Alaska this July

[AKDallBH]

I will echo previous comments, 30 days won't give you much time to enjoy the trip, other than the drive. I live just north of Seward, and will be heading out May 1 to pick up a 5th wheel in Wichita, then over to Sequim washington for a 7 day visit with my parents then back home. Arriving on May 29th. The only non-driving days will be those 7 in Sequim....and I have driven the road before and know what to expect.

If you come, I recommend staying a couple of extra days in Whitehorse, and making a day side trip to Carcross and Skagway. Plan on 2-3 days in Denali (make camping reservations now). Anf 2-3 days in Seward. Skip Valdez and Homer, long drives that take time you won't have. If you have specific questions let me know.

Scott

 

[travelin2]

I will echo previous comments, 30 days won't give you much time.

If you come, I recommend staying a couple of extra days in Whitehorse, and making a day side trip to Carcross and Skagway. Plan on 2-3 days in Denali (make camping reservations now). Anf 2-3 days in Seward. Skip Valdez and Homer, long drives that take time you won't have. If you have specific questions let me know.

Scott

What he said but I'd skip Skagway. Other than the history it's an expensive tourist trap where you'll compete with many thousands from the cruise ships. Spend any extra time in Whitehorse. Nice CG next to a mineral hot springs there. We liked Seward but places to stay were limited. Check ahead. Longer at Denali is better. Need reservations if you want to spend a few days in Talkeetna, again limited spots. Skip Valdez. Unless you want to Halibut fish skip Homer.
You can drive in a "circular" route from Tok to Fairbanks to Wasilla/Palmer to Glenallen back to Tok. All the other highways are dead ends, so it's "down and back"" again"!!!

 

[olcoon]

We want to make this trip someday, but are planning on taking several months to do it. Some of the options we've thought about are: Fly up rent an RV & travel around in it. We'd miss the sights & experience of the Alaska Hwy. doing this though. But it'd save the wear & tear on our rig. Going with a caravan/group, some friends did this a few years ago & loved it. Some advantages were that every rig had walkie talkies & the leader was kind of like a tour guide & talking on it telling you different things. They had an EMT/paramedic along if needed, plus a certified RV tech that was the tail gunner. The cost of doing something like that isn't cheap, but included were some meals & tours so that made it more reasonable. Also they had pre-set places to refuel & got a discount on the fuel. Also they had sat. wifi every night which was a plus, and the leader also had a sat. cell phone for emergencies, & if you needed to call home in an emergency. But if there was 1 hour slotted at a certain place you had to be ready when the group left. Several advantages & disadvantages! Our other thought was to work camp up there for the summer. The draw back on that would be having to be anchored to one location. Alaska is a big state & we probably wouldn't be able to take in some of the sights further away, it'd put a new meaning to day tripping!!! One thing I'd recommend would be that if you think you might do some hiking or whatever would be to get at least one can of bear spray, might keep you from being the guest of honor at a bear's supper! It'd be cheaper to get some before you leave. Last I heard, you can take it across the border, but when you tell them about it at the check point make sure you tell them it's bear spray. They won't allow you to bring pepper spray, etc into Canada.

Enjoy your trip & be careful!

 

[GregP]

If you are a history fan, Skagway is interesting to see, but it is a touristy place. If you stay in Whitehorse Yukon for a few days, you can take a train/bus tour from Whitehorse to Skagway that is well worth the money. The WhitePass & Yukon Rte. is a narrow gauge RR that follows the original gold seekers route for much of the way. It is very interesting and scenic, and lets you leave the driving to someone else while you enjoy the sights. No matter how long you allow for the trip...you won't be able to take it all in.

 

[travelin2]

We want to make this trip someday, but are planning on taking several months to do it. Some of the options we've thought about are: Fly up rent an RV & travel around in it.
Last I heard, you can take bear spray across the border, but when you tell them about it at the check point make sure you tell them it's bear spray. They won't allow you to bring pepper spray, etc into Canada.

Enjoy your trip & be careful!

Friends of ours checked on renting an RV (Minnie Winnies are everywhere) so they wouldn't have to drive up and save their rig. They figured it would cost the two of them about $20K to fly up, rent a Minnie and outfit it for 30 days, with the insurance fuel and parking...unfamiliar with any other details.
Yes, bear spray and it must be labeled bear spray is ok to carry across.

 

[Jim Posz]

We did our Alaska trip the summer of 2014, and would highly recommend it. It was item 1 on our bucket list. One thing we did that we recommend is taking the ferry up the inside passage. We boarded at Prince Rupert BC and got off at Ketchikan, Wrangell, Juneau, and Haines then drove up to Anchorage etc. We saw Skagway by taking a 15 minute plane ride from Haines as a day trip. Skagway had four large cruise ships that day, so I figure the tourists outnumbered the locals about 10 to 1...Still I think it was worth while for the train ride and plane ride down the fjord. Jim

 

[Wk15]

You will really enjoy your trip up here. You will need more than 30 days to see this massive state. Bet spray is a good suggestion. A better one is Lead. If you are military they have a Military campground you can stay at while in Seward, Millers Landing is another place in Seward. If military you can get on the Military charters and go Halibut fishing. I do it three times a year here. There are plenty of places to dry camp or places that have full to partial hooks ups.

I'm down on the Knik River every weekend to ATV and camp. I live in Eagle River, Alaska

The "MilePost" is a great book to get. It shows everything about Alaska, Its like a 750+ page history/Alaska Travel Planner Book. If you need one let me know.

The Holiday gas stations give you free tank dumping. Here is a list of dump stations: http://www.rvdumps.com/alaska/

 

[llinton201]

Were you traveling in a motorhome or 5th wheel? Did you have flat tire issues?

 

[AKDallBH]

If you have decent tires, don't overload your rig, and drive at or below the speed limit, you won't have any more or less problems with tires than on any other trip.

Overloading is a frequent problem because you bring extra tools, clothes, gear....for the most part, you can buy what you need along the way.

Scott