Tacoma vs. Alcan Highway

Def subbed to this thread! Your story was by far the best here, wish there were pics to go along with it!
On a side note dad and I plan on taking a road trip up the Alcan to Alaska this coming July, it would be about a month road trip in either my 4 cylinder AC 5 speed or if dad has one by then, his Tacoma AC V6 automatic since we plan to pull a trailer with our enduro bikes in it, the extra power would be nice. We would like to hit some of the Canadia parks along the way, particularly Jasper Park, it is right close to Alaska right? Really wanna see that park if it is along the way, and tour it on the bikes. We intend to bring a large tent to camp in and extra warm clothes. We are Montanas and know that winter can come in July at any time of the year in this part of the world, sure it is the same for Canada and Alaska! We may possibly bring our 2 dogs with us, is there anything we need to know about bringing them along? Like their health records showing they are up to date on all shots for example? Any other things we need to know before heading out on this trip? I plan to get either truck a good service done before the long drive just to make sure it is in top running order, it is a Toyota though so am not worried about being stranded alongside the Alcan highway very much. Plus I carry tools with me and am a decent wrench and so is dad.

 

Jasper park is along ways from Alaska,Jasper is west of Edmonton,
i suggest going to Calgary taking thw trans Canada highway to Banff national park then go up highway 93 to Jasper,beautiful drive

 

Taking the Alcan.

Watch for Buffalo on the road especially near Muncho Lake Provincial Park. You just can't see them due to their dark coloring. Lots of other animals to look out for as well.

Bring a swim suit and stop for a dip in the "Laird Hot Springs. Neat experience for sure.

http://www.britishcolumbia.com/hotsprings/?id=18
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/liard_rv_hs/

Bring along a sign to tack up at the "Sign Post Forest" at Watson Lake. You will need a few nails and a hammer as well.

http://www.yukoninfo.com/watson/signpostforest.htm

Have a great trip.

Richard

 

Oooo...what a great thread. I too, use Milepost. It's a great resource. I travel between Fairbanks and Seattle twice a year as I travel to AK for a teaching job. I went UP the Alcan only once: and the best part of it was Laird Hot Springs.

...But I appreciate the Cassiar/Stewart Highway much more. Isolated? Yes. Often closed in the summer due to fire? Yes. Beautiful beyond comprehension, especially the side road into Stewart/Hyder. Jaw-dropping beauty.

The worst section of the road is the section between Burwash Landing/Kluane Lake and the border: frost heaves have left much of it really, really messed up. Yukon road authorities don't spend too much on fixing it, only marking it. Construction cones are cheaper. Slow down and pay attention during that 4-5 hour stretch.

Advice: Load up on extra fuel if you're planning on taking the Cassiar Highway. I take 3 5-gallon cans and that allows me to drive *when* I want, as the gas stations don't have card-locks. They close at 9 p.m. in many places.

What part of the trip am I looking forward to? Whitehorse. Yeah. Whitehorse is a cool town. Park your truck downtown and find a certain coffee shop. Eat some ethnic food. Grab a shower at the Alpine Inn. If I was taking the Alcan and not the Cassiar, I'd be *totally* looking forward to Laird Hot Springs, south of Watson Lake. On the Cassiar, I stop off at a Heli-skiing Bell 2 Lodge in the middle of the Coastal Range for a breakfast. And at the bottom of the Cassiar, I pull over for Indian Fry-Bread at Bannock by Banek. Yum.

As for wildlife: plan on it. I lost count of Black bears on the Cassiar at 14. They dig at roots along the side of the road. No biggie.

Total driving time, Fairbanks to Bellingham: 44 hours averaging 51 miles per hour. Hauling a trailer and leaving the back of the truck open for a 3-4 hour nap pays big dividends. I hauled more too. Good luck. Turn your cell phone off. You'll just be wasting your battery.

 

ok just found this thread. got off topic in another thread. but i one day WILL drive to AK from TN. thought about going and seeing family in buffalo NY for a few days than going and hitting I80 or I90 to WA or MT. than on up thru canada.

edit: would prob stop by the iowa 80 truck stop.=world largest.

