From Skagway to Sumas, WA
(and Miscellaneous information......)
You’re back on the Alaska Highway east of Whitehorse and are going to retrace your steps almost to Watson Lake. If you missed the side trip to Atlin on your way up and the weather is wonderful, you might want to consider this 120 mile round trip. If not, your next turn is south onto Canada 37, the Cassiar Highway. It is also called the Steward Cassiar Highway. Some years this road is better than others but your Milepost will give you a good idea of its condition. At its worse, I believe it is more than worth it! I only stopped a couple of times before getting to Steward/Hyder but the above web site provide a wealth of information about the highway.
Dease Lake
Follow the signs to the sea plane base and you will find a great place to watch the sunset behind the mountains surrounding the lake.
OPTION: Telegraph Creek, BC * * off the Cassiar Highway at Dease Lake.
We took the side trip to Telegraph Creek - a 70 miles dirt road - one way! Rounding one curve we found a mother moose and her calf which was more than half as tall as her but all legs. But until we got within about 15 miles of Telegraph Creek that was the only excitement. The first hint of what was to come was a picnic pull off at the edge of a canyon. The walls were 3 massive layers of lava flows and one small layer, probably about 10 feet deep. The volcano which was the center of this activity was about 30 miles away and the clouds finally lifted enough so that you could see the cinder cone.
There were 20% grade switch backs and a VERY narrow road along a major cliff with lots of rubble at its base.
Do not, under any circumstances, take your RV to Telegraph Creek. I wouldn't drive it even in my 4x4 if it was wet.
Dease Lake to Stewart/Hyder
South of Dease Lake we saw bears along the side of the road - 5 of them. There were all black bears and two were cubs although we never did see the moms who must have been hiding in the bushes. We boondocked at a rest area and it felt really weird going for an after dinner walk knowing that we were in the middle of what they call the largest huckleberry patch in British Columbia. The huckleberries were ripe and ready for picking, if you were willing to try and claim a share. I decided to leave my share on the bushes for the bears.
STEWART BC / HYDER AL * * * *
The drive from Meziadin Lake on the Cassiar Highway to Stewart/Hyder is one the most beautiful drives on the trip. To the south, glaciers spill over hanging valleys. Bear Glacier only recently retreated from the road to create a lake into which it calves. Further down the road is a stretch where avalanches have occurred at all times of the year and motorists are advised not to stop. At the head of the Portland Canal is Stewart, BC and a mile further, Hyder Alaska.
Hyder has groceries, gas, cafes, motels, an RV park, and about 85 residents. Stewart is home to about 1,000 people and is a nice little town with a city RV park and one or two other RV parks.
North of Hyder is a road which travels above the Salmon Glacier with truly spectacular mountain views. And just north of Hyder is a spot where people gather to watch grizzlies catch salmon.
For four days I spent hours at the salmon stream watching the grizzlies. We tourists stood on the bank of the stream on a gravel roadway watching the bears come and go, often no more than 100 feet away. With us were one or more game wardens from the US Fish and Game service armed with bear spray. Their biggest problem was the tourists though. The game wardens kept an eye on the bears and moved the crowds away when bears came to our side of the stream. It is amazing how the bears ignored us and how stupid some people can be.
On the other side of the gravel roadway was another stream with many salmon carcasses washed down from a spawning area further upstream. One afternoon, from that direction, came a noise I thought was a chain saw. The wardens knew better and moved the people out of the way so that if the loser in this bear stand off decided to retreat across the roadway, he would have plenty of room. One idiot keep trying to sneak back and look through the bushes for the bears.
The 30 mile drive along and above the Salmon Glacier is not for the faint of heart. Click here for a pdf Self Guided Auto Tour document.
The drive is a narrow dirt road carved from the side of the mountain to serve mining operations which are now largely shut down. Often, the drop off to your left is hundreds of feet. Always, the scenery is spectacular. At the bottom of the valley, the Salmon Glacier flows towards Hyder.
