Seattle to Alaska, could use a few tips and advice.

[borealis2013]

Welcome to Valdez, Alaska, Silver Spud!! You're a brave one to still be hanging around this far north during this time of year. I hope you brought chains just in case because it already snowed in Denali National Park, although whatever snow falls should melt off fairly quickly. Enjoy the turning of the colors!!

[crisen]

Originally Posted by StreamlineAK

Anyone have winter ALCAN experience? Planning on going down in November. From my experiences in AK, I know I will need bright lights (getting a set of lightforce halogen lights). Diesel stations open? Cassier plowed?


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We have pulled the trailer on the highway several times between October and April. You can get sub zero most any time in there but more likely in Nov. when you are going.

I really can't help with the Cassier since never took it with the trailer, except to say in April of this year we advised not to take it coming back to Fairbanks since it was not in good shape.

Diesel should not be a problem but you really should have the range to make it to major towns. I have an extra 50 gal. in a bed mounted aux. tank so we don't have issues.

Also be advised that B.C. requires you have what they call winter rated tires or chains in this area from Oct. to May. Note not all M&S tires will meet requirement. Doubt anyone would stop you but we have winter tires and chains and nearly had to put on the chains once and we have a 4wd truck.
You didn't say if you were pulling the trailer or not but that will add issues to think about. We always stay in the trailer, but you do go thru a lot of propane and we have trouble with the stock propane requlator not functioning in sub zero weather. We don't use the water system at these temps. If you are going to pull the trailer and want to stay in it just plan more careful and call ahead on options where to stay. If you are planning to do this send me a PM and I'll give you a list of places we have stayed along the highway in winter.

[Silver Goose]

Originally Posted by crisen

... I really can't help with the Cassier since never took it with the trailer, except to say in April of this year we advised not to take it coming back to Fairbanks since it was not in good shape. ...

We just left the Cassiar in the mirror. If going south, the 1st 30 miles is the roughest for that road, but compared to the rough spots on the Alcan and Parks, it was great. Fill up before you turn off the Alcan. Next fuel will be at Dease Lake. Overnighted for free at Jade City and got something to eat at cafe across the road. Next fuel will be at Bell 2 or Meziadin Jct. The latter is one of those unmanned Cardlock affairs that takes some patience to get the pump authorized.

We stayed at Meziadin Lake Provincial Park, a great stop. Then took a side trip to Stewart and Hyder. Spent last night at 'Ksan at Hazleton. Another interesting spot if you don't mind a 1-lane suspension bridge over the canyon.

There was a short section of construction at Bell 2 otherwise the rest of the Cassiar was as good as any route and definitely less traveled.



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[crisen]

My reference to the Cassiar in April was not the condition of the highway itself but due to the lack of clearing of snow, sorry I was not clear. At that time they were not keeping up with the snowfall and it slippery and snow was accumulating, weather cams are available. Also at that time of year much of the camping and other services were not open. For StreamlineAK to travel the Carriar in November they might want to carefully check on services and snow maintainance. To be fair I have driven the Ak highway in October during a snowfall and never saw a plow truck all day!

[Silver Goose]

The Yukon has posted that a number of provincial parks will remain open this year until Sep 30 rather than Sep 15... Both Whitehorse and Calgary were reporting early snow this morning. Will be in Vancouver by tomorrow, weather looks great there.


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[BusDriver]

Silver Goose and anyone else headed south to Washington.

The weather has been fantastic here in Olympia at the Washington Land Yacht Harbor RV Park, 9101 Steilacoom Rd SE, Olympia WA 98513.

The RV Park is open to ALL brands of RVs with discounts for Good Sam, Escapee and WBCCI. Check us out, very close to three National Parks: Mt Rainier, Mt St Helens and the Olympics.

[BillB44]

Are at Hi Country RV Park and it is 54 and sun with clouds. Tomorrow, 60% chance of rain. We press on to Watson lake. Road from Dawson City to here was sucky. Lots of Swales and gravel stretches, etc. allow 5+ hours. Had to stop at Twin Lakes CG which was gorgeous and almost empty. A big plus of traveling late in the season!

[BillB44]

Home after 7 weeks and 7,000 miles. Spectacular trip. No damage to the Silver Spud, BUT as I pulled off the front protective foil insulation wrap I see two issues: the residue from adhesive tape will be a bear to remove--the gaffers tape seems more stubborn than the Gorilla tape. And, worse, there appears to be permanent abrasion marks left from the ridges in the foil wrap on the window protectors and rock guards. Can't be sure until I get it washed and waxed, but beware if you use this defense against flying gravel...although it seems to have helped prevent dings a lot.

[GettinAway]

Wow! Lots of gravel dings on the protection. Hopefully it all cleans up ok.
Looks like you had a great trip. Thanks for sharing..

[crispyboy]

Try mineral spirits, denatured alcohol or wd-40 to remove the adhesive.

[BillB44]

Not sure if anyone is still following this thread but I wanted to add a final report on whether the foil shield was worth the effort, cost and protection. Sadly, the answer is no.

The tape adhesive was no big deal and easily removed with "Goo Gone."
The two big negatives were: one, it didn't help prevent many major dings, just some small pits. But mainly, the problem is, it wore permanent abrasion marks in the aluminum clear coat AND in the window shield plastic. I've tried wax and rubbing compound, etc. but they are there to stay. It's hard to capture in photos but I'll attach a few. (You can click on them to expand. You'll see the dings easily; they happened regardless of the insulation. The abrasions are harder to capture but are plenty obvious when you stand by the trailer.)

If I were doing it again, I'd probably leave the rock guards, propane tank cover and window guards exposed. Might have netted a few more dings but the abrasion marks are more obvious and ugly. Perhaps there's a better product than the aluminum foil insulation that wouldn't leave a pattern? But with all the dust and wind and rain and vibration encountered in 7,000 miles, maybe nothing could do it without marring the finish.

As someone said, I didn't spend $50K on an Airstream to have it sit in storage. There's a big world out there to explore with it, and if that means getting a few bumps and bruises on the trailer, so be it. I agree.

(P.S. The entire trip is readable at my blog: www.silverspud.com. If you are planning an Alaskan trek there will be some handy stuff in it for you. Go for it!)

[BusDriver]

So sorry to see those rub marks. It seems like many people try many different ways to protect their Airstream. Our 2003, 28' did fairly good, a couple of small dings on the trailer corners and on the corners of the rock guards but nothing too bad. Our worst ding was when hitting a small 2x4 on I-90 in Wyoming, it came flying across the lane right into us. On our 5,500 mile trip from Seattle through everywhere in Alaska and back to Seattle, no broken headlights, windows, and no flat tires, we were just lucky. Before we left we installed heavy duty Rock Tamer mud flaps. I think that really helped. If we went again I would not change a thing.

I started this thread/post and I guess I should just leave it alone, there is a lot of really good information from many people.

[Uncle Bill]

I am making this my final reply to this blog. It has been great to read all of the entries and make travel plans as well as the trip.

I want to thank all that shared information making our planning and trip easier. Just wish our trip had been better, but not all trips go as planned and end well. We are healthy and all is now safe at home after 12,700 miles and no accidents. Just had to replace the following: 2 trailer tires, truck engine, and truck A/C.

Uncle Bill (unkbill123@aol.com)

[kcbwil]

Gas prices getting a bit better, anybody planning a trip to Alaska?

[interstateflyer]

Originally Posted by BillB44

Not sure if anyone is still following this thread but I wanted to add a final report on whether the foil shield was worth the effort, cost and protection. Sadly, the answer is no.

The tape adhesive was no big deal and easily removed with "Goo Gone."
The two big negatives were: one, it didn't help prevent many major dings, just some small pits. But mainly, the problem is, it wore permanent abrasion marks in the aluminum clear coat AND in the window shield plastic. I've tried wax and rubbing compound, etc. but they are there to stay. It's hard to capture in photos but I'll attach a few. (You can click on them to expand. You'll see the dings easily; they happened regardless of the insulation. The abrasions are harder to capture but are plenty obvious when you stand by the trailer.)

If I were doing it again, I'd probably leave the rock guards, propane tank cover and window guards exposed. Might have netted a few more dings but the abrasion marks are more obvious and ugly. Perhaps there's a better product than the aluminum foil insulation that wouldn't leave a pattern? But with all the dust and wind and rain and vibration encountered in 7,000 miles, maybe nothing could do it without marring the finish.

As someone said, I didn't spend $50K on an Airstream to have it sit in storage. There's a big world out there to explore with it, and if that means getting a few bumps and bruises on the trailer, so be it. I agree.

(P.S. The entire trip is readable at my blog: On The Roll Again. | Follow the Silver Spud as it follows us.. If you are planning an Alaskan trek there will be some handy stuff in it for you. Go for it!)

Great info. Bubble wrap foil insulation was something we were considering.

[kcbwil]

September 6, 2015 we left Anchorage towing our AS and with our Sprinter towing a loaded 14' cargo trailer. It took about 10 days for us to make it to Washington state, we didn't rush. The roadway was good, including a side trip to Stewart, BC. The only rough areas were in the well known frost heave locations. Although there was some road construction enroute the crews were pushing hard to finish prior to cold weather. Gravel road travel was relatively modest compared to our historical experiences. The BC provincial parks were open and beautifully maintained.

The steep mountain pass grade between 100 Mile House and Little Fort on Hwy 24 can get you sitting up straight in your seat. At the top of the grade, a sign warns to check your brakes. Be sure your AS breaks are working, too.

The lenghty trip gets easier and more comfortable every year.

Happy sailing.

[OregonVista]

Originally Posted by interstateflyer

Great info. Bubble wrap foil insulation was something we were considering.

In 2014 we did the WBCCI Alyeska trip and covered the rock guards and immediate front of the Airstream (nothing above the bottom of the window) with a greenhouse product called Solexx. It is like a thin cardboard, although it is very pliable plastic, with two layers and a small airspace in the middle (there is a good picture of it on the internet under "Solexx") It is flexible and cuts easily with a knife so it can be shaped any way you want it and we attached it with Gaffer tape. It did leave some markings on the bottom of the rock guards but they are hardly noticeable and we had no dents at all on our 8000 trip. We did not do anything with the window guards and ended up with a crack in the driver's side guard. Overall we were very pleased with the way it all worked.

[Wayne&Sam]

My rock guards got a couple of dings on our 2011 trip, but I figured that's what rock guards are for. It didn't affect the resale value.

[interstateflyer]

Originally Posted by OregonVista

In 2014 we did the WBCCI Alyeska trip and covered the rock guards and immediate front of the Airstream (nothing above the bottom of the window) with a greenhouse product called Solexx. It is like a thin cardboard, although it is very pliable plastic, with two layers and a small airspace in the middle (there is a good picture of it on the internet under "Solexx") It is flexible and cuts easily with a knife so it can be shaped any way you want it and we attached it with Gaffer tape. It did leave some markings on the bottom of the rock guards but they are hardly noticeable and we had no dents at all on our 8000 trip. We did not do anything with the window guards and ended up with a crack in the driver's side guard. Overall we were very pleased with the way it all worked.

Thanks. Sounds like a good solution. Would you happen to have photos of your installation?

[GettinAway]

Originally Posted by interstateflyer

Thanks. Sounds like a good solution. Would you happen to have photos of your installation?

I'd like to see them also, if you have any.

Thanks