Tag Archives: Alaska Highway

A Day-to-Day Guide to the Alaska Highway

August 23, 2018 Rob Sims 4 Comments

How to Drive it in 6 Days at a Moderate Pace

So… you are thinking seriously about going after the Road Trip of a Lifetime… and maybe you are having anxiety issues thinking about all that could happen.

I’ve said this before: Yukon Do It!

When Kaye and I made our epic journey towing our 28-foot fifth wheel, we had our copy of Mileposts and our paper maps in the truck cab and referred to them constantly… and everything went just fine. We didn’t have any problems, going or coming.

fullsizeoutput_1034 — Our first camp north of the border was at Chilliwack, BC

But it would have been so much easier if we had had the piece I am writing for you right now — a daily guide that would connect the dots from Point A to Point B each day. Well here it is.

Before You Start.

First of all, make sure your vehicles are in good condition. Have a mechanic replace any worn belts or hoses and change the oil in your tow vehicle. Tires should be in like-new condition all the way around with a good spare on hand.

Take a supply of cash along with your credit cards which may or may not work at some road houses. There are ATM’s in a few spots along the way delivering Canadian currency, of course.

Get used to navigating without your cellphone. You are not likely to have service except in a few towns. Weak wifi can be found at a few RV parks so each night you can plot your map apps for the next day (GPS may work when wifi doesn’t).

Getting to Mile Zero

The official Alaska Highway begins at Dawson Creek in northern British Columbia. When we did it we had to drive 1,900 miles from Ventura, California and it took us 8 days. Just to get to the START of the Alcan. We stayed at Northern Lights RV Park on the hill west of the town of Dawson Creek.

fullsizeoutput_82a — The official start of the Alaska Highway, mile zero.

Day 1: Dawson Creek to Fort Nelson. 282 miles.

Stock up on provisions before leaving Dawson Creek; you won’t find another good market for several days.

Fill the tank, then drive your first 101 miles to the Esso at Wonowon, BC. Fill up again.

Drive 181 miles over easy hills and through forests on wide open highway to Fort Nelson. We chose the Triple G RV park for our overnight. The power grid ends at Fort Nelson.

fullsizeoutput_95d — We passed roadhouses that had been closed, some for a very long time.

Day 2: Fort Nelson to Coal River (or Watson Lake) 225 (or 319) miles

Fill up the tank and head uphill from Fort Nelson. You will be topping a high pass a couple of hours in; remember to engine brake – downshift to second gear – on the downgrades to save your brakes. This section takes awhile if you are towing a heavy rig; your speed will be down to 35 MPH on winding mountain roads.

At 118 miles stop at Toad River for fuel… and lunch if you want.

fullsizeoutput_345 — The restaurant at Toad River Lodge has 6,800 baseball caps on the ceiling!

Drive another 107 miles to Coal River Lodge, Muncho Lake BC, a lonely outpost in the wilderness. Basic services are available including diesel fuel and at the restaurant inside, their signature buffalo burger at a ridiculous price (everything north of Dawson Creek will be expensive). There is a bare bones campground with 20-amp electricity and a laundromat – all run from a generator onsite.

fullsizeoutput_547 — We had the campground to ourselves at Coal River Lodge for the night.

fullsizeoutput_33 — The pies and the buffalo burgers were all home cooked by Donna at Coal River Lodge.

We found friendly owners and had a great time at Coal River, but not everybody will like the spartan accommodations that haven’t been upgraded since the place was built in the 1940’s. If it is not to your liking, fuel up and head for the Downtown RV Park at Watson Lake another 101 miles.

Day 3: Coal River to White Horse, Yukon Territory. 359 miles

Fuel up. This is a more ambitious jaunt, with two stops. First drive 101 miles to Watson Lake (if you didn’t go there last night). Tour the Sign Forest in the middle of town and fuel up at the Tags station at the west end of town where there is a deli with deep fried delights and a little store. You will be criss-crossing the BC/YT border a couple of times today.

fullsizeoutput_171a — We added our sign to 70,000 others at the Sign Forest at Watson Lake, YT.

Drive on through the forests and hills to Teslin where you can fuel up again at the Yukon Motel & Restaurant (ATM) or Mesutlin Trading Post. Then on to White Horse and the Pioneer RV Park where you might get wifi.

If you have any mechanical issues, you might find help in White Horse.

Alaska Mountains edit 0042 — The road mostly follows the valleys between the mountains and is a relatively easy drive.

Day 4: White Horse to White River. 249 miles

Fuel up and head west to Haines Junction. We experienced some awful roads and construction in this section, but maybe it is all fixed by now.

Fuel up again and continue to White River and the Yukon Lodgings Campground which is easy to miss on the left after a bend in the road in the middle of nowhere. There is no town (keep an eye on your mileage and watch for it). If you come out of the woods and cross a river and come to Beaver Creek, you just passed it; maybe just stay at Beaver Creek where there is a motel and an almost RV park. Basically a parking lot.

fullsizeoutput_178c — There is no end of beautiful scenery along the Alaska Highway.

Day 5: White River YT to Delta Junction AK. 249 miles

Fuel up at Beaver Creek, then head across the U.S. border and at 142 miles stop at Tok. Fuel up at Chevron or Shell or Tesoro.

Head west to Delta Junction another 107 miles and maybe camp at the Alaska RV Ranch.