When I got to the sign which says "maintenance ends", I kept going. Use your own judgment. There were rocks in the road and one place where a small rock slide had narrowed the road but the road surface itself was just fine. The reward for traveling this extra distance is twofold. First, just over the pass, is Summit Lake. If you visit before August, it is just a lake. Sometime in August, the ice dam holding the lake bursts and there is flooding of the Salmon River valley toward Hyder. If you go after the dam has burst, you will find icebergs many stories tall sitting on a dry lake bottom. At the end of the road, not much further, there is relatively easy access to the toe of the Frankmackie Glacier if you want to do some scrambling.
'Ksan * * *
The Milepost mentions several villages with totems around the intersection of the Cassiar and the Yellowhead Highways. We stopped in Old Hazelton at the replica Gitksan Indian village of 'Ksan. There is a museum and gallery, aboriginal carving school, gift shop, totem poles and traditional longhouses. I took the tour which is guided by young Gitksan men and women who truly understand their heritage. There is an RV park next door to the village and on Friday nights, Gitksan songs and dances are performed.
East or West on Canada 16 - the Yellowhead Highway?
If you head east, you go to Prince George and then south to reenter the lower 48. If you head west, you go to Prince Rupert and can put your RV on a Canadian boat which will transport you to the northern tip of Vancouver Island you can head south and to the lower 48. The following points of interest are on the overland route heading east and then south.
Round Trip to Fort St. James * *
Fort St James was a Hudson Bay outpost from the early 1800's and is now a National Historic Site with living history programs. If you have the time, this is a very pleasant half day.
Round Trip - RT 26 to Barkerville * * *
There is a Provincial Park campground at Barkerville and that is nice because you will want to spend at least a complete day at Barkerville!. Here the street performers are more than just recreating history for you, they are telling wonderful tales of the boom times of a very rich gold rush and the people who built up a town. There is a show at the Theater Royale, 3 or 4 restaurants, little shops, and fun!
As a bonus, there is the Cottonwood House on the way to Barkerville. It is a restored road house complex from the mid 1800's. Take a ride on the Caribou Wagon Road in the surrey. The ride is just long enough to remind you how nice it is traveling in your RV. If you get here late in the day, they charge for boondocking, but it isn't much.
Quesnel to Sumas, WA *
The trams over the Fraser River at Hells Gate take you over the river to a tourist trap but the views of the river are worth it anyway.
Harrison Hot Springs *
I picked up a brochure which said that there was a sand sculpture contest at Harrison Hot Spring starting the next day! What a great way to end a trip: beautiful weather, a little resort town with RV camping a block from the lake, and grown men and women playing in the sand, building fantasies.
From Harrison Hot Springs it is a short hop to the border crossing at Sumas Washington. You are back in the lower 48.
I’ve spent about 50 pages of typing telling you about Alaska and the wonderful things to see and do going and coming but I haven't told you nearly enough. You will find many more things than I have described to delight you.
One word of caution. If you take the route I have described and decide to go down the west coast a bit more, do NOT stop at any of the Oregon state parks on the ocean. If you do, you will be trapped! I stopped at one and couldn’t tear myself away. I had to stop at the next one. And the next. I can’t tell you how many Oregon beachs I walked or how beautiful they were. I warn you, if you fall in love as I did, it will take you at least a week to travel the Oregon coast!
Miscellaneous information:
Other Journals of Alaska Trips
Bert and Sheri Frenz's have been to Alaska three times. Their passion is birding and you can read their journals. Bert is also a patient and kind teacher of salmon fishing. I know. My nephew spent part of my ‘98 trip with me and Bert took him fishing. As I remember, they returned empty handed but had fun.
Dave and Helen Damouth pages contain much information including everal sections on their Alaska trip. Click on their Journas link and look for:
10. West Across Canada (5/13/00 to 5/31/00)
11. Whitehorse to Anchorage (6/1/00 to 6/19/00)
12. Anchorage and the Kenai (6/20/00 to 7/12/00)
13. More of Kenai and Denali (August 12, 2000)
14. Fairbanks and Barrow (August 24, 2000)
15. Skagway and South (September 10, 2000)
The Milepost
Under NO circumstances make the Alaska trip without The Milepost aboard! It gives you detailed information about routes to Alaska as well as every road in the far north. It not only gives you mileage, it tells you about pull outs, attractions, great views coming up, camping spots, gas stations, etc. etc. etc.
