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Posted: 11/4/2015 5:51:34 PM EST
So I'm trying to plan out my vacation time next year and have always wanted to drive up to Alaska and back.  The whole big adventure and all that crap.  We bid for vacation by seniority where I work and the only time I can usually get off is the end of May thru the first couple of weeks of June.  July and August are out of the question.  After Labor Day wouldn't be a problem either.  I've got a bunch of questions for those that have done it though.  (And for those with good memories I've asked about this in years past to a lessor extent.)

It's just over 3000 miles from my house to Anchorage.  Round trip plus side trips is 7000 miles.  What's the least amount of time you'd do a trip like this.   I'm planning on 3 weeks off.  Is that not enough?  It averages out to 333 miles a day.

I've got a Suburban and a tent trailer.  I may replace it with a truck and camper.  It may just be me alone for a large part of the journey.  Am I crazy to even think of a solo trip like this?    The wife and kids may fly into Anchorage and stay for 4-5 days.  None of them want to do the drive.  (hell, sometimes I wonder if I really do, but fuck it, I'm going to do it even of I fucking hate it)  Is a tent trailer not up to the task?

I'll be 49 next May and I've been wanting to do this trip since junior high.  Some thing has always come up and prevented me from doing though - work , money, etc.  I think I need to get it done.

Words of advice appreciated.

(I'm familiar with the requirements for entry in to Canada)
Link Posted: 11/4/2015 7:50:03 PM EST
[#1]
I did Florida to Wyoming, Yellowstone, with 3 kids packed in a small minivan. 3 days out from jax and 3 back... Do the math on the mileage.. It was about 13 hours a day on the road. Ate out of coolers with refills at Walmart when we stopped for gas or for the night. You can save money by pitching a tent.. $25 for a campsite vs $80 for hotels would have saved money. A Verizon jetpack with unlimited data made the trip easy on the kids. It was awesome, couldn't imagine doing it without the kids.
Link Posted: 11/4/2015 7:53:39 PM EST
[#2]
IM when you get close to   the Kenai Peninsula.
Link Posted: 11/4/2015 7:56:37 PM EST
[#3]
Barely enough time, but doable - don't stop for anything until Canada. 2 days to Seattle 4 more to Anchorage as a best case. Have everything you need for the Alcan with you no later than Vancouver BC.
Link Posted: 11/4/2015 8:34:53 PM EST
[#4]
I graduated from HS in 1981.  We took a 4 week family vacation.  My parents, my two younger sisters and me.  1975 1 ton Dodge Sportsman van (the long one).  No A/C. No cruise.  318 engine and if I remember correctly a 4.11 rear end.  The thing sounded like it was ready to take flight at 60mph.  11-12mpg.

We drove 9600 miles from Boston to Mexico City to San Francisco and back to Boston.

We stayed in Mexico City at my step-Uncle's house for about 5 days.  Also stayed in SF for a few days with another relative.  Everywhere else was just for a night.

We took a starter, an alternator, and some tools.  We broke one headlight our last night in Mexico.  Water pump started leaking south of Tucson.  We made it to Flagstaff with the radiator cap off and by adding water once in a while.  My Dad changed the water pump the next morning in the hotel parking lot before I even woke up.  I think we had the oil changed a couple of times along the way too.

Three weeks is probably long enough depending on what you want to see.  I'm guessing that you will do most of your sight-seeing in Alaska.  Anything south of Canada could just be a future vacation.

My Dad always wanted to drive to Alaska.  He never made it.

Link Posted: 11/4/2015 8:45:51 PM EST
[#5]
Leave the truck behind.
Get some good all weather riding gear, a small tent, and a KLR650.

 5 days should get you  from Utah to  Alaska, I recommend head   through Fairbanks first,   rest up, eat a lot, mount a  new pair of tires, and  dash up the Dalton hwy to Deadhorse,   get a good long shower, a short sleep, and then take a leisurely 36 hours to follow the  TransAlaska pipeline all the way south to Valdez.

Have some fish n chips,  and then roll  up Thompson Pass, and then East to McCarthy.

 On the way   west,    give a call about 6 hours before   Anchorage,  If I can get loose, I'll  meet you  around Girdwood.
Link Posted: 11/4/2015 8:52:20 PM EST
[#6]
Fly to Fairbanks. Look around. Take train to Anchorage. Rent motorhome for a week. Then take boat ride to Seattle. Inland passage route. Get back home via Amtrak. Sleeping car style.
Link Posted: 11/4/2015 9:19:53 PM EST
[#7]
I've done Anchorage to the states and back plenty. Allow 4 days of hard driving each way from SLC. With 2 drivers I have done PHX to ANC in 4 days twice. Longest was a trip To Annapolis, then Key West, Gulfport and return spending about a week in each place. We were gone a month and a couple days maybe.
When you get here look us up for fishing advice or whatever.
Link Posted: 11/4/2015 9:25:10 PM EST
[#8]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
I've done Anchorage to the states and back plenty. Allow 4 days of hard driving each way from SLC. With 2 drivers I have done PHX to ANC in 4 days twice.
View Quote



Have done the El Paso to Anchorage and Anchorage to El Paso.  Going through Montana it was 4.4ish days each time, and that was only doing about 600-700 miles each day and planning it out for decent hotels and stopping it early enough for good chow.  Haines Junction being the exception with the "decent" hotel.
Link Posted: 11/4/2015 9:26:10 PM EST
[#9]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Fly to Fairbanks. Look around. Take train to Anchorage. Rent motorhome for a week. Then take boat ride to Seattle. Inland passage route. Get back home via Amtrak. Sleeping car style.
View Quote


Fuck no. The best part of the trip is Canada.