Congratulation! You have just completed the official Alaska Highway, approximately 1,365 miles!

However, you are still in the middle of nowhere. So…

Day 6: Delta Junction to Denali National Park. 244 miles (through Fairbanks AK)

If you go southwest through Anchorage, add another 100 or so miles.

fullsizeoutput_509f — The Alaska Range escorts you toward Fairbanks. You don’t have to drive over those mountains.

At Fairbanks or Anchorage, stock up on provisions at the Fred Meyer store, because everything at Glitter Gulch (the tourist village a mile from the entrance of Denali National Park) will cost at least TWICE the price and many items will not be available at all!

Congrats again, and check this off your bucket list! You have covered the Alaska Highway – and beyond, a distance of 1,580 miles (by way of Fairbanks).

fullsizeoutput_a34 — Two dozen shops, outfitters and eateries line the boardwalk at “Glitter Gulch”.

We stayed at Rainbow Village RV Park behind the row of log cabin shops on the east side of the highway in Glitter Gulch (affectionately called “the Canyon” by the locals). It is not actually an incorporated municipality so your map app won’t find it. Try searching for Healy, a small town north of the Canyon a few miles, or try Denali National Park; you’ll only be off by a mile.

We stayed about six weeks, hiking and biking around the area and venturing into Denali National Park for hiking and sightseeing. Then we took 11 days to make the return trip down to Lincoln Nebraska, then home to Michigan a few days later. We covered about 7,500 miles over all.

Now you only have to make it back down!

So are you going to do it?

I would love to know what you are thinking. Let me know in the comments below.

Denali edit _0006 — Denali – the mountain – is still 90 miles away. Take the park bus for a closer look.

Disclaimer: Though I have done my best to update and verify this information since our own trip, things can change from season to season along the Alaska Highway. (We found that even the Mileposts resource was inaccurate at a couple of points.) You are responsible for your safety and accommodations on this road trip of a lifetime!

Have fun!

Life's A Trip!

Life’s A Trip – In a Pickup Truck

March 2, 2017 Rob Sims Leave a comment

This is the first in the Life’s A Trip series featuring different ways we are approaching this journey of life.

Life’s a journey – whether you are on the road to adventure or parked in one spot for a while. There are many different stops along the way.

This is about the places we have discovered while venturing around the U.S. in a four-wheel-drive pickup truck for the last couple of years.

We were living in a historical old log cabin at the tree farm when the wanderlust hit.

We had lived in the same place for over 40 years when we looked around one day and saw that our kids were grown up and moved away and exploring distant horizons. We looked at each other and decided we could do that too. Selling the 30-acre homestead, we downsized our stuff, upgraded the RV and took off. We spread a map on the kitchen table, closed our eyes and jabbed a finger at… Alaska. (It wasn’t quite that random; we had a daughter living and working in Alaska every summer and had been wanting to go there for a long time.)

Summer was months away, so I got a work-camp assignment at an old campground in Fillmore California for the winter and spring.

We are ready; let's go! — We are hitched up, packed up, and ready to go!

Michigan to California

As we rolled along the prairie, the tumbleweed was rolling too. — We rolled along the prairie across Oklahoma and Texas – like a tumbleweed rolling in the wind.

We were the only visitors on a January day at Red Rocks State Park near Mojave, California.

Parked at the campground for the winter, I worked half-time for our campsite with all the hookups. — Parked at the campground for the winter, I worked half-time for our campsite.

We had family nearby at Santa Barbara and accompanied them to the beaches and eateries in the area.

California to Alaska

Summer came and leaving our work-camp assignment, we headed north up the Pacific Coast Highway toward the Canadian border.

The campground is linear at Seacliff, California, 2 miles long and 20 feet wide. — The oceanside campground is linear at Seacliff, California, 2 miles long and 20 feet wide.

We drove 1900 miles before reaching the beginning of the Alaska Highway at Dawson Creek, British Columbia.

The mountains were forest-covered a Chilliwack, BC. — The mountains were forest-covered at Chilliwack, BC.

The Alaska Highway is 1500 miles of rugged mountains, valleys, forest and tundra.

Sometimes we had a campground to ourselves and were off the grid. — Sometimes we had a campground to ourselves and were completely off the grid.

After 15 days of driving we arrived at Denali Park where our daughter was working and living for the summer. We stayed through the middle of the summer.

Our campsite was nestled behind the log cabin shops near the entrance of Denali National Park.

I spent the summer hiking and four-wheeling around Denali.

Our trek back to Michigan in the late summer took 11 days returning over the same mountain passes and open prairie.

Michigan to the Gulf of Mexico.

After spending the late summer and fall in Michigan, we set our sights on the south, again hoping to escape the harsh northern winter. Leaving at the end of December, we arrived in Memphis on New Years Eve for dinner and a party at B.B. King’s Blues Club.

Our campsite at Tom Sawyer campground was right on the shore of the Mississippi River.

We arrived the next evening at Dauphin Island, Alabama for a month of barefoot beach walking and languishing in beach chairs.

The beaches are white sand along the Gulf at Dauphin Island.

Dauphin Island is blessed with many miles of good bike paths.

The local Mardi Gras parade marched right by our campground. We also visited New Orleans on a day trip.

