To Haines During the Deep Dark (Anchorage, Fairbanks: cabin, ferry, vehicle)

[AADAD]

end of December heading to Haines to Ferry to Bellingham. Anchorage to Tok to Destruction Bay to Haines.

Figure with decent weather I should be able to drive in dim to daylight....yes?

[stiffnecked]

You should be able to do that segment just fine with that amount of daylight. It's just a long ferry trip. Take plenty to do. Are you getting a cabin?

[heathen]

I assume you mean doing the drive to Haines in a single day? If so, you'll be driving in the dark for a considerable portion. Get up early and start in the dark since you probably know that stretch of road better. Driving the pass into the Chilkat Valley in the dark, with fresh snow would not be fun. I took the ferry down and back last year in mid-October / late November. I slept on deck, but I've got pretty good gear for that sort of thing (backpacking stuff). In winter, you're likely to really miss the daylight while on the ferry - so much out the window that you just can't see. Still, if you have the capacity to completely relax and do nothing productive for three days, you should have a ball.

[AADAD]

Yes getting a cabin. Eagle River to Tok day 1. Tok to Destruction Bay day 2. Destruction Bay to Haines day 3. Vehicle loading area on Ferry to ships bar
Day 4.

[akck]

Tok to Haines can be done in about 8 hours during the summer. I don't think it would take more than 10 hours during the winter unless there's a bad snow storm. If you leave Tok around 8 am, you should be able to get into Haines by 6 pm or earlier.

[heathen]

Oooh, I just remembered.. Hope for a nice big winter storm as you go through the open water crossings. We hit a big one going through Dixon in November. The seas were really high (what's big, 20ft?) and the Matanuska shuddered each time it went down into a trough, sending a huge wall of spray over the bow. Some lady broke her hip when she was kinda thrown across the cafeteria - broken dishes, furniture everywhere. When I went back up to the solarium, everybody's luggage and sleeping gear were smashed up against one side. Later, on a less violent crossing, the boat pitched and we all slid across the deck on those lawn chairs - while sleeping! The storm knocked out some navigational gear so we had to skip the Wrangell Narrows and Petersburg. When we got to Juneau, the Harbormaster wouldn't let the boat leave, so they had to rustle up another crew and fire up one of those high speed rigs for the last leg to Haines, where it had snowed about two feet in the last couple days.

I had a blast!


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[tamtbell]

LOL Here's to hoping you have good weather when you hit closer to Haines! We had some nasty, wet snow that we hit about an hour and a half away from the US border in Nov 09. Oddly enough it all dissipated and melted once we crossed back into the US near Haines.
We did the Fairbanks to Tok to Haines drive.
Ferry was wonderful though. Staff was nice, ship was nice.
Rooms were clean, reasonably spacious(nothing like a cruise ship but it IS a ferry so never expected that).
Stops were nice even though never got to see Juneau since we stopped and then continued on late at night.
Bring some sort of entertainment for yourself as your waiting for the ferry. We waited for about 4 hours for the ferry and thankfully we had a portable DVD player to keep ourself occupied.
Oh and bring a camera.

[AADAD]

Portable dvd player; check.