Traveling to and in Alaska
GENERAL COMMENTS
Do not even attempt driving to Alaska from the lower 48 states, if you only have a few weeks. Even a month is not enough. When we entered BC via the western access route it took us 13 days before we reached Tok and it took us 9 days to exit the eastern access route, with the only difference being the length of time we spent at campgrounds.
From the Washington border it is approximately 2,000 miles to the Alaskan border. It was 600 miles to Dawson Creek and 1,400 miles along the Alaskan Highway.
Drive slow and enjoy the trip. You will be safer and so will everyone
else. If you slow down you won't have so much to complain about regarding
the road conditions. The most common thing that causes a chipped windshield
is an oncoming vehicle driving too fast causing rocks to hurl into your
vehicle at high speeds. When you see an oncoming vehicle, slow down and
pull over to the right as far as safely possible. Our friends had
three chips on their RV windshield and it was from other RV's speeding
by them.
GENERAL TRAVEL PREPARATION
1. Make sure that your vehicle and tires are in good condition. Check tire air pressure and have your RV weighed to verify that you are not over weight and that the weight is distributed as evenly as possible.
2. Buy a Milepost, " The bible of north country travel", and review the sections that pertain to your route selections. The Milepost provides detailed information by milepost number that repeatedly proved valuable to us. With road construction underway, not all milepost numbers will be visible or even posted. Keep in mind that even the most current Milepost will have information on businesses that may have closed or opened since its distribution.
3. Make it a practice to drive on the top half of your fuel tank. Gas and diesel stations are plentiful, but you may decide to take a side trip or you may want to travel a little farther in an attempt to fill up at a more satisfactory price.
ROAD CONDITIONS
The Yukon and Alaska are not third world countries. The road conditions vary just as they do in the lower 48 states. The speeds posted should be considered as those that you might attain under optimum conditions and believe us there are none. Keep in mind that road repair and construction can only be accomplished in the summer and they have to work around the thousands of tourists on the road. The road crews are professional, courteous and very friendly at all times.
We can't emphasize enough for you to take your time and slow down. If you speed, you stand a very good chance of damaging your vehicle and someone else's. If you don't slow down, you will not see wildlife. Wildlife is plentiful and some may decide to greet you by being in the middle of the road as you come around the corner. Be very careful.
FUEL PRICES
The least we paid during our trip to Alaska and Yukon was in Anchorage at $147.9 and the most we paid was in Whitehorse, Yukon at $1.98 per gallon. The smaller communities in Yukon charged 10 to 20 cents less per liter that we found in Whitehorse, which surprised us since it is the capital and the largest city.
CAMPING
We arrived in Tok on Sunday, June 4th and had no trouble at all securing camping sites until the July 4th weekend in Fairbanks. We recommend that you start making campground reservations for the 4th of July and continue to until you exit. Most caravans travel into Alaska during June and July with varying exit time frames.
Campground rates ranged between $18 and $25 per day. Most of the time the rate included water and electric with a centralized dump. Many of the campgrounds provided only 20 amp service. Campgrounds do have dry camp sites and charge $10 to $17. Most campground roads and sites are dirt and/or stone. You will rarely see grass and no concrete pads.
Tenters were charged $5 to $15 per day. Normally the $15 charge included a shower where the $5 charge did not. One place charged $7.50 for a shower. Hostels charge $8 to $50 per night.
Walmart and Fred Meyer will let you stay in their parking lots. The Fred Meyer store in Soldotna provides dump stations and drinking water. Gas and diesel stations also provide dump stations and fresh water especially the Tesora stations.
Also check out the state parks. Most charge $8 to $10 per night for RV's. Most Provincial Parks in Yukon charge $15 (Canadian) to dry camp.
There are many places to dry camp in Yukon and Alaska. There are Laundromats that provide showers for a fee. Shop around.
FOOD
The restaurants in Alaska and Yukon were excellent, but somewhat pricey.
Please remember that they have almost everything brought in by plane, boat
and some trucking, so that adds a great deal to their expense and they
must pass it on. Plan to spend more on food than you normally would.
We cannot provide you with a % increase to use as a ballpark, because
it will depend on your eating habits, what you like to eat.
The smaller communities offer menus that include a great deal of homemade breads, pastries, and soups. It stands to reason that they would, because they just don't receive deliveries frequent enough to do otherwise. The homemade goods are absolutely delicious and priced more reasonably.
CLOTHING
Take warm clothing and light jackets. It does get quite cool to cold even during the summer in Alaska and Yukon. We did not put our sweatshirts and light jackets away until we drove well into Alberta in July. If you have rain gear, that might prove helpful as well. It rains quite often in the Kenai and other areas of Alaska. The Milepost provides more detail on this subject