32 replies to this topic

[fuzzymarindave]

Sounds like Canada has it together.

Fairly simple after the wait.

Frank

 Glad that is the current situation.  A few months ago I wasn't confident on a border crossing so I've already booked a truck camper rental for a couple weeks.  Arriving in Anchorage on Saturday.    It will be our first time in Alaska so we look forward to checking out a few places including Denali NP and Kenai Fjords NP.

[ckent323]

fuzzymarindave,

 

We are presently in Anchorage and have been in Alaska since Aug 9 (departed Bellingham on the ferry Aug 7).

 

We are finding that campgrounds and RV during the Southeast Alaska leg of our trip have had availability but on our Whittier, Anchorage, Palmer, McCarthy, Valdez leg of our trip we are seeing full campgrounds with lots of rented RVs with Alaska plates.   Also it is hunting season and a lot of Alaskans seem to be out (the weather was nice for the past week but rain returned today). That written there are very few large RVs on the road like we saw during our trip in 2018.

I think camping away from the tourist destinations will not be a problem.   There are a lots of tourists in the typical mainland Alaska locations.  They have largely flown in.  Not a few have rented RVs.  But some cruise ships are operating, we saw two huge cruise ships one day in Juneau and a different one on another day.  We also saw a huge cruise ship a week earlier than that in Ketchikan.

The travel company (Alaska Travel Connection - they are great) handling the accomodations for the railroad motorcar portion of our trip has reported full hotels in Anchorage Denali and Fairbanks until mid September.  Isabelle (the owner) has reported that rental car availability is almost nonexistent.  

Bottom line:

If you have not done so already I recommend doing a little research and contacting potential camping locations around Denali and other high tourist areas with the idea of reserving a spot so you do not have to go searching in real time.  Don't count on space being available. I suspect things will loosen up a bit after Labor day

Edited by ckent323, 02 September 2021 - 11:16 PM.

[Jack]

Fuzzymarinedave: "Arriving in Anchorage on Saturday.    It will be our first time in Alaska so we look forward to checking out a few places including Denali NP and Kenai Fjords NP."

 

The Old Denali Highway is one of the best drives in AK - it even has views of Denali. Also consider Chena Hot Springs outside of Fairbanks. The RV park has the basics and is not overpriced. Iceland's Blue Lagoon? Chena is so much better - also not overpriced. Check out the restaurant - range of choices from economical to high end. If you are lucky and the owner, Bernie Karl, gives ANY tour, especially the engineering, don't miss it. Bernie is a legend,

Edited by Jack, 02 September 2021 - 11:54 PM.

[ckent323]

Fuzzymarinedave,

 

If the weatrher is good the drive from Anchorage to/from Homer as well the drive to/from Valdez are spectacular and worth doing.  

If in Fairbanks the Fountainhead Auto Museum is worth a visit.  It is an amazng collection.

 

I recommend the Anchorage Museum as well as the University of Alaska Museum of the North in Fairbanks.

The milepost is very helpful when camping and looking for places - sightseeing, pullouts and rest stops,  picnic spots, location of campgrounds and RV parks, etc.   There is an app but it is not helpful if out of cell range which is still not uncommon.   Better if you can download it to a laptop or tablet or just use hard copy and have your passenger act as navagator.  All the highways have mileposts so you know where you are but depending on the direction you are going you will need to pay attention to which way the milepost numbers are ging (increasing or decreasing so that you can figure out if you page forward in the book (or app) or backwards.

.

When in Denali I strongly recommend the 12 hour Kantisna Roadhouse tour (Denali Wilderness Adventure Tour) or whatever it is called this year.   We took it in 2018 and we ae booked again this year.   It sells out so book as soon as you can.   

It snowed last week above 2500 feet so that should cause the large animals to start moving down to the lower elevations.  We saw a Black Bear outside of Valdez 3 days ago and a cow moose and calf on the way back to Anchorage outside Glenallen near Tolsona.

Safe travels and enjoy your trip!

 

Craig 

Edited by ckent323, 03 September 2021 - 01:45 AM.

