Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:59:42 -0800
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Trip to Alaska, summer 2009
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lots to say about this adventure.
first one I'd say is 4 weeks is barely enough time.
For example, Anchorage is about ................easy to find out online of
course.............something like 2,600 miles from Portland.
I had 3 weeks for a trip up there once, from San Francisco Bay Area
............in a turbo diesel vanagon.
we camped and drove for I think 11 nice days........
( lake Atlin at the top of BC is remote and beautiful , or was in the early
90's ) ......
but in Whitehorse, Yukon we found we were still 900 miles from anchorage.
that's 18 hours more drving time.
which is two, long long days.
and we had to be back in 12 days or so.
so, if driving there from here, 4 weeks is barely enough.
route..........don't take the Alcan hwy from Dawson to Whitehorse, unless
you just need to say 'I drove the Alcan."
much better route is the Cassiar Hwy.....
head toward Prince Rupert, and it starts going straight north from a
junction a few hours inland from Prince Rupert.
See Steward BC, the Bear Glacier near there, Hyder AK, and the Salmon
glacier above Hyder, if it's still there.
( I first went there in about 1989 .............9 years later, half the
glacier was gone, melted away. )
main thing I wanted to say .......
it's a long, long way, in miles , from Portland to Anchorage Denali, and
Fairbanks.
Homer,south of Anchrage, and the Kenai peninsulae........and the Homor
Spit..........very worthy of a visit.
and about 30 more awesome places, or a hundred more that you can drive to.
one spot worth going to on the Alcan hwy, is Laird Hot Srings.
But anyway, sounds awesome !~
try to get a little more time allotted for the trip.
a nice ferry route too, is from Skagway back down to Prince Rubert.
Cuts a lot of driving time off the route back.
in the 90's when I took that, a van and two people on the ferry route ( they
call it the 'marine highway' .........was about $ 550 I think.
It's some of the greatest adventure driving and awesome nature in North
American....have a great trip !!
scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ellen" <elleninoregon@HOTMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, January 30, 2009 10:55 AM
Subject: Trip to Alaska, summer 2009
Never too soon to start gathering ideas for this! After the five-week,
7000-mile cross-country trip last fall (which went fairly well) I am anxious
to take Lola up to the GREAT LAND on a four week jaunt this summer. Any
input is welcome, as well as potential traveling partners. I feel traveling
up to Alaska is different than around the lower 48 in that there are fewer
resources should something go wrong. I am open to traveling in a group of
Vanagons, as opposed to just myself. Places that are on my must see list
are Anchorage, Denali, and Fairbanks. Everything else is negotiable. I am
located close to Portland, Oregon.
TIA,
Ellen
Lola, '85 Vanagon ASI
Coee, Traveling Cat
Don't wait for a light to appear at the end of the tunnel; stride down
there.....and light the bloody thing yourself." ~Dara Henderson
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