Alabama to Florida

I was delighted to arrive in St. Augustine, Florida and discover that driving on the beach is a thing there, four-wheel-drive required.

At low tide the beach is 100 yards wide and allows plenty of room for drivers, bikers, and walkers.

Up the East Coast

In the spring, we wandered up the east coast through Georgia and South Carolina, staying for a month at Emerald Isle, North Carolina, then stopping for a few days in Virginia from where we made day trips to Washington D.C. visiting the major sites by means of the double-decker bus.

Driving on the beach is permitted at Emerald Isle... for a price. — Driving on the beach is permitted at Emerald Isle… for a price.

Arriving back in Michigan, we spent the summer at a campground with a bike trail and a small lake.

Our campground was only a few miles from the grandkids, so we had company often.

At the end of the year, we parked the rig for a while and flew to the tropics for the winter. That’s another story.

In the spring we decided to take a break from the gypsy life for a while. We moved into a small apartment in a small town in Michigan.

West again to Utah – the Pickup Camper

We were enjoying staying put for a while, but for some time I had been planning a return to the southwest for a photo shoot in the canyons of Utah. Rather than haul the RV, I switched to a pickup camper that was just big enough for one person.

Getting off the highway, I looked for the most remote and solitary places that I could get to with a sturdy four-wheel-drive pickup.

On the trail to Cathedral Valley, Capital Reef. I had to ford the Fremont River to get to this lonely 2-track. — On the trail to Cathedral Valley, Capital Reef National Park, I had to ford the Fremont River to get to this lonely 2-track.

On a rainy day at Devil's Garden near Escalante, Utah, I was glad not to be camping in a tent. — On a rainy day at Devil’s Garden near Escalante, Utah, I was glad not to be camping in a tent.

The drop-offs along the White Rim Road command a lot of respect in Canyonlands National Park.

I had to drive the pickup onto boulders to level the camper at Valley of the Gods. — I had to drive the pickup onto some stones to level the camper at Valley of the Gods.

I camped at the foot of a tall butte at Valley of the Gods.

Getting to the White Rim Road required driving through creek beds and crossing dry washes.

So, there you have it. These are only a few of the many places we have visited with a pickup truck over the last couple of years. There are more ahead of us, I’m sure.

People often ask us what is our favorite spot and we never know what to say. It’s impossible to narrow it to one location.

I guess we will have to keep looking.

One thing is for sure though: the most frequent campsite we have enjoyed has been the Walmart parking lot. But so far, we have not visited the same one twice.

Camping in the parking lot at Walmart, Grand Junction, Colorado.

If you want a scare, view my YouTube video: A White-knuckle Drive on the White Rim Road.

Side Roads

Travel: The (Almost) Impossible Dream

May 11, 2016 Rob Sims 2 Comments

Milepost: 5-11-16 — Just moved into a small apartment

For many years it seemed like this day would never come — the day that we would be free to wander around the country in an RV and a pickup truck and choose our next destination with a random finger stab at the map lying in our laps. But the day did come, not by accident but by sheer determination and hard work. There were hard choices.

Six years ago we were living on a retired 30-acre Christmas tree farm with too much mowing to do… and a mortgage we could no longer afford. Our kids had all grown up and left our spacious rural estate and our large house, and our nearest grandchild now lived 80 miles away.

We had become weary of the upkeep on so much property and wanted to see the world — and our grandkids. But we couldn’t afford it. I had been running a full crew with my log home construction company when the housing bust arrived in Michigan — two years before the recession. It was 2006 and nobody else wanted a log home. Even the log home dealers were closing one by one — the people who had been referring their buyers to us to build their homes. I had to lay off the crew.

Our financial plan for retirement crashed and burned.

We had arrived at retirement age still owing a mortgage. Reality was brutal: We could afford to own and maintain this property OR we could afford to travel. But not both. We had to choose one or the other.

It looked as though our businesses had run their courses and we wouldn’t be needing so much space and so many resources — tools, machinery, etc. and the kids weren’t coming home to visit but once or twice a year. We were ready to downsize.

And so we did.

We spent the next few years cleaning out sheds and closets and selling stuff or giving it away. We put the property up for sale. But we were in the middle of the recession and nothing happened. Finally, a neighbor showed up at our door asking if we would sell him 10 acres. We did, and then used the money to buy a used RV. We put the rest of our stuff in storage, put renters in the big house, and we hit the road.

And the next year, while we were wandering around Alaska with our rig, the rest of our property sold. Our once impossible dream was becoming our new reality.

We finally realized our dream of driving the Alaska Highway.

Over the last couple of years, we have explored three corners of our country, from Florida to California to Alaska and a thousand points in between, and have moved offshore for a couple of winters living in the tropics in vacation rentals.

New England (the fourth corner of our country) will have to wait for us, because we have decided to take a vacation from traveling (that sounds odd, maybe?) and move into a small apartment for a while.

And we can finally afford to do BOTH. We can have a Michigan home base again AND continue to travel. Our new apartment is only 13 miles from our kids and grandkids, and the rent is less than half of what our old mortgage was!

Somebody else mows the lawns, shovels the walks, and repairs the leaks… while I head down the rail trail with my bike or visit the local farm market or ice cream shop (One of the bike paths here ends at the local Dairy Queen).

