Roll call Alaska 2017

[colliehauler]

I will try to get to Alaska next year, dreamed about it for years.

Anyone else planing a trip for next year?

[sljohnson1938]

if you do decide to sleep on the deck, be sure to get there asap, there are limited chairs available. you can sleep just about anywhere you can lay down.
but IMHO, just spend the extra money and get a cabin. when you consider the money you are going to spend on the entire trip a couple of hundred dollars is nothing.

PS - weather is also a factor. if nice wx then great, if bad then being on the deck could be pretty lousy.

[PA12DRVR]

keywestwego wrote:
Never been there and planning a trip in 2018. If I Ferry, can I stay in my RV while on the Ferry or is it manditory to stay in a onboard cabin?

Not having "Ferry'd" I am unsure how it operates.

Thanks all.

One is not allowed to stay in their RV (the RV/Car deck is closed except for brief periods every so often).

.... you don't "have" to get a cabin: you can sleep in deck chairs or put up a tent on certain parts of the deck.

A practice avidly followed by the younger set. Me, I'm old enough that I enjoyed the cabin on the last trip.

[keywestwego]

Never been there and planning a trip in 2018. If I Ferry, can I stay in my RV while on the Ferry or is it manditory to stay in a onboard cabin?

Not having "Ferry'd" I am unsure how it operates.

Thanks all.

[fishhogg]

marc515 wrote:
Any of you guys take your dogs on the ferry?
M

Your pet stays in your vehicle! When in port and sometimes while under way they let you take the pet out on car deck.

[marc515]

Any of you guys take your dogs on the ferry?
M

[fanrgs]

One way to hold ferry costs down a little is to drive to Prince Rupert, then take the ferry to Haines. Fewer cabin nights are needed and it will give you the opportunity to see south-central BC (especially the Okanagan Valley!) on the way to Alaska. You can still get to Dawson City, Whitehorse, Skagway, Jasper, and Banff on the way back home.

[PA12DRVR]

jmckelvy wrote:
We've been thinking of taking the ferry system (multiple intermediate stops) either going up or coming back.

Any recommendations on ferry up or ferry back and why you prefer a particular direction?

As noted, I've not taken the entire Inside Passage as a single trip, but have done the legs over several years. Thoughts I'd offer:

- It is likely that most RV'rs will travel in "summer or late summer" and not true "Fall"
- Having done a few legs in the fall (i.e. mid-September onwards), the weather can get downright ugly;
- Not only can that ugly weather make the ride on the water less enjoyable, but (while I happen to like stormy vistas), the ugly weather can obscure the scenery signficantly.

Going North in the early summer, the ferry trip is not immune to bad weather, but much less likely than at the end of summer or Fall.


....so maybe take the ferry up and drive back. This also minimizes some of the disruption from RV sites and related services starting to close down.

[Glenda2014]

We are also planning a 2017 trip, leaving middle of May from Arizona, both retired so no hurry.
Traveling this summer with our new 20 ft. Creekside we learned 200 miles a day is a good number and no more than 3 days in one spot.....or we get ansy....
I've flown to Anchorage once, went fishing in Seward, then cruised the inside passage twice....loved it and super excited about driving and camping.

[carbour]

We are planning for summer 2017, Researching for best time. Coming from Upstate NY we have a 4000 mi trip to the border.Have friends that just got back. It sure sounds beautiful.

[explorenorth]

jmckelvy wrote:
We've been thinking of taking the ferry system (multiple intermediate stops) either going up or coming back.

Any recommendations on ferry up or ferry back and why you prefer a particular direction?

I much prefer northbound, for 2 reasons:
- the scenery gets better and better as you go north - or at least more "Alaskan"
- if you start early, the advance of warm weather comes with you.

[jmckelvy]

We've been thinking of taking the ferry system (multiple intermediate stops) either going up or coming back.

Any recommendations on ferry up or ferry back and why you prefer a particular direction?

[bcbouy]

PA12DRVR wrote:
- Having made the trip from Los Anchorage to/from various locations (Cut-Bank, Idaho Falls, Bellingham, Spokane) more or less in 80 hours or less a few times, I don't recommend that method.
- I've always found the farming country of Alberta / Saskatchewan to be nice, but predictable and avoid that route if possible;
- Western /Northwestern BC and the Yukon Territories are almost as scenic as Alaska (possibly more scenic than parts of the "Beaver Creek - Delta - Squarebanks" drive). Don't skimp on time for this part of the trip.
- Having grown up in AK, I can't help but be old codger-ish and think the "old Alaska" is gone.....but the midnight sun baseball game is a bit of a link to the past.

we've been trying for 3 summers to make it up there but we can't seem to make it out of bc.this summer we wandered for a month from the lower mainland,thru the kooteneys over to the omineca then to the chilcotin before we ran out of holidays but we'll keep trying and it will happen.next year we head straight to the omineca region.clearly we don't plan our trips,we just pack up and go,but we really want to fish carp lake so..fingers crossed.on a side note the bc gov. has decided to reinstate the ferry service from vancouver island to bella coola.a very scenic side trip.

[Grit_dog]

^ Second that! With only a couple trips up under my belt and only 2 years spent in the Great State, if you have the means, I'd drive 1 way and ferry the other direction. And ideally schedule it to get off at the various stops for a couple days each. We didn't get to see these areas other than walking off the boat for a couple hours.

[PA12DRVR]

"..... just not sure if I'll fly, take the Inside Passage cruise or drive yet again."

FWIW, after a trip Bellingham to Ketchikan last year, I've now done the entire Inside Passage, albeit in separate pieces. I suspect I can't add anything to your Alaska experiences, but FWIW, from a guy who thinks the Revelations in February are beautiful, the Inside Passage in the spring/summer is not to be missed, particularly if one can take the time and spend a few days at the locations along the way. I'd suggest (particularly if one has previously driven the Alcan) that the Inside Passage is a bucket list thing.

[PA12DRVR]

I haven't driven the road (I still want to call it the Alcan, but recognize that's frowned upon 🙂 ) recently, but had over 20+ trips "back in the day" when it was all gravel. I drove everything from a Jeep Wagoneer to P/U's to Cabover Pete's and everything in between. What I saw then that I suspect still applies now.

- There are / were parts of the road where 20mph was a bit aggressive speed given the conditions;
- Big rigs going "the other way" are earning a living and unlikely to be concerned about the other direction traffic. They are equal opportunity sprayers of rock: It's not just RV's at risk;
- Slow down for frost heaves, sunk road over culverts, construction areas;
- One of those 20+ trips took something like 18 days to get from Seattle to Los Anchorage and that was driving an oil-field spec (granted, '70's era spec) duece and a-half: I suffered numerous mechanical problems. Why? 'Cause even then and even with a pretty stout vehicle, I was going too fast for conditions since there was a barstool with my name on it back in Anchorage. 🙂
- I was born and raised in Alaska: I can't bring myself to admit there is better scenery anywhere; that being said, a drive through the Rockies, Northern Idaho, NW Washington, Coastal BC, and the Y.T. is simply not to be missed. One does themselves a disservice not to make this drive.