Alaska Roundup–trip summary and financials

Alaska claims to be the “Last Frontier”, it is also a “Vast Frontier”!  Driving days are part of the adventure, be prepared.

Things we did right:
Research!
I read the other blogs and guides to have a decent idea of what we wanted to do.
I allowed options and prepared for rain, expecting the average of 30% rain days, however we had 52 consecutive rain days! 
Health insurance research, as most US policies (including Medicare) are not valid in Canada
The Milepost, both on-line and hardcopy are indispensable
Scotchgaurd for the seat covers, jackets, etc
Canned air for blowing out the air vents of the PC
Removed the wheel simulators (hubcaps) and left them at home
A couple types of insect repentant
This could be a long list, we did most of it right

Things we could have done better:
Research!
This was to be a BnB trip – Boots and Bikes.  We were good with boots, but this is an Alaska bike:

Not just the panniers, but the fenders!  Never thought to add fenders for a bike ride in the rain…
Jeans, Fran does not have any, and she did look a bit too much like a tourist in her golf and tennis pants.  I have a couple pairs of jeans and boots ... fit in like a native .  Eh? U-betchya!!!
Timing! Leaving 10 days late due to my ‘stabbed in the foot’ with a sewing needle, returning 10 days early.  The house was empty and we were desperate for some sun!

Our financials in USD, the percentages may help with travel planning:

Days on the road	93
Consecutive days of rain	52	God liked Noah better!
Miles driven	10173
Gallons of diesel	632.46
Ave MPG	16.08
Fuel exp	1877.35		22%
ave cost/gallon	2.97
Rufus repairs/propane/service	843.33		10%
Private campgrounds	1213.13	34 nites ave 35.68	14%
Public campgrounds	498.38	31 nites ave 16.08	6%
FREE camping!		28 nites
Average cost/nite	18.40
Meals Dining out/grocery	1933.92		23%
Museums/tolls/ferries/etc.	963.51		11%
Personal haircuts/laundry/etc.	199.00		2%
Misc gifts/souvenirs	1123.72		12%

The Damage Report:
2 windshield dings– repairable
22 paint dings– the 2 big dings will require professional help
Kitchen sink ABS drain pipe broke – repaired  … ACE is the Place!
Stinky Slinky developed a leak – replaced tubing
Microwave motor shaft – non-repairable … new unit required
Slideout brake failed – using wedges to hold slide in while driving

Wildlife Sightings:
Moose
Black bear – more bears than moose!
Stone and Dall Sheep
BOBCAT!
Caribou
Reindeer (captive caribou)
Grizzly (captive)
Musk Ox (captive)
Eagles/Osprey/Puffin – more birds than I’d ever be able to identify
Orca/seals/porpoise – lots of marine life
And we saw Denali!  Yup the elusive mountain took a moment of pity on us.
In British Columbia and Alaska water supplies the life, we saw that it comes in all forms – rain, fog, white energetic waterfalls, blue glacial ice, black mosquito infested marsh and every color and mood in-between. 

But taking 395 through Washington, Oregon and California is a stark contrast to the abundant water supply of the north.   Here’s a mid afternoon pic of the Eastern Sierra and me at Moul Falls ... what a contrast!


Our final stop, a last chance for a bit of peace and quiet at Fossil Falls (BLM $6/3), which has been our launch pad north and last stop south for the past 30+ years.  However, the road within the campground has badly deteriorated …


There’s no place like home ….

The Cassiar Highway

The awesome Cassiar Highway!  It does have a bit of everything, which can be divided into 3 sections.  For simplicity I’ll call The junction with the Alaska Highway to Meziadin Junction NORTH.  Meziadin Junction to Stewart/Hyder CENTRAL and the section from Meziadin Junction to the Yellowhead Highway SOUTH.

Note the only cell service is in Stewart, BC. 

NORTH Cassiar:
We are taking the Cassiar north to south and filled up the gas at Nugget City, or get gas at Junction 37 at the Alaska Highway which also has gas and a small RV park.


