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Alaska for the summer

Yahoo Message Number: 71070
Well, the trip is now complete; at least the portion traveling up from the lower 48 to the Great State of Alaska. It took us 10 days to complete the drive from the Seattle area, but that is because we wanted to take our time, not rush it, and enjoy the trip with stops here and there. We left Seattle and cleared Canadian Customs in Blaine, WA. For those that desire to transport a firearm with them, for the most part, it isn't a real issue. In my case however, Canadian Customs decided that their drug and firearm dog needed additional training, so they spent 2 hours going through pretty much everything in the coach and my Ford F250 4x4 truck. I had already declared two shotguns and one hunting rifle and the paperwork was in order, but they still did a thorough search of the entire structure. Noting that nothing was found, we were sent on our way. We had concern over bringing in food products and cut flowers that my wife were presented for Mother's Day, but nothing was confiscated, and nothing was said.
We drove about 6 km and spend the night in a local and new; Walmart parking lot. Life is good and we awoke ready to continue the journey north. Our route was, per the Alaska Milepost book that was our guide, up the Frazier River Canyon, which took us through 7 tunnels on the way up to Williams Lake, B.C., where we arrived early and spent the night in a parking lot where we had refueled. We drove around the town and went hiking through some of the local trails, immersing ourselves in the beautiful country.
After breakfast and coffee the next morning, we were off to Prince George. We parked in an RV Park at the south end of town and drove in to see the town and do some hiking. Prince George lies in a bend of the Frazier River, which is still quite wide, and has many log mills and saw yards. Fresh timber was stacked for miles awaiting the saw and final shipment to lumber yards around the country. Unlike in the United States, where tree-huggers try to stop all tree cutting (tree-huggers include our federal government as well), in Canada, lumber is big business and since it is a renewable resource, it is harvested and treated as such.
Day 4 found us driving to Dawson Creek, the start, and Mile Post 0, of the Alaska Highway. On the way to Dawson Creek, we drove through a couple of late snow showers, which were pretty enough, but presented no problems for us. The pass took us up to about 3100' msl, and the drive was very nice. Arriving early, as we did, we decided to proceed on to Fort Saint John, which was only about an hour's worth of driving. Arriving in Fort Saint John, we found a good spot to spend the night and went hiking around town and a lake that was nearby. A steak was on the barbecue and life was once again good.
Day 5 had us leaving for Fort Nelson where we refueled and continued on to Laird Hot Springs. This is a "must stop", which is located right along the road on the right side. The access fee to the hot springs is $5 per person, but, if you park your motor coach there, it is $21 for the night with full hook ups and the fee is waived to gain access to the hot springs. The water coming out of the geothermal spring from underground is about 50 degrees C, but at the far end of the pool (which is all natural and about 100' long by 20 feet wide in places), quickly cools down to 30 degrees C. Even so, the hot water is at the top about 8 inches and below that it is cooler, so just move your hands around and you quickly mix the water to the comfort level that you desire. We remained in the pool (which was about a 10 minute hike from the parking lot) for about 45 minutes. Afterwards we felt fully invigorated.
Leaving Liard Hot Springs, we drove to the west to Watson Lake where there is a 1 acre sign post landmark where people place anything on the posts. Most create signs with their names, although there were a lot of stolen signs that most likely are now missing from cities all over the world. There were a lot from Germany as well as Japan. Just a quick guess would say that there were well over 2000 signs. Well worth the time to walk around and take a break from driving.
We then headed towards Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory, where we spent a couple of days. This is a good spot to rest up after driving so much and there are lots to see and do. Whitehorse is the largest city in Yukon, and the capitol of Yukon. Much mining history has taken place here over the last 200 years and mining is still a very big activity in the mountains and streams around Whitehorse.
The highway to this point has been nothing short of well-maintained and good driving, at or near the speed limits. Driving west out of Whitehorse to Haines Junction found us on good roads as well, but not so beyond Haines Junction. We averaged around 45 mph for the next hundred or so miles due to frost heaves and road maintenance that was ongoing, preparing for the upcoming tourist seasons traffic. Not to worry as the scenery was spectacular and we enjoyed looking at the mountains in Alaska, so near, yet so far away, since we still had to parallel the Canadian/Alaska Border northward. We spent the night on a pull-out rest area overlooking a lake and wildlife. White swans were there making their way north, just as we were. During the portion of driving through Canada, we seen 10 black bear, 5 grizzly bear, lots of Stone Sheep, many, many Tatonka (also known as buffalo or bison to city slickers), lots of Mule Deer, and lots of Woodland Caribou. A grey fox and coyote and marmot would come into sight from time to time, but never did we see a moose or elk, even though there were many highway signs warning of these animals. Driving through the Slana Region of Alaska is where we were finally able to see moose. Dall sheep were abundant near Kluane Lake, which has been the norm for each trip that I have made to and from Alaska. On this trip we stopped and sit up a telescope and counted well over 100 Dall Sheep. They are a sight to behold, but this time, all of the large rams were out of view.
Upon entering Alaska we were refreshed to find the highway in great, albeit, new condition while driving west to Tok, Alaska. We stopped there and spent some time before proceeding southwest on the highway towards Anchorage. We pulled over at a great little pull-off next to the Little Tok River and went fly fishing for Grayling. These little fish, while bony and white meat, are beautiful to look at as you remove your fly hook and release them back into the clear, cold waters of the Little Tok. Afterwards we cooked up some corn on the cob and steak on the Barbie and ate like the king and queen that we felt we were in the middle of God's Country. Alaska is just that good.
Day 10 seen us headed down to Duffy's Tavern, Slana, Gulkona, Glenallen, Palmer and finally, via Eagle River, to Anchorage, where we arrived just as the traffic was getting started after work. We spent the night in a brand new Lowe's parking lot and today, are finally parked at the FAM Camp located on Elmendorf Air Force Base at the north edge of Anchorage.
Overall, the drive was great, the scenery was beyond words and the people of all sorts that we interacted with were truly wonderful. Diesel through Canada averaged about $1.34 per liter and in Alaska it is $4.34 a gallon. We drove overall about 2,345 miles and seen many motorcycles on the way north as well. We were passed in British Columbia by 13 Honda Goldwing's, one pulling a trailer, all headed "North to Alaska". Finally out of Whitehorse there was a group of Harley-Davidsons doing the same. The road seems to be in pretty good shape overall for all modes of transportation. Hopefully we will pack away a bunch of King Salmon and a Moose or a couple of Caribou for the winter and locate some gold as the price has climbed to around $1500 plus an ounce. If you have ever wanted to see Alaska, and don't this year, you will just be one year older when you finally do.