If I have one regret, it is that we didn’t start downsizing sooner. Fortunately, Kaye and I are still physically fit and able to pursue our travel goals, and we really do appreciate and take advantage of our good fortune. Lots of folks run out of good health before they ever get to realize their dreams.

Anyway, I was doing a bit of reminiscing today and thinking about how far we have come in the face of a lot of challenges, and decided to write about it here. I am so happy that our present circumstance is so far different than where we were just a few years ago.

If you, my reader, find yourself in a similar almost impossible scenario, take heart; there is much that can happen to improve your outlook and bring your dreams within reach.

I suspect that your journey will begin with some difficult decisions and will be followed by a lot of hard work. That’s okay, isn’t it?

The struggle makes the reward all the more satisfying.

On the other hand, if you are in upsizing mode right now, it might be smart for you to stop and think about what you really want in 10 years or 20 years from now. Maybe you should quit bringing more stuff into your garage and basement and attic. It might turn into a ball and chain later and keep you planted at a time when you want to be free.

Just a thought. Do what sounds right to you.

And have fun!

The Alaska Highway

An Extravagance of Space

November 15, 2014 Rob Sims 3 Comments

I have lived in North America for most of my life and have only been vaguely aware of the luxurious space in which we live. I became more aware of it while traveling the Alaska Highway last summer. Many times when I was ready to pull back onto the road after a fuel stop or an overnight campground stay, I would look both ways for an opening in traffic… and not see another vehicle in either direction. Really. As far as the eye could see. Nobody.

I was repeatedly surprised — and a bit unnerved — at the vastness of it all.

Not another vehicle in sight, as far as the eye can see. — The Alaska Highway across the Yukon. Not another vehicle in sight, for miles and miles.

Canada has a population density of 9 people per square mile (the US has 48). That amounts to a lot of uninhabited space. I have had anxiety issues in traffic before, usually in the middle of a 5-lane-wide traffic jam in some inner city. But out in the vast and lonely stretches of the Alaska Highway I almost had anxiety issues of another sort imagining what it would take (and what it would cost) to acquire help in case of a breakdown when the nearest town was hundreds of miles away — and there was no cellular service anyway.

The reality of our isolation was profound. We were quite truly and utterly alone.

_______________________

And now there’s another sort of space situation that we are facing, but it has more to do with elbow room than the availability of roadside services.

After four years of downsizing, first from a 10-room house to a one-room log cabin, we have finally sold both the house and the log cabin on our 30-acre property of 42 years and are hitting the road in a 29-foot fifth wheel. Fortunately, we have already tried it out for awhile, traveling the country for the last year, but we still had the Michigan property and plenty of storage space for our stuff.

We have started moving the last of our stuff into the storage unit. — We have started moving the last of our stuff into storage.

We were able to be extravagant about what we kept while sorting through our lifetime accumulated stash, because we had enough room to store everything.

But that is no longer true.

We just brought home our new home-away-from-home... in a snowstorm. — We are moving from the log cabin into the RV for the next few years – and leaving snow behind.

So we are moving the last of our keepsakes into one of those self-storage units and will inhabit a tiny mobile space for the next few years. They say that that sort of close co-habitation will either cause two people to bond inseparably… or make them kill each other!

Our salvation from cabin fever has always been the great outdoors. We have lived in rural Michigan for most of our adult lives and could safely walk or bike the side roads or the pathways and lanes on the property. Shoot, I had a private route mapped out — and mowed — for jogging a mile without even leaving the property.

But part of our reason for selling the place is the brutality of the Michigan winters. The cold and ice and snow brought about a virtual house arrest as it were, trapping us inside for a third of every year.

For two active retirees who like to get out and walk several miles every day, that’s not good. And we are doing something about it. We are heading south during the wintertime. Now we’ll be looking for new open spaces, new bike lanes and boardwalks and walking trails in every new place we live over the next years, hopefully in places where we need not worry about slipping and falling on icy roads or sidewalks.

We’ll be looking for other extravagant spaces. Nature trails and wildlife areas and rail trails and beaches. Especially beaches.

The beach at Seacliff. — I loved the beach at Seacliff, California last winter — entirely unaffected by the Polar Vortex.

Because Americans really do enjoy an extravagance of space. Even RV-ers living in their highly efficient but tiny mobile spaces.

(Just think, you could have been born in Macau, the most heavily populated country in the world, with a population density of more than 73,000 people per square mile.)

The Alaska Highway

The Denali Back Alley

September 2, 2014 Rob Sims Leave a comment

Milepost 9-2-14

“And where are you from?” It is usually the first thing that comes out of anybody’s mouth as they are meeting someone new in Alaska, and all along the Alaska Highway, for that matter. It seems that everybody there is from somewhere else.

Oklahoma, Ontario, Florida, Washington, California, Ukraine, Bulgaria. We met people from all over the world. But we only saw a few native Americans – or First Nation – as they are called in Alaska.

Wendi is a shift manager at the popular Black Bear Coffee House on the boardwalk.

Our destination in Alaska was the Denali area because our daughter and son-in-law have lived and worked there every summer for the last nine years. Wendi is a barista and shift manager at the popular Black Bear Coffee House, and Scott runs their adventure outfitter, Denali Adventure Tours. The two shops are located on the boardwalk in McKinley Park about 200 feet apart with about ten shops between the two.

Scott and Wendi own Denali Adventure Tours and supply the tourists with adventure trips from whitewater rafting to fly-overs of McKinley.