This is indeed what I’d call a good road, possibly the best we’ve been on.  BUT! It is very narrow, much of it is unmarked, with crushed sharp lava rocks just on the shoulder off the paved surface.  Are you towing?  Just be sure to keep the tires on the pavement and know your gas stops.

We passed 6 disabled units in the first 200 km, but none after.  Two trailers with flat passenger side tires – keep those tires on the pavement!  Two units with unknown issues that were being worked on and two out of gas – including an RV in the southbound lane.  I’ll repeat there is no shoulder, very few turnouts and no cell service.  But it is a beautiful, Beautiful drive!

Boya Lake Provincial Park is an ideal stop for dry camping for most units, but larger units may be more comfortable at the rest area 10 km north.  But we scored a waterfront site!


The view out the dinette window after a brief rain.


The Artesian Well provides great water for the morning coffee.


and a little extra for the water bottles.  Our site is near the lake shore trail.  This is a short 1.5 km ‘lollipop’, we took the loop at the end counter-clockwise.   We mentioned to the neighbors that clockwise would be more easier.




And they were back in just a few minutes.  Apparently we disturbed a bear, who we did not see, but they did!  It would have been a more interesting hike with a bear, but it was still a very nice morning walk in the woods.

Jade City is one of the larger jade cutters in BC.  It is currently being filmed by the Discovery Channel for a series titled ‘Jade Fever’.



Jade City also offers FREE parking for self contained units …, but no campfires!

There are not near enough viewpoints along this great section, however we had the Gnat Lake pullout to ourselves for a lunch break.


The Milepost calls these little lakes and swamps “Moose Ponds”, but we’ve only seen Goose, Duck, Beaver and Frog Ponds.  And beautiful lake views.


We need to fill up again at Bell 2 Lodge.  A nice resort for the rich-and-famous!  Diesel is a bit more, dinning room is out of the question, but a FHU site is a reasonable $37.  The showers are unmetered!, their WiFi is pay-per-use at $20/hr (we did not use it), but I like that concept to provide something that works and charge for use.


CENTRAL Cassiar:
This is the 37A spur to Stewart BC and Hyder, AK.  Finally some road markings, Sweet! and wood surfaced bridges ... quaint!



The beauty of this road rivals that of the approach to Valdez.  WOW-some!, with bears ..


Well, this is Bear Glacier and we are following the Bear River, makes sense there would be a bear ...


Stewart is a small town doing what it can to serve the US residents of Hyder and visitors from all over the world.  An interesting challenge to perform in a beautiful location.  The estuary is crossed with a boardwalk, but we saw no birds and blessed with no mosquitoes on our walk.



I did not want to drive the RV up to the Salmon Glacier and Stewart had the perfect solution.  The combination Video, Ice Cream, Sears, Hertz store was happy to rent us a Subaru Forester for the trip.


Hyder is famous for fish/bear viewing platform.  We saw lots of salmon, but no bears.  There is a bear sighting chart at the ranger station, no bears were seen in the previous 3 days either.  Although this is a heavily advertised stop, I think the bears are not near as common as the hype would indicate.  Still a nice stop for fish viewing, and with our Senior Pass (free!), else $5.



The drive up to Salmon Glacier is more WOW-some!  Glaciers in the mountains, white silt rivers and turquoise pools below.


The destination for the little Subaru rental is finally in sight.




I’ll also like to put in a plug for our night at the Rainy Creek Campground in Stewart.  This is a city park tucked deep into the trees along Rainy Creek.  It’s a short walk to town, has water and electric sites, provides metered showers and lame WiFi, but the location and price are hard to beat.  We did not use the hookups nor the city dump station, which allowed us to be tucked deep into the wooded sites, with a perfect tree for some tennis practice.


Speaking of tennis there are courts (no backboard) just out side the park.  A Nature Trail starts at the courts, but we were talked out of following it due to the recent bear activity.

SOUTH Cassiar:
Except for the single lane bridge at the Nass River there is not much of tourist interest along this stretch.  It’s over 150 km of good road with no services and couple rest stops through farmlands.

Next up the Yellowhead Highway …