Nabo's Adventure to Alaska 2017

[Nabo]

Gosh caravans. We were hoping we were about 2 weeks ahead of them. Dawson City was pretty quiet Tuesday and Wednesday but was very busy with tour buses from Holland American and Greyhound groups. The rain storm yesterday started a wild fire not to far from DC and I heard a couple of folks say they drove thru heavy smoke. The city has lost power about an hour ago and we are now starting to smell smoke. Our plan is to leave tomorrow to go over the top of the world down thru chicken to tok. Be careful, especially thru the fire area.

 

[Nabo]

Thursday June 22nd. We spent the day doing stuff in and around Dawson City and then spending the afternoon getting the camper ready to cross the river (by ferry) tomorrow, heading to Chicken and TOK Alaska. I took a lot of pictures but unfortunately with all the rv caravans arriving, wifi and cell service has gone down the tubes so no pictures. As many of ya'll remember, yesterday's rain/hail storm had started a wild fire outside of Dawson City. The winds had been pushing it away from town most of the day until late afternoon which now the winds have turned toward us. Might be an interesting night sitting on pins and needles.

 

[davebennington]

Be very careful on the TOW highway it can be tricky, especially when wet.

dave

 

[Nabo]

Be very careful on the TOW highway it can be tricky, especially when wet.

dave

We survived the dreaded TOW Hwy but it was still tricky, even tho we had good weather and no rain. Let's just say things got re-arrange inside the camper and we weren't going fast at all, most of the time averaging 25 mpg. What a long day.

Here are some pictures from Thursday, June 22 of Dawson City Yukon. Enjoy.

 

[Nabo]

Friday June 23rd - travel day on the road known as "Top of the World" from Dawson City Yukon to Alaska. We are currently in TOK at TOK RV Village. Nice campground - would give it an A. The drive started out catching the ferry over the Yukon River. We got there early so it was us and one pickup truck which made me feel alot better. Then the fun began! The first couple of miles was paved but then it turned into a gravel road of about 60+ miles to the border. Even tho it was gravel, it was wide enough for 2 way traffic (which there was none). Once we got thru the border crossing, we were jumping for joy in that a new asphalt road had just been completed, but then reality set in again but much worse. The gravel road turned into basically a one lane road with steep drop-offs, no guard rails and a bunch of switch-backs. In Chicken, the AKDOT was making a new dirt road so you can guess how that went. But we made it thru, gave the camper a bath and settled in for the night.

 

[Kbvols]

Nathan and Byrd keep the pictures coming we're enjoying following your adventure. Hoping one day we can do the same. Safe travels!


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[mlburst1]

Fast Eddy's restaurant in Tok has the best beef & barley soup - ate there on the way in and again when leaving Alaska.

 

[dlw930]

Thanks for the TOW report! We're leaving Carmacks for DC this morning. Planning to head for the border Monday morning. Your average speed was about what I was expecting. Glad I put on the heavy duty shackles and wet bolts this spring!


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[Nabo]

Saturday June 24th - travel day started off rainy but the further north we went, the weather started to clear. Fairbanks/North Pole is the northernmost point we will be traveling with the camper. This afternoon after getting the Silver Bullet set-up, we did drive up to the beginning of the Dalton Hwy, stopping at a section of the Trans-Alaskan pipeline on the way back down. Ice Road Trucker fans will know all about this road. During our travel days, we like to stop about half way to stretch our legs and possibly take a picture or two. This time we stopped at Delta Junction visitor center to take a picture of the end of the Alaska Hwy post and ran into fellow Heartland Club members Dan and Sally Sullivan from California. We also ran into a Big Country owner from British Columbia and got to talk to him about the club. To finish the day, we stopped at Santa Claus House. Too much fun.

 

[For20hunter]

Were glad you met up with Dan and Sally Sullivan from the Northern California Chapter. They are amazing people!!!!

Rod


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[Aandaar]

Are you parked outside Pioneers Park in Fairbanks? There was a LM 365 parked out front today.


