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Old 04-17-2018, 02:14 AM
 
Location: interior Alaska
6,895 posts, read 5,792,091 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by echo7tango View Post
This is the route I'm considering, 7,300 miles total at least, and probably closer to 8,000 miles by the time we're done.
Just managed to open this map.

Man, I don't know if I'd drive the stretch from Haines to Haines Junction in the middle of winter. It's a well-maintained road but it's dead lonely in summertime, so I can't imagine it gets busier in winter, and no cell service. If you got in trouble there you could sit a long time before anyone came along. It's not like the Alcan or the Cassiar where there's a pretty steady flow of traffic.
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Old 04-17-2018, 02:47 AM
 
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I'd strongly consider doing this thing as two trips. Fly up for the Iditarod and save the road trip for a better time of year. Driving up can certainly be done in March, but late winter is so blah. If you go to Skagway, for instance, most of the town will literally be boarded up except for a couple of local cafes.

ETA I see AKStafford has already made that suggestion.
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Old 04-17-2018, 07:38 AM
 
Location: SFBA CA USA — Go Giants!
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Hi folks, really appreciate all the shared wisdom here, thank you. So yeah, it will be way too cold to car camp, at least up north in AK and YT, and maybe even parts of BC in February too. I’m rethinking that idea. The Dalton, too. That won’t happen. Thanks much, Frostnip, and AKStafford, AlaskaErik, and AllisonHB. And thanks too for the tip on the Glenn/Richardson Hwy. I’ll check that out. I’m reading also of the Old Denali Hwy between Paxson and Cantwell. I’ve heard it’s breathtaking. From what we saw on the boat doing a Disney cruise out of Vancouver to Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway, much of the mountainous regions and the fjords are breathtaking. The ship also went up the Tracy Arm (gMap https://goo.gl/fAyuA5), to the glacier at the end.

I’m not much of a cruise traveler. The Alaska cruise was the in-laws’ idea, for a family reunion. That was in Jul 2013, and finally making it to Alaska meant I finally made it to all 50 states! And the truly stunning landscapes and scenery just made it all the more special.

As for the Arctic Circle, I’ve been north of it before — in Norway, back in the winter of 1990-1991. Iced roads, but everyone had studded tires and boy do the locals drive fast on that ice! So maybe I don’t have to tag that. It’s 200 miles north of Fairbanks (gMap: https://goo.gl/7s1zas), so a 400-mi round trip just to get a picture at the signs there (gImages: https://goo.gl/6VzyGn) might be a bit much. But if the weather is good right then, we might do it.

I’ve signed up on 511.alaska.gov for road conditions alerts on the various highways (their alerts map is here — Alaska 511 - Transportation & Public Facilities, State of Alaska.).

@Music_Man — the Milepost, good reminder, thanks. My 27yo daughter did the drive 3 years ago and I have her old copy. I just signed up for their emails, and I plan to get and bring the latest copy with me.

@mitgreb, I plan to see only the start of the race, and then fly to the ending. It sounds like I’d better be booking that soon! @Metlakatla thanks about Skagway being boarded up. I think the Klondike Hwy scenery might make the drive worthwhile, and that’s why I’m considering it. And it looks like when we sailed to Ketchikan, we came pretty close to you, if you’re in or near Metlakatla.
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Old 04-17-2018, 08:58 AM
 
Location: Juneau, AK + Puna, HI
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I don't think Denali highway is open in March, nor is the Denali Park road beyond the first few miles.

These guys drove the Dalton in March. BBC Two - World's Most Dangerous Roads, Series 1, Alaska

The video is available on Amazon-perhaps you could buy and enjoy the trip vicariously.
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Old 04-17-2018, 10:21 AM
 
Location: Anchorage
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The Denali Highway is not plowed in the winter. It's never actually "closed" but you are not going to get anywhere in a road vehicle in March. It's a fun snowmachine trip though, and there are several lodges that will be open in March.
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Old 04-17-2018, 01:20 PM
 
Location: Howard County, Maryland
16,282 posts, read 10,309,907 times
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You can do the southern half of the Dalton Highway in a single day, via a fly/drive tour. You fly in a small plane from Fairbanks to Coldfoot and then ride a van back down. I did it back in 2005, in my first (and, to date, only) visit to Alaska.

Arctic Circle Fly/Drive Adventure w/ Northern Alaska Tour Company
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Old 04-17-2018, 03:16 PM
 
Location: interior Alaska
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bus man View Post
You can do the southern half of the Dalton Highway in a single day, via a fly/drive tour. You fly in a small plane from Fairbanks to Coldfoot and then ride a van back down. I did it back in 2005, in my first (and, to date, only) visit to Alaska.

Arctic Circle Fly/Drive Adventure w/ Northern Alaska Tour Company
Not in March - check out the tour dates.
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Old 04-17-2018, 08:03 PM
 
Location: SFBA CA USA — Go Giants!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Frostnip View Post
Not in March - check out the tour dates.
Yes, I plan to be there next March. Thanks anyway, bus man.
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Old 04-17-2018, 09:57 PM
 
26,476 posts, read 36,301,263 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by echo7tango View Post
@Metlakatla thanks about Skagway being boarded up. I think the Klondike Hwy scenery might make the drive worthwhile, and that’s why I’m considering it. And it looks like when we sailed to Ketchikan, we came pretty close to you, if you’re in or near Metlakatla.
The stuff that's boarded up will all be touristy stuff that you're better off not seeing anyway, but my concern would be finding a place to spend the night, although Skagway would make a good day trip from Whitehorse. Definitely should try to see this, though; Skagway has some interesting history, and this is open all year round:

https://www.nps.gov/klgo/index.htm

I live close to Ketchikan but not in Metlakatla -- I had trouble thinking of a screen name, and there was calendar with an aerial photo of Metlakatla hanging over my desk...
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Old 04-18-2018, 08:07 AM
 
Location: SFBA CA USA — Go Giants!
2,288 posts, read 1,674,345 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Metlakatla View Post
The stuff that's boarded up will all be touristy stuff that you're better off not seeing anyway, but my concern would be finding a place to spend the night, although Skagway would make a good day trip from Whitehorse. Definitely should try to see this, though; Skagway has some interesting history, and this is open all year round:

https://www.nps.gov/klgo/index.htm
That park looks great and that’d be a definite stop for us! Thank you for this, and that’s exactly the kind of places we like to go. When our cruise ship docked in Skagway we walked straight to the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad station to take the ride. We walked right near the Klondike Gold Rush NHP visitors center and didn’t even know it.

The WP&YR RR ride up to White Pass Summit and Summit Lake is dramatic and beautiful, and along the route I looked to the west and saw the occasional cars on the Klondike Highway and said to myself, “I’m coming back, and I’ll be on that road.”

Quote:
I live close to Ketchikan but not in Metlakatla -- I had trouble thinking of a screen name, and there was calendar with an aerial photo of Metlakatla hanging over my desk...
Well thanks to your screen name, as I was checking the map Metlakatla and Annette Island caught my eye. It’s a unique screen name, and a pretty cool one too, if I may say so.

Thanks again. Skagway will almost definitely be a stop on our drive because of the Klondike Hwy scenery in White Pass and the Klondike Gold Rush NHP.
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