Alaska bound

[user 423]

Tomorrow I'll be leaving Sierra Vista for a working vacation in Hoonah,AK.  Shuttle van driver at a cruise ship destination called Icy Strait Point.

Hope my old Ford makes it.

 

[bullfrog]

Good luck!

 

[highdesertranger]

Godspeed. highdesertranger

 

[mpruet]

First time up?

 

[B and C]

Enjoy the ferry ride and have a great summer.

 

[user 423]

Good luck!

Thanks!  BTW...on the way back in late Sept. or October, I plan to stop at Arches and Canyonlands. You're near there somewhere, right?

 

[user 423]

Godspeed.  highdesertranger

Thx HDR. I'll be able to cross this one off my bucket list.

 

[user 423]

First time up?

Yes, my first time. If it feels good and the job goes well, I may return again tho.

 

[user 423]

Enjoy the ferry ride and have a great summer.

Thx.  I've planned on catching the ferry at Prince Rupert,BC but may end up driving on up to Skagway. $430 lower fare but adds 600 miles to the trip, so the $4 gas will dig into that.

 

[user 423]

Update:

Well, I survived a dust storm and killer traffic in Phoenix and made it up past Sedona where I camped at Cave Springs CG in Oak Creek Canyon. Got settled there just as it started to pour and it rained (and hailed) most of the night.

(I haven't posted pics in a long time and they don't seem to be showing up. "Browse" and "Add Attachment"...??

 

[mpruet]

Thx.  I've planned on catching the ferry at Prince Rupert,BC but may end up driving on up to Skagway. $430 lower fare but adds 600 miles to the trip, so the $4 gas will dig into that.

I’ve been twice.  If you have the time, I’d go via Skagway.  Leaving from Prince Rupert does not give you an opportunity to see much of northern BC or any of the Yukon.  Going up the Cassiar gives you a chance to check out several of the Provincial Parks, Jade City, and Carcross.  Also the drive down to Skagway is qu ite spectacular.

 

[user 423]

Leaving from Prince Rupert does not give you an opportunity to see much of northern BC or any of the Yukon.  Going up the Cassiar gives you a chance to check out several of the Provincial Parks, Jade City, and Carcross.  Also the drive down to Skagway is qu ite spectacular.

I need to catch the ferry from PR on the 10th and I'm leaving some wiggle room in case I have trouble with the van. If I make good time, I'll go thru Skagway.  My plan was to come back that way and hope for decent weather in October.

 

[mpruet]

Be aware that snow tires are required in northern BC by Oct. first.

 

[Almost There]

It's not just northern BC - it's anywhere outside the lower mainland. You start hitting the signs coming out of Hope going east and just outside of North Vancouver heading north.

However, tires labelled M&S as well as 'real' snow tires are okay.

I'm running M&S tires anyways. First set were Michelins and this set are Coopers...I like the Coopers better!

As long as I'm out of northern BC by the middle of October I've been fine. Actually I just checked and the highest pass in BC is only 5,824 feet - childs' play as compared to some of the passes in the US.

 

[user 423]

^
Thanks for the headsup. I just put on new Hankooks and they are M&S, so I'm good.

They did great today on icy and snowy Rte. 14 in Utah this morning. I stopped last night at a quiet RA north of Kanab and this morning drove thru a winter wonderland!  

On Sun. in Sierra Vista it was 90 and this AM it was freezing at 9000 ft. in the Dixie National Forest. It's a beautiful drive from Kanab to Cedar City. I've only been up around SLC on I-80 and this is my first taste of southern Utah.

Very nice.

 

[user 423]

(I had no luck posting pics the other day so I'll back up a bit)

Monday at dawn I left the little guest house I've been renting from friends in Sierra Vista since early December. It's just 8 miles from Mexico and is near the Coronado National Monument and also not far from the Empire Ranch. The elevation is at 4600 ft. so it wasn't as warm as Quartzsite. The locals said it was pretty unusual that we got a couple of pretty good sized snowfalls. Oh well, it still was better than a Kansas City winter.

 

[user 423]

Mon.4/29:  Here's a couple of pics from the Oak Creek Canyon area north of Sedona.  It was my first trip thru Sedona and I was amazed at how busy it was for a Monday. I stopped at the Cave Springs campground which is decent. It rained and hailed all night.

 

[user 423]

Tues. 4/30:  After shopping in Flagstaff I headed north to Page where I planned to spend the night at Walmart. Lots of RVs and trucks parked there.  I ended up driving on towards Kanab and passed thru the Glen Canyon area.

To avoid having overhead power lines ruin these pics, I had to climb over a barbed wire fence. Since I'm not as spry as I used to be, it was a little harder to clear the top strand. My jeans got caught and I was lucky that there were a couple of other tourists there to help me get unstuck.

 

[Random Painted Highway]

Beautiful photos! Thanks for sharing them and have a great trip.

 

[user 423]

Mon.5/6:

It's been kind of hectic with arranging ferry bookings and shopping for several items I'll need for the job in AK, so I haven't been taking many scenic pics. I've stopped at Walmarts at Idaho Falls and Helena,MT and motels at Nephi,UT and Shelby,MT.  It snowed pretty heavily in Shelby yesterday morning but now it's pretty clear here in Cochrane,AB.

I'm stopped at a Canadian Tire to get my brakes checked and a frontend alignment.  Many mountains to come before I reach Prince Rupert,BC.

I've seen a few interesting camping rigs on the way up but wasn't able to get pics. I did see this little guy in Great Falls,MT:



And this '58 Olds outside of Shelby. He passed me going about 90: