LA-SLC-Calgary-Anchorage-Seattle-LA WVO Road-Trip - Page 5

nick · #41 07-06-2008, 02:33 AM

Here is a photo of Portage Glacier...

Glennallen, Alaska. 182185. 3pm Saturday.
Added 1 cube. On the way back from Anchorage, we happened to cruise passed this large glacier. The valley was all mud and muck, which appears to indicate that this glacier has receded also. The freeway was quite high up, so we had a good vantage-point.

This southern stretch across Alaska’s interior appears to be a little more developed. The North end is pretty “rough” around the edges, and for anyone without a camper or RV, they should stick to the south. Alaska appears to be a place where you have to bring your “house” with you.

Beaver Creek, Yukon Territory. 182398. 5pm Saturday.
Added 1 SVO cube. There is a large lake near the border that takes good photos. I was told the name, but I can’t remember it off hand.

Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. 182610. 9pm Saturday.
Staying in Whitehorse tonight and getting our return trip planned out. We met up with Skeeter and Mike and they really are amazing. We discussed kits, purging, temp gauges, oil, and more. Absolutely great guys.

Upcoming info... We’ll be coming down the Alaskan Highway to Vancouver and Seattle soon.

Chris, we’d like to stop in—we could possibly be in Seattle Monday or Tuesday depending on our driving time.

alaskanvegi · #42 07-06-2008, 09:24 AM

2 hours to go 213 miles? 106.5 miles per hour! over the most frost heaved part of the whole hiway!

akghound · #43 07-06-2008, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alaskanvegi

2 hours to go 213 miles? 106.5 miles per hour! over the most frost heaved part of the whole hiway!

Remember he test drove the little car on the Salt Flats down in Utah, preparing for Alaska's Highways no doubt.

Wow! What a trip, reminds me of when my wife and I rode the motorcycle up there. I am envious. Thanks you guys for taking us along. I have really enjoyed your trip. Too bad I missed you in Montana, Catch ya later.
Ken Gardner

nick · #44 07-07-2008, 12:50 AM

Quote:

2 hours to go 213 miles? 106.5 miles per hour! over the most frost heaved part of the whole hiway!

Yeah... I try to mark down my mileage as accurately as possible, but I may have missed a mile or two.

Overall, it's pretty accurate. As Ken said we did stress test the Jetta on the Salt Flats, and with the new struts we were able to average 100-some mph (even on the heaves).

nick · #45 07-07-2008, 12:55 AM

Quote:

Wow! What a trip, reminds me of when my wife and I rode the motorcycle up there. I am envious. Thanks you guys for taking us along. I have really enjoyed your trip. Too bad I missed you in Montana, Catch ya later.

Ken, it's too bad we didn't get to meet up. As you can probably tell from our posts, we are pretty aggressive when it comes to these road trips. We had to head out to catch up on the day we missed in SLC. On the next pass (we are planning another trip for 2009 or 2010 for the Appalachian Mtns or a coast-to-coast trip across Canada) if we are close to Montana, we'll stop in.

nick · #46 07-07-2008, 01:38 AM

I forgot the slip of paper I use to mark down my mileage and I'm too tired to walk 20 feet outside our hotel room to get it.

So here are some images from today and yesterday... I'll post the numbers tomorrow.

Just outside of Whitehorse, a rainbow emerged over the city.

Here is Maggie Mays Restaurant. It's a great little place just off the highway as you cross the city limits of Whitehorse. They were indirect contributors to the roadtrip and their convenient location works out great for travelers heading north on the Alaska Hwy after the long haul from Watson Lake. Definitely check them out next time you pass thru.

Some mountains and clouds outside Watson Lake...

Another rainbow popped out of the mountain near Watson Lake and it was unbelievably bright.

Our fourth bear sighting...
Some mountains and clouds outside Watson Lake...

Some more horses in the middle of no-where...

Since it rained all day, when the sun set the deer came out in full force. It was a slow drive.

