Driving the Alaskan Highway in February (1 Viewer)

[Julian73]

Day 5 – Feb 17. Shelby to Whitecourt AB.

I contemplated leaving the pistol in Shelby. A contingency plan of mine was to leave it at a hardware store there that I knew had rentable lockers. Going through the search and questioning again was daunting. But I decided to give it one more go.

This time when I pulled up to the drive-up window, the guy was expecting me and told me to pull over into a different parking spot and leave the vehicle and come inside to a different building. There, two polite young border guards examined my forms, walked out to my LC to check the gun’s serial numbers and to ensure it was properly locked up and then sent me on my way.

Thankfully there was no second cross-examination or search. All this took only about 20 minutes.

Bottom line: you can legally bring a pistol into Canada, but it takes some effort, and you have to leave it locked away while in the country.

But having crossed the border – I was in!

Day 5 was a beautiful bluebird-sunny day.
View attachment 3407178
Not a cloud in the sky and the temp hovered around 30F all day. Despite there being no snow in the forecast, it got cloudy and started snowing as I pulled into Whitecourt and found my hotel.

Love the write up and will keep as a reference for my trip currently in planning for next year. Wait a minute? so day one vehicle gets a thorough search, but then they send you back across border for you to potentially load vehicle up with contraband and wave you through; LOL.

 

[04UZJ100]

Went Anchorage to Chicago in January 2020. Trucks are incredibly capable stock. Only mod is studded Hakka 9 tires. The cabin is insanely well isolated from the outside. Heater was barely on to maintain 72F in -30+F below.

 

[04UZJ100]

I’ll stop

 

[MCtree]

Love the write up and will keep as a reference for my trip currently in planning for next year. Wait a minute? so day one vehicle gets a thorough search, but then they send you back across border for you to potentially load vehicle up with contraband and wave you through; LOL.

Exactly! I’m glad you picked up on that. It was all completely pointless.

I think it’s all simply punishment for bringing a pistol into Canada.

 

[stonepa]

Sounds like you had an awesome trip!

I just drove back yesterday from Homer. Definitely did not enjoy all the BC and Yukon fires and smoke this trip.

 

[jmw101]

Awesome post and an epic trip. Thanks for sharing.

We were in Anchorage last month and all I could think of was "man, I've got to make the Texas-Alaska run in the Land Cruiser, and go further north."

 

[sleepycruiser]

Those pics! Woo! Would love to make that trip. Looks like an amazing time.

 

[eatSleepWoof]

Great trip, and beautiful photos!

You lucked out with the border guards actually putting your stuff back in the car in some semblance of order. I've heard stories of cars being literally stripped down (door panels, screws, bolts, laying on the ground) and being handed over to the owner to put back together.

 

[stonepa]

Great trip, and beautiful photos!

You lucked out with the border guards actually putting your stuff back in the car in some semblance of order. I've heard stories of cars being literally stripped down (door panels, screws, bolts, laying on the ground) and being handed over to the owner to put back together.

I had this happen in 1992 or so at the Blaine crossing when the border guards saw a Microsoft Windows technical manual on the seat of my rental car. At the time, apparently, there were export controls on Microsoft software (even though Windows 3.1 and their manuals were available in both the US and Canada.). They tore the rental car apart, removing the door cards, the rear seat cushion, and the carpet in the trunk. When they told me I could finally leave I threw all the parts in the back asat and drove back to Seatac to return the car. Avis was not surprised and didn’t charge me extra for the trouble.

 

[TheIcemanCometh]

Enjoyed the read and pictures.

Note to all. Crossing into Canada or the USA late at night is typically a red flag. Especially in an SUV. That has been my experience. Which I will not go into detail about except to mention that we collectively got interrogated separately, vehicle searched, etc. And the time one was a federal solicitor with corresponding ID. Happened multiple times. Not fun times.

 

[AZLX570]

Awesome write up and journey - super cool.

I'm not an expert on tires/driving in snow. Looking back, and to others that have experience, how necessary do you feel the need for dedicated snow tires is? I'm assuming the Blizzacks were not studded, but another poster mentioned he had studded tires on his trip.

Obviously, you were probably driving on ice at some points. How confident would you have felt with, say, 3 peaks/winter rated tires on those roads? Looking back, did you feel the dedicated snow tires necessary? How different did they feel on Texas roads compared to your normal ones? Just wondering as I do not have experience with lots of winter driving/snow tires.

 

[stonepa]

Awesome write up and journey - super cool.

I'm not an expert on tires/driving in snow. Looking back, and to others that have experience, how necessary do you feel the need for dedicated snow tires is? I'm assuming the Blizzacks were not studded, but another poster mentioned he had studded tires on his trip.

Obviously, you were probably driving on ice at some points. How confident would you have felt with, say, 3 peaks/winter rated tires on those roads? Looking back, did you feel the dedicated snow tires necessary? How different did they feel on Texas roads compared to your normal ones? Just wondering as I do not have experience with lots of winter driving/snow tires.

Alaska in winter? Get the Blizzaks or similiar. That is what everyone uses for a reason.

 

[GordJ]

Great story and an epic trip. You're not the first one to go that far and make the mistake of not crossing the Arctic Circle. You'll be back.
But you are the first person that I have heard give a good review to Muncho Lake. LOL> When I've gone through there I haven't stayed at the Lodge and the treatment of customers, in my experience, is lacking "warmth' and the fuel is pretty darned expensive. I try to fuel up at Toad River if I have a choice.
Oh yeah, the milepost is in miles because the ALCAN (not the Alaskan, a minor sore point with me) highway was built when Canada was on the Imperial system, which is why so many of the names retain the Milepost numbers even though the highway is considerably shorter than when it was first completed.

 

[TimCFJ40]

Wow, thanks for the write-up. Very inspiring. Driving to Alaska and Seeing the Aurora are very high on my list.

 

[linuxgod]

As a note on the side discussion about border crossings, we just went to Canada for 2 weeks pulling our trailer.

Going into Canada the border patrol asked questions about firearms (no we didn't have any), pepper spray (nope), bear spray (yep) and then he confirmed it was bear spray not pepper spray, firewood (nope), what food we had (none, we'd heard stories and were just buying food in Canada), and alcohol (just some beer in the cooler). They didn't search our trailer and after the few typical questions about where we were going and what we did for a living they let us through.

Coming back the US didn't ask about firearms. They did have us pull into an inspection area, get out of the vehicle to do the customs form, and then went through our fridge looking for specific fruits and vegetables. I expected this to happen and we'd eaten most of our food but still had a little bit of stuff left. I think all the took were a few remaining bell peppers.

Both directions I was expecting a more significant search effort, as I'd heard the stories about people's vehicles being pulled apart and all sorts of things being unceremoniously thrown out (including a kids boy scout project which had a pine cone glued to it). Ultimately I have no idea how they determine whether they want to heavily inspect your vehicle, but I'm sure they have specific behaviors or indicators they're looking for. Probably a family heading into Canada warrants less inspection effort than a single person, and conversely someone who as spent 2 weeks in a foreign country and has a fridge also likely bringing in some sort of fresh fruit/vegetable into the country unknowingly. In any case we were honest about what we were transporting, and I wouldn't want to face the wrath of an angry border patrol officer if they thought we were hiding something.

 

[linuxgod]

Love those photos @MCtree (and @04UZJ100). We met multiple people heading to Alaska while we were traveling