Alaska/BC 2007

[Nonprophet]

Finally going to make this trip---I can't wait! Plan on leaving end of May and spending 4-8 weeks up there.

I've been reading the forums and gleaning as much info as possible from others who have made the trip. I live in Oregon, and plan on driving from here up to Anchorage and then explore the Kenai Penninsula area. Might go to Denali--we'll see. No real interest in going all the way to Deadhorse. I've fished Alaska for 8 summers and I spent on month on Vancouver island a few years back, so I'm not a total newbie to the area, but this is my first time driving up to Alaska.

Among other things, I'm trying to put together some cost estimates. I've seen figures of $3,000 or so in fuel--that seems pretty high to me, but I'd like to get some more specifics.

RT Seattle to Anchorage is about 3,000 miles. I've got a '99 Tacoma 4x4 ext cab, I average 300-350 miles per tank. At $3.10 a gallon, that's 10 tanks of gas @ $55 a tank=$550. Adding some extra miles for scenic sidetrips and adding some extra $ for remote fuel prices, it seems like $800 in fuel one way is a reasonable estimate--could anyone who has made the trip recently chime in on this?

I've got a Wildernest Camper on my Taco, and plan on camping 95% of the time. I tend to prefer non-touristy areas and more of a back-roads approach.

Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated, and if anyone else is planning on going May/June and you'd like to convoy--let me know!


Thanks!

ROFSheriffHL:

NP

 

[allochris]

hum, so tempting, i would do it as long as i find some job here & there once i'm up there by yukon, and then pop into AK & go for kenai penisula to explore some ski touring opportunities. i'm in mtl right now, planning to arrive in whistler, bc on may 2nd wk. my gas cash will be low for sure once i arrive on the west coast. more to that, i'm also going to do this 2wks glacier-traverse a couple hrs east of Bella Colla. hum, what's your timeline of where about?

...thinking about it, i wouldn't mind going fishing to earn some gas $!

 

[paulj]

One recent camping trips 2-3 weeks long, we end up spending a night in a motel about 10 days into the trip, gettting a shower and doing laundry. On a 3mth Alaska trip some years ago, we ended up camping (in a Wildernest) about 2/3 of the time. We stayed in motels in Edmonton, Fairbanks, Anchorage, and Calgary, plus several nights on the ferries in the Alaska panhandle. Also we spent a week in a bush village. I also tend to use motels more when pushing to get in a lot of miles, since it is easier to drive late, and start early that way.

paulj

 

[Tom_D]

Me too!

We are setting off from eastern Washington on a similar trip in mid June. We will drive to Alaska first and stop to see friends in Anchorage then back over to the Yukon and up the Dempster to Inuvik. Then back over to Alaska and maybe up the Dalton to Prudhoe Bay. Then back home -- We figure 6 weeks or so. We will be driving our FUSO FG Camper.

Tom Davies

 

[Scott Brady]

The fuel costs seem pretty close, especially given the summer fuel prices. We had over $3,000 for the Arctic Trip.

 

[OutbacKamper]

......At $3.10 a gallon......
NP

Hello NP;
In BC we are at about $1.10 to $1.20 per litre for gas now (prices have increased recently). That is about $4 US per gallon, and is probably higher once you get up north. I am considering Alaska in 2008, so any tips from your trip would be welcome. Any chance you will be passing thru Kelowna?

Good luck with planning the trip.

Cheers
Mark

 

[allochris]

In BC we are at about $1.10 to $1.20 per litre for gas now

WHY!!! NO! NO! NO! Is diesel in BC cheaper than gas now? It is at 1.06 gas/1.03diesel now in Montreal.

Now it's seriously getting to the point where i'm debating if i should just drive out with my jetta diesel with a tent versus driving a 14L/100km camper.

I will have about 12-4000km to do this summer, so that's about $1700-$2000 on the truck versus $750-850 on the jetta.

Burning an extra $1000 in the air seems wrong to me...

 

[Christophe Noel]

I've done several trips from the lower of the lower 48 to various points Alaskan. I've done it in all seasons. Much of BC is an ocean of trees with the only excitement being the occassional frost heave. There are some spectacular areas along the Cassiar HWY and as you get further north. Obviously, the Mt. Robson, Jasper, Banff area is a stunner.

As you get further north you come to neat places like the hot springs outside of Watson Lake, BC. There are some really nice spots just south of Whitehorse like Haines, AK and Skaway, AK. Skagway is great if you want to kick back some brews with a wild, and young crowd.

As you venture in towards Tok and Anchorage, the landscape again gets massive. If memory serves, the beer fest in Haines is in May. That's worth a visit. Haines is awesome. A former hometown of mine.

If you have more specific questions, shoot'em my way

cnvivefrance@hotmail.com

Christophe "flounder"

 

[Schattenjager]

Be sure to have plenty of mosquito and bear repellant. Deet for the bugs, 12ga 3" Black Magic mags for the latter.
:eatchicke

 

[lowenbrau]

Be sure to have plenty of mosquito and bear repellant. Deet for the bugs, 12ga 3" Black Magic mags for the latter.
:eatchicke

Both times I crossed the Yukon / AK the guard asked me if I had a gun. I said "no" and he said "you should have" Everyplace I look online tells me its pretty much impossible to take a gun from Canada to the US unless I have a hunting licence and the gun shops in the US stop talking to you when they find out you are from Canada. I guess I'll have to stick to the bearspray and hope it works on angry cow moose which worry me more than bears.

 

[Grouseman]

Gun

Both times I crossed the Yukon / AK the guard asked me if I had a gun. I said "no" and he said "you should have" Everyplace I look online tells me its pretty much impossible to take a gun from Canada to the US unless I have a hunting licence and the gun shops in the US stop talking to you when they find out you are from Canada. I guess I'll have to stick to the bearspray and hope it works on angry cow moose which worry me more than bears.