We are staying in Fort Nelson until the rain dies down or we get some light. It's pretty slow going with the current road conditions.

alaskanvegi · #47 07-07-2008, 08:16 AM

Since I'll be driving out to Seattle & back end of this month, I'd like to know where and how much road construction. One of my trips up we tried to drive 85-95 mph and our average was 55.4 mph, 42 hrs from Seattle to Anchorage.

nick · #48 07-07-2008, 09:02 AM

There were only two parts that were extremely bad. The stretch from Tok to Haines Junction is full of construction, broken pavement and major heaves. You can really only drive 35mph in bad areas and 65mph in paved sections, but you have to slow down every 1/2 mile or so. It really sucked, especially if you have your car stockpiled and weighed-down with VO.

Then there is a few portions of the Alaskan Hwy that are broken up, but that was negligible. You can really average about 120 kph if there wasn't so much rain. Just north of Fort Nelson is a meandering section of road for two hours that only allows a about 70kph averages (at best). Plus this section is full of deer, moose, horses, buffalo, bears, etc.

we'll be trying to make it to Seattle or Vancouver late tonight, so we'll try to post the rest of the road conditions then.

nick · #49 07-08-2008, 12:33 AM

Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. 182700. Sunday.
Added 1.75 cubes. We got a late start and we took off around 9am. With the hike near Mt. McKinley and the previous 36-hour drives, getting a few extra hours rest sounded good. Also, the Family Motel in Whitehorse let us do a load of laundry even though their facilities were technically closed the previous evening.
This is a pic of the condition of the Jetta just outside of Whitehorse.

Watson Lake, British Columbia. 182990. Sunday.
Added 1 cube. The Alaska Hwy has some roadside oddities. In Watson Lake, there is a collection of signs from all over the world. We found a bunch of signs from Wisconsin and California.

Laird Hot Springs, British Columbia. 5pm Sunday.
We got to test out the hot springs, but forgot the camera. The springs was great, but a little too hot, especially since it was quite a humid and hot summer day. Also fortunately, it wasn’t very packed, but I suppose on a weekday, it’s typically less dense. Everyone who suggested this was right—the Laird Hot Springs is a must-do on the Alaskan Hwy.

100km from Fort Nelson. 183230. 11pm Sunday.
Added 1.25 cubes. We encountered rain the whole day and it slowed our progress dramatically. When we pulled into Fort Nelson, we decided to crash for the night. The only restaurant open was Boston Pizza, and this is typical for the whole route—no late-night food. The great thing about Alaska and Canadian hotels is that they always have a refrigerator and microwave, so pack a few microwavable Cambell’s soup containers in the trunk.

Also, with the rain, we saw a half-dozen rainbows…

Fort Nelson, British Columbia. 11pm Sunday - 11am Monday.
It appears that the only auto parts store is here, because I couldn’t find an oil filter anywhere between Whitehorse and Fort St. John. A change of oil cost us our morning, so we got off to another late start.

Buckinghorse River, British Columbia. 183417. 3:30 pm Monday.
Added 1.5 cubes.
We took a scenic shortcut to avoid Fort St John and Dawson Creek: Hwy 29. It’s pretty nice and the town of Hudson Hope is a great place to stop off to check out the dam and get some food.

Here’s a pic of the dam…

Bijoux Falls, British Columbia. 183732. 8:30pm Monday.
Added 1.75 cubes. I ran the tank dry again and the next stop on Hwy 97 was a small wayside. It just happened to be the Bijoux Falls stop and it had 140-ft waterfall just a hundred yards away. As we filled the tank, you could hear the roar of the rapids.

Williams Lake, British Columbia. 18XXXX. 12:30am Tuesday.
Staying for the night.

nick · #50 07-08-2008, 08:12 PM

Once again, I forgot the mileage log in the car. I'll post some images from Central British Columbia, Vancouver and Seattle tomorrow.

We are currently staying in downtown Seattle for the night and checking out the typical sites. We stopped by the Frybrid shop, but it was after hours. We'd love to stop by tomorrow morning if possible.