Road trip from Fairbanks Alaska to Arkansas
- Thread starter Glaciers
- Start date
Glaciers
Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
Well made it to Whitehorse by 9:15. Pretty exhausting day but beautiful drive.
Don you were right that section after Tok was pretty bad. I remember the area Beaver Creek just over the border on the Yukon side was bad, it still is but the Alaskan side is worse.
Don you were right that section after Tok was pretty bad. I remember the area Beaver Creek just over the border on the Yukon side was bad, it still is but the Alaskan side is worse.
Glaciers
Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
Very nice. Stopped an talked to the American side to ask about bringing rifles back and they gave me a form to fill out which you need to fill out on the way out of America and have US customs stamp it. This simply proves you didn’t buy a gun in Canada. The lady in the US office said that when you get to Canadian customs you declare that you are transporting your firearms through a fill out a form which costs $25 Canadian. You can put up to 3 rifles on one form.
I haven’t travelled through Canada with firearms since 1987, hasn’t changed much. Where you cross will change attitudes of the Customs Officers towards firearms and you considerably.
Glaciers
Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
You got that right. Can’t build something, road or building on unstable ground. Or in parts of the highway here in the Yukon and Alaska build a road through a marsh. Freeze the marsh and it heaves big time. Thaw it back out and your road falls apart.
Point I fact to pictures of doorways in the funky motel we are in. I noticed that it was not comfortable to walk in our room. Keep in mind I had been up since 4 AM and drove 600 miles. I was a little tired. I determined that if you got up in the middle of the night and tried to walk you could have a problem.
Entrance door
Bottom of bathroom door 90 degrees opposed to the entrance door. At least 1 inch in 3 feet and the door still would stick open. Next i looked at the tub and it was jacked up about an inch and a half at the rear. Creative trim work.
This place is post and pier, I would think it it would be much easier to fix the foundation than each of 20 rooms. But what do I know, I built 11 rental cabins on permafrost. Build on pads with a slightly elevated post, level, relevel in the spring. The following spring repeat and by the next spring very little change. Floating cabins. Wasn’t a march but just unstable ground.
Glaciers
Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
Well we were on the road when one of these trucks came by, they are called “B” Trains. Don’t know much about them but a lot of people are up in arms about them destroying the road. Weigh I guess, but they have I believe 32 tires on them. They carry ore from a mine just south of Tok 200 miles north to a mine with refining capacity. There is a lot of these trucks. At times they can be 15 minutes apart.
Crossing the Tanana River
Traffic was pretty light
Still not much traffic
Even in the Yukon traffic was not too bad
Oh yeah the proof we were there.
Biscuit is a good traveler. Love that dog!
Crossing the Tanana River
Traffic was pretty light
Still not much traffic
Even in the Yukon traffic was not too bad
Oh yeah the proof we were there.
Biscuit is a good traveler. Love that dog!
Petrol & Powder
Well-Known Member
Dogs are generally happy as long as they are with their "Pack".
That's some impressive country.
That's some impressive country.
smokeywolf
Well-Known Member
Love the Biscuit. Looking forward to petting and scratching him.
RicinYakima
High Steppes of Eastern Washington
Blowing over the Cascades on Thursday night is the prediction.
Glaciers
Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
Well yesterday, Wednesday started out great but turned into probably the worst road trip due to weather that I’ve had in 50 years of living in the great white north. Didn’t get into the motel in Fort Nelson till 11:30.
Today day was pretty nice kinda like regular weather. Checked in and settled in tonight by 9 PM after a late start from Fort Nelson.
But I’m going to bed will up date in the morning.
Today day was pretty nice kinda like regular weather. Checked in and settled in tonight by 9 PM after a late start from Fort Nelson.
But I’m going to bed will up date in the morning.
Glaciers
Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
Wednesday as I said in the previous post started out great. We saw a ton of critters fortunately not on the road as northern critters tend to be big. Example:
This guy could ruin your day if not your life. Certainly would destroy your truck.
We ran across better than 150 Bison.
