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deauxrite · 02-28-2010, 04:25 PM

Au Contraire..there is a road from Skagway to Haines. It runs through Whitehorse then to Haines Junction to Haines...total travel time about 7 hours unless you get hung up at customs. It is a lovely drive and usually produces lots of wildlife photos.

Camping in Skagway..they are all about the same. For full hookups try Garden City. If you can do without, I recommend Pullen Creek.

The ferry at Dawson usually works pretty well for RVs. The guys who operate it keep the banks carved down so that the bump getting on and off is not bad enough to make the trailer drag. Just go slow...on and off the ferry and on the top of the world too. Last year there was about 5 miles of pavement, the rest was gravel.

Gene · 02-28-2010, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deauxrite

Au Contraire..there is a road from Skagway to Haines. It runs through Whitehorse then to Haines Junction to Haines...total travel time about 7 hours unless you get hung up at customs. It is a lovely drive and usually produces lots of wildlife photos.

Camping in Skagway..they are all about the same. For full hookups try Garden City. If you can do without, I recommend Pullen Creek.

Technically true about the road, but even more technically, 3 roads, each with different names.

Thanks guys for the CG tips.

I just watching the US-Canada hockey game and it was a great game, but unfortunately, Canada won. Congratulations Canada. Not with the tension of the Miracle on Ice, though with a goal to tie at the end of regulation, the US looked like it could perform another miracle. Too bad there can't be 2 gold medals as both teams played so well (if the US had won, I guess I wouldn't want there to be 2 golds). I wonder what would have happened if Canada's cigar smoking, champagne swilling women's team had dressed as the men's team today—they would have probably crushed the US team. Those Canadian women are tough!

Gene

wingfoot321 · 02-28-2010, 06:25 PM

Sounds like I am going to be behind you folks.

The wbcci caravan joins up at Dawson Creek on July 12 thru Sept 14 at Prince George. 35 trailers at present time.

I will post more on the schedule when I get time.

Gene · 02-28-2010, 08:31 PM

Keep us up to date Wingfoot. Sounds like you'll be able to cover both the mosquito and no-see-um seasons.

Gene

deauxrite · 03-01-2010, 07:21 AM

Thirty five trailers on the Alaska Highway in a caravan! Man I hope I am not behind that group!

wingfoot321 · 03-01-2010, 10:10 PM

Wally used to string out a long caravan. Probably for impact. Today, we group up at a campground but, during travel, rarely more than 2-3 together. Hard to find pulloffs for more than 2 trailers.

However, it is still quite a sight to see a small convoy of airstreams running together. Rule of thumb is "if you can read the numbers on the trailer in front you are too close."

Al & Gracie Buchanan, wbcci 800, are leading this caravan to Alaska for the summer. They used to do British Columbia one year and Newfoundland the next. They have led caravans for approx 20 years.

I tried to talk a couple of my friends into going as a non wbcci group but, to no avail.

I have sure heard the muddy road & mud washing stories. Not looking forward to that part. Probably why certain stops are longer than would appear necessary.

wingfoot321 · 03-01-2010, 10:53 PM

SteveH,

What areas of trailer are you going to cover? Black wrap around on left?, stone guard on left? What area of trailer?

SteveH · 03-02-2010, 05:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wingfoot321

SteveH,

What areas of trailer are you going to cover? Black wrap around on left?, stone guard on left? What area of trailer?

From our '08 trip, I learned that most of the rock dings on the trailer come from rocks kicked up by the tow vehicle. So, this year I'm going to cover the front of the propane bottle cover, and all of the front of the trailer below the window rock guard, arond to where the segment protectors end.

On our '08 trip I only covered the areas that the segment protectors normally cover (the trailer was a '75, so no protectors on it), and all the rest of the front got dinged up pretty bad. The center of the front was suprizingly bad. That taught me the front tires of the TV kick up a lot of rocks that go between normal sized mud flaps, so this year I have added a center flap also to help with that.

When you drive on gravel roads, rock dings are inevitable, but all precautions help.

oxblood · 03-14-2010, 11:05 PM

My wife and I are leaving May 17 fom Austin, TX and heading to Alaska. Going thro' South Dakota, then Waterton Lakes, then Jasper Icefields, then to Prince Rupert. From there onto a ferry up to Juneau and Skagway. Then to the Al-Can highway and into Alaska. We'll be in a 34' A/S with F250 white truck. I'm listening to all the posts.

