How Many Miles

[Montara24d]

Does anyone have a rough idea of the mileage from the boarder crossing in Sweet Grass, to the Alaska boarder.
John

[ssthrd]

garyhaupt wrote:

ssthrd wrote:

garyhaupt wrote:
ssthrd...where on Haida Gwaii you be?

Gary Haupt...formerly of Kitimat

Where I was, I guess. Caught the ferry last August 15 from Skidegate Landing, and we have not been back there (QCC) since. We did a tour around North America and ended up in Terrace in the middle of January. Not sure how long we will be here--couple of years maybe.

Was there for only a year steady, but off and on since 84. Love it there but would rather be on Vancouver Island where we lived for 25 years. After the itch is scratched.........

Right right....did a couple trips over. Have friends in Massett. Greys Bay and all that. Sushi in QCC.

Have you been up to Exstew yet? Or Dragon Lake? We moved down to the Okanagan last May. Oddly, have no need to head back up.


Gary Haupt

I have seen both ends of Nisgaa highway several times, but have never gone that way to the north. Soon. I didn't know about the falls. Looks neat.

Love the Penticton area but have not been there in a few years. The bucket has quite a few things in it!

[garyhaupt]

ssthrd wrote:

garyhaupt wrote:
ssthrd...where on Haida Gwaii you be?

Gary Haupt...formerly of Kitimat

Where I was, I guess. Caught the ferry last August 15 from Skidegate Landing, and we have not been back there (QCC) since. We did a tour around North America and ended up in Terrace in the middle of January. Not sure how long we will be here--couple of years maybe.

Was there for only a year steady, but off and on since 84. Love it there but would rather be on Vancouver Island where we lived for 25 years. After the itch is scratched.........

Right right....did a couple trips over. Have friends in Massett. Greys Bay and all that. Sushi in QCC.

Have you been up to Exstew yet? Or Dragon Lake? We moved down to the Okanagan last May. Oddly, have no need to head back up.


Gary Haupt

[ssthrd]

garyhaupt wrote:
ssthrd...where on Haida Gwaii you be?

Gary Haupt...formerly of Kitimat

Where I was, I guess. Caught the ferry last August 15 from Skidegate Landing, and we have not been back there (QCC) since. We did a tour around North America and ended up in Terrace in the middle of January. Not sure how long we will be here--couple of years maybe.

Was there for only a year steady, but off and on since 84. Love it there but would rather be on Vancouver Island where we lived for 25 years. After the itch is scratched.........

[garyhaupt]

ssthrd...where on Haida Gwaii you be?

Gary Haupt...formerly of Kitimat

[ssthrd]

fulltimedaniel wrote:

Veebyes wrote:
Truth be told, the best scenery in a northern trip is in Canada. Banff to Jasper is nothing short of spectacular. The PPs on the Cassiar Highway are some of the most scenic in N America. Chances are more wildlife will be seen along this road as well.

So many want to race through Canada or seem to think that there is nothing to see in Canada. They are so wrong. It is very easy to spend 3 weeks passing through Canada.

Well racing through Canada actually does make sense if your goal is Alaska, your time is limited, your funds are limited and you would rather spend your time at Denali Natl Park than on the Highway.

There is undoubtedly great scenery and many animals through Canada. But my personal opinion is that the grandeur and scope of Alaska does offer something just not found along the road north.

But to put this a bit in perspective Alaska alone last year had more than 2 million visitors during the summer season. That created more than 47,000 seasonal jobs. This year more than 1 Million people are expected to visit Juneau alone. My guess is that the vast majority of these bypass Canada altogether going by ship or plane.

I realize that I am digging up an old thread, but I just cant help but to respond (without malice!). I absolutely agree that Alaska has some spectacular scenery, but you can't discount the many areas in BC that are just as spectaculer (and easily accessible). All who live in the Pacific Northwest from northern California through to Alaska are priveliged to experience all that the vast area has to offer.

And just to put your last paragraph into perspective.....

Vancouver's Tourism Industry Fast Facts

More than 10 million people visited Vancouver in 2016 – the highest overnight visitation in the city’s history.

Vancouver's top five visitor markets are Canada, the U.S., China, UK and Australia (in order of volume). China bumped the UK from third position in 2013.

Tourism contributes approximately $4.4 billion to the Metro Vancouver economy annually and provides over 70,000 full time jobs.

Tourism generates approximately $14.6 billion in revenue in British Columbia. Source: Destination British Columbia

There are approximately 24,000 hotel rooms in Metro Vancouver, with approximately 10,400 in the downtown core.

Vancouver gets approximately 230 cruise ship calls annually. Each cruise ship stimulates more than $2 million in economic activity. Source

More than half of BC’s tourism-related businesses are located in the Vancouver Coast and Mountains region.

Vancouver International Airport has been rated the best airport in North America for an unprecedented eight consecutive years.

[fanrgs]

2gypsies wrote:
You're assuming everyone has a Smartphone. 🙂

Yea, and some of us have never owned any kind of cell phone, never mind a smart phone. We actually raised three sons before cell phones and the kind of continuous monitoring parents seem to do today. So, why would a cell phone be a necessity when our kids are in their 40's and have kids of their own?

[TimnJo]

There's no miles - all Kilometers up here :W

For the record there's about three thousand of them.

Tim

[Trackrig]

The OP got his answer, but to continue on with the tourist jobs.....

I've got over 55 years here and Joe is right, 90% of the money goes out of state. Most of the tourism workers come in for the summer. Here's two examples.

Go to Juneau during the winter. All of the diamond and jewelry shops and other tourist stores are boarded up. They make their money off of the tourists and then close up the day after the last cruise ship sails. The owners don't live in Alaska and the workers don't either.

While in Puerto Vallarta, standing on the malicon outside of a Irish burger joint, one of the local Mexicans working in the restaurant comes outside and starts chatting to us wanting us to come in and eat. The first line is always asking where you're from, we tell him Alaska and he says he goes up every year for the cruise ships to work in one of the jewelry shops in Juneau. They send him a round trip plane ticket and expense money to fly from Mexico to Juneau to work with the Spanish speaking tourists, he sleeps in the back of the store where they have bunks, and spends very little money. He's never seen the owners and doesn't think they've ever been to Alaska themselves.

In Fairbanks, before the freezing weather hits, half of the hotels are closed for the winter, water drained and boarded up until the next season. They don't even bother to buy electricity or heating fuel during the winter.

Bill

[2gypsies1]

ontheroadwithjake wrote:

2gypsies wrote:

fulltimedaniel wrote:

But this is off topic strictly speaking and we should return to the real subject about why the OP couldn't find the mileage to the Alaska Border even though he/she had access to the internet.

Why dwell on this issue? The 'real subject' of the post was how many miles? All he wanted was a number answer. :S There are hundreds of questions asked on these forums each day that could be looked up. We all answer them to be helpful. Let's move on.

I think the poster was just trying to steer the thread back to the topic. Your head smacking emoticon seems a bit needless. And yes there seems to be a lot of questions posed that could just be answered but rarely are they this laughably simplistic...thus the thread.

And in the time it took for the OP to post the question he could have gotten the answer from Google maps via the same computer or his/her cell phone.

:S

[ontheroadwithja]

2gypsies wrote:

fulltimedaniel wrote:

But this is off topic strictly speaking and we should return to the real subject about why the OP couldn't find the mileage to the Alaska Border even though he/she had access to the internet.

Why dwell on this issue? The 'real subject' of the post was how many miles? All he wanted was a number answer. :S There are hundreds of questions asked on these forums each day that could be looked up. We all answer them to be helpful. Let's move on.

I think the poster was just trying to steer the thread back to the topic. Your head smacking emoticon seems a bit needless. And yes there seems to be a lot of questions posed that could just be answered but rarely are they this laughably simplistic...thus the thread.

And in the time it took for the OP to post the question he could have gotten the answer from Google maps via the same computer or his/her cell phone.

[2gypsies1]

fulltimedaniel wrote:

But this is off topic strictly speaking and we should return to the real subject about why the OP couldn't find the mileage to the Alaska Border even though he/she had access to the internet.

Why dwell on this issue? The 'real subject' of the post was how many miles? All he wanted was a number answer. :S There are hundreds of questions asked on these forums each day that could be looked up. We all answer them to be helpful. Let's move on.

[fulltimedaniel]

joe b. wrote:
I will stand by what I said. The cruise ships are fueled and provisioned at their home port in the lower 48, the buses are owned by the cruise companies, driven by out of state seasonal drivers, for the most part. They stay at company owned hotels when on land, eat at company owned restaurants, and the money paid for the trip by the tourists stayed with the company outside.

Just curious, what your background is to be such an expert on Alaska? I have lived in rural Alaska for over 25 years, have made 13 RV round trips to/from Alaska and the lower 48, have made another half dozen or more round trips by car or truck, made 8 or 10 flying trips, with me as the pilot, following the Alaska Highway or the Cassiar between the lower 48 and Alaska, I have personally run river boats from the Fairbanks area to the mouth on the Yukon River and back, plus I have accumulated over 3,000 hours of bush flying, as a pilot . Did my best to wear out four different airplanes and a half dozen RVs, the years we lived there.
Most of the Alaska tourist industry is only operating during the short summers. When many of the private businesses close for the winter, the owners head outside to live till the following summer.

The Alaska economy has always been based upon extractive industry. Such as mining, timber, fishing, petroleum, etc. Tourism is much the same.

Full time, tell us about your Alaska experiences, if you would please.

I notice that while you have a long connection to Alaska you have no experience with the tourism/hospitality industry there.

The facts I posted are easily found on the Web and I noted in my post where they came from.... CLIA

Cruise ships do re-bunker and provision in Alaska. Those visitors dont just stay in company hotels, but many do, Overflow often fills other non cruise line owned hotels. And as for eating? They eat all over. Meals on land are rarely included.

As for my experience in Alaska, it started with my driving the Highway in Nov of 1972 to my new duty station, Elemndorf AFB. Since then I have lived here, traveled here and worked here on and off over the years. I just made my second trip here in the lat 12 months and am now working here in.. yes.. a sort of Workcamper job for the season. Something I decided I wanted to do last summer when I was here. I have lived in Anchorage, Hoonah, The north slope...Deadhorse ( a long long time ago) and now Fairbanks. Two times I have worked in the tourist industry here as I am doing now.

But this is off topic strictly speaking and we should return to the real subject about why the OP couldn't find the mileage to the Alaska Border even though he/she had access to the internet.

[The_real_wild1]

2gypsies wrote:

fulltimedaniel wrote:

Montara24d wrote:
Does anyone have a rough idea of the mileage from the boarder crossing in Sweet Grass, to the Alaska boarder.
John

Bring your smart phone up near your face and say: Ok Google (or serie) mileage from Sweet grass to Tok Alaska.

In less than a second you will have an answer. And a diagram of the route. And a map you can look at....

You're assuming everyone has a Smartphone. 🙂

The OP is on the internet. If you have access to this forum you have access to google. It isn't rocket science.

[Veebyes]

2oldman wrote:
Please explain why you couldn't look this up yourself.

Winner. Excellent point.