Alaska 2013 - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Paul and Shirley · RV-Dreams Community Member

Alaska 2013

Jwar · RV-Dreams Family Member

Not FT'ing yet but will be watching this post as its one of my goals too.

Bill and Linda · RV-Dreams Family Member

A comment about Canadian customs – and crossing back into the US:

There are threads about this so I won’t repeat everything here – but just a couple of highlights:

One, while it is possible to take firearms into Canada, don’t. One, it just isn’t necessary for protection. Just isn’t. Second, there is paperwork. So unless this is just something you absolutely have to do, don’t.

Second, basically they don’t like you to bring food across back into the US. Remember, going into Alaska is going back into the US. That is the only thing that stopped us one time: apples of all things. Not a big deal but there are rules. Sometimes they check closely, sometimes not. Just depends on their mood I gues. The US is more of an issue than Canada as pertains to “food.” We just generally have the fridge more or less empty when we cross and then stock up when we get across goint either way. That’s a really simple answer but that’s what we have always done and it has gone well for us. Just check out the treads as you care.

The earlier in the day you hit the check point the shorter the line. Simple as that

Finally, if you are pulling driving a 5er with a pickup, unless you already have an aux tank I strongly recommend you either get one or at least carry at least a couple of 5 gallon cans of fuel. It isn’t that fuel isn’t normally available; sometimes the station is just closed and it can be a long way to the next one in some places. We had 84 gallons of diesel total and that was good to allow the rule of “never get below one-half tank.” My buddy, with a 32 gallon OEM tank got down once to less than 2 gallons. Not good - you just don't want to ever run a diesel out of fuel. Others may have different opinions, but that’s ours and we’ve done a lot of driving in the north and the half-tank rule has served us really well as it has others.

Enjoy Canada and Alaska. Both are just wonderful.

Bill

-- Edited by Bill and Linda on Tuesday 8th of January 2013 09:25:21 AM

Jo And Craig · RV-Dreams Family Member

Paul and Shirley, have been to Alaska many times, but not RVing. We have done the "full circle" and I have also put together itineraries for other people. Some of the very best trips we have ever had. We are not full timing yet (don't even have an RV yet), but CAN'T WAIT to RV Alaska. If you have any questions about what to do and see, please let me know. I'll certainly be glad to help! Aside from the help you will get on this forum (many here have driven Alaska), there are many websites that give you the lowdown. For example, if there are "X" (number) of vehicles behind you, you must pull over and let them by. In Alaska, you can also pull over just about anywhere to "camp". There are also a lot of rules getting through customs in Canada. I'm sure some of our friends to the North will offer their comments here, as well. Happy travels!

Paul and Shirley · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thanks so much for the tips. Keep them coming please. We are excited to go, but a little anxious about the whole thing. Extra fuel sounds like a must since we are pulling the 5th wheel and our gas mileage is usually around 10.

charles · RV-Dreams Family Member

We did the Alaska trip almost immediately after getting our frist RV a 31ft TT.
Trip was from Louisiana and back 18,000 miles and abt 25 weeks.
Drove every highway in Ak that did not require a ferry ride.
As THE WIFE said after the trip, she worried WAY TOO MUCH during our prep. Way too much. All in all a not difficult trip in the least.
The prep for the truck was more than adequate: placed a peice of hardware cloth behind the grill, in the engine compartment, to protect the heat exchangers from rocks; changed gasoline filter before we left; changed the transmission fluid before we left, even though abt 15,000 miles early; put a 5 gallon can of gas in the bed of the truck, never needed it.
That is about it, did prepare an emergency kit for the truck, with thermal blankets, water bottle and stuff such as that, did not need that either.
Do fill up at one half tank in Canada and Alaska, dont know if the next station is actually still in business or one might not be able to get in. We never had a problem but could have. OH, until you have shelled out over one hundred bucks for a half tank of gas you have not lived=====and gas is a lot higher now than 2011.
MILE POST is absolutley required has almost everything you will need to know. For Alaska the CHURCHE'S guide book is a good resource.
We did stop at the entrance to each state and province, to get local maps and knowledge about what to see and do. We planned to take that long as we did not and do not plan to repeat it!!!
Just DO IT as the commercial says.
We had NO schedule and we stuck to it.
About crossing the border, we did that a number of times due to visiting the southern tip of Ak, dont miss that and then in the mountians and again entering on the road to Tok. NO fresh food and the rules change constantly so difficult to plan just eat it before crosssing. All of our crossing were quick and easy try to cross at little used points and have all documemts ready, when you pull up just hand the man the passports and info on the tow vehicle dont wait to be asked for it, for goodness sake that is the first thing that he needs!!!!
We would have our drivers license paper clipped to each passport works wonders.