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[travelin2]

A lot to do and see in and around Fairbanks. We spent a week plus in the area and still probably missed out on things we could have seen/done. Definitely one of our go back to spots when we return
Are you using the TripAdvisor App, Things to do??? Much to see.
Take the U of A farm tour, drive up to Chena Springs and visit the ice museum...

Chena Riverboat cruise, I could go on...


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[Aandaar]

We did the riverboat and Gold Dredge 8 on Friday and Pioneer Park and the Salmon Bake on Saturday. That's when we saw the Landmark in the parking lot.


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[Nabo]

Not sure where the Pioneer Park is but that was on our Monday schedule after Nathan has the truck serviced. Haven't thought about the ice museum. That sounds interesting.
We are in Riverview RV campground in North Pole. We find that the water pressure is restricted within the park so we took the water regulator off our coach which didn't help alot. This cg is flat, close enough to get 4G service from Fairbanks, bathhouse could use a little updating but clean and sites/interior road are gravel. Would give it a B+.

 

[dlw930]

We have reservations in Fairbanks at River's Edge starting Tuesday. It's rained in Dawson City most of the weekend. Kind of reminds me of the scene in Paint Your Wagon when it rained for days and half the town collapsed into the tunnels, except we're still above ground last I checked.


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[Nabo]

Too funny but Paint Your Wagon as cornbally as it was is one of my favorite movie. We were wondering how the dirt roads held up.

 

[Nabo]

Sunday June 25th - I was a little under the weather today so we didn't do a lot except for the Riverboat ride on the Discovery III on the Chena River. For those coming to Fairbanks, this is a must do. It was well organized and the narrator was very informative of the people and history of Fairbanks. There was a demonstration of a float plane and the pilot talked about the importance of the planes in Alaska. The next stop was at the breeding/training facilities of sled dogs called Trail Breaker Kennel, the home of Iditarod Champion Susan Butcher who passed away in 2006 but is still operated by her husband Dave. Dave gave a demonstration of how they start to train puppies to training the adult dogs in the summertime. From there the boat stopped at a Chena Village, a resembles of an original Athabascan Indians of the early 1900's. And look at some of the homes.

 

[Nabo]

Monday June 26th - today Nathan took the truck into the local Chrysler dealership to get the oil/fuel filter changed which wouldn't take too long but the dealership found that the rear pinion seal had failed and was leaking. This took a little longer than planned which was ok in that I stayed back at the camper washing clothes. By the time he got back, we only had time to run to the Pioneer Park, a free local park with a lot of historical items. President Harding's train car from 1923 was on display as well as the 3rd of the 4th last surviving riverboat remaining. Afterwards, we went to restock on groceries for the next couple of weeks. Tomorrow is travel day to Denali.

 

[Nabo]

Tuesday June 27 - travel day to Denali National Park. The day started out great but within 5 minutes went south quickly. The DEF warning light came on and with our history with this, I called the dealership who told us to bring it in asap. So we turned around, got back to the dealership, unhooked and into the shop it went. After 3 hours and several tests, the conclusion was that a sensor had gone bad. They even tested the quality of the def which was within range. So we hooked back up and off to Denali NP. Nice drive, and the Healy/Denali area is really hopping. We are camping in Healy at Denali RV Park/Motel. Small park, 30 amp but over all ok. It has gravel roads/sites, cable tv (better than nothing but close to nothing), fantastic wifi (4G), pet service and a nice staff. Would give it a B+. Tomorrow we are booked on an 8 hours bus tour thru the park. Snacks/rain & warm jackets/camera/binoc are packed. Also an awesome rainbow.

 

[Nabo]

Wednesday June 28th - what a beautiful day. Last night got a little rough with winds blowing up to 45+ mph hitting us broadsides so we decided to close the dining room slide. We still rocked all night but were up by 6 to catch a 7:30 am bus into Denali National Park. It was an 8 hour ride going 66 miles into the park and back on a dirt road. What an amazing difference in the terrain. The mountain gods were with us because you could see both the north and south peaks of Mt Denali, formally known as Mt McKinley. Along the way we saw dell sheep, a hawk owl, eagles, foxes, a lot of grizzlies and their babies, caribou willow ptamigan-the state bird of Alaska, and mooses.