Anyone interested to drive to Alaska by Alcan?

How can you drive 55 mph on the AlCan Hwy? that would drive me crazy. The three times I went up to Alaska, I think we drove about 70-80 mph. Lots of open roads. Nice photo !! Having a great time I see! Enjoy!!!

 

^^^^^
Zen and the Art of Prius Driving!

 

Ah!!!! one with the car!!!!

Yes! I was in my Edie Bauer Explorer for two of those trips, no Zen!
Last trip was in my 05 Prius!! more Zen, but still not 55 mph!

 

I was going to ask the same question, but there are times when I like to slow down and soak up the sights as long as I'm not holding up traffic, etc. Do either of you have a blog where you've posted about your experience; stops, quality/price of motels, road conditions, availability of fuel, destinations, etc.?

 

Gads, I don't know how you could drive over 55 in a prius. Even in my 69 bronco I was airborne most of the time.

 

The mosquitoes are BIG and Bite Hard, and other big bugs!
All roads are asphalt and in good shape except were they are not!
Stop at every town, they are about 250 miles apart! Get gas even if you don't think you need it! (important)
Secnery is great all the way, many over looks and plaques to read and things to see.
Get the alaska travel book, shows everything there is to see and where it is on the road. (A must to have).
Take a month or two and really enjoy your self.
Sorry! most of my trips were taken before internet and blogs.

 

Bronco I, Thats the problem!

 

It's just the times when they are fixing the roads, in the spring from frost heaves and the five foot drops from small earth quakes, and when they are straighting out the old road! (watch out for big rocks and earth moving equip.) Then every 1/4 mile 30 feet of gravel and this repeats often. Just the way it seems to be.

 

Here is a picture of Hyder Alaska. The best halibut meal you can get, at" The Bus"!
Trip was in 2008, in the 05 Prius


Here is a gas station it said last chance for gas next 275 miles. from our trip in 2002.
In the Edie Bauer Explorer.

 

I get it, but that bit of info helps, thanks. I don't know if I'll ever get my wife to go, but I'll pick up the book and go from there. My biggest concern would be finding lodging, but I guess Google and Trip Advisor would give me an idea of what's available.

 

Cool trip guys that I hope to make one day soon once I do finally retire.
Like many that live here in Canada, we can manage to get around and see a lot of the great outdoors that surrounds us, but I believe the tourists often do it better as it is a bigger and further stretch to make, hence you apply more effort.

Love the tent at the hatch of the Prius, very practical way to do it.

Finally as to the gasoline, at least again in the Canadian part of the trip to Alaska, here in Vancouver this past spring we were seeing $1.55 per litre. If you do the math, you really are up over $5 per gallon.... so you are not getting hosed with the prices you see up north, in fairness, we get hosed all over the Province here.

Roland

 

This is the book I used, tells you everything along the roads and towns. It,s about a inch and 1/2 thick. I would have been lost with out it!
The MILEPOST: Alaska Travel Guide and Trip Planner

 

That is the one I added to my wish list, thanks. I'm going to see what the library has.

 

Yes, we own the "wanderungs.com" website and post summaries of each of our trips there (this will be Wanderung 29). However, selecting and editing the best pics , composing the narrative, and translating it all to HTML takes a month or two. If you are planning to travel NOW and would like current info, I would be happy to help with what we have just experienced as below:

Would you be camping, moteling or both?
Motels vary from small, seedy Mom and Pop wayside motels , which vary greatly in quality and cost $80-110 or so, to name brand chains like Comfort Inn which are uniform quality but VERY expensive --lower tier chains like Motel Super 8 starting at $130 and up! One unusual option is rental cabins at the RV campgrounds--we stayed in a nice one in Tok for $110, so consider that. (I will post camping info if you want that also.)

Road conditions are good paved 2-lane highway in Alaska , but northern Yukon had a stretch of about 150 kilometers of continuous road construction--you must really be comfortable in driving and maintaining control on a gravel road surface. Rest of AlCan from Whitehorse to Dawson Creek BC hat intermittent patches of road construction and gravel, but not continuous. But WATCH FOR POTHOLES because they occur unexpectedly even on nice paved surfaces, and if you hit one at speed it can easily blow the tire.

