Alaska May-Aug 2014
We have always wanted to drive to Alaska, but work and children have until now prevented us from scheduling such a long trip. Now that we are retired, have Vanessa, and have an empty nest, we are off on a 3-month trip.
We left home in West Lafayette on May 17 and need to be back around Aug 10. We are driving through Glacier National Park, Banff, Jasper, and Prince Rupert where we will take the Alaska inland ferry stopping for a few days each in several towns in south-east Alaska. Then off to Anchorage, Denali, Fairbanks, Prudhoe Bay, Top-of-the-world Highway, Dempster Highway, Alaska Highway, Skagway, Jasper again, and back east on rt 16 through Canada.
I really enjoyed your blog. My husband and I are considering a trip to Alaska next summer in our 2011 Sprinter Sportsmobile – we have the shorter one with a pop top – no as many amenities as you have.
It sounds like the weather was challenging! Was it still worth the effort?
What would you change about the trip if you were to do it again?
We will be starting in Oregon and would probably drive through Vancouver.
We don’t have an awning on our van – did you appreciate the awning with all the rain?
I hope you don’t mind all the questions. I’m still not sure about doing it with the rain, mosquitos and rough roads. However, there is no place else we could go with wilderness like that.
Thanks for your time,
Wendy
Hi Wendy,
We did have a lot of rain, but that was expected in SE Alaska along the coast. North of Anchorage we did get a lot more rain than usual. Fortunately we scheduled a lot of time for the trip and we did get a lot of nice days, so yes, the trip was definitely worth it. We did have enough room in our van to comfortably read and I worked on photos on my laptop. So we kept busy in bad weather. The good thing about the weather is that it was not too hot like it can get in the interior in July.
The only thing we would change is to visit the places we did not have time for such as Kenai Peninsula and Valdez. We will be back.
We did use the awning in some of the rain, but mostly we stayed inside. The awnings are not really meant for rain since they can puddle water and be destroyed by wind.
The roads are not so much of a bother if you are not in a hurry. The trip up the Dalton Highway to Prudhoe Bay was very long (400 miles) and Janet especially got very tired of the potholes and the mud. But it was not particularly dangerous or bad for the van.
The mosquitoes were bad in the interior mostly because of the extra rain. Also I hear they are not so bad in June so you might want to go to the interior earlier than we did. In the cool weather we usually wore long pants and long-sleeve shirts and when the bugs were bad we wore head nets. Overall we got very few bites and the ones we got did not bother us.
So you definitely need to make the trip to Alaska. Let me know if you have more questions.
David
Hi Dave,
I am looking forward to doing an Alaska Trip with my Sportsmobile, probably in 2016. Need to get more experience with the Van though first. I like your images. I have a couple pre-Alaska questions for you: What’s the name of the company which produces the retractable screen door assembly you got at Lowe’s? I checked the forum and your website, but couldn’t find it anywhere…not that it isn’t there of course. Second, how did your tires perform on the Alaska trip…what brand do you run? Any flats or puncture issues?
Thanks much.
Tim
Hi Tim,
The screen we got from Lowes was made by Phantom and cost under $400 that included installation but not framing. It was not available without installation. When I search the Lowes site now I don’t see this brand. I don’t have a model number but it has a magnetic latch.
The stock tires that came from MBz are Continental Vanco Four Season. The four rear tires already need replacement at 36000 miles. We had no tire problems in Alaska. Guide books are out of date when they say to bring extra spares. We did a lot of dirt road driving (Dalton, Top of the world, and part of Dempster). The dirt/rock on the roads was small diameter and not angular.
We damaged one tire in a pothole in Indiana before we left and got what was in stock, Bridgestone M779, on the front two tires. They seem to be fine, but I am thinking of getting four Michelin LTX M/S2 for the back before our December trip to the Southwest. We have very little experience with this van in snow.
David
Thanks David
I found the Phantom screens. Good to hear about the Alaska roads. I recently upgraded to Michelin LTX M/S2 after 7,500 with OEM Kumho’s which I then sold. Was not an easy decision…I was initially motivated by snow which the Kumho’s perform poorly on, and the knowledge that I’m prone to look for images in less than ideal weather and out of the way places, so wanted a more rugged tire without going A/T and I’m not currently carrying a spare. Glad I made the change…besides performance on snow, ride and handling are noticeably better and noise reduced a bit…it’s a different sound.
Tim
Thanks David
I found the Phantom screens. Good to hear about the Alaska roads. I recently upgraded to Michelin LTX M/S2 after 7,500 with OEM Kumho’s which I then sold. Was not an easy decision…I was initially motivated by snow which the Kumho’s perform poorly on, and the knowledge that I’m prone to look for images in less than ideal weather and out of the way places, so wanted a more rugged tire without going A/T and I’m not currently carrying a spare. Glad I made the change…besides performance on snow, ride and handling are noticeably better and noise reduced a bit…it’s a different sound.
Tim