Is there still a restaurant in Prince George called Moxie's? Do they still have smoking hot barely legal waitresses?
Link Posted: 11/4/2015 9:28:37 PM EST
[#10]
I drive to AK every year from Florida. I'd scrap the trailer and figure out how to sleep in the Suburban. More time is always better but three weeks will get you the abbreviated version. Ain't nothin to it but to do it.

FYI Fuel in Canada cost nearly twice what it does here. Also, the Alcan is no big deal anymore except there still are not many places to stay or get a flat fixed, eat, etc.
Link Posted: 11/4/2015 9:38:23 PM EST
[#11]
i have never spent more than 50 hours in Canada while driving the Alcan. I make it my bitch and try to give them as little of my money as possible. 6 trips in the past 7 years and I love the drive, but I don't stop and smell the roses. Just be sure to stop at Laird hot springs and the sign post forrest.

Back in 08, first trip driving.
Link Posted: 11/4/2015 9:52:57 PM EST
[#12]
I've made that trip so many times in cars and on motorcycles I couldn't begin to count them. I've made it from Kenai to SLC in under 72 hours driving alone, which isn't the way to do it. Its an easy trip in 5 days if your in a hurry. When we go on the bikes we make it a 6 day run. Which way are you going ?
Link Posted: 11/4/2015 9:55:57 PM EST
[#13]
Just taking the Suburban and  leaving the trailer behind is a thought.   Sleeping in the back or a tent would be possible.   It would allow me to run a little faster and spend a little less on fuel.  And the cost of fuel is going to be a lot.  When the wife and kids get to Anchorage it would be a week in hotels and I'm sure that won't be cheap either.
Link Posted: 11/4/2015 10:00:27 PM EST
[#14]
Sister has done it alone in 3 days from Billings,MT and dad made it in 4 days.



We did multiple trips with dad in a pick-up with a camper and a dodge station wagon.

5 of us in the dodge and 7 in the pick-up.





Your family will really miss out on some good scenery.

3 weeks is a bit short.
Link Posted: 11/4/2015 10:00:34 PM EST
[#15]
Get the Milepost, tells you about things to see on the AlCan, and food/fuel/lodging/camping on the way.

I drove from Anchorage to San Antonio back in '04.   Alcan, passed thru Edmonton, Calgary, Montana, Utah, NM, El Paso...  Great scenery.
Link Posted: 11/4/2015 10:01:01 PM EST
[#16]
On the route it would be up through Edmonton and back through BC and the Stewart Cassiar hwy.  Or vice versa.
Link Posted: 11/4/2015 10:02:12 PM EST
[#17]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
i have never spent more than 50 hours in Canada while driving the Alcan. I make it my bitch and try to give them as little of my money as possible. 6 trips in the past 7 years and I love the drive, but I don't stop and smell the roses. Just be sure to stop at Laird hot springs and the sign post forrest.

Back in 08, first trip driving.
<a href="http://s55.photobucket.com/user/zac_squatch/media/bighunt001.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g155/zac_squatch/bighunt001.jpg</a>
View Quote

This sign forest ?

Link Posted: 11/4/2015 10:03:22 PM EST
[#18]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
On the route it would be up through Edmonton and back through BC and the Stewart Cassiar hwy.  Or vice versa.
View Quote



Through Edmonton is pretty easy to plan out for stops.

Never did the West coast route.
Link Posted: 11/4/2015 10:07:36 PM EST
[#19]
Rent a rental car for a month with unlimited mileage

I'd plan on a week each way for travel... doable in 3 weeks, but it will go fast. Lot of long driving days, a copilot would help :)
Link Posted: 11/4/2015 10:09:05 PM EST
[#20]
With that many miles to cover it does seem 3 weeks is just not enough time.  I don't wan to feel that all that I'm doing is driving all the time.
Link Posted: 11/5/2015 1:22:32 PM EST
[#21]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
With that many miles to cover it does seem 3 weeks is just not enough time.  I don't wan to feel that all that I'm doing is driving all the time.
View Quote

Just remember,  once you're in Alaska, its a 6 hour drive to everything, so you will feel like you drove the whole time.
Link Posted: 11/5/2015 7:43:18 PM EST
[#22]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Leave the truck behind. Get some good all weather riding gear, a small tent, and a KLR650.
 5 days should get you  from Utah to  Alaska, I recommend head   through Fairbanks first,   rest up, eat a lot, mount a  new pair of tires, and  dash up the Dalton hwy to Deadhorse,   get a good long shower, a short sleep, and then take a leisurely 36 hours to follow the  TransAlaska pipeline all the way south to Valdez.
Have some fish n chips,  and then roll  up Thompson Pass, and then East to McCarthy.
 On the way   west,    give a call about 6 hours before   Anchorage,  If I can get loose, I'll  meet you  around Girdwood.
View Quote


I like your thinkin'
Link Posted: 11/5/2015 9:08:46 PM EST
[#23]
I've done the trip many times. For best scenery and most pavement, go to Prince George, west to Smithers. Cassiar Highway north to the Alcan. It's a better route than Alberta and Ft. St. John.

There are several places where the Cassiar Highway is run dead straight, and widened. Signs at either end tell you not to stop. These stretches are used as runways.
I have a lot of pictures, but they are with a film camera and haven't been digitized.
Link Posted: 11/5/2015 9:13:16 PM EST
[#24]
Look at taking the Alaska Marine Highway ferry system as a leg of the trip.  Southeast is a very beautiful part of AK.  Maybe your family could join you in Seattle/Bellingham for that part.
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