Washington to Alaska?! Who's done it?

cluelessJK

cluelessJK

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Well as my picture depicts, I'm trying to plan Washington to mt McKinley NP. Has anyone on the forum done this and what tips and pointers could you send our way! It would be possibly April, which I'm sure is not the opportune rime but it's the only time I will be able to possibly accomplish this.

Oh and here is the new wheels :) upgraded from my 12' sport to a 12' JKU sahara! I'm in love!

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Old ride:

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In your map, you see that OTHER blue line....thats the route you want to take. Make damn sure you go through Banff and Jasper.

Im planning a slightly longer trip for 2015 for me and the wife.




April in that region will still have plenty of snow offroad on the trails, so I'd make sure I had good recovery gear, survival gear, standard jeep camping gear, and I'd definitely upgrade the tires, Denali national park (especially the old denali highway) are nothing to scoff at. If you take it all the way through, you can be over 100 miles from the nearest person.

Having said ALL that, I highly recommend you go somewhere else during that time. This is a "trip of a lifetime" and you should take it when everything is optimal, and april in that region sure as hell isn't optimal. Moab is beautiful in April.
 
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Thank you for the info, I really don't want to go in April honestly but I'm stationed in Washington at the time and am nearing the end of my time up here and an upcoming (non-combat) deployment coming up :( and also, if we do go I would be getting a small list of mods, lift, tires, wheels, winch, bumpers (hopefully both, front minimum).
 
I'm panning on Auguast to do an Alaskan trip. I will be going thru Baniff also. Very beautiful thru there. But April does seem too earlier to make that trip.:twocents:
 
Driving through the mountain highways of BC takes longer than the map programs say it does. Even in the best of conditions.

April will have a wide variety of conditions. Depending on the weather, you may be in snow and wind storms. Or sun and almost "warm" weather when the sun is up.

If going straight up (Hwy 1 to Hwy 97 and north), the Fraser Canyon and drive though 100 Mile house may have little to no snow (unless a storm comes though). Beyond that, wintry conditions. STUDED TIRES and carry chains.

Have fun and take pics!
 
Me and a friend drove from California to Alaska in 1975. The Alcan highway was all dirt. We did it in a 197 something Landcruiser. It was a trip to remember for a lifetime, we were 17 at the time.
 
dahreno said:
Me and a friend drove from California to Alaska in 1975. The Alcan highway was all dirt. We did it in a 197 something Landcruiser. It was a trip to remember for a lifetime, we were 17 at the time.
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I'm jealous. I wasn't even though of being around in 75 :) lol the homesteading act was still in effect then you should have staked your claim on free Alaskan land!
 
I have worked quite a lot near mile 0 of the Alaska Hi-way and have not driven the whole thing since i was a kid in the 1970's. as for travelling the later in the spring the better the roads in BC are in poor condition do to weather as well as lack of up keep. you'll have a great time. Attached are a few pictures.:thumb:EOW 042.jpgEOW 051.jpgEOW 053.jpg :thumb:

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When we drove there in 1975, I got a job welding trailers for General Electric and on the way up there we picked up hitch hikers ( it was acceptable then ! ) who were going up to homestead. We dropped them off on the side of the road and they just disappeared through the bush. I hope they lived. The bush was very thick and I remember seeing mountain lions on and near the road in some areas.
 
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