The book it updated each year. I got mine about January of 98 and it was the 1997 edition. I think the new one comes out about March each year but I couldn't wait. I loved the extra months of reading and highlighting and dreaming. I found that not having the latest edition was not a problem.
ERS
I personally would never take a RV trip without Emergency Road Service and that goes at least double for a trip to Alaska. There are long distances between repair facilities and it could sure ruin a trip if you had to pay a towing fee. I needed it once on this trip - in Utah. My accelerator cable broke at the top of a 9,200' mountain pass. Fortunately for me, they were able to jury rig a fix and the tow truck followed me down the mountain to the shop for a permanent fix. It was about 50 miles and I don't want to think about what it would have cost me if I hadn't had ERS.
Maps
In every one of the lower 48 states, state maps are informative and useful. An Alaska road map just doesn't tell you much. There are few roads and 90% of the map area consists of names of places you can only fly to. I finally broke down and bought the DeLorme Alaska Atlas and Gazetteer and it was worth every penny - if you love maps like I do. If I saw a mountain or a glacier in the distance, out came the Atlas. This partially made up for the disgraceful lack of information at pull outs. Most of the pull outs I used had a stand for an information display which was BLANK!
If you don't want a $20 Atlas, the maps in the Milepost are much better than the typical state map.
Binoculars - a GOOD pair
I had a pair of ok binoculars but I think they only whetted my appetite. Of course, I should have gone shopping before I left home. I am sure I could have saved a lot of money. But the really good pair I bought in Alaska has paid for themselves with the enjoyment I have had seeing " up close" a Sea Lion rookery, grizzlies, those otters, the herd of musk ox..... Well, you get the idea.
A Bike
Not really an essential, but I sure enjoyed having mine along!
The Alaskan Calendar
When I first arrived in June, the vibrant purple fireweed was just beginning to bloom. The tall plant was topped with an almost foot long spike with flowers at the bottom and tightly wrapped buds growing towards the top. Folk wisdom says that when the fireweed blooms all the way to the top, winter is around the corner. I watched the fireweed every day. When I finally left Skagway in September to start winding my way back home, I took my last fireweed picture. All that was left was the purple stalk that had held the climbing flowers during my wonderful summer in the far north.
Weather and Mosquitoes
I loved the weather - cool to chilly nights, tee shirt weather in the sun. More rain than I would have liked but that is one of the advantages of not being on someone else's schedule. If there was something I wanted to do and the weather wasn't right - I waited a day or two. Alaskans claim that it gets down right hot in Fairbanks. One day while I was there, it even got into the 80's! South of the Alaska range, however, days in the 70's are called heat waves and overcast days are not at all unusual.
I admit, I am less bothered by mosquitoes than folks around me. However, even allowing for that, I found these pests to be much less of a problem than I had anticipated. I brought along mosquito netting hoods and never used them. In several places, dawn or dusk brought out the pests in enough numbers that even I retreated. But overall, they just weren't a big problem.
Commercial Caravans
From my perspective, you pay a Caravan company for the "privilege" of a schedule. For me, being on a schedule would have meant missing at least two wonderful adventures. I waited out rain in order to find a day for flight seeing to Mt. McKinley and the glaciers and ice field south of McCarthy. I would have missed both of these had I been on somebody else's schedule. And of course I could have never stayed a extra day or two when I was enchanted with a place.
On the other hand, the caravan companies offer support. With ERS I felt I could get all of the help I needed if I needed it and for me, the trade off and being able to go when and where I wanted more than made up for the advantages of caravanning.
Need reservations?
I didn't have any and the only place I regretted it was at Denali National Park. 50% of the campsites and the bus tours were booked far in advance. You could reserve the remainder by phone 3 or 4 days in advance. I would recommend getting detailed information about the bus tours by mail so you will be prepared to make your choices and reserve as soon as the phone lines open for the day in which you are interested.
