Alaska travel thoughts February 04, 2012, 11:30:19 am Yahoo Message Number: 128353Hi Group, It has been interesting reading the Alaska posts. LD owners are an adventrous lot, aren't they? A few thoughts and suggestions based on several Alaska trips, both the fly-drive kind and also driving the LD there. A disclaimer, we don't use a toad with our Midbath. There were very few places we wished we had another vehicle; that was mostly on the Kenai Pennisula. If I was going there again, I would consider renting a car while in that area (Anchorage?)for a couple weeks. The other area we had frustration by only having the LD, was in the Canadian Rockies, particularly Banff. We had problems finding parking places at the popular areas due to all the congestion and having a car would have been nice. As Larry W. suggested, make sure your vehicle and toad are in great shape.I suggest you install some sort of protective screening across your grill to keep the insects out of your radiator. We bought an inexpensive screen at a Candian Tire store; I wish I had found a better one. Also, carry an extra set of wiper blades. And pay attention to the frost heave warnings! I've also found that when you get into the Yukon, it seems the miles should count twice. What I mean is that if you drive 300 miles in a day, it can feel like 600 miles! I wish we had slowed down and taken more time for the trip. Do take your own stuff to wash your rig; you will need it! Regarding Alaska itself, if at all possible, take a couple of flightseeing trips. Denali and its glaciers are incredible from the air! Also try to take a sightseeing cruise to see the glaciers calving into the ocean. Do make the effort to camp at Teklanika CG in Denali; it will shorten the shuttle bus rides for you. On the way up, try to get to the Stewart, BC-Hyder Ak. area to visit Fish Creek; we've been there twice. When the salmon are running the bear watching is excellent. We've been there twice; once in late July and again in August with plenty of bear activity. Last one on the boardwalk, make sure you close the gate! The road to the bear viewing area is rough but worth it; but the bigger surprise for us was a drive a bit further down the road to Salmon Glacier. A local talked us into the extra miles and it is not to be missed. You get great views of rivers of ice! When crossing back to Canada, be prepared for the least friendly Canadian agents we encounterd. I would not want to anger those women! In the old days, you would hear, take plenty of film. Now I say, download your photos as often as possible and make backup copies.Can you tell I want to go back?Steve K.
Re: Alaska travel thoughts Reply #1 – February 04, 2012, 12:30:09 pm Yahoo Message Number: 128355Depending on when you're going, I would recommend this trip on your way back...take the Alaska Highway up, the Cassiar back. The salmon don't run in Fish Creek until late July, into August and perhaps the first part of September, so if you're there earlier, you won't see any bears. If the weather is nice, continue up the road to view Salmon Glacier. And stop in Stewart to tour the Toaster Museum!Linda Hylton http://earl-linda.blogspot.com
Re: Alaska travel thoughts Reply #2 – February 04, 2012, 12:34:47 pm Yahoo Message Number: 128356Oh, do I agree with this! ;-) On our way back, the Canadian border guard want to know where we were coming from! Excuse me? There's no way in or out of Hyder except to go through Stewart which is in British Columbia! I would have loved to give a smart @$$ response, but we'd probably STILL be stuck there! LOL!Linda Hylton http://earl-linda.blogspot.com
Re: Alaska travel thoughts Reply #3 – February 04, 2012, 05:57:48 pm Yahoo Message Number: 128371Quote Depending on when you're going, I would recommend this trip on your way back...take the Alaska Highway up, the Cassiar back. The salmon don't run in Fish Creek until late July, into August and perhaps the first part of September, so if you're there earlier, you won't see any bears. This is such fun hearing so many differing experiences. Between Prince Rupert and Watson Lake, taking the Cassiar in May, we saw 22 black and grizzly bears. Coming out of hibernation, they're very attracted to the emerging vegetation on the sides of the highways. Our friends saw no bears on their August stop at Fish Creek. Our re-entry into Stewart was very friendly and pleasant. As a matter of fact, some of our greatest experiences were interactions with the locals. They love their land and share it generously!Linda Allen
Re: Alaska travel thoughts Reply #4 – February 05, 2012, 07:49:40 am Yahoo Message Number: 128381A lot depends on the salmon run...if it's low, less bears will be there. You also have to be willing to spend some time there and go back during different hours of the day, perhaps on different days....the bears don't hang out at Fish Creek 24/7 after all. We've been there when we didn't see any bears, but have gone back either later in the day or earlier in the morning and been rewarded for our patience. In fact, on our last trip in 2001, we got to watch a mama bear teach her young one how to fish...we probably spent a couple of hours on the boardwalk watching the show! As for seeing bears along side the road, that can happen any place if you're watchful, particularly if you travel early in the morning. If anyone is interested in reading about our Alaska adventure, go to http://102000-72005travels.blogspot.com/2001_05_01_archive.html and scroll down to the "Saturday, May 19 through Wednesday, May 23" entry which is where we cross over into Canada. The part about seeing the bears at Fish Creek mentioned above can be found at http://102000-72005travels.blogspot.com/2001_09_01_archive.html -- scroll down to the "Monday, September 3, Alaska Trip, Part 14."Linda Hylton http://earl-linda.blogspot.com
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