 

Hello, I'm new to the forum. I've looked at having my truck shipped to Anchorage in December/January, but they say that diesel is fixing to go through the roof. The cheapest I can find right now is $3000 to have it shipped from Arkansas. I can't imagine what it will be by the time Dec rolls around. I am debating on driving it. I will be by myself and limited on time, so as much as I want to, stopping along the way and enjoying the scenery is not an option. Do you guys think I will need studded tires, or will I be OK with all terrain tires. Also, I know that driving at night is dangerous, but what if I just slow down some and be very cautious? Thanks

 

check out this thread and i would pm Jake (jeverich)
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/alaska/190427-alcan-drive-mid-late-december.html

 

Feel free to ask any questions...I'll try to answer them.

 

Never made the trip this year, really sucked cuz I was looking forward to it big. Really gotta make it though someday, if I like it enough I would probably stay there haha.

 

I just did the drive from ft. Wainwright/ Fairbanks, Ak to sultan Wa abt a month and a half ago. I had my 7 month prego wife an 18 month old and two 60lbs dogs in the dbl cab 500lbs in the bed and we towed a tandem axle trailer with brakes Øn front axle that weighed 5500lbs. Almost ran out of gas on gnat pass on the cassiar but had 15gals in gas cans as a reserve that got us to the big fancy gas station hotel resort place in the valley on the left as your going down. Forgot name an mile. We pulled over when I couldn't see anymore and I slept as long as I could. which since mom and baby hogged the blankets wasn't more than a few hrs each night due to freezing my junk off. It took 4 days total but that's cuz we left around 4pm the first day. Awesome trip would do it enever I can come up with a reason to do it again. Taco had airbags in rear and they were at 30psi and I couldn't have asked for a better product. Tranny got up to 217 degrees once and motor stayed at 193 degrees. But I had to man shift the auto though to control the tranny temp and keep it under 200 degrees.

 

I made the trip up via the Cassiar in 2008-ish...

My older brother was stopped at the border north of Bellingham for some shennanigans from his younger days, needless to say it fell upon me to drive his expedition up...towing his 30 foot mobile sawmill...in February! It took Dad and I 60 hours (driving in shifts) from my place in south Seattle to Palmer. Pops only hit one caribou the whole way!

 

Went on a 13000 mile road trip last winter... left AK with my old T100....Had some minor issues and drove back up with my shiny new Tacoma.

The drive up the Alcan was way better than I thought it would be... minus my speeding ticket only 10 miles away from the AK border... Mounties.... And that one day I left town without filling up... the gas light came on and there wasn't a gas station for miles. Oops

I did it in 4 days from Helena to Anchorage doing 7 to 800 miles a day.

 

I did it in All terrains in March. And part of the way (Anchorage to Haines) in January. Just keep it in 4wd. And watch the weather. Blizzards are bad. I didn't watch the weather and ended up in a BAD one.

I have heard mixed reviews about driving at night. On the one hand, the risk of hitting a critter goes way up. On the other, I have heard it increases contrast or something.... When I did it, I avoided night driving as much as possible. I personally HATE driving at night though and avoid it whenever possible.

If you want to waste a lot of time reading and want a ton of details about the drive, I did a couple of blog posts on my trip. The first one is here. And Part Two. And my .

It cost me around 600ish in gas from Helena to Anchorage.

Good luck!

 

Just did this drive, Cant wait to do it again with better weather.

Was pretty fun despite a few days of seeing absolutely nothing due to snow and low visibility.

 

We made this drive when I was 2 years old. My mom and dad bought a brand new '88 Ford Bronco in Nashville coming back from a vacation in Florida and drove it home. I think it took 7 days then cause we stopped and did stuff but since my dads made it his goal to always beat his previous record. Currently he's made it to Arkansas in 52 hours. By himself.

 

When are you heading down? I'm coming up from Georgia in a 2005

 

^speaking of my dad

 

i am making the drive in July with the family from Ky to Anchorage and i can not wait.

 

Let us know when you're up here, we may be able to schedule a meet then! Should be a beautiful drive by then. Last time my family drove it was back in '91 when I was barely knee height.

 

Same here, except I'm coming from San Antonio. Starting the trek in mid-July sometime.