Rainbow Village, the RV park where we stayed, was right behind the row of shops, a virtual parking lot with utility hookups. It was really handy to the back doors of the shops and helped us to see the back story of the lives of the seasonal workers, an intriguing sub-culture.

These young seasonal workers at the coffee house are all from somewhere in the lower 48 states.

The village completely shuts down in the wintertime, so everybody has to go somewhere else. Many of the workers get seasonal jobs elsewhere in the country, or like Scott, they are students or teachers at universities. Wendi gets a temp job where they live in California during the winter. One of the pilots at Denali Air flies shuttles in the Philippines every winter, so he works the tourist industry in two hemispheres.

Pilot Bob flies tourists over Denali in the summer - and over the ocean in the Philippines during the winter. — Pilot Bob flies tourists over Denali in the summer – and over the ocean in the Philippines during the winter.

It was fun for us to stay at Denali for more than five weeks so we had time to get acquainted with Scott and Wendi’s friends and learn a bit about their lives at both ends, the summer at Denali and the other three seasons somewhere else in the world.

Kaye talks with Michelle, a shop owner from Toronto, about how she ended up in Alaska. — Kaye talks with Michelle, a shop owner from Ontario, about how she ended up in Alaska.

It’s a transient life for those guys, and I think we understand it a lot more now that we have lived on the road for the last seven months, covering 10,000 miles of contrasting geography from the Great Plains to the deserts of the Southwest to mountains of the west coast and western Canada.

Waking up every morning we have to look around and see where we are to get a sense of location. The seasonal workers must have to often think about where they are at the dawn of every new day. It’s an interesting way to live. We loved getting behind the scenes while we were there.

Scott and Wendi live in a 10'x12' dry cabin during their summers up north. — Scott and Wendi live in a 10’x12′ dry cabin in the forest during their summers in Alaska.

Head space and elbow room are limited in the little cabins.

The workers come to the "cook shack" for their meals which are prepared by a hired chef. — The workers come to the “cook shack” for their meals which are prepared by a hired chef.

"Cooky" makes sure everybody is well-fed with bountiful balanced meals — Bijan makes sure everybody is well-fed with bountiful balanced meals.

Keith is a performer at one of the dinner theaters... and a salesman at a gift shop during the day. He's from Washington D.C. — Keith is a performer at one of the dinner theaters (the beard is part of his stage persona)… and he’s a salesman at a gift shop during the day. He’s from Washington D.C.

These performers stayed in small bunk rooms with common restrooms... down the hall or out in back. — These performers share small bunk rooms with common restrooms… down the hall or out in back.

Shop owners Andrea and Brandon are from Anchorage and Michigan but now spend their winters in Arizona.

Scott enjoys the view of McKinley Park and Mt. Healy from the front door of Denali Adventure Tours. — Kaye and Scott enjoy the view of McKinley Park and Mt. Healy from the front door of Denali Adventure Tours.

Get your adventure fix from Scott when you are in the Denali area.

So everybody’s from somewhere. Kaye and I had a great time this summer discovering the back stories on our kids’ friends and fellow workers at McKinley Park near Denali National Park and Preserve.

The Alaska Highway

Yukon Do It!

August 2, 2014 Rob Sims 2 Comments

Alaska Highway Milepost 3,678 Lincoln, Nebraska

Having completed the Alaska Highway – both out and back – there are some tips that I would share with the next would-be adventurer to help you survive the ordeal. And yes, like any other challenge, there is both good and bad that awaits you. Thoughtful preparation will minimize the negatives and ensure an enjoyable experience.

The Alaska Highway skirts Kluane Lake in the Yukon. — The Alaska Highway skirts Kluane Lake in the Yukon Territory. Most of it is paved.

First of all, it will streamline the entire venture if you do your homework before leaving your house. Study the route and know where you are going, which attractions you want to stop and explore, where you plan to stop each night, and where you can stock up on provisions. The most comprehensive help that most travelers get comes from the famous Mileposts publication. We ordered one from Amazon.com along with an Alaska atlas of maps. We kept both in the pickup cab and referred to them constantly.

This RV park at Coal River, Yukon, was more than 100 miles from the nearest power grid and was operating on its own generator. We had the campground to ourselves for the night.
Another thing to do before heading north is to prepare your vehicle. Your tires need to be in good condition along with a solid spare for both the RV and the tow vehicle. Make sure you are able to change a tire if necessary. Replace worn belts and hoses and change the oil.

Your vehicle needs to be ready for just about anything, especially if you plan to go into the backcountry for fishing, hiking, four-wheeling and the like.
It is important to inform your bank and credit card company that you will be traveling internationally so your cards won’t be flagged and leave you stranded at the gas pump. Carry multiple sources of revenue and keep a reserve of funds on hand for inflated costs and emergencies. Assume that you will see an expensive souvenir that you just have to have for the grandkids. We found ATM’s located in far-away places and carried cash for those times when the bankcard wouldn’t fly at the gas stop. It happened several times.

Many of the roadhouses have closed, some many years ago, some last year. Even Mileposts magazine listed some that we found no longer in service. We filled our tank often to avoid being stranded.

Also in the planning stages, set aside as much time for this trip as you possibly can; there is a whole lot to see and it is spread out over a vast area. We spent about 2 weeks on the road each way, and more than 5 weeks at the Denali area. Still we did not see everything we could have.