There is another exception. If you are planning to use the Alaska Ferries, you need reservations, except for the short trip between Haines and Skagway. Both times I have taken this ferry with an RV, I got tickets a day or two before I wanted to go. But I called before I got to Haines to check space on several sailings to make sure advanced reservations wouldn't be necessary.
Windshield Dings
There is a price to pay for traveling many many miles on roads with construction going on or with a gravel surface. You might get a windshield ding or two or three. I did. In Tok I ran into roadside fix-it solutions. There is a fluid which hardens into a glass like substance when ultra violet light is used to cure it. Guys set up in vacant lots or just by the side of the road offering this service for something like $25 a ding. I had two dings repaired this way and never could tell where the ding had been. This is the same repair you would get if you took your rig to a service center. I have no idea if it is covered by insurance if you have some guy by the side of the road perform the repair but in my book, $50 was well worth it and to heck with fiddling with insurance claims!
Taking Birds/dogs/guns/firewood into Canada
The information below applied when I went to Canada in ‘98 but check for the latest information on border crossings. the last time I checked, the information below was still valid but you never know when a change may be made.
Guns:
Per the Milepost: you can bring a regular hunting rifle or shotgun into Canada, with ammunition, if it meets certain requirements. As those requirements may change, check on the regulations in effect when you are ready to go. When you are in a Canadian National Park your gun MUST be dismantled.
Don't even THINK about bringing a hand gun into Canada.
Be prepared to be questioned quite forcibly and/or searched at the border. Plan on spending a hour or more at the border and if you aren't searched, you have some extra time down the line to enjoy this beautiful country. At one border crossing, the border guard asked me 3 times if I was carrying a hand gun. The last time he asked, he prefaced his question by saying something like: You KNOW we can search your vehicle and if we find a hand gun, the driver WILL go to jail and there WILL be a $500 minimum fine, and we can confiscate the vehicle and the gun. Now: Do you have a hand gun?
Don't get insulted. Unfortunately, enough people have tried to "smuggle" a hand gun in and the customs guys are under orders to be VERY suspicious of us on that topic.
I had heard that they are particular suspicious of Florida and Texas plates. I had Florida plates. I crossed the border twice from Montana and once I was searched. While waiting, I asked them about this. They denied it with a straight face. However, I also asked the US border people about it and the guy just smiled and said yes. By the way, at the US border when I was leaving, I was stopped and there were about 6 guys in bullet proof vests with mirrors giving the underside of my RV the once over.
The custom guy was talking to me while this was going on and asked me if I were carrying a weapon. When I said I was and he determined it met the Canadian import criteria, he advised me to fill out a "Certificate of Registration for Personal Effects Taken Abroad" (Customs Form 4457) and have it certified by a customs official. He said that if I didn't have the form, Canadian Customs would just turn me back to get it. He also said that this was not a registration of the gun although they kept a copy of the form. I have run into this form before. It is customarily used to identify valuable items you are taking with you so that you will not be charged import duty on them when you return. The form does not expire and can be used for all future border crossings. I find it very strange that Canadian Customs would demand a US Customs form which says, on the form itself, that it is for use by US Customs when the owner returns with the goods described. Canadian Customs did not ask for the form. But then, I am sure that they saw me going into the US Customs office and may have simply assumed I had it. They did remove my weapon, in its case, and all of the ammunition from the RV and inspected it inside the custom office. .
Hint: store your ammunition separately from your gun and of course, do not have the gun loaded! At each border crossing I was asked where I stored my gun and where I stored my ammunition, although I haven't seen any regulations about not storing ammunition in a gun case.
It is all a pain in the tush but I really don't blame the Canadians. They have regulations about which they feel very strongly and I, as a visitor to their country, also happen to represent a group of people who have sometimes tried to circumvent those regulations. So, take a deep breath and relax. There is nothing you can do about it except make it a very unpleasant experience for yourself if you become unpleasant about it.
