Bill and Cynthia Ware's RV Journey From Mississippi to Alaska
Editor's Note: This article first appeared in the September/October 2006 edition of Military Living's® R&R Travel News®.
This is a report for RVers who have or hope to take the big trip on the Alaska Highway. It is more about tips and suggestions, than a day by day journal. We did the usual things before hand, talking to everyone we could find who had made the trip, buying the latest Milepost and other relevant travel guides, making lists and checking everything twice. I wanted to take only what we needed. We saw no need to bring extra food from home. I did take a five-gallon can of diesel fuel that I did not need. Another reason for carrying less is that things inside your unit can bounce around over long trips.
We left Mississippi in early June of 2005 and returned sixty-nine days later. We slept every night in our 28 foot Four Winds travel trailer which we pulled with our Ford F-250 diesel pickup. It was the trip of a lifetime for RV’ers. We enjoyed it very much and hope to go back some day. We love the outdoors and seeing new sights. We enjoyed the vast plains, the rugged mountains, the snowy peaks, the numerous glaciers, the endless forests, the roaring rivers, the quiet streams, the surprising fireweed, the struggling salmon and the wildlife roaming free.
Our trip took us from Mississippi to Dallas, Yankton, SD; Rapid City, SD; Glacier National Park, MT; Banff and Jasper, Alberta; Prince George, British Columbia; to Dawson Creek, Alberta, Whitehorse, Yukon; and to Skagwayand Tok, Alaska. In Alaska we went to Fairbanks, Denali, Anchorage, Seward, Homer, Valdez and Tok. We traveled on most of the highways in Alaska. then back to near Watson Lake, Yukon. There we turned south down the Cassier Highway to Hyder, Alaska where you can get very close to the bears while they are catching salmon. After that, back to Prince George and down to Seattle. The trip back to Mississippi was through Salt Lake City and Tucumcari, NM. Some how we put 14,000 miles on the truck and do not regret a minute of it.
Many RVers fear damage to their rigs on the trip. There are places on the Alaska Highway where the pavement is broken and quickly patched with fine to coarse gravel. There were also three sections where the traffic was directed over rough graveled sections, where road crews were improving the highway. You also have a potential for damage from gravel thrown up from the winter weather damaged patches and few long rough stretches. It comes from what they call frost heave damage. By the time we got there highway crews had replaced most of the loose pavement with gravel, sand and dust.
We did not experience any damage. We did not even have tire damage (although I did take an extra tire just in case.) We also no windshield damage, no head light damage, or structural damage to the truck or trailer.
I did take some precautions to prevent damage. Things inside your unit must be secured to keep them from bouncing around. I added mud flaps to the truck to reduce the amount of gravel and mud being kicked up on the truck and trailer. I also fashioned a rock shield to the front of the trailer. I placed a two by eight foot piece of three-eights inch plywood up next to the lower sloping front of the trailer behind the propane tanks at the bottom edge of which rested on the frame. I secured the top edge with rubber bungee straps to eye bolts I had mounted just around the corner of the trailer. A small wooden brace and the wind kept the center section pushed back against some foam rubber padding.
There are other ways to avoid or limit the damage to your unit. One way is called defensive driving. The highway does not have a lot of traffic and you can usually see long sections of the road ahead. These facts can help you avoid some damage. First, you can slow down when you see a rough spot ahead as they are usually marked with flags or signs. A good indication of a rough patch ahead is seeing a dust cloud created by the vehicle up ahead as it goes over the patch. Second, and most useful, is to avoid meeting or letting another vehicle pass you in those rough spots. The fast drivers are usually the few locals or big trucks. There are not as many big trucks as you would expect since most of the cargo going to Alaska goes by ship or airplane. Of course, if you drive the speed limit or less you will reduce damage from passing vehicles in those unmarked rough patches. Since the speed limit in Canada is 90 kph or about 55 mph, driving slower is a good idea. What is the hurry anyway when you are on vacation? We limited ourselves to less than four hundred miles a day.
We enjoy a more open and wooded campsite so we generally avoided the commercial RV parks. We stayed in city, state, national and provincial parks. I had made reservations for inside Glacier for two nights to be able to take the ‘red bus’ tour on the Top of the World Highway. If you make reservations a few months, or weeks or sometimes days in advance at Denali National Park you can stay in the park at the unique Riley Creek RV park. We did not want to be tied to a schedule so we made reservations at Riley only a few days before arriving and were only able to stay one night. Camping in bear and moose country, which we did often, is a thrill.
We often stayed on military bases where we used the USAF Frequent Camper Program. This discount program gives one day free per stay after paying a small fee and joining. You can check it out at any USAF FamCamp. The fee includes a copy of Military Living's RV, Camping and Outdoor Recreation Around the World. We stayed at McConnell AFB at Wichita, Kansas which was not fancy but was a safe place to park, as was Hill AFB in Salt Lake City. Some base campgrounds ar upgraded such as Ellsworth AFB at Rapid City, SD, Fairchild AFB at Spokane, WA and Malmstrom AFB, MT. The RV park at Eielson AFB, near Fairbanks, AK is nicely set in a forested area with high bushes between each campsite. Near Anchorage you have a choice between the park at Elmemdorf AFB and the one at Fort Richardson. They are only a few miles apart but the one at Elmendorf is closer to the highway and the new huge Military Mall (BX/Commissary and gas/diesel station).
People with large coaches seem to prefer the RV park at the Post because of the deeper sites on paved streets. If you like the older park with streets meandering through the woods and near the BX you will like the AF one. It has room for a few larger rigs but only a very few pull thru’s. We liked the AF one also because it is more like camping in a state park. At Elmendorf there is a great indoor car and pickup truck wash. It is wonderful for washing off the thick coating of grey glacier powder dust which is all over that part of the world. It takes car soap to remove it. It is a good idea to take with you a pail and long handled brush as you will need to wash it yourself at places which allow it.
So make plans for your trip and do not worry about a few nicks and bumps along the way. It is still the ultimate RVing experience.
Bill & Cynthia Ware
Lt Col, USAF/ANG Retired
Brandon, Mississippi
biware@bellsouth.net
