Wandering from Tennesse to Alaska 2023

[smlobx]

Great trip so far. I had to get my oil changed in Fairbanks and also had a check engine light go off just before crossing into Alaska. The Ford dealer in Fairbanks went out of their way to get me back on the road asap. Good people.

Thanks for taking us along.

 

[Machinebuilder]

7-6 Fairbanks to the Arctic Circle

The Campground at the Arctic Circle is very new and nice. only $5 with America the beautiful Pass

 

[Machinebuilder]

7-7 Arctic Circle to Galbraith Lake

From Camp at Galbraith Lake

 

[Machinebuilder]

7-8 Deadhorse

It had started raining overnight, there was so much fog it was hard to see much.
I decided since i made it this far I would go all the way to Deadhorse/Prudoe Bay

I finally saw another moose

And some caribou

Deadhorse is there for oil, period not much else is there

I saw several of these, they are instruments for collecting snowfall info

At the Last Chance Rest Area,

The Sag river

the road is extremely rough for long stretches and I had to change a flat..........in the mud, rain and cold.
I was happy to get back to Galbraith camp. the small creek was high enough I listened to the rocks being tumbled

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Thanks that's a great adventure.Never made it north of Delta but camped just out of town on a nice river site.
Are you headed to Dawson City? There's a nice campground on the "left" bank of the river and an old riverboat grave yard.
It's just downstream from the CG. Also in town there's a good restaurant don't have its name handy but it's near the visitors info.
Top of the World Hwy is a beautiful route and before that a stop at Chicken.
Enjoy.
Frank

 

[Foy]

Thanks for the updates, looks like a trip of a lifetime!

Some, including me, would be interested in what tires you're running (load range E, 10ply rated perhaps) and if you determined the cause of your flat (nail, screw, other shrapnel?) and if the tire is repairable. That's a long way from the barn to be having horseshoe problems,

I have never (knocking wood as I type) never had a flat on the pickup or the single axle camper trailer even with thousands of miles on graded gravel roads and trails in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. I realize that obviously some do, so I wonder what the difference in overall setups are.

Enjoy and thanks again!

Foy

 

[smlobx]

Foy not speaking for the OP but the Haul Road is notorious for getting flats due to the fact that the AK DOT uses shot rock as gravel which has some very sharp edges. Interestingly there is a rock quarry approximately every 50 to 100 miles up along the Dalton where they would produce the gravel for road construction/maintenance. Several of these were up a mountain and made for great camping spots with amazing views.

Due to the stories we heard we decided to take 2 spares with us on our trip to AK in ‘20 but we’re fortunate to not get any flats in almost 15k of driving.

My F-350 came standard with 275/60R20 tires but we upgraded to 295/65R20 to give us more floatation and weight carrying capacity (we were almost 10,500 #’s fully loaded). We used TOYO AT3’s and we’re very happy with their performance. We will probably use them in a different size on my Gladiator in a couple of months as well.

 

[Machinebuilder]

You don’t get the weight rating on a F350 without E rated tires

I am running 275/70-18 Yokohama geolander XAT tires

I got the flat in a very rough area under construction. A rock went between the tread blocks and came back out

Coldfoot has a small tire repair shop and he patched the inside of the tire.

As far as the conventional advise to carry 2 spares. Where do you put a 2nd 100+lb 33”x11” spare where it isn’t in the way?

I do have tire plugs and a compressor but I didn’t want to mess with it in the mud and rain. When I walked around to the leaking tire I could hear the hissing.

 

[Machinebuilder]

When I weighed the rig I’m about 10600lbs fully loaded.

It takes a lot to travel for months

 

[Machinebuilder]

Frank my plan is to do the top of the world Dawson City when I leave Alaska

 

[Machinebuilder]

I made it back to Fairbanks without any more issues.
I then went through Delta Jct and took the Richardson Hwy to the Old Denali Hwy
I camped several nights at Tangle Lakes Campground.

I've had several days of wet rainy weather and the clouds have been low enough to block the views

today it cleared up and I went into Denali NP, it didn't take me long to want to leave the crowds behind.
I did get to see Denali MT for a short time

I'm really struggling to get an internet connection so any more pictures will have to wait until I find a decent one

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

We have driven that route from Delta to the Old Denali Hwy.
Have enjoyed the 3 trips we made on that road.

On our 2 trips to Denali we managed to be free of heavy crowds.
We camped at Teck 7 nights on our trips there.We enjoyed walking
the road that far into the park. The road is fairly quiet only a bus every once in a while.
You get to see a lot of wildlife walking the road.
Enjoy your continued journey.
Thanks for sharing.
Frank

 

[Machinebuilder]

I’m in Seward now. Once again my cell service is not enough to post pictures

I’ve got some great ones to share when I can

 

[ski3pin]

I’m in Seward now. Once again my cell service is not enough to post pictures

I’ve got some great ones to share when I can

Oh boy!

 

[buckland]

Pop into the Resurrect Art Coffee shop (an old church) ...they have a bakery and fine selection of food. It's owned by my nephew Michael and his wife Micheley ...and their famous dog "Beans"...
Rob

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

I’m in Seward now. Once again my cell service is not enough to post pictures

I’ve got some great ones to share when I can

Second on the Resurrection Cafe.We had coffee and baked goods there during our 2 nights in Seward very yummy.
Also when you get to Homer make sure you check our the Two Sisters bakery,they have a great selection of food.
If your looking for a good place to stay a few nights there is a campground just as you enter Homer on the right.

Nice and quiet with some sites over looking the water. They were very nice to us even gave us a primo site but only charged us for a standard site since we didn't use the hookups. The camping area out on the "strand" is very nosier and full of huge rigs.

There are nice camping spots a few miles before town on the right at the Anchor Point road.The last one is right on the water and
had some nice spots.
We also stayed at Quartz Creek a NF site just off the main road near the Kenai River. Also nice sites.There are a lot of campgrounds around that Kenai River area some on streams others on lakes.
Enjoy your time exploring.
Hope you get better cell service so we get to see your photos.
Thanks for keeping us updated.

Frank

 

[buckland]

Here is a list of a few camp grounds.... Frank which one are you speaking of (on the right) as there are a few?

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

We drove the road to the coast and the last one the Anchor Point one seemed to be the nicest IMO.
The others were just between the road and river and small as I remember.
Frank

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Rob I searched and the Halibut CG is the one at the end of the road.
As I mentioned the others weren't as nice.Seemed to be more of a day
use/fishing stop.
The area at the end of the road is very interesting. Tractors put in/take out
trailer fishing boats and there are a lot of bald eagles there eating the remains
of the days catch.
The RV park in Homer is called Ocean Shores RV Park.
Frank

 

[buckland]

Thanks Frank. My wife and I are going up to Seward in September and using my nephews camper... heading over to Homer so I can buy some smoked Halibut to bring home! Looking forward to the trip. Weird not driving!