ABR1

If you want to know what things I got excited about when I took my RV to Alaska in 1998, read on. I hope I explain enough about why I liked what I did so that you can decide whether or not your taste are enough like mine to take my recommendations seriously. Here are a couple of hints to set the stage:

I love mountains and glaciers and mountain driving and geology.
I don't much like cities and skipped Anchorage entirely except for the cheaper groceries, stuff at Wal-Mart, and the MUCH cheaper gas.
I love small planes and helicopters, especially small planes and helicopters which take me up in the mountains and over glaciers.
Given a choice I would rather boondock or stay in a State Park without hook ups rather than head to an campground with room for 17.69 RVs per acre, full hook ups and cable TV.
But, in small towns, I like in-town RV parks so I can walk or ride my bike everywhere.

I will mention several times that you MUST have a copy of the Milepost to get the most fun out of planning and taking a trip to Alaska. In addition to everything else, the Milepost tells you about views and stops which you might miss unless you know what is coming up. In addition, the Milepost covers many different routes from the lower 48 to the Alaska Highway. But perhaps most importantly, the Milepost will alert you to things which are not covered here and which might be of particular interest to you. For example, I don’t like salmon. There is a place on the Alcan which the Milepost says serves delicious salmon and has is free overnight RV parking.

Another excellent resource are the journals posted by others about their Alaska trips. For example, if you are a birder, you will especially want to read Bert and Sheri Frenz's journals. I have included links to journals like these along with other miscellaneous information at the end of my descriptions of stops along my suggested itinerary.

If you have questions, want to add some information, have spotted a mistake, etc., please EMail me at jy1@cox.net When I first published this in 1998, some folks copied the whole thing from the published pages. If you would prefer, I’ll EMail you a copy without the map and table of the itinerary. Be warned, it is about 50 pages. I changed computers and lost the whole thing but two of those folks still had their copies and sent them back to me! Thank you David Stremme and Judie Ashford.

Keep reading the introduction or go directly to the Suggested Itinerary, or the beginning of the descriptions of the stops. For each stop I have tried to provide an internet link with more information. If you find other internet links you think folks would like to have, let me know and I’ll add them.

How long does it take?

I can tell you how long it took me and what I did with the time. My trip covered 19,000 miles and 6 months. I was in Canada and Alaska for a little over 3 months (98 days) and 8,900 of those miles. Many of those miles were back tracking for reasons I won't bore you with.

Ignoring my circuitous route, my suggested itinerary below covers about 6,500 miles starting in Montana and reentering the lower 48 in Washington. Let's assume for the sake of sanity, frost heaves, gravel roads, and beautiful scenery, you average 200 mile a day. That is 33 days of driving. At an average of 250 miles, it is 26 days of driving. But let's not quibble - it is going to take you the major part of a month to drive the route. In addition, you are actually going to want to stop in a couple of places.

In my suggested itinerary, I give what seems to me the bare minimum number of days I would like to stay in each spot and the total is 39 and a half, plus travel time, of course. I wouldn't plan on anything less than 2 months from the Canadian border and back into the lower 48.

Confession of a non-fisherman. My suggested itinerary does not include going down the Kenai to Homer. As a non-fisherman, I thoroughly enjoyed this trip and you would too if you want to allot another 3 or 4 days to this round trip. However, for the fisherman not content with salmon and wanting a couple of hundred pounds of halibut in the freezer, allot at least a week for this excursion. The Milepost also gives you, for each of the hundreds of lakes and streams you come near, information about what fish are biting when. If there is a fisherman in your party, either do NOT let this person near the Milepost or count on multiple stops to let the lines get wet.

Can you save miles and gain time? Sure. In the description of points on my suggested itinerary I have included options which can decrease time and mileage. I’ve also told you about options which will add both.

In the last section of my descriptions, I’ve covered a couple of other topics such as weather, mosquitoes, ERS, etc.

Suggested Itinerary Great Falls Mt to Sumas WA - about 6,500 Miles

How to read the Itinerary:

The number in the Miles column is the number of miles since the last entry. For example, it is 173 miles from Great Falls to Glacier NP and another 60 miles to Waterton Lakes NP.

There is nothing objective about my Ratings Column. Its 1 to 4 stars reflects my reaction to places and experiences.

*	If you have time and the weather is nice - I think you would be interested in this.
**	Definitely worth seeing/experiencing but skip it if you just don't have enough time for everything
***	WOW THIS is the type of thing I took the trip for and to miss it would be a dirty shame.
****	I found these spots to be very special places. I hope that if you spend time in one of these places, everything conspires to make it special for you too.

Following the rating is the minimum number of Days I would spend at selected spots. This does not include travel time. If there is no entry in the DAYS column, this is either a minor stop, an optional side trip, an overnight stay such as Bird Creek SP, or a drive such as the Denali Highway which is "travel time".

GREAT FALLS MT TO TOK ALASKA

Miles	Rating	Days
0			Great Falls, MT
173	*******	1	Glacier NP
60	*******	2	Waterton Lakes NP
151	**	0.5	Fort Steele
	*******	0.5	Johnson Canyon
156	********	2	Lake Louise
129			Jasper
313		0.5	Dawson Creek
	*******		Fort Nelson
		1	Muncho Lake and Laird River Hot Springs Provincial Park
	**	0.5	Watson Lake
781			Jakes Corner
116	*******		Round Trip to Atlin
47	*		Whitehorse
159	**	1	Minto (boat trip to Fort Selkirk)
179	********	4	Dawson City
			OPTION: Dempster Highway
	*******		Top of the World Highway
	*	1	Eagle
		0.5	Chicken
175		0.5	Tok

TOK TO THE KENAI PENINSULA

Miles	Rating	Days
0			Tok
206	*******	3	Fairbanks
			OPTION: N of Fairbanks
98			Delta Junction
87			Paxson
	*******		Denali Highway
136			Cantwell
27	*******	1	Denali National Park
153	********	2	Talkeetna
114	*		Anckorage
	*******		Turnagin Arm
	**		Bird Creek SP CG
	*******	0.5	Portage Glacier
			Whittier
	********	0.5	Exit Glacier
127	*******	2	Seward
			OPTION: The Kenai

SEWARD ALASKA TO SKAGWAY ALASKA

Miles	Rating	Days
0			Seward
168			Palmer
36	**	0.5	Round trip Hatcher Pass
	*******	0.5	Matanuska Glacier
			Wrangell Mountains
262	********	2	Valdez
82			Alaska Rt 10, turn off to McCarthy
186	**	1	Round Trip to McCarthy
			OPTION: ROUND TRIP TO NEBESNA
172			Tok
290	*******	0.5	Kluane Lake
	**		Rock Glacier
191	********	3	Haines
	*******		Glacier Bay
	********		Ferry to Skagway
	*******	2	Skagway

SKAGWAY ALASKA TO SUMAS WASHINGTON

Miles	Rating	Days
0			Skagway
100			Jakes Corner
158			Dease lake
246	********	4	Stewart/Hyder
	*******	0.5	'Ksan
384			Vanderhoff
74	**	0.5	Round Trip to Fort St James
61			Prince George
74			Quesnel
100	*******	1	Round Trip to Bakerville
	**	0.5	Tram at Hells Gate
	*		Harrison Hot Springs
373			Sumas

Miscellaneous information:

OtherJournals of Alaska Trips
The Milepost
Emergency Road Service
Maps
Binoculars
A Bike
The Alaskan Calendar
Weather and Mosquitoes
Commercial Caravans
Need Reservations?
Windshield Dings
Taking Birds/dogs/guns/firewood into Canada
Bear Spray
Firewood:
Where to camp
Where is the wildlife?
Costs
If I go back, I want to ....
Go to the start of the descritpions of the stops.....