L,

If having a gun could save your life. Bring one along. Buy a cheap hunting license as needed to ensure your having a gun. Typically you can buy a license via the net for almost anywhere now.

SS

 

[Christophe Noel]

You'll be much safer with a good head on your shoulders than you will be with a gun. Guns are bad news. On the off chance you get lucky enough to draw your gun in time to shoot a bear, you'll really only make it reeeally mad. Bear spray works. I know first hand. You have to realize a bear's snoot is 100x more accute than even a dog's sniffer. When you unleash a 30' spray of pepper spray on a bear it does one of two things. I've seen sprayed bears hit the deck in a stunned daze or they shoot through the trees like they've been hit by lighting. Either way, they immediately lose interest in the sprayer. Many of the really gnarly bear attacks have been the result of a bear getting shot by some Billy the Kid type itching to shoot something.

One of our neighbors in AK had a bear that really was getting too close, too often to his house. He got the okay to shoot it. I watched from the window of his house when the first shot was fired. The bear went nutso. If you were in the woods, that bear would have knocked your block off. IF you happen to be in the woods when a brown bear attacks, most likely you'll never know it was there untill it comes crashing through the trees like a freight train. Good luck pulling your pistola. Or, if you get in a situation where a bear is charging or bluff charging, you might shoot him on a bluff charge and quickly ramp things up to a full on "I'm going to eat your head" charge. I've been "bluffed" before and it's scary as all hell. I could easily see why guys shoot their gun and the first sign of a charge. Not smart. That happened in the early 90s. A fisherman was confronted by a young brown bear. The fisherman freaked out, shot the bear with his rather large .44 and the bear took him to town. How he lived? Who knows. Luck. I've seen hundreds of fishermen in the same scenario just walk away carefully and without a scratch.

There's always a host of gun experts that are quick to start talking about this gun and that round of ammo to use on a bear. Even the experts will tell you, the simplest solution is a smart head and a $40 can of bear spray. REAL BEAR SPRAY!! Not the Hault stuff mail men use on dogs. Lots of jokes are made of bear spray and bells, but there is some cred to those methods. I've stumbled onto bears napping in the sunshine...yikes. Having a whistle to toot or a loud voice might save your hyde. When in bear country, you want those suckers to know where YOU are.

I've guided dozens and dozens of clients through some of the thickest bear country in SE Alaska. Being smart is the best defense. Guns....not necessary at all. Most likely just a bad scenario waiting to happen.

 

[Grouseman]

Bears

Flounder,

"I've guided dozens and dozens of clients through some of the thickest bear country in SE Alaska. Being smart is the best defense. Guns....not necessary at all. Most likely just a bad scenario waiting to happen.[/QUOTE]

I'm sure you know alot more about bear attacks than most here including myself. I was only in Alaska for a couple of weeks in 2005. Most people I spoke to in Alaska that went fishing,hiking etc in remote places took spray and large caliber pistols/rifles. I spoke to several game wardens and they told me that they would carry large caliber rifles into "bear country".
In Alaska you hear about bear attacks real often, at least we did while there.

We actually had a great bear experience on the Kenai. We were fishing and Momma and her cubs came into fish and play. Great experience for everybody.

Grouseman

 

[Christophe Noel]

Grouseman,
I've long been fascinated with this topic. I carried bear spray because frankly, I relate well to Barney Fife and his one bullet. I'm not a fan of guns anyway. However, the first time I sprayed a bear I was floored with how effective that stuff was. Hard to imagine a gun being a better option.

While living in Haines, AK I used to pal around with a guy who was a former AK Trooper. His job for years was serving as the state's lead investigator for all sorts of animal related encounters, many of which were fatalities. He was an avid hunter, gun collector and sure knew first hand what a bear could do to a fella. He was one of the key investigators at the Watson Lake attacks many years ago. He gave the most compelling arguments on guns and bears. He said toting a serious bear canon wasn't a bad idea. However, the chances of successfully pulling off a defensive shot was slim at best. "it would be the shot of your life...litterally." He said, most defensive bear kills are not really defensive kills but really precautionary kills. Meaning the shooter probably killed or wounded a bear that would have otherwise lumbered off into the woods peacefully. He summed it up best by saying, "if you're truly being attacked, shoot yourself if you have time - not that you would have the time."

The times I've sprayed bears the spray was hands down the best option. Once a bear was just far too curious and wouldn't leave our camp area. He finally got close enough to spray and, bam! He was gone. Another time our mountain bike group rounded a corner and surprized a bear. We tried to back away, but not knowing if the bear was going to turn or charge, we sprayed and, BAM! The bear was gone. Another time the bear ran across a very deep river in a matter of seconds as a means of showing us he meant business. We sprayed him and he stopped dead in his tracks. Each of those scenarios could have been disasterous had we shot and wounded a bear with a gun.

Our local bear/gun expert summed it up best by saying, "most ofen shooting a bear is tantemount to slapping Mike Tyson with an open fist."

I respect those who tote a pistola for bears. I've never met a guy who's shot a bear. Oddly enough, I know dozens of people who have sprayed bears and lived to tell the tale. That's enough proof for me.

 

[Grouseman]

Flounder,

You make some very good points. Is there a place on the internet where I can buy the good bear spray? We're going camping out west and might have a need for it. I'm one of those guys that like guns. But I was raised with them, taught to respect them, and what they can do. I'm a bird hunter and travel quite a bit to hunt Upland Game. It is my favorite hobby and I actually LOVE it. The guns, the dogs, the outdoors, and the hunt, not necessiarily in that order.

Grouseman