We saw about 20 to 25 Elk in one group but not able to get a picture. Sheep, moose, Caribou, deer, besides Elk. Pretty interesting group of critters in a few hundred miles. Did not actually see deer or sheep, the deer obviously would be more prevalent as we wondered south. But at multiple points there was the warning signs about dangers of wildlife. A couple of these signs would have Caribou, Bison, Moose Deer pictured on one small size billboard.
Karyn was the official photographer, spotter and navigator. I was concentrating on the road. So it went like this: Karyn, did you see that? Me, no. Karyn, can we go back? Me, no. That pretty much describes Wednesday morning. Started getting weatherly by about 2 in the afternoon, not bad but something to keep in mind. Not much in the way of snow just periods of snow then blowing snow coming down fairly hard, then then clearing up. Stopped in in one lodge and asked a couple folks coming from Fort Nelson and the road was clear, but looking like snow. That turned out to be an understatement.
Below is a text that Karyn posted Thursday morning with my text she copied in the middle of this post.
We were in a tremendous snowstorm last night. We we thought we'd be in Fort Nelson by sunset. Instead there was a huge snowstorm in the mountains. We got here at 11:15. Slept like logs, but the going was rough. The road surface was good under the 8" of snow that built up. No reflectors or guard rails. No visible shoulders and of course no lines. Just that blinding hyper drive snow pelleting the windshield. We drove in what we hoped was the middle. Quite a surprise.
Intermittently I thought of the hundreds of Bison, the 50+ elk, dozens of caribou, we saw earlier, all standing in clumps with their backs to the wind, babies in the middle.
I was glad for the warmth of the truck. We bought new tires about a week ago, had them siped. I was grateful John has such good driving skills. I maintained my duty of navigator and lookout.
From John: "Well last night was about the most white knuckled driving experience I have had. The only other time I can think of is Thompson Pass. It was about 4 hours of near white out conditions, some fog and poorly marked roads. Fortunately there was only maybe 8 or 10 other cars or trucks that we met. Problem was that once going we were committed.
At one time we were down to 10 or 15 miles per hour. Most was 20 to 30, and when it was good 40 miles per hour."
It's 6* here now. John just went across the road to a McD's for a couple thermos of coffee. Off to Prince George in a bit where it is sunny and 44*. Here's to another day on this amazing planet.
Well Thursday was clear, bright and cold. Filled the thermos, and the gas tank and had a breakfast sandwich. Off to Prince George. Beautiful drive, by noon roads were clear of snow and ice so full speed ahead. Couple of pictures of the trip to Prince George.
But first one more of the snow storm. This is of a tanker truck that lost traction on a grade and appeared that had a bit of a time keeping things straight by the time he came to rest. He wasn’t chained up. The truck that was going our direction could not get by as the first truck was taking up about 3/4 of the road. Can’t tell in the picture but it’s probably a 7% grade. Fortunately there was just enough room on the shoulder to the left for us to sneak by.
But back to Thursday and nice conditions.
Sunset somewhere down the road.
This guy could ruin your day if not your life. Certainly would destroy your truck.
We ran across better than 150 Bison.
We saw about 20 to 25 Elk in one group but not able to get a picture. Sheep, moose, Caribou, deer, besides Elk. Pretty interesting group of critters in a few hundred miles. Did not actually see deer or sheep, the deer obviously would be more prevalent as we wondered south. But at multiple points there was the warning signs about dangers of wildlife. A couple of these signs would have Caribou, Bison, Moose Deer pictured on one small size billboard.
Karyn was the official photographer, spotter and navigator. I was concentrating on the road. So it went like this: Karyn, did you see that? Me, no. Karyn, can we go back? Me, no. That pretty much describes Wednesday morning. Started getting weatherly by about 2 in the afternoon, not bad but something to keep in mind. Not much in the way of snow just periods of snow then blowing snow coming down fairly hard, then then clearing up. Stopped in in one lodge and asked a couple folks coming from Fort Nelson and the road was clear, but looking like snow. That turned out to be an understatement.
Below is a text that Karyn posted Thursday morning with my text she copied in the middle of this post.
