the axel alignment pin happen several years ago after hitting a chuck hole

Crack in the hanger welds happened this year from simply normal travel. I had these cracks spot welded and hope they hold up for my trip to Florida.

Then we have the issue of bearings. I have replaced 4 sets of bearing an races because of pitting and flacking. The 7K axle bearings seem to be minimal for my rig. The CAT scale shows 12400# on the axles for my rig. I think 8k axles would also be a good choice. My bearing are packed at 5K intervals.

So you can see, I would never trust this suspension to make a demanding trip to Alaska.

Alaska Trip

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