Mile Zero Alaska Highway

The Alaska Highway begins at Mile 0

Dawson Creek, British Columbia

You will find Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek, British Columbia. We took the opportunity to visit the Northern Alberta Railways Park. The park provided plenty of visitor information.

We stayed at Northern Lights RV Park, just about a mile and a half west of the Alaska Highway junction: http://www.nlrv.com/

There are several fine RV parks in Dawson Creek. The town was also a great place to change some American dollars in Canadian money, to visit a grocery store, and fuel up once again. Our grocery and fuel stop was the Dawson Co-operative Union (Co-op) market and No-Frills Gas bar: http://www.dawsonco-op.com/index.php

The historic Alaska Hotel is now a treasured memory. 
According to its website: http://www.alaskahotel.com/, it
"went out in a blazing inferno on September 14, 2012 

Getting ready for the Alaska Highway—tools and spare parts

We purchased trailer wheel bearings in advance of our departure and had them stored in the truck bed.

The tool kit included all the standard wrenches, pliers. We also brought along a strong piece of pipe to use as leverage and an extender.

Things to bring to Alaska

Flashlights

We keep several in various places, both in the trailer and in the truck. One technique for use in full darkness is to have a flashlight with a red film-covered lens to help you retain night vision.

Spare batteries

In all sizes to accommodate any battery powered mechanisms you have. 

Moving north toward Dawson Creek

Prince George, British Columbia

Our second night’s stop was Prince George. The city has several RV parks. We stayed at Hartway RV Park, about eight miles north of the city proper on Highway 97. The park was pet friendly and it offered us a chance to access Internet via Wi-Fi and catch up on email.

In early May, cold rain was melting ice

Hartway RV Park

7729 S. Kelly Rd.

Prince George V2K 2H5

tel: 1-250-962-8848

fax: 1-250-563-6947

The next day’s 245 mile journey to Dawson Creek would be pretty doable.

We had read about and considered staying at provincial parks along the way. Gates we saw along the route were closed and locked, with snow piled several feet behind them. The winter had been too heavy to make boondock camping possible.

Snow was too deep for us to do any provincial park camping

Getting ready for the Alaska Highway—Tires

One of our first tasks before taking off for the Alaska Highway was to check our trailer tires and truck tires. Truck tires, after examination, got replaced with new ones. The trailer tires were only a year old. We believed them road ready. Later, we encountered issues. But that is another story for a later day.

Things to bring to Alaska—navigation gear

Compass

Our electronic compass is built in to our truck’s information center. For RV travel or just on the road travel in unfamiliar cities and regions, we can always glance at the compass to confirm direction of travel. It never hurts to back up high-tech with low-tech.

GPS

While it’s not a necessity for RVing, a global positioning system (GPS) is certainly a useful tool. Our choice is a Garmin Nuvi that includes 6 million points of interest. We have named the friendly computerized voice that can lead us to 6,000,000 points of interest “Our Lady of Perpetual Navigation” and we call her OLPN for short. Now we wonder how we ever got where we were going before. 

Underway, fuel- and road-conscious

Hope, British Columbia

Hope lies at the confluence of two rivers, the Fraser and Coquihalla, 96 miles and 154 kilometers east of Vancouver.  The town, surrounded by towering lush green sheer mountainsides, has been a popular film location, with local mountains even taking the role of the Himalayas.

Waiting for road work is often required

About fuel and fuel prices

The guideline we relied on was the Traveler’s Guide to Alaskan Camping by Mike & Terri Church. In their book, the Churches give examples of fuel prices at various sites along the Alaska Highway. As an example, the Churches note that the price of gasoline and diesel is about the same in Anchorage as it is in Seattle. Using Seattle as a benchmark, the Churches’ formula served as a reliable guideline. The percentage of increase in varying locations along the highway matched well. We tried to fuel up especially at stations that were busy and appeared to move a lot fuel. We tried to always drive on the “top of the tank” and never let fuel get too low.

Summer is the season for highway repair

Road conditions—road work

To a small degree on our northbound journey and to a greater extent on our return trip in August, road work all along the Alaska Highway was in full swing. It is important to remember that in deeply cold climates, summer is the only time for highway repairs and maintenance. Flagmen and women and pilot cars are the order of the day. Be prepared to wait.

Getting to the Alaska Highway

Coquihalla Highway in yellow connects with
Canada Highway 1 toward Cache Creek, BC

At Hope we diverted away from Highway 1 and instead headed east and north on PH 5, the Coquihalla Highway. We reconnected with Canada Highway 1 westbound toward Cache Creek just outside of Kamloops. 

From Cache Creek we picked up the 97 north to Prince George and remained on the 97 to Dawson Creek where the 97 also becomes the Alaska Highway. We followed on where the 97 becomes the 1 again, through BC towns such as Fort St. John, Fort Nelson, Steamboat, Summit, Toad River, Muncho Lake, Liard River and into Watson Lake in the Yukon Territory.

