Well We left for Alaska on the 5th of June and arrived on the 9th of June.
Day one June 5th we left Whitefish, Montana at 10:00am and headed east to Helena, Montana to visit some family stayed fro about an hour and then continued North to Great Falls, Montana and still farther north to Shelby, Montana. We hit the Canadian Boarder around 6:30 pm and only had a 30 min. layover as they checked out our papers. Then we continued north until we got to Lethbridge, Alberta about an hour and a half by the time we found the park and got unhooked.
Day two we headed north at about 10:00am, Calgary, Alberta here we come! We drove through about mid afternoon and continued on to Edmonton, Alberta. We arrived in Edmonton early evening and decided we were not tired and wanted to see how far we could get. So far accept for a couple of gushers all was going fine. We headed west stopped for dinner in Whitecourt, Alberta at about 8:00 pm we then continued to Grand Prairie and finally reached our destination in Dawson Creek, British Columbia at around Midnight. We stayed at the local Wal-Mart and it was just now trying to get dark. Weird!!!!
Day Three we headed out at about 6:00am and began our own journey up the Alaska Highway. We met a nice couple in the Wal-Mart parking lot just before we left little did we know that we would see them later that day in a parking lot out of gas. Note it is not a for sure thing that a gas station along the road will have gas. especially diesel like we use, make sure if you can, to have an extra gas can full of gas in the back of your truck or at the very least fill up when ever you reach or almost reach the half full mark! We traveled over many a hills this day and used more gas than expected. We were starting to see mountains and trees again, we were very happy about this because most of the way through Alberta it was flat and not to many trees. We traveled North most of the day until we reached Ft. Nelson, B.C. at which point we filled up and headed west towards Laird Hot Springs just 40 miles beyond Muncho Lake, B.C. We arrived at Laird Hot springs at 7:30 and after a couple of tries found a site that could accommodate a 35ft. fifth wheel. The campground was very nice with fire rings and many a outhouse but no hookups! That was ok with us, because the $18.00 we paid was well worth the beauty of soaking in a natural hot spring where it never really got darker than dusk. We ate dinner at the lodge across the way and had good food but it was a bit spendy.
Day four we headed out at about 9:00am and filled up with gas at the local gas station, we tried to get propane but there was no one there qualified to get us some so we got some further down the road at Toad River where we filled up with gas again. We then kept going till we go to Lake Watson, Yukon Territory the roads her were very steep and windy because we just crossed the Rocky Mountains. We got some food at the local grocery store and tool pictures of “The Sign Post Forest” where they have over 60,000 signs. We then continued on towards Teslin, Yukon Territory. In this stretch of the road we cross over the B.C. / Yukon border 5 and 6 times. And it was here where we got sprayed by rocks from a passing semi going way over the speed limit on the dirt road we happen to be on. The road construction is sporadic through here but doesn’t last for to long. After passing through Teslin we headed further west till we reached Whitehorse, Yukon. We stopped to eat, get gas and hop into the Wal-Mart to gab some ods and ins. The parking lot at Wal-mart was filled with RV’rs. But it was still light out being only 9:00pm and so we decided to continue to Haines Junction, Yukon. We arrived at 11:00pm and never unhitched because it was snowy and wet.
Day five we woke up to 4 inches of snow on the ground! My boys helped people sweep snow off their slides and the power went out all over town right before we headed north around 10:00am. The roads heading north out of Haines Juction, were wet but after about 50 miles the weather changed and so did the roads we traveled about a hundred mies of dirt roads this was the slowest part of the trip. We reached Beaver Creek in the afternoon and purchased more gas and Monster Energy Drinks before we headed into Alaska! At about this time the whole family was excited and we Began to Sing ” North to Alaska, We’re going North the rush is on!” A short while later we reached the Alaska Boarder Patrol and spent about 15 min. before we continued on to Tok, Alaska! We arrived in Tok about 4:30 and we officially survived the Alaska Highway! We quickly found a nice park to stay at and ate dinner at a local restaurant. This was my first chance to wash the laundry and so I did! And Trev’s first chance to was the truck and camper so he did! Today was Tok and tomorrow we would head on to the Wasilla/Palmer area!
Well like I said it only took us 5 days to get to Alaska but we probably drove longer and farther than most. So if you are planning to risk life and limb to come see Alaska The Last Frontier! I would defiantly suggest it it worth it! Oh, don’t forget the price of gas in Canada is higher than the states so set your gas budget high!