We were in a tremendous snowstorm last night. We we thought we'd be in Fort Nelson by sunset. Instead there was a huge snowstorm in the mountains. We got here at 11:15. Slept like logs, but the going was rough. The road surface was good under the 8" of snow that built up. No reflectors or guard rails. No visible shoulders and of course no lines. Just that blinding hyper drive snow pelleting the windshield. We drove in what we hoped was the middle. Quite a surprise.
Intermittently I thought of the hundreds of Bison, the 50+ elk, dozens of caribou, we saw earlier, all standing in clumps with their backs to the wind, babies in the middle.
I was glad for the warmth of the truck. We bought new tires about a week ago, had them siped. I was grateful John has such good driving skills. I maintained my duty of navigator and lookout.
From John: "Well last night was about the most white knuckled driving experience I have had. The only other time I can think of is Thompson Pass. It was about 4 hours of near white out conditions, some fog and poorly marked roads. Fortunately there was only maybe 8 or 10 other cars or trucks that we met. Problem was that once going we were committed.
At one time we were down to 10 or 15 miles per hour. Most was 20 to 30, and when it was good 40 miles per hour."
It's 6* here now. John just went across the road to a McD's for a couple thermos of coffee. Off to Prince George in a bit where it is sunny and 44*. Here's to another day on this amazing planet.
Well Thursday was clear, bright and cold. Filled the thermos, and the gas tank and had a breakfast sandwich. Off to Prince George. Beautiful drive, by noon roads were clear of snow and ice so full speed ahead. Couple of pictures of the trip to Prince George.
But first one more of the snow storm. This is of a tanker truck that lost traction on a grade and appeared that had a bit of a time keeping things straight by the time he came to rest. He wasn’t chained up. The truck that was going our direction could not get by as the first truck was taking up about 3/4 of the road. Can’t tell in the picture but it’s probably a 7% grade. Fortunately there was just enough room on the shoulder to the left for us to sneak by.
But back to Thursday and nice conditions.
Sunset somewhere down the road.
Attachments
Glaciers
Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
Wanted to add a couple of pictures of the Tundra when we stopped for a bathroom and coffee break Thursday.
The truck was caked much worse than it looks. Figured I’d have to find a do it yourself car wash which could not only lighten the truck up but aerodynamic I’m sure the improvement could improve gas mileage.
We stayed in a nice motel in Prince George which was dog friendly. Got up at 5 and Biscuit and I went for a short walk. Biscuit has been the very best traveling dog ever. Anyway I our very short walk I observed a garage door open in the back of a gas station convenience store just down the street. Asked the lady at the counter and she said yes it is available for my use 1 Canadian Toonie (?) for 3 minutes. Awesome! Got the Tundra cleaned off at least the big stuff to the point that you wouldn’t get totally dirty getting in and out. So clean truck, more gas and coffee and down the road once again. Nice drive down to the Boarder, reminded me a bit like Wisconsin’s countryside in parts. More pictures when I can get them down loaded from Karyn’s phone. She’s still in the sack.
Total from our house in Tommy’s house in Renton Washington is 2,254 miles. Took 4 days in adverse conditions and good conditions. Once we got to the Boarder, which was a one hour wait, it started to rain for the next 150 miles to Tommy’s. Oh and Tommy and Cyndee aren’t home as they had this weekend mini trip planned months ago. So we are here by ourselves. Not planning on driving anywhere today.
Oh and this is a text Tommy posted.
Just saw this snail Making his way across my yard.Made me think of mom and Pop making their way across Canada! Ha ha
Smart ass kid.
All and all good trip, but I must say the road now is far, far, far better than when I first drove it in 1974. From Dawson Creek to Fairbanks where the Alaska Highway really ends was 1,543 miles but they changed it about 40 years ago to end in Delta Junction at 1,456 miles now. The end marker used to be in Downtown Fairbanks at the Chena River and Cushman St bridge.
There was pavement up to Fort St John and a couple miles past then 60 miles of pavement At Whitehorse, a little at Hains Junction then not until the Alaskan Boarder. It still was bad road most of the way to Fairbanks about the only benefit of the pavement was that you weren’t driving in mud. That was about it.