Dogs and cats:
The Milepost says that dogs and cats over 3 months old must have a certificate of a current rabies vaccination from a vet. That is all I was ever asked for even though I keep hearing rumors that you must also have a vet's certification of good health dated with X weeks of your crossing into Canada. I think this is one of those urban legends.
Birds:
Up to 2 pet birds per family may be taken into Canada, with the owner, and with owner certification that the birds have been in their position for 90 days and have not been in contact with other birds during that time.
That is true UNLESS your bird is on the CITES endangered species list. Milepost notes that all of parrot family except budgies, cockatiels and rose-ringed parakeets are on the list. My peached-faced Love Bird is on the list. Having a bird on the list is a pain - NOT because of Canadian regulations, but because of our own bureaucrats.
I won’t bore you with the major hassles I had to endure to take a Love Bird which on the CITES list, even though she was hatched in NJ in a pet shop. However, check your bird’s status and if it is on CITES list, seriously consider leaving your bird behind. It costs me more than $200 to comply with all of the regulations and frankly, I didn’t have the “required” inspections when I got to Alaska or reentered Alaska when I went to Haines. Those would have cost about $200 more but I couldn’t find a Fish and Game Commission inspector either time and finally decided to get on with sightseeing.
Bear spray:
I knew that I wanted to watch bears and I knew that the Fish and Game officers in Hyder carried bear spray at the grizzlies viewing area and that it was effective. So, before leaving home, I purchased pepper spray. Although I hadn't seen any regulations about it, the first time I crossed into Canada for a weekend visit, they asked if I had pepper spray. They confiscated it.
While in Alaska, I purchased a large can with better range at Fred Meyer. This was labeled Bear Spray instead of pepper spray but they had the same ingredients.
If I go back to Alaska, I am going to find out exactly what the regulations are about bear spray. After all, they sell it in Canada!
They are probably urban legends, but one story I heard more than once was of the man who was dropped off for some wilderness fishing. It seems that as the bush pilot circled after taking off, he saw the man writhing on the ground and immediately landed to find out what was wrong. The guy had sprayed HIMSELF with the spray! He thought it worked like insect spray. In another story, campers sprayed the tent with bear spray and woke to find a bear licking and pawing at the tent. It seems that after the burning agent dissipates, the residue actually smells good to the bears.
Firewood:
Entering Alberta from Montana, my firewood was confiscated. Forest products are a major product in western Canada and firewood can carry critters which can destroy a forest. My wooden leveling blocks were "processed" wood and were ok. Going in and out of British Columbia, I was never asked about firewood. Maybe the firewood from Alaska is OK.
Where to camp
Anywhere! I boondocked at pull offs in Canada and Alaska and never had a problem. Usually there was at least one other RV there. The Provincial and State parks didn't have hook ups but usually did have a dump site and water available. The Provincial Parks charged between $6 and $10, US and most of the Alaska State parks ran $10.
Where is the wildlife?
EVERYWHERE! But catching sight of it can be another matter.
The boat trips were wonderful for Bald Eagles and of course, water animals. We also caught sight or brown and black bears on the Glacier Bay cruise.
By the way, almost all of the reference to bears in Alaska are to brown and black bears rather than to grizzlies and black bears. To confuse matters further, the brown/grizzlies in Denali are blondish and at Hyder, the ones I saw were black with touches of brown across the shoulder. And many black bears are brown.
I saw about 5 black bears driving down the Cassiar between Dease Lake and Stewart/Hyder.
We saw moose everywhere but particularly during an evening drive from from Delta Junction to the Denali Highway. On that trip we also saw a herd of musk ox on the other side of the river and counted more than 100 rabbits along the way.
They say the early morning and the late evening (the sun set after midnight during July) are the best time to see the large animals.
We saw bald eagles galore in Seward, Haines and Homer. We saw a couple of foxes but no wolves. We caught sight of a porcupine.
I also took two trips to specifically find bears to watch. At Talkeetna there was a jet boat tour which took us to Clear Creek, a salmon spawning stream where grizzlies fished. It left at about 6 p.m. and we returned at midnight. It was wonderful.
