Anyone interested to drive to Alaska by Alcan?

Another reason to go to Alaska!
Murphy's Law: "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, and at the worst possible moment!"

So I have Toyota Care emergency road service for the U.S., including Alaska, but it does not apply in Canada. So where does my car choose to blow out a tire? On the "Top Of The World" Highway in the northernmost reaches of the Yukon Territory in Canada, where there is, literally, nothing and nobody! We had left Chicken (the town in Alaska, not the bird) and crossed the border into Canada (the gray vertical line to the left of the picture) , when shortly thereafter the washboard gravel road with its side-to-side potholes blew out our left rear tire. It was quite a loud "BANG" rather than a whimper, and Monika found a 2-inch slice where the steel belts had broken and were protruding from the tread. Clearly that was not fixable, so I jacked the car up and put on that thin, narrow, high-pressure "donut" spare tire and we limped very slowly and cautiously along the ruts and rubble of the road into Dawson City, Yukon. (Dawson City is located where the red line of our route crosses the Yukon River.)
Our luck turned good, however, in that the RV repair place had a Prius-sized tire and was willing to mount it on the wheel rim for $98 Canadian. Considering we were out in the back of beyond where the scenery is fantastic but the people and amenities are few, I thought that was a very reasonable price. Since the "tire guy" was on lunch break, we dropped the tire off and drove back into the preserved historic Gold Rush district of Dawson City for a couple hours. There we had lunch and then walked all over the roughly 6 square blocks of carefully preserved antique buildings. We also saw the steamship Keno, a smaller cousin to the S.S. Klondike we had toured in Whitehorse on our way North. The Keno brought silver ore from the mine down the very small Stewart River to the junction with the larger Yukon River, where the S.S. Klondike transferred it to Whitehorse for processing. That may sound laborious, but before the Klondike Highway was built in 1955, rivers were the only means of hauling cargo around in the non-winter season. Folks, there are still only 6 highways in the entire Yukon Territory, and that is a huge expanse of mountains, forests, and, of course, the rivers draining into the Yukon, which ultimately heads West to the Bering Sea, or rivers flowing North into the Arctic Ocean. Clearly, it is easier to get around up there with a float plane than a car!
After our walking tour of Dawson City, we picked up our new tire and continued down the highway a few miles to camp for the evening in a Yukon Territory provincial park--cheap but very primitive!

 

Excellent travel writing, Robert!

 

My motorcycle trips are like that. My travel tool bag keeps getting more stuff because what happens on any given trip is usually the thing(s) I don't have the right tools for in my kit.

Actually got nails in my rear tire THREE times in one trip. Most people would replace a tire rather than plug and ride (so long as it holds pressure). I don't for exactly this reason. To put on a new tire then pick up another nail not once but TWICE on one trip would have me in tears.

 

You're making a lot of memories and it's been fun following your trek. Even the tire mishap will be something to talk about for years to come. Thanks for keeping us up to date.

 

Enjoying your travels! Nice!, brings back great memories. Only thing I did not do was get the flat tire! Great writing! I am really enjoying it! Keep it up! Thanks!

 

I already did this trip. Stayed in cabins along the route.

 

On way up to Alaska or back down, consider staying in Yukon and British Columbia provincial campgrounds like this one:

 

Having to change tire on a dusty, uneven gravel/dirt road gave me several ideas about how to improve the scissors jack handle and base, which are flimsy at best. I will post pics when I have chance to prototype and test those ideas.

I am aghast at the movement to eliminating spares all together--with a 2-inch slice through the belts, that tire was not even temporarily repairable by goop pump .
I wish Toyota would offer a full size spare option!!
Hello, Toyota, anybody listening?

 

You might find a bear in the tent with you. It will keep you company.

 

I would not buy a car that did not have a full or donut spare. Just to have a repair kit and no spare at all. No way for me.

 

pics from the day in Kenai Fjords National Park:

 

gorgeous! glad you had a wonderful and (mostly) uneventful trip. our daughter just got back and said she would go again in a heartbeat.

 

Funny you should mention that:

Actually, grizzly bears are a real problem in Denali and other parks and campgrounds, so special precautions had to be observed to avoid having bears in our tent (separate food storage and cooking facilities away from the tents in Wonder Lake campground, for example).

In the Prius Super RV, however, since we sleep in the back of the car the emergency bear procedure is to simply lower the rear hatch and raise the windows (if they are down), then deploy the bear spray if absolutely necessary.

 

or is it us humans that are a problem?

 

Possibly a poor choice of words in my post, but clearly from my point of view if I am being mauled by a grizzly bear it would qualify as a "problem" for me. National Park Service is actually trying to be very careful to preserve not only the grizzly habitat but also to prevent humans being a problem for grizzlies as much as possible.

 

i was just kidding, but i hear you. my daughter and her (experienced) friend ran into a grizzly at denali and he reaches into his pocket and pulls out some spray. then he tells her if the bear gets the best of him, his pistol is in the other pocket.

 

likely story.

 

Hi! I just took a job in anchorage and am headed up from Nebraska in a little over a week. Really debated trading my semi high mileage 2008 prius in on something else for the trip but have decided to drive her up. Mechanic has gone over it and one new water pump later says we are good to go. Thanks for all the good info!

 

Um, not sure everyone knows the rules for Private Pilots flying in Alaska, but one of the requirements was to carry a pistol or rifle as part of the emergency gear, so that story is not too far-fetched ! I did not include a firearm in our gear for this trip because Canadian Customs is death on firearms. They even checked my pepper spray cans to be sure that they were marked for bears only!! Seriously, I had a thumb-sized can of pepper spray confiscated by Canadian Customs, and then they put my license plate on a watch list and combed thru the car every time I entered Canada for the next 10 years. Finally sold that car, but I'm trying very hard not to irritate Canadian Customs anymore!
That said, a .22 or other small-caliber weapon is just going to make a grizzly more grumpy, and they already don't like humans all that much. Since I will never be able to stalk a bear like the Eskimo woman who stalked a polar bear into its den and fired a .22 pistol directly into its ear (the one weak spot on its skull) to kill it, I will leave the firearms at home. Even Merriwether Lewis learned to leave grizzlies alone rather than shoot them on the 1803 expedition--one chased him after he shot it, and IIRC he had to throw down his gear and jump into the River to escape it.