Fuel: thank god Prius can go 500 miles on a tank! Refuel in the Canadian cities where name-brand gas is $1.30 Canadian per liter (Edmonton , Dawson Creek, Watson Lake, Whitehorse) and then in Tok and Fairbanks, Alaska . Fuel in small rural towns is much higher in cost and of dubious quality. Do not play games running it too low, however, as there are long empty stretches with no services and no cell phone coverage at all, and no police patrols, so you are absolutely on your own.

For destinations, the Milepost book gives complete coverage, but I will post what we did if you like--let me know. Be forewarned that some have recently gone bankrupt like the lake tour in Whitehorse, so not all listed in the guidebooks are really there.

Cheers!

 

Oops, forgot to mention the frost-heaved pavement sections which we found prevalent on the AlCan only in the northern Yukon.
Er, um, on the one hand frost heaves can be dangerous, especially if you are driving a camping rig like we used to do, but in a little short wheelbase thing like the Prius they can actually be kind of fun. I hasten to add not everyone shares that definition of "fun" , but if you enjoy aerobatics or turbulence in airplanes you may enjoy driving the frost heaves. I was inspired to compose a song about the experience during the drive called "Frost Heave The Paveman", but have not recorded it yet, for which we should all be thankful.
(Credit to DW who was listening to me belting out the new lyrics as we we were tossed in the air, and yet decided to continue on the trip !)

 

Thanks, Robert. We already have trips scheduled into spring 2016, so summer 2016 would be the earliest we can think about going and that would depend on whether or not a planned trip to Nova Scotia with my brother and sister comes to pass. More than likely we're thinking of summer 2017 and a lot can happen between now and then. Our eventual plan though is to start out in Phoenix, go to Calgary, see Banff/Lake Louise, then go over to Kamloops or up to Edmonton and on to Fairbanks, Denali and Anchorage. I haven't thought past the initial because we didn't intend to buy our Prius this early and there was no way I was going to attempt such a trip in our 15 year old van. I saved your post, bookmarked the website and added the Milepost book to my Amazon Wish List.

 

If anyone wishes to drive a Prius and camp in the Alaska and the Yukon, the guide we are using is:
"Travaler's Guide to Alaskan Camping" by Mike and Terri Church, which covers the Yukon as well as routes to Alaska.

This is one of the BIG reasons you may wish to drive to Alaska!

 

No doubt the scenery is unique and inspiring.

 

Got to meet and talk with Bob and Monica (@Robert Holt ) as they passed through Anchorage today. Wonderful folks. Car seems to be taking the road trip well and even seems to be cleaner than mine!

Blessings you two and pray the rest of your trip is safe and wonderful.

 

Another reason to go to Alaska!

Kenai Fjords National Park
We spent a whole day wandering amongst the fjords of the Kenai peninsula on which Seward, Alaska, lies. The fjords are magnificent and back up onto glaciers that are streaming down from the Harding Ice Field located on the high central plateau. Did you know that besides the noisy crack and crash of icebergs calving off into the water, glaciers also have a gentle "hiss"? We heard that hiss when we surrounded by ice flies at the foot of the Hobart Glacier, and it turned out to be the sound of the ancient bubbles of compressed air (formed during the thousands of years of compression ) being released from the melting floes. I had never even heard of that phenomenon before, so it was completely unexpected. We also felt "glacier breath" the cold catabatic winds blowing down off the surface of the glacier.
While cruising in the fjord, we saw the nesting rocks of small, plump, orange-beaked puffins with their ridiculously tiny wings, and many other sea birds, and both a "pod" of killer whales and porpoises played around and under our boat. We also saw humpback whales in the distance , a "raft" of sea otters floating on their backs in the sun, and a huge "swarm" of moon and lions mane jellyfish that was so large that it turned the deep blue waters of the fjord a light aqua color. Very odd but very interesting.
So after watching some sea lions cavort on their breeding grounds on yet another Rocky islet, we reluctantly returned to Seward at the end of the day to our campsite on the waterfront where sea otters played just offshore and an eagle flew by just above the trees one morning.