Driving to Anchorage (Haines, Whittier, Ferry: how much, construction, moving to)

[mjc0303]

So I am moving to anchorage in august from Pennsylvania and I am trying to figure out the best way there. I will be driving a 2004 accord which is in good shape and I don't want it to get messed up en route. I have read a bunch of stuff about driving the Alaska highway and it seems like my car is going to take a beating if I drive all the way there. Will catching the Ferry from Prince Rupert to Haines help eliminate most of the "bad" roads? I looked into taking it all the way to Whittier, but that ferry runs sporadically and is really expensive. Is the drive that rough, or are people just being babies? Thanks for your help.
-Matt

[warptman]

Originally Posted by mjc0303

So I am moving to anchorage in august from Pennsylvania and I am trying to figure out the best way there. I will be driving a 2004 accord which is in good shape and I don't want it to get messed up en route. I have read a bunch of stuff about driving the Alaska highway and it seems like my car is going to take a beating if I drive all the way there. Will catching the Ferry from Prince Rupert to Haines help eliminate most of the "bad" roads? I looked into taking it all the way to Whittier, but that ferry runs sporadically and is really expensive. Is the drive that rough, or are people just being babies? Thanks for your help.
-Matt

Your car will be fine, August is a great time to drive up, too. I just drove down and back to Montana doing two different routes down and back. Most of the construction is in northern British Columbia and northern Yukon Territory. Haines to Alaska is where most of the rough parts of the highway are anyways. You can cross in a few places, it depends on how much of the lower 48 states you want to see.

Here are a couple links to my drive down and back.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/alask...outhbound.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/alask...orthbound.html

[Grannysroost]

Just slow down when come to frost heaves..and will be fine...

[warptman]

My Ford Ranger has about 75,000 Alcan miles on it now.

[akck]

The main damage you might get is a cracked windshield on the gravel sections of road. The best way to avoid it is to slow down, not follow too close behind and move to the far right when meeting cars from the other direction. After you hit the first few frost heaves, you'll know what to look for and how much to slow down. Any other damage you might get would be the same as on any other lower 48 road.

[quakinator]

Yep, the only damage I got was a rock chip from tailing a slow semi too close when I came up on him and couldn't pass due to oncoming traffic, I knew I should have backed off further but just as I started a big old rock hit me. It didn't spider web though so I think it'll be a simple fix. We did just have all the shocks/struts replaced due to them being bad before we made the trip, and I didn't hardly slow down over the frost heaves. If you slow down over them you'll be fine.

One game my wife and I played was "See how many vehicles you can find without spider webbed windshields." North of Edmonton you won't find many people that don't have cracked windshields.

[bajadrmin]

Forgive me for sounding dumb but whats a frost heave?

[Glitch]

Originally Posted by bajadrmin

Forgive me for sounding dumb but whats a frost heave?

Frost heaves are an upward thrust of the ground caused by the pressures of freezing and thawing ice in the soil. They can be as large as speed bumps, several inches tall, or just appear as slight bumps and cracks in the road. Sometimes you may get advanced warning with a caution "Bump" sign, or maybe a traffic cone or other marker by the side of the road marking the frost heave, or no warning at all (particularly if the frost heave just occurred the previous winter).

If you hit one at 60 mph, it could send you flying.

Frost creep is another less common problem. Frost creep is caused when the freezing and thawing ice in the soil creates a depression in the road. Those are typically marked with a caution "Dip" sign.

[MeganAK]

We had a terrible time on the roads until Edmonton, then it was smooth sailing! We only had a rough time because of hauling a trailer, though. With a car, you will be fine. Just take it slow. We didn't get any flat tires, only a chip in the windshield. The road is kind of rotten in spots, but if you don't mind taking it slow, no problem.

[akvarmit]

We drove Haines to Anchorage last year at the end of October - the first few hours were very snowy, but no damage to the vehicle. You'll find many opinions are based on lower 48 expectations. You just need to be a little more responsible driving.........it's just not a lit, level 4 lane all the way up But a very nice drive when one keeps an open mind.
We're also from PA - Howdy!
Dawn