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**Nelson428** · 11-03-2019, 01:23 PM

Mid May is perfect. I have had to hold up in Fort Nelson a week or so for a late season blizzard traveling Hwy 97. As well as McBride or Houston in early May taking Hwy 16. All in all since I am from Mississippi the snow is a treat for me.

Renascence · 11-03-2019, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nelson428

I’d go for it, your airstream will be fine. Just take it slow and enjoy the adventure.

You will get dirty, but a little soap and water will wash the dirt away, your memories will last a lifetime.

Hope to see you along the way I will be departing late April for about 5-6 months for my yearly adventure back to the Yukon and Northwest Territory plus some time in Alaska and all points along the way. These were taken traveling with my parents up north.
Attachment 355489 Attachment 355490 Attachment 1

Curious. Have you traveled the Dempster Hwy in the Northwest Territories to Inuvik with the AS and also the Dalton Hwy in Alaska to Deadhorse with the AS? Any other 'out of the way' roads traveled in the Yukon? Would be nice to gain some first hand experience/advice from someone who has been there and done that.
Thanks, Jeff and Kathy - Renascence.

mykytiukr · 11-04-2019, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Renascence

Curious. Have you traveled the Dempster Hwy in the Northwest Territories to Inuvik with the AS and also the Dalton Hwy in Alaska to Deadhorse with the AS? Any other 'out of the way' roads traveled in the Yukon? Would be nice to gain some first hand experience/advice from someone who has been there and done that.
Thanks, Jeff and Kathy - Renascence.

Traveling to Alaska on the paved roads is one thing and I highly encourage it! As a veteran of 400+ trips on the Dalton and 2 on the Dempster, all in a big truck of course, The hundreds of miles on gravel is a whole different animal! I would discourage taking ANY travel trailer up either one if want to keep it in pristine condition.

Renascence · 11-04-2019, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mykytiukr

Traveling to Alaska on the paved roads is one thing and I highly encourage it! As a veteran of 400+ trips on the Dalton and 2 on the Dempster, all in a big truck of course, The hundreds of miles on gravel is a whole different animal! I would discourage taking ANY travel trailer up either one if want to keep it in pristine condition.

Thanks for the insight and reply. Friends have driven both roads, some with motorcycles others with pickup campers none with an AS, and they all say the same things you have mentioned. Those roads are not for the faint of heart regardless of what you are driving - truly an adventure and truly spectacular scenery! Thank you.
Jeff and Kathy - Renascence.

Bill M. · 11-04-2019, 10:51 AM

Take the bus ride to Coldfoot and then think about if you want to drive lt.

**Nelson428** · 11-04-2019, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Renascence

Curious. Have you traveled the Dempster Hwy in the Northwest Territories to Inuvik with the AS and also the Dalton Hwy in Alaska to Deadhorse with the AS? Any other 'out of the way' roads traveled in the Yukon? Would be nice to gain some first hand experience/advice from someone who has been there and done that.
Thanks, Jeff and Kathy - Renascence.

I have traveled all the roads many many times I would not advise the Dempester or Dalton with any RV other than a pickup camper. Definitely not a TT or Motorhome. Nor would I recommend the road from Paxton to Denali. That road connects the Richardson and Parks Highway. Those are beautiful drives in your truck or rental. The Taylor(Top Of The World) Highway is a beautiful drive but depending on weather it may not be open or passable with an RV check prior to traveling is my advice on the Taylor. The Dalton and Dempester are beautiful drives w/o an RV.

Renascence · 11-04-2019, 01:35 PM

Nelson428,
That is exactly what we think and wanted to verify with someone who has AS experience in that part of the northwest. Thank you.
Jeff and Kathy - Renascence.

**Nelson428** · 11-04-2019, 01:58 PM

Oh and take a day trip to Beautiful Atlin, BC from Whitehorse w/o your airstream. It’s a fun day trip and Atlin is a beautiful little town on a huge lake. There is a lot of day trips you will want to take w/o your airstream. Everywhere you go you will find things to do and places to go. Take your Airsteram on the silver trail in the Yukon to Mayo park the airstream there and travel to Keno and Keno Hill in your truck. Another good day trip. There is a hotel in Mayo that has a great campground for 10 CD with water and a dump I always see moose and brown bear there. Open field just pay and park it is a good place to rest as well.

Halford1 · 11-05-2019, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverWind

This is us on the Alaska Highway in 2016. The closeup is at Laird Hot Springs Provincial Park BC. There was a lot of muddy roadwork between Dawson Creek and Laird. The second was taken at Kluane Lake, Yukon. We applied yoga mats to the front windows and guards at Whitehorse, Yukon. We later mounted yoga mats on the two roadside windows, which paid off since things got pretty gnarly for the the last 100 miles before the Alaska border.

We were inspired to use yoga mats after hearing a friend's story about a passing 5th wheel (going in their direction) kicking up a rock that penetrated their front window guard and shattered the window, while on the 2014 Wally Caravan. We found rock cuts on our mats. Our RAM had both oversized RAM mud flaps and a set of hitch mounted Rock Tamers.

Other than mud and dirt our trailer came out of the 10K mile trip unscathed.

wow, it looked like it was paint sprayed!

one question: did you carry extra set of tires in case of flat tire.

Mhphhoward · 11-06-2019, 10:11 AM

Picked up a new AS in 2005 in MN and drove straight to Alaska and have been doing it every year since. AIRSTREAMS ARE FOR GOING NOT STAYING so get going, Nike it. Stone protectors are there for a reason, same for window protection. Use your AS for traveling. The roads are fine. Slow down for frost heaves and construction, use common sense. NO NEED for lifts, 16 inch wheels or any expensive ad ons that are unnecessary. A diesel TV is useful in the mountains and there are plenty of those along the way. Enjoy the Provincial Parks in Canada, they're beautiful.

Renascence · 11-06-2019, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mhphhoward

Picked up a new AS in 2005 in MN and drove straight to Alaska and have been doing it every year since. AIRSTREAMS ARE FOR GOING NOT STAYING so get going, Nike it. Stone protectors are there for a reason, same for window protection. Use your AS for traveling. The roads are fine. Slow down for frost heaves and construction, use common sense. NO NEED for lifts, 16 inch wheels or any expensive ad ons that are unnecessary. A diesel TV is useful in the mountains and there are plenty of those along the way. Enjoy the Provincial Parks in Canada, they're beautiful.

At the price point AS's are why not add a little extra insurance for the peace of mind philosophy? Adding a 2 7/8" Dexter lift, JC will do this and does not void any AS warranty they tell me, and 16" tires if your model comes with 15" seems to be a good idea - extra clearance to avoid 'tail-dragging' and so on. The cost of those upgrades is minimal compared to the cost of repair without them. For 90K TT, and a little more $ it just makes sense. Just my opinion.

dayner · 11-06-2019, 11:56 AM

We took our 28 Flying Cloud 22,000 miles in 2017 including AK and much of Canada starting from Louisiana. We typically do about 20k miles yearly. It still looks like a pretty new AS sporting "mature and experienced" segment protectors. We have had many more problems within the lower 48 than going thru Canada, around AK and such. In fact only issues on AK trip were a converter failure and a water heater control. Nothing else broke, fell off, or vaporized into a black hole. If you bought it to use, then use it. If you bought it as a status symbol or an intriguing shiny bright object of desire then wash it, polish it, and park it. Only you can decide when, where, how, and why you will use it.

SilverWind · 11-06-2019, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Halford1

wow, it looked like it was paint sprayed!

one question: did you carry extra set of tires in case of flat tire.

I took and extra trailer tire. As it turns out, no flats in our group of 7 trailers. Some gravel road travel....not a lot.

jdcamp · 11-06-2019, 12:27 PM

How about this — get the new trailer tow it to Seattle or Vancouver. Park it and take a cruise to Alaska. Problem solved.

uncle_bob · 11-06-2019, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdcamp

How about this — get the new trailer tow it to Seattle or Vancouver. Park it and take a cruise to Alaska. Problem solved.

Hi

..... cheaper / quicker / easier to fly to Alaska

Bob

Renascence · 11-06-2019, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

..... cheaper / quicker / easier to fly to Alaska

Bob

Then why have the Airstream?

mtpeeps · 11-06-2019, 01:26 PM

We did it! Picked up our Airstream in April, left for 3 months traveling through Alaska & Canada. This is our first Travel Trailer EVER & we are in our 60's. We had some issues as we were (and still are learning) but we traveled with our friends who have been full timing for 5 years & have traveled to Alaska several times. Our issues: 1. Road can be rough!! Across the Alaskan Highway the frost heaves are brutal, but we didn't have any damage from them. 2. We had the most issues from rutted, wash board dirt roads. Twice the exterior skin on the Fridge came completely off. 3. Several times the lower drawer under the sink rattled open & tweaked enough the corners separated & we had to repair. But we had our pans in that drawer thinking it was ok because it was low to the ground. We only keep lightweight things in there now. 4. Overheads would pop open, but no damage. We have a 2019 27' Globetrotter & a Chevy 1 ton long bed extra cab so our overall length is 52'. We stayed in many Provincial Parks & we fit just fine.

Renascence · 11-06-2019, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtpeeps

We did it! Picked up our Airstream in April, left for 3 months traveling through Alaska & Canada. This is our first Travel Trailer EVER & we are in our 60's. We had some issues as we were (and still are learning) but we traveled with our friends who have been full timing for 5 years & have traveled to Alaska several times.

Congratulations! We are planning for similar activities/adventures and are anxiously awaiting that time. Hope you have more adventure than you expect and as always happy trails.

uncle_bob · 11-06-2019, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Renascence

Then why have the Airstream?

Hi

.... that was indeed the point

Bob

Moose · 11-06-2019, 01:57 PM

I took an Airstream to Alaska it was back in 1978, when the roads were not nearly as good as they are now. The only thing we did, besides carrying a spare tire and getting plastic headlight covers, is we bought some old carpet at a goodwill store and pop riveted it to the front of the trailer to keep the rocks from denting it. When we got there we took the pop rivets out and put new ones in its place. The last time we went we took a Nomad 26’ and did not do that and all went well. The roads are much better. Get a currant copy of the Milepost magazine, and lots of mosquitoe spray.�� Frost heaves are killers so slow down. Many of the back roads in Alaska can be challenging, as well. Many of the back roads are still gravel. Oh, no pistols in Canada, a shot gun was ok but you may want to check before you try.