Jim and Kim Hill

Country Coach Tribute 260
Ford F250 4x4

CanAm Outlander Max 4-wheeler

Re: Alaska for the summer

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 71076
Sounds like you are having a great time. We took the trip back in 1987 entering into Montana and had a very enjoyable trip. We also stayed at the FamCamp at Elmendorf and a bear came through the park one evening, after that, our 14 year old daughter wouldn't go outside much! We also stopped in Hyder on our way south to the lower 48 and that was a very interesting stop, saw bears up close there as they fished a stream, we on one side and hey on the other. I understand they have now built a viewing stand there so I suppose one is safer from becoming bear bait, as there were both grizzles and black bear doing their fishing.
One thing that we really enjoyed was going down to Seward and taking the military sponsored cruise where we saw whales, eagles and puffins up close. There is a Military Recreation center there, including an RV park. The link to their web site is http://sewardresort.com/
Enjoy your stay in Alaska.
Ray

2000 Intrigue 11040

Re: emaill re: clothing items with CC on them

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 71077

was talking to a friend this evening who was wearing a CC jacket -- he mentioned a while ago someone had alot of these items for sale - are they still available or does anyone remember where they were mentioned? thanks
jan

06 Intrigue 51898

Re: Alaska for the summer

Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 71088

Enjoyed the read about your Alaska trip- plan to make it that way next summer season

Robert Huffhines, 2007 Tribute #81042

Re: Alaska for the summer

Reply #9 –
Yahoo Message Number: 71096
Hi Tom,

Great trip review. Thanks. We hope to do it ourselves some day soon.
Noticed you drive a CC Tribute 260. We do as well (2008). Don't see many out there. Would love to know more about them. How many were built? When? Any issues, etc. Also, if you have done any upgrades/changes on your coach...handling, esthetics, whatever, I would be grateful if you would drop me a note. thanks

mark and deb
retired AF

---- Tom Chesna tomchesna@...> wrote: