Driving to Alaska-Join Us

by Bob | Apr 19, 2014 | Adventure, Alaska, Travel | 24 comments

Last fall I posted that I was planning a trip to Alaska in the summer of 2014 and like everything else in my life, all my plans for the trip have been written in Jello up till now. But with the time for our departure getting close Judy and I have to start firming up our plans. All along I’ve wanted to be in Alaska by the first week of June because after living there for 45 years, I know that is when we are most likely to have the best weather. Alaska can be very rainy and drizzly in the summer but generally June is the month with the least rain. It is also the month with the least mosquitoes. But the big thing for me is that early June has the least amount of tourists making driving much easier without the crowds. I want to do quite a few tourist things and getting there before the crowds will make that much easier.

This is the first leg of the trip during which we will have both vans. We'll stop at Zion for a few days then on to Ogden, UT where we will put my van in storage. I's the most along the way for our return trip when Judy is on her way to Reno to go to work.

This is the first leg of the trip during which we’ll have both vans. We’ll stop at Zion for a few days then on to Ogden, UT where we will put my van in storage. It’s along the way for our return trip when Judy is on her way to Reno to go to work.

Since we know when we want to get there, all we have to do is work backwards to know when we need to leave. I’ve driven from Anchorage, AK to Moab, UT in 6 days and since you can get to Flagstaff in one more day I know we can drive from Flagstaff to Anchorage in 7 days. But that is not a fun drive! Its 3,600 miles so we would have to average over 500 miles a day. This is a pleasure trip so we want to drive less every day and be able to stop and relax whenever we want. So instead we are giving ourselves three weeks to make the trip. We are leaving around May 18-20 and that will put us into Anchorage in the first week of June. With that much time, we only need to average about 180 miles a day. We both prefer the idea of driving about 400 miles a day, and then sitting in camp for a day but it is all very flexible—we literally have the whole summer to do anything we want. Our only deadline is to be back to Reno, NV by the middle of September so Judy can go to work for Amazon in their Fernley warehouse.

After leaving my van in Ogden we will head up Interstae 15 and over to Grand Tetons NP for a photo shoot. From there we'll cut through Idaho and up through Montana to enter Canada on the West side of the Canadian Rockies. It's going to be a beautiful drive through some gorgeous country instead of the west side which is flat and ugly.

After leaving my van in Ogden we will head up Interstate 15 and over to Grand Tetons NP for a photo shoot. From there we’ll cut through Idaho and up through Montana to enter Canada on the West side of the Canadian Rockies. It’s going to be a beautiful drive through some gorgeous country instead of the eest side which is flat and boring wheatland

The first thing we had to decide was which vehicles to take. We were sure all along that I would leave my trailer and motorcycle in storage here in Flagstaff because towing it all the way to Alaska would just be a misery for me. There are lots of mountains between here and there and dragging the trailer up and down them would drop me down to 10MPG or less and work the van really hard. No way was I taking the trailer! But Judy and I originally had no thought of just taking one van; two people and an 80 pound dog seemed like too much for a van. But over the winter we’ve gone back and forth on all kinds of details and we finally decided that the only way we could make the trip affordable was to take one van and leave the other at home.
Judy’s van gets very good MPG and we expect to average 17 MPG over the 7500 mile trip which means she will burn about 440 gallons of gas. If she averages $5 a gallon (it’s high because gas is much more through Canada, bringing up the average) she’ll spend $2200 for the trip just in gas. On the other hand, my van only gets 14 MPG so if I drive it I’ll burn 540 gallons of gas and spend $2700. But if we both go in Judy’s van and split the cost of gas we will only pay $1100 each for gas—much better and more affordable!! She saves $1100 and I save $1600

The last leg of the trip we take the Trans-Canada Highway to the Icefield Parkway and take it north along the Canadian Rockies. From there we join the traditional route to Dawson Creek and the Alaska Highway.

My van is larger and has more solar (mine has 380 watts and hers only has 200) but hers gets much better MPG and is six years newer which means that it’s more reliable, much quieter and more comfortable in every way. So we are taking her van! In the next few posts I’ll be doing posts on how we are converting her van to make it comfortable for two people: stay tuned!
I’ve said all along that anyone that wants to caravan with us is welcome to come along. I’m too independent to tightly caravan with others so it will be a lose caravan. I don’t know exactly how it will work but we will work it out as we go.
Most people won’t have as much time or freedom as we have so you are welcome to join us for all or part of the trip or you can fly into Anchorage and rent a van or RV. We pretty much have the route north figured out so you can see how that works for you if you want to join us—the basic outline is in the maps. The return trip is totally up in the air and I can’t give you any details about it yet. It could be the best summer ever and we will stay until the end of August, or it could rain every day and we’ll leave in July. I also have no idea what route we will take on the return trip south. We could go through Seattle, WA or through Great Falls, MT.
If you are interested in joining us, now is the time to contact me and firm up your plans!

24 Comments

Openspaceman on April 20, 2014 at 9:09 am

Bob & Judy_
So you just draw a blue line and start followin’ it…sounds easy enough to me.
I had a little emergency surgery last week…with a $4 grand max co-pay so there goes my Alaska fund for this year…be back at work in a week or so to start building it back up. I lost a few pounds and gained some perspective… there’s always someone in worse shape. In three days I came in contact with over thirty people…nurses, assistants, practitioners, doctors, surgeons. I’m grateful for the care I received but what a wasteful way of doing things…no wonder a trip to the hospital bankrupts a lot of people. Sorry for the hijack.
*At least I can experience the trip thru your blog. I hope the cohabitation travel experiment works out for you two and Homer.
- Bob on April 20, 2014 at 2:33 pm
  
  I’m sorry to hear that Openspaceman. I’ll try to bring the trip alive for you.
  Bob
Openspaceman on April 20, 2014 at 9:11 am

One of the benefits of the van is low overhead…will make it a lot quicker to pay down the hospital bills without rent and utilities. Peace.
LaVonne on April 20, 2014 at 10:03 am

Wishing I could go with you — have a wonderful trip!
- Bob on April 20, 2014 at 2:34 pm
  
  Thanks LaVonne, your day will come!
  Bob
Desert Rat on April 20, 2014 at 2:09 pm

Would tent camping along the way be an option?
- Bob on April 20, 2014 at 2:42 pm
  
  Desert Rat, the best I can say is maybe. We do have a couple of stops planned for Walmarts but nearly always we will be along the side of the road which shouldn’t be a problem in a van, but I’m not sure about a tent. We will also spend time stealth parking in Anchorage where a tent wouldn’t work. Can you sleep in your FJ if you have to? And what about your dogs?
  What kind of MPG do you get towing your trailer?
  Bob
  - Desert Rat on April 20, 2014 at 5:11 pm
    
    I went into the Can. Rockies and slept in the car and also tented, had the dogs, and it was fine, though I did end up in a couple of crazy spots (one was an abandoned subdivision). I would probably part ways at some point and go on up to Fairbanks, maybe meet up again later. My mileage is about like yours with the trailer, would rather not take it.
    - Bob on April 21, 2014 at 2:04 pm
      
      Desert Rat, it sounds like you won’t have any problem at all! You’re welcome to join us.
      Bob
      - Desert Rat on April 21, 2014 at 4:15 pm
        
        Thanks, Bob. It would be fun to travel with you and Judy. Will see if I can arrange it. 🙂
Ming on April 20, 2014 at 3:39 pm

Looks like a nice trip! I wish I could join part way. I did the Canadian Rockies and the Icefields Parkway a couple of years ago. It was amazing!!
If you’re a hiker, you might like “Don’t Waste Your Time in the Canadian Rockies” by the Copelands. It has good trail descriptions and difficulty ratings.
That was the trip where I got a car top tent to go with the Fit. It made setting up camp a lot easier, and I was able to keep the good gas mileage. A circle tour from Vancouver to the Rockies and back cost me $200CDN in gas.
- Bob on April 21, 2014 at 1:59 pm
  
  Ming, thanks for the recommendations on the book. I just ordered it used from Amazon!! I also bought another book you recommended earlier “Camp Free In BC” and it’s a great book. It’s why I’m entering through Roosville, BC and going up Highway 93 on the West side of the Rockies. I’m hoping we can camp for free over there and then take the TransCanada over to Banff and Jasper to photograph and then go back to the free campsites off 93. Is that realistic? Is it going to be too cold in late May for that? I know you can’t say for sure but generally does that seem realistic?
  You’ve been a real help in planning our trip!
  Bob
  - Ming on April 21, 2014 at 4:59 pm
    
    you’re welcome Bob! I love guidebooks, they make it so much easier to plan my trips and my hiking. As for your question re: staying at the free campsites and shuttling to the parks for photos, it depends on distances – will you be eating up precious daylight getting back and forth, or would it make more sense to camp closer in a pay site? For the camping experience, I found the National Park campgrounds to be uninspiring, expensive, and close to highways and trains, except for Snaring River in Jasper.
    I found 2 weeks to be way too short a time for my trip, about 10 days of which were spent on the Rockies portion. I went at the beginning of September and found the weather to be perfect. Not sure what late May would be like, I would think there would be snow on the ground on most of the trails, some of the higher small roads, and the wildflowers would not be out for a couple of months yet, so probably not as nice for sightseeing/ photo compared to later. I may be wrong, of course. And if you saved that portion of the trip for the way back, you’d run into crowds if you were in August, but nice wildflowers, and you can drop of the crowds if you go on a hike.
    I did catch the hot springs at Miette near Jasper – that was a nice soak with a great view!
    Here is a page discussing lat May conditions on the roadway itself, which I think should be fine at that time.
    http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=437019
    - Bob on April 22, 2014 at 11:48 am
      
      Thanks for all that info Ming. I know it is just a crap shoot what the weather will be like but we are passing by so I thought I would try to get some shots with the waterfalls at their peak and snow-capped mountains. We will be coming back in August so tentatively I’ll try to get some wildflower shots on the way down then go with Judy onto Reno for her work in September and I will get my van in Ogden then maybe head back up to the CA Rockies for September. Very tentative!
      Before I left Alaska in 2006 I bought a book off of Amazon that has become my Bible. It is “How to Photograph the Canadian Rockies” by Darwin Wiggett. Outstanding guide!! But no longer in print. You can buy it used from Amazon for $100! Keep your eye out for it, it’s great.
      Bob
      - Ming on April 23, 2014 at 1:08 pm
        
        ah, it’s good to hear that you may have more than one passthrough to catch all the sights.
        Thanks for the recommendation on the photo book. I will try to find one. I look forward to seeing yours from this trip!
      - Bob on April 24, 2014 at 3:42 pm
        
        Ming, the best thing about the trip is I will have lots of blog material! Who knows, it may even turn into a book.
        Bob
Ken in Anaheim on April 20, 2014 at 4:24 pm

Hi Bob; hope ya’all have a great trip !!
By the way….you might want to re-read the caption of the 3rd map (Ogden to Golden). You’ve got your east side/west sides a bit confused…
KinA
- Bob on April 21, 2014 at 2:03 pm
  
  Thanks Ken, I fixed it.
  Bob
Al Christensen on April 21, 2014 at 12:24 pm

Are you going to get a satellite phone? Or is there cell service all the way?
- Bob on April 21, 2014 at 2:06 pm
  
  Al, I’ve been debating that. Delorme is now selling a sat phone and a month-to-month service for it. And of course there are other good ones. I just don’t know, it’s a lot of money but it would always give me a lot of peace of mind.
  Bob
Canine on April 21, 2014 at 1:35 pm

Guess where I live. Great Falls! That’s cool. Even if you develop no plans to stop here, at least you know you have a place to stay if you incur some unplanned vehicle repairs or some such thing. You are welcome to get a hold of me if you have any questions or need anything. If you do decide to make a pit stop, I sure would enjoy meeting you and Judy and Homer.
- Bob on April 21, 2014 at 2:06 pm
  
  Thanks Canine, if our plans change we will look you up!
  Bob
Myddy on April 22, 2014 at 9:51 pm

Looks like it will be a lovely trip, wish I had money for that sort of trip right now. Still squirreling away in the east here!
- Bob on April 24, 2014 at 3:39 pm
  
  Your day will come Myddy! All the hard work you are putting in now will pay off with future freedom.
  Bob