At that point, Alaska Highway weaves around the border of BC and the Yukon. Our route took us to Teslin, through Whitehorse, into Haines Junction through the Kluane Lake region and settlements such as Burwash Landing and Beaver Creek, crossing the Canadian/US border into Alaska at Port Alcan into Tok. We took the Tok cutoff, Highway 1, to Glenallen, and the Glenn Highway, 1, to Anchorage. 

An historic landmark highway stop about 10 miles north of Soda Creek
and 32.5 miles north of Williams Lake

Map with thanks to British Columbia: Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure: Coquihalla Highway Information http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/coquihalla/index.htm#map

A link to Alaska road condition: 

http://511.alaska.gov/alaska511/mappingcomponent  

A link to British Columbia road conditions:

http://www.drivebc.ca/  

A link to Yukon road conditions:

http://www.511yukon.ca/  

A link to weather conditions:

www.weather.com 

Route to Alaska

We were expected for work at the end of the first week in May. That meant we could count on some rather cool wet weather if not icy conditions. To make the journey easier, we took a lower-land route. Our entrance was north from Bellingham and US Interstate 5 to exit 256 to Highway 539 and straight for the border.

In May along the Alaska Highway, trees were
still bare and rivers remained icy

We entered British Columbia, Canada at the Aldergrove entrance. We headed up Canada Highway 1A to PH1 (provincial highway) 1 to Hope.  We spent our first night on the road in Hope at Telte Yet Campsite.

http://telteyetcampsite.20fr.com/

Summer Anchorage Weather and Daylight

Anchorage, Alaska, with its subarctic climate, sits in a coastal bowl surrounded by mountains, so it is not unusual for the city skies to be overcast with clouds. Summers are short and cool, although the frost-free growing season reportedly averages slightly over 100 days. Some people liken an Anchorage summer to San Francisco during spring.

Here is a three-month summer summary:

June

High: 63°F

Low: 48°F

Average: 56°F

Precipitation: 1.04"

During mid-May near Denali, the surrounding valley
was clear of snow but mountains remained covered

July

High: 65°F

Low: 53°F

Average: 59°F

Precipitation: 1.90"

August

High: 64°F

Low: 50°F

Average: 59°F

Precipitation: 2.89"

While average daytime summer temperatures range from approximately 55 to 78 degrees Fahrenheit weather can vary and be unpredictable. July is typically the warmest month with August having more rain. During our summer in Alaska 2012, mornings were commonly cool in the mid 40 degree range with high temperatures in the late afternoons around the 60 and 70 degree range.

By midsummer, at Emerald Lake on Highway 2 south
of Whitehorse en route to Skagway, snow has melted

The summer solstice, the longest day of the year, has 22 hours of functional daylight.

Anchorage big wild life: the official source for Anchorage, Alaska travel information

http://www.anchorage.net/anchorage-weather

Workcamper Job in Alaska

Moose sightings are an everyday event around Anchorage

Before we tell you about our preparation for RV travel to Alaska, we want to shout out a thank you to the management of Ship Creek RV Park for the opportunity and the summer of workcamping. We were impressed with both the park and our employers. After looking at all the RV parks in the city, we rate Ship Creek RV Park as best in Anchorage.

A beaver pond along the Ship Creek walking and bicycling trail

For our part, the work conditions were more than fair and the site we had was superior. We were treated as valuable employees and backed up by management in all aspects of work. We had fun getting to know guests from all over the world and helping them fulfill their travel goals and dreams.

You don't have to travel from Anchorage to see seals and otters at play 

If you’re going to Alaska and looking for a workcamping position that will allow for days off together and the ability to really see this part of Alaska, it would be hard to do better than ATA and Anchorage Ship Creek RV Park. Feel free to email us if you have questions.

Summer Alaska RV Journey Begins

Our decision to RV to Alaska in the summer of 2012 began with a question; “If not now, when?”

Alaska, the last frontier, was on our to-visit list since forever. Bob had driven the Alaska Highway with a small travel trailer in tow in the mid-1970s. Mary had never visited and wanted to go. 

Kenai Peninsula from the Seward Highway, south of Anchorage

In the mid-1990s, we had bought a Milepost, the Alaska map and guide book, and we were not able to make the journey. In 2007 we started making plans again and, just as circumstances challenged so many people, we too abandoned ambitious travel and instead hunkered down. In the winter of 2012, we made the decision.
 

The Alaska Highway, May 2012

One way to offset the high price of the long journey would be to work. We researched like crazy. Our choice was Anchorage. It is Alaska’s largest city, just under 300,000 people, with services right at hand. A coastal city, it has access to the regions we especially wanted to visit such as the Kenai Peninsula to the south, and to the north Wasilla, Palmer and the entire Matanuska-Susitna Valley, the Denali region including Talkeetna, the town with a cat as its elected mayor.

There were natural wonders to see, from sapphire blue glaciers to churning bore tides. Wildlife viewing was high on our list, from moose, bear and whale sightings to eagles, puffins and salmon runs.

Ship Creek, Anchorage, Alaska

We discovered a posting for a job at Alaska Travel Adventures’ Anchorage Ship Creek RV Park, and it looked nearly ideal. There was a variety of work, with some responsibilities indoors and others outdoors. In late winter we applied for a job as workcampers. We were hired.