A side trip to the old Independence Gold Mine in the mountains above Anchorage, was a hike that I was able to take in after parking the rig at the RV park for the night.

The Alaska Highway is in a state of constant reconstruction and should be approached with a realistic sensibility. Backup plans need to be in place for those days when you don’t reach your destination because you’ve been caught in a construction zone for a couple of hours. Flexibility and a good attitude will help.

Traffic across this bridge was narrowed to one lane while workers maintained the superstructure beneath.

Don’t count on internet and iPhone service anywhere beyond the Canadian border. Our cell phones worked for calls (big roaming charges) when we were in towns and RV parks, but not out in the boonies, and our mobile wifi didn’t work anywhere in Canada or Alaska. There are hundreds-of-mile stretches with no service, so make sure you still know how to navigate the old fashioned way. Fortunately, we were able to get (weak) internet service at some of the RV parks where we stayed, so we were able to keep up with our online banking, email and Facebook updates, and so on, but the bandwidth was never sufficient enough for Skype, FaceTime, or uploading photos to the blog. Bummer.

For most people, driving the Alaska Highway is a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. It will be memorable either way, but if things go well, it will be a positive memory rather than a disaster. If it’s on your bucket list, I hope you plan ahead and have a great time. Be safe!

The Alaska Highway

Heading Home

July 21, 2014 Rob Sims Leave a comment

Milepost 260 Palmer Alaska

Alaskans are only half civilized… and proud of it. The call of the wild includes the lure of wild wide-open spaces, but it brings a lot of inconvenience for the outsiders from the lower 48 who are used to their perks. While camped at Denali for the last five weeks Kaye and I have had to accept that we won’t have a good internet link, and for me that has meant a long silence with regard to my travel blog. I haven’t posted because I simply couldn’t get online for much of the time.

Anyway, we departed Denali yesterday for the 4,000 miles trek back across the Alaska Highway to Michigan and plan to take about three weeks doing it. Our first stop near Anchorage provided a good internet connection, so I’m logging a quick post to let everyone know we are on the road again and will likely not be posting very often while heading across through the Yukon and northern Canada.

I am planning to write some more extensive reviews after arriving back in civilization.

Bob and Kaye at the entrance to the 6 million acre Denali National Park and Preserve.

The Alaska Highway

Rock and Snow – Mt. McKinley Fly-By

July 1, 2014 Rob Sims Leave a comment

Milepost 7-1-14 Mt. McKinley, Alaska

“Tree line is at 3,000 feet,” said our pilot, Dan. “Above 7,000 feet there’s just rock and snow.” We had just taken off in a little 8-seater plane for a fly-by of Mt. McKinley, the highest point on the North American continent, and Dan was already sharing his comprehensive knowledge of the mountain geography, naming rivers, glaciers and mountains as we skimmed over snow-capped peaks on a bee-line for Denali.

An aerial view of the Polychrome Mountains also reveals a distance glimpse of the Parks Highway on the other side of the valley. — An aerial view of the Polychrome Mountains also reveals a distant glimpse of the Parks Highway skirting the other side of the valley.

At first there was a lot of color as we climbed out of the dark green forest, but before long there was only snow and rocky cliffs, sure enough. There were glaciers by the dozen, some of them perched in hanging valleys, others stretching into the distance like long wide rivers of ice.

Our flight took us delightfully close to the jagged peaks as Dan zig-zagged his way between spires and pinnacles all along the way. We soon reached Mount McKinley itself, a huge, disorganized heap of rock with all sorts of cliffs and mounds facing in all directions and several glaciers oozing from its high canyons and valleys.Pretty soon we made a wide banking turn over a massive glacier and headed back through the dizzying maze of peaks as Dan pointed out a trail across a snow field left by the last team of climbers on the mountain. I wondered how they knew where it was safe to cross; I was seeing dozens of crevasses from the air.

Eldridge glacier is 35 miles long and hundred of feet thick. — Eldridge glacier is 35 miles long and hundreds of feet thick.

This flight to the Mountain was certainly the pinnacle of my Alaska experience. We are just about halfway through our summer in the land of the midnight sun and realizing that it is such a vast area that we will not get to see everything; there is just no way.

Seeing it from the air certainly covers a lot of territory in a short time. Maybe I’ll get to catch another flight around the Mountain before my time is up here. What a natural high!

Dan was my pilot on Denali Air. — Dan does a great job as pilot and owner of the flight-seeing company, Denali Air.

My flight was arranged by my son-in-law, Scott, the owner of Denali Adventure Tours. It’s just one of many adventure trips they provide.

(Click on any of the photos in this post to see a larger view.)

The Alaska Highway

The Alaska Vibe

June 23, 2014 Rob Sims 2 Comments

Milepost 6-23-14 Denali Park, Alaska

We have been at Denali for a few days now and are enjoying the international flavor of the tourist scene. Not only are the tourists from every place you can imagine, so are the seasonal workers. We are camped right behind the ice cream shop where several Bulgarians are working this summer. It’s one store in a long line-up of services offered along the boardwalk, from souvenirs to adventure trips to salmon bakes and pizza.