Gene · 03-21-2010, 01:59 PM

Denny and Debbie,

I was going to reply earlier, but have been remodeling the kitchen for 2+ weeks. Cabinets and countertops in, new sink, faucet and dishwasher. Looks great and we are exhausted! Floor hasn't been delivered yet, so we get a break.

I saw your itinerary on the other thread. We will be more or less paralleling you but starting a little later—May 24. We've been to SE Alaska (without trailer) and it's a good place to see. The trip across BC on the Yellowhead Hwy is long (BC is big!) and goes through some nice country. The Icefields Pkwy is fascinating and even after seeing glaciers in Alaska was very impressive. We will go north on the Cassiar and may be ahead of you by the time we get to Skagway.

If you aren't too expert at backing, practice before this trip because you'll most likely have to back up in the ferry through narrow lanes. Have you made reservations yet? Good idea to do so now if you haven't.

A TPMS would be good too. It brings peace of mind and the investment seems like good insurance. If you get off the paved roads in the north, you will be told they can cause lots of flats. We've been up there twice and never had a flat, but we always have new or near new tires for the trip with deep tread (D or E load range). Some of the stories about bad roads (ones with shale outcroppings generally) are old and often repeated, but not necessarily true anymore.

The Top of the World Hwy from the US/Canada border to Dawson City is a great trip, but a few years ago it was said the road had deteriorated severely. The Canadians are usually better than Alaskans at maintaining roads, but best to check. You may have a problem at the Yukon R. ferry with the overhang (angle of departure) on your trailer. Canadian river ferries generally come up to a dirt road angled sharply down to the river and the ferry has a hydraulically operated plate that comes down onto the road. This creates a dip, sometimes more of one than you want. Sometimes a long overhang can get caught. There are skid plates under the rear of Airstreams for such problems, but it's another thing worth checking. If you figure out how to check it, I'd like to know. We saw a Class C get caught at a MacKenzie R. crossing in '06.

There are many books on Alaska and we have over the years read quite a few. I just picked up the Rough Guide as we haven't used that one before and it looked pretty thorough. We have usually used Frommer's as well. AAA Tour Books and CG books plus Woodall's round out our travel library. The Milepost is kind of goofy at times, but has lots of info. If a restaurant or CG doesn't advertise, it won't get a mention, or much of one, so you need to supplement it. It does tell you the location of every dumpster and microwave tower which helps give something to look forward to when you are driving scores of miles without seeing anything but trees and more trees. Everything in the north country is far away.

We can keep in touch through the Forum and maybe can meet somewhere.

Gene

Gene · 05-18-2010, 11:08 AM

I have started a new thread: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f161...tml#post844712

We will be going to Skagway arriving around June 6 and staying 2 or 3 nights. Our plan is to take one of the excursions on White Pass RR, seeing Dyea, and spend a little more time walking around than we did in 2002.

Gene

JamuJoe · 12-18-2010, 04:21 PM

Gene,
Did you happen to post a report on your 2010 Alaska trip?

Gene · 12-18-2010, 04:59 PM

Joe and/or Joan, yes: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f42/...0-a-64080.html
Alaska and more. I have some photos to post from a trip to California in October that I'll get around to someday.

Gene

Zia · 01-06-2011, 05:23 PM

Planning to go to Alaska this summer. Have not idea, only knowledge is gained from AS forrum. Plan to take 2 months off may be mid june to mid August. I have 2007 20 ft Safari and Lexus GX470. The longest trip we have taken in last two years is to Washinton state up the Hwy 101 for three weeks.
Need advice and reference to a some good thread.
Happy New Year

Gene · 01-07-2011, 09:13 AM

Zia, are you from New Mexico?

Our 2010 trip to Alaska is detailed in the thread (among other things): http://www.airforums.com/forums/f42/...0-a-64080.html

It's a long trip. We took 8 weeks and covered a bit over 10,000 miles. Since we had been to Alaska twice before, we skipped some things. There are other Alaska threads since many Forum members go there, so look around.

Gene