The second bear watching spot is Hyder. It is truly a magical place.
Costs
I kept pretty good records but I know that I didn't capture every expense. However, these data may be useful in your planning, even if they are 1998 prices.
I was gone a total of 193 days and in Canada/Alaska for 98 days
Food:
In the lower 48, I spent about $10 a day for food (including restaurants) for two.
In Canada and Alaska, it was $15 a day. There were 3 of us for 2 weeks but only 2 of us for the other 83 days.
I don't know what your food budget is, but based on the above, you can see that food is more expensive in the far north.
Campgrounds and Boondocking
As soon as I hit Alaska I bought a $200 Alaska Parks pass. The only reason that was not a mistake was that I had car trouble (car not RV trouble) and stayed in State Parks about a week around Wasilla so that I spent about 20 days in State Parks with my pass.
Before I left, someone on RV-L told me not to waste my money on the Pass because most of the State Parks were older and could not accommodate 30' plus RV. Not True. I never found a park that couldn't handle most RV's.
However, for the non-fisherman tourist, the State Parks just aren't located where you want to be. I certainly wouldn't have gotten my money's worth without that week in Wasilla.
Most State Parks charge $10. The beautiful one north of Anchorage is more expensive. Not all of them have dump stations and none have electricity. However, except for one which looked like a parking lot, they are in pretty spots. They are not all well signed. The only time I used my TL Campground guide was to get directions to State Parks off the main roads. The one just East of Wasilla is particularly hard to find but TL got me there.
For the whole trip, I boondocked 24 days. My 169 days of campground costs an average of $12.18 a night. The average for all 193 days was $10.69.
In Canada and Alaska, my 98 days of camping averaged $10.30 a night. I only boondocked about 4 or 5 times during this period.
Everywhere, my first choice in a campground is a park: National (about $6 a night with a Golden Age pass), Provincial (less than $10 a night) State (usually about $15 a night). However, when in places like Valdez or Dawson City, I favor in town campgrounds because I love to bike around small towns and see EVERYTHING.
Propane
I used about $150 in propane. The far north is chilly in the summer at night and I was traveling with my 92 year old father who likes it warm. I have a propane generator but didn't use it very much.
Flight seeing and boat trips
As beautiful as Alaska from the road is, you have to crawl into a plane or take a boat trip to see some of the most awesome scenery. The costs for each of these side trips, per person, was:
$62 - Seward "evening" tour boat down Resurrection Bay
$19 - Denali National Park evening bus to Polychrome Pass - $19
$110 - Valdez all day tour boat in Prince William Sound
$50 - Talkeetna jet boat trip to see the bears
$75 - Talkeetna flight to McKinley
$130 - McCarthy flight to the Bagley Ice Field
$69 - Kluane Lake helicopter flight to the Kaskawulsh Glacier
$399 - A flight from Haines to Glacier Bay National Park and by boat into the bay.
$165 - Haines to Skagway by Alaskan Ferry for 2 people and 45' of MH and toad.
$78 - Skagway - ride on the White Pass & Yukon RR to the Canadian border and back.
Maintenance:
Don't forget to budget for maintenance!
$500: The day I packed the RV I discovered the refrigerator wasn't working. I had to get a new cooling unit.
$525 Driving home through Canada it became increasingly evident that my front end was out of alignment. Both front tires were cupped and also had to be replaced.
$185 Several hundred miles later an 18 wheeler blew a retread in front of me and one of my brand new tires blew.
$133 The the 6 cell battery went. It was “only” about 8 years old!
IE, budget for maintenance!
If I go back......
I haven't researched it yet and I don't know how long it would take or how much it would cost but, what I would like to do is explore SW British Columbia, including Bella Coda. Parking my RV in Hyder/Skagway, I would like to explore the inside passage north to Juno including several days at the Anan Bear and Wildlife observatory. Back in Haines I would like to stay for a couple of weeks when the salmon are running and the bears are fishing. As long as I am dreaming, I would also like to be in Haines for the November Bald Eagle festival. One of these days, perhaps .....