My daughter has worked 9 years as a barista and manager at the Black Bear Coffee House on the boardwalk at Denali. — My daughter has worked for 9 years as a barista and manager at the Black Bear Coffee House on the boardwalk at Denali.

Any day on the boardwalk or the campground we may hear an assortment of languages spoken, from German to Japanese to Russian.

Not only are the inhabitants of this community a very diverse bunch, so are the sights and surroundings of the area.

This morning I went for a bike ride through the canyon where the whitewater rafters and kayakers venture, while on the high bluff above a train went by loaded with sightseers, and a helicopter took off to fly over the ridge to a glacier landing in the next valley.

Bikers, kayakers, bus and train and plane sightseers may all be seen in the same panorama. — I biked through the canyon of the Nenana River where the whitewater rafters do their stuff.

It is a delightfully eclectic mix of sights and scenes here, that makes every day interesting in its own way. It is very much unlike our environment in Michigan. Even the wildlife is foreign to us. We haven’t seen a whitetail deer in months, but yesterday were up close and personal to the caribou in the Denali high country. Weird.

The hiking trails in the area offer close-up encounters with caribou, mountain sheep, moose, bears and more.

Summer solstice was a new experience for us, with a beautiful sunset after midnight that didn’t turn into nighttime… the sun skimmed along sidewise just behind the mountain ridge and then came back up at around 3 am!

Nighttime never came at our little town at Denali on summer solstice.

Every morning when I wake up I have to remind myself where I am… or just look out a window and let the mountains above the RV park do it for me.

I finally got to photograph Mt. McKinley yesterday – from 75 miles away with a telephoto lens! I’m hoping to get closer on a flight-seeing trip sometime in the next few weeks.

Mt. McKinley (Denali) from a distance of 75 miles on the Parks Road.

So the Alaska vibe is a very eclectic one. I’d say that if variety is the spice of life, the flavor of Denali is seasoned to perfection. Great fun!

The Alaska Highway

The Alaska Highway – The Adventuring Persona

June 15, 2014 Rob Sims Leave a comment

Milepost 3395 Dawson City, BC, to Delta Junction, Alaska.

Everywhere we stopped along the Alaska Highway we met people, and here’s the thing: They were all originally from somewhere else. Texas, Utah, Ohio, Ontario, Ireland or parts farther removed, they gave varying answers to the first question that we all asked each other at every new stop: “Where are you from?” Not until we reached the most remote settlements in the Yukon did we encounter the First Nation folks who would answer, “Here. Always been here.”

Donna at Coal River Lodge at Milepost 533, was the owner and chief cook. Her lodge is up for sale. — Donna at Coal River Lodge at Milepost 533, was the owner and chief cook for 14 years. Now her lodge is up for sale.

The other unique trait of these immigrants to the great north was their eccentricity. It seems that the sort of people who would answer the call of the wild are the sort that are essentially non-conformists. Undaunted by solitude and the lack of conveniences, they had settled into the most unwelcoming locations this side of the border where services were limited and dangers were high.

Paul has spent his life servicing the heavy equipment at the lodges along the Alcan Highway. — Paul has spent his life servicing the heavy equipment at the lodges along the Alaska Highway.

Alfred, born in Texas, was perpetually cycling the Alaska Highway, at 71 years old sometimes pedaling all night to reach the next outpost. — Homeless Alfred, born in Texas, is perpetually cycling the Alaska Highway, at 71 years old the constant wanderer sometimes pedaling all night to reach the next outpost.

Every roadhouse and lodge was operated by displaced or re-placed – or maybe mis-placed wanderers. We met RV park owners who had come out from the city to start a new life, we met university students working a summer job in the tourist industry, and there were cooks and heavy equipment repairmen helping to keep the outposts operating for one more season.

Toad River Lodge has 7,000 hats attached to the ceilings. — Toad River Lodge has a collection of 7,000 hats attached to the ceilings.

The other thing that was unusual about these unusual business owners was the quirky attempts they made at competing for the diminishing tourist dollars. Chainsaw carvings were popular, Old West themed RV parks, the “world’s largest weathervane (a DC-3 airplane mounted on a post)”, a museum of stuffed trophies from musk-ox to moose, or left-behind WWII vehicles (the troop transport still operating for bear tours through the forests out in back).

The western saloon-themed RV park at Fort Nelson, BC, had chainsaw-carved benches and rifles for door pulls.

So, one of the off-handed delights of the Road Trip of a Lifetime along the Alaska Highway is the quirky and tenacious proprieters of the entire 1,500-mile-long complex who are keeping it all going.

Or not. Perhaps two-thirds of the lodges we passed were closed and boarded up, some a long time ago, some last year. It’s a rough life up here, and it’s a rougher job trying to keep the outposts open when the tourist revenue is diminishing year by year.

We developed a deep appreciation for these tough folks who serve the would-be adventurers like us, keeping us safe for the night and fueling us up for the next stretch of highway. Mighty good folks there, all along the way, and we enjoyed meeting them!

The Signpost Forest was started by Carl Lindley, a US soldier who was helped construct the Highway. We added our sign to the 72,000+ collection. — The Signpost Forest at Watson Lake, Yukon, was started by a US soldier who helped construct the Alaska Highway. We added our sign to the 72,000+ collection.

Can you find our sign at the Sign Forest? (Just left of and slightly below center.) — Can you find our sign at the Sign Forest? (It’s just about in the center. Click on photo to enlarge.)

Here are a few more photos that we captured along our transit of the official 1,488 miles of the Alaska Highway from Dawson Creek BC to Delta Junction, Alaska:

The second log bridge at Canyon Creek was designed to carry military vehicles and civilian traffic alike. It would have easily supported our pickup and RV but we crossed a newer one.

Canyon Creek bridge 2 — Kaye studied the ingenious log engineering of the early bridge builders.

I explored the ruins of Silver City, Yukon, a once-thriving mining town of 3,000 residents. — I explored the ruins of Silver City in theYukon Territory, a once-thriving mining town of 3,000 residents, now empty.

The roadhouses were built to service the traffic along the Alaska Highway in 1942-1943. The one at Prophet River closed many years ago. — The roadhouses were built to service the traffic along the Alaska Highway in 1942-1943. This one at Prophet River BC, closed many years ago.

“Lum and Abner’s, Since 1942” says the sign on the truck door. It’s part of highway history now.

We finally reached Denali, a day’s travel past the end of the Alaska Highway, beyond Fairbanks. We have found a campsite right behind The Black Bear Coffee House where our daughter, Wendi, works every summer. I’ll be writing about their transient lives next.

We caught our first glimpse of Mt. McKinley (Denali) from 150 miles away before we reached Fairbanks. — The Alaska Range looks majestic from the highway east of Fairbanks.

The Alaska Highway

Miles and Miles of Mountains

June 13, 2014 Rob Sims Leave a comment

Milepost 3395 Fort Nelson, Yukon, to Delta Junction Alaska

Well, we have traveled the official distance of the Alaska Highway which covers 1,488 miles between Dawson Creek, BC and Delta Junction in Alaska. But nobody stops and stays in Delta Junction; it’s just an intersection on the way to several other more distant destinations. We are heading on to Fairbanks tomorrow and then to our final goal, Denali Park where our kids live and work every summer.

I have made few blog posts along the way because I didn’t have access to the internet. Further, several of the RV parks we stayed at were so far from the electrical grid that they were operating on their own power plants, so we could hear the faint hum of the generator all night. Every village and lodge north of Fort Nelson has to generate its own electricity. I guess wifi is a bit much to ask for when there isn’t even an electrical power grid in place.

For hundreds of miles we traveled along the foot of the Canadian mountain ranges. That is, when we weren’t working our way over some steep high pass or through a narrow canyon. We developed a new respect for the Rockies here. No, call it what it is: fear. These mountains are beautiful from a distance, but up close they are intimidating. Our adventure threshold was crossed several times into the area of anxiety.

It seemed we spent an entire day in second gear as the pickup labored up the steep climbs to Summit Pass only to be followed closely by the decline that required many miles of engine braking in order to save the brakes. Scary stuff, man.

Our trek through the Yukon was an episode that deserves its own coverage, but let me quickly say that the roads there are terrible. The Canadian engineers either haven’t learned yet how to design roads that will not be heaved by the permafrost every winter and summer, or they don’t have the money to do it right. I suspect that funding is the big problem as there was a marked difference in the quality when we crossed into Alaska which is a rich petroleum state.

Anyway, the frost heaves have rendered the pavement a mess of dips and ridges and mounds that have turned the highway into an off-roader’s dream. But for the RV-er it’s a nightmare. 35 mph was too fast for a lot of it. We entered the RV with caution at every rest stop to push things back into their places in the cupboards and re-organize the stuff in the fridge.

I’ll be writing much more about this epic adventure in subsequent posts, but I want to say right here that, even though I didn’t entirely know what I was getting into, I do not regret my decision to assault the Alaska Highway with a pickup and an RV. It assaulted me back, but I have lived to tell about it, and tell about it I will.

Watch for it in subsequent posts. With photos. I’ll add photos as soon as I return to digital civilization.

The Alaska Highway

We Have Arrived at the Beginning

June 8, 2014 Rob Sims 1 Comment

Milepost 2040 Cache Creek to Dawson Creek, British Columbia

Today we made it to the official start of the Alaska Highway, Mile Zero, at Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada. That is after driving 2,000 miles northward from where we spent the winter and spring near Los Angeles, California. We’ve been on the road for eleven days, covering 1,300 miles up the west coast and another 700 after crossing the border into Canada.

This is just the beginning of the next stretch of the road trip of a lifetime!

We celebrated our arrival at the beginning by treating ourselves to a pizza in downtown Dawson Creek. Then we hit the Safeway market to stock the fridge and cupboards for the big stretch across the mountains and tundra to Alaska. It will take another week or more, and the outposts and fuel stops are few and far between.

A panorama of the Rocky Mountains we drove around today.

The scenery has been beautiful, an ever-changing panorama from narrow rocky river canyons to hilly forested highlands to snow-capped mountain ranges. We have churned our way up steep climbs, over passes, and then descended carefully down the other side. We have passed through tunnels and crossed countless high bridges, marveling at the engineering feats pulled off by the early trail blazers.

Tomorrow we are hoping to put a bit more west in our northwest; it’s been heavy on the north so far. In fact, the compass on the dash seemed confused today as we managed a twisting stretch around a mountain range and drove east instead of west; it was dizzying.

Tomorrows’ route is more straightforward, so we’re hoping to cover a lot of ground. Denali is waiting for us.