I’m tired and rambling so I’ll go away, drink more coffee and take a shower.
More later.
The truck was caked much worse than it looks. Figured I’d have to find a do it yourself car wash which could not only lighten the truck up but aerodynamic I’m sure the improvement could improve gas mileage.
We stayed in a nice motel in Prince George which was dog friendly. Got up at 5 and Biscuit and I went for a short walk. Biscuit has been the very best traveling dog ever. Anyway I our very short walk I observed a garage door open in the back of a gas station convenience store just down the street. Asked the lady at the counter and she said yes it is available for my use 1 Canadian Toonie (?) for 3 minutes. Awesome! Got the Tundra cleaned off at least the big stuff to the point that you wouldn’t get totally dirty getting in and out. So clean truck, more gas and coffee and down the road once again. Nice drive down to the Boarder, reminded me a bit like Wisconsin’s countryside in parts. More pictures when I can get them down loaded from Karyn’s phone. She’s still in the sack.
Total from our house in Tommy’s house in Renton Washington is 2,254 miles. Took 4 days in adverse conditions and good conditions. Once we got to the Boarder, which was a one hour wait, it started to rain for the next 150 miles to Tommy’s. Oh and Tommy and Cyndee aren’t home as they had this weekend mini trip planned months ago. So we are here by ourselves. Not planning on driving anywhere today.
Oh and this is a text Tommy posted.
Just saw this snail Making his way across my yard.Made me think of mom and Pop making their way across Canada! Ha ha
Smart ass kid.
All and all good trip, but I must say the road now is far, far, far better than when I first drove it in 1974. From Dawson Creek to Fairbanks where the Alaska Highway really ends was 1,543 miles but they changed it about 40 years ago to end in Delta Junction at 1,456 miles now. The end marker used to be in Downtown Fairbanks at the Chena River and Cushman St bridge.
There was pavement up to Fort St John and a couple miles past then 60 miles of pavement At Whitehorse, a little at Hains Junction then not until the Alaskan Boarder. It still was bad road most of the way to Fairbanks about the only benefit of the pavement was that you weren’t driving in mud. That was about it.
I’m tired and rambling so I’ll go away, drink more coffee and take a shower.
More later.
Glaciers
Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
Well tomorrow, Sunday morning we are off for Ashland and kids and grandkids. 435 more miles this time totally on Interstate 5. We will stay one week, then next weekend we will be off to Salt Lake City to pick up the new to us travel trailer.
Hopefully will get a chance to go to Ashland Gun and Archery Club and do a little shooting. It’s not snowing so there’s a chance.
Hopefully will get a chance to go to Ashland Gun and Archery Club and do a little shooting. It’s not snowing so there’s a chance.
Glaciers
Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
Well the weather is looking good for the rest of the trip to Arkansas. A least for the next couple of days to SLC looks good but all predictions after that are, well just predictions. Close enough. It will be what it will be.
Anyway we’re having a good time with the kids and grandkids while going through our stuff from the old motorhome to add to our stuff we have with us already. Already made one trip to Goodwill and there’s probably going to be another.
But Mark, Karyn’s brother also from Alaska stopped over for the night, coming back from Spring Training Games in Phoenix Arizona, which he attends every year.
Karyn, GS Cole, GD Piper, Mark with the beard, my fat self leading the pack, Son Talon, DIL Jamie, GD Izzy, with faithful Biscuit putting up with one more family photo.
We will be out of here tomorrow morning heading for SLC
Anyway we’re having a good time with the kids and grandkids while going through our stuff from the old motorhome to add to our stuff we have with us already. Already made one trip to Goodwill and there’s probably going to be another.
But Mark, Karyn’s brother also from Alaska stopped over for the night, coming back from Spring Training Games in Phoenix Arizona, which he attends every year.
Karyn, GS Cole, GD Piper, Mark with the beard, my fat self leading the pack, Son Talon, DIL Jamie, GD Izzy, with faithful Biscuit putting up with one more family photo.
We will be out of here tomorrow morning heading for SLC