[fuzzymarindave]

Great tips for our trip.  The road into Denali toward Kantisna is closed about half way due to a mud slide.  We were able to get 3 nights campground reservation at Teklanika; which is as far as you can drive your personal vehicle.   Right now Teklanika is closed due to a pair of bears being aggressive however we are hoping that they open it.   Sunday we plan to head towards Seward and will take a boat tour of the fjords and glaciers.   Seems most campgrounds allowing reservations are full Friday-Monday, however many are first-come first-served.  And the National Forest has identified areas where dispersed camping is allowed so hopefully we will find some good spots to set up.

Craig-  Solvang is kinda small town..  I got my first FWC Hawk from a fellow in Solvang around 2009 or so.  Forgot his name but he was also a sailor.

[smlobx]

We really enjoyed our 3 days in Tek. It allowed us to unwind and enjoy the braided river that runs near the Campground.

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Great tips for our trip.  The road into Denali toward Kantisna is closed about half way due to a mud slide.  We were able to get 3 nights campground reservation at Teklanika; which is as far as you can drive your personal vehicle.   Right now Teklanika is closed due to a pair of bears being aggressive however we are hoping that they open it.   Sunday we plan to head towards Seward and will take a boat tour of the fjords and glaciers.   Seems most campgrounds allowing reservations are full Friday-Monday, however many are first-come first-served.  And the National Forest has identified areas where dispersed camping is allowed so hopefully we will find some good spots to set up.

Craig-  Solvang is kinda small town..  I got my first FWC Hawk from a fellow in Solvang around 2009 or so.  Forgot his name but he was also a sailor.

In Seward there is a "city" campground.We stayed 2 nights in a spot right next to the trail/water front.

We just drove in no reservations. There is a "ticket" machine there for the space fee a bit tricky to work at first.

 

In Homer there is a great RV place just before town on the right.Great people,quiet and walking distance to town.

Also the Two Sisters bakery has a great assortment of baked goods and lunch items.

 

There are some camp grounds on the Anchor Point rd ( I think that's it's name) about 6 miles before Homer on the right .Campgrounds are on the river . There are a few campgrounds along the road.Last one would be our choice as it's on Cook inlet.Anchor Point Rec area.

 

Also campgrounds around Cooper Landing are nice.We stayed at Quartz Creek. At Russian River CG the trail to Russian River falls is a great hike

 

There is a good camp near the turn off to Whittier, Williwaw CG.

 

For sure the Old Denali hwy is a great trip.If you get to the Delta Junction area just north of town is a great CG on the river ,Clear Water  CGI think it's called.

 

Check out my blog for info on the last 3 trips to Alaska ,2016/2011/2009.

Have a great time.

Frank

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Dave do you have a 'Milepost",it's the "bible" for Alaska travel.

Get a new one or if you can find a older used one same info less $$.

 

Frank

[fuzzymarindave]

Dave do you have a 'Milepost",it's the "bible" for Alaska travel.

Get a new one or if you can find a older used one same info less $$.

 

Frank

Yes, I've got the Milepost which I probably learned about from this forum. Thx

[ckent323]

We cancelled our return ferry reservations today after checking out locations to get a Covid test before entering Canada.

 

Presently there is a mobile Covid testing trailer near Tok that can provide Covid test results in about an hour and the test is acceptable to Canada.  Unfortunately they are not sure they will still be there on Sept 22 when we are planning to pass through there (our railcar excursion ends on Sept 19 and we need to re-containerize our RR speeder so we will not be able to leave Anchorage for Canada until Sept 21).  As backup there are a number of testing locations in Anchorage including Anchorage International Airport but it is uncler which places can get us an acceptable test result in 48 hours or less.

 

The Little Gold Creek border crossing did not open this year so crossing into the Yukon from the Top of the World Highway is not possible.  Sigh!   The only crossing with access to the Alcan highway when from Fairbanks or Anchorge is Beaver Creek, YT.  Locals in Daswson City who I talked to today are talking about an early winter and that places in Dawson City may be closed by Sept 24, so visiting Dawson City may be off the table this time.  Sigh!

Edited by ckent323, 04 September 2021 - 04:39 AM.