CCC
CCC

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

A small group of Wanderlodges (4, if I remember correctly) went to Alaska this past summer. Go to wanderlodgeownersgroup.com and search for the thread. Seems like some group of WOG'ers or another goes nearly every year, so there is lots of experience. Randy Dupree, owner of the list, went - from Florida! Alaska is on our list of places to go once we're full-timers.

Paul and Shirley · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thanks again everyone. The itinerary is our biggest concern. Don't want to miss the good things, or waste time on things that aren't worth the time.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

This is one area where I point people to the Escapees forum topic on Alaska, http://www.rvnetwork.com/index.php?showtopic=102393. In the past RV-Dreams members have joined the Escapees forum only to learn about RVing to Alaska and to make contacts. The Escapees forum is not as friendly as here, sometimes by a long shot, but there are more members and many more people going to Alaska.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

One experience we loved was taking glacier tours and watching the glaciers calf. We did not see this one, but it might get you excited to go to Alaska - "CHASING ICE" captures largest glacier calving ever filme d.

Bill and Linda · RV-Dreams Family Member

As concerns an itinerary and perspective for RV first timers to Alaska: May I suggest you go to the websites of companies that do Alaska tours. Many list the places they go including the events. It could give you a basic framework. After all, they have done this dozens of times. I’m not saying these caravan tours are the only way to go or are definitive. But they do offer some outline and an advantage to some. It’s all about your style of travel.

Here’s one in particular that we consider to be a very good example with which we have specific experience – nose around the website for some insight.

http://alaskarvadventures.com/

Be sure and check out the “Free Stuff” which includes GPS weigh points and maps, etc.

Bill

Islandgirl · RV-Dreams Community Member

Lots of RVers on the road in AK in late Spring thru early Fall. You must pull over as soon as it is safe if you have 5 vehicles following you. Alaska has too many camp grounds to list and they usually have some sort of amenity. I would pass on private campgrounds, unless you have an excellent reference. I would recommend you invest in the "AK Milepost", as it gives every bit of information on every mile of your trip and also info on Canadian border crossings, customs, etc. Also, if you plan to do any kind of fishing, you need to get the fishing regulations booklet for all the areas you'll be fishing and make sure to get a license. These can be acquirds at any Fred Meyer store. Fishing fines in AK can be pretty steep and you may even lose equipment. I would say Alaska is an RVer's paradise with so much to do and see! Have a great trip! Airee

Loki · RV-Dreams Family Member

Here's another advice about crossing border from Canada into the US, learned the hard way: It happened on I5 (not some backcountry border control!) between Vancouver and Seattle. After waiting in line for almost two hours with our 5th wheel, the border control guy asked us (among other things) if we had firewood with us that we purchased in Canada. We answered yes, truthfully, and the agent told us we can't bring this into the US. We said, ok, where can we dump it. Only on Canadian soil, was the answer, nowhere on the US side of the border, including the area surrounding the border station. "You mean, we have to go back through Canadian customs, dump it in Canada, turn around and stand in line for another couple hours?" And this was exactly what we had to do. If you don't want to experience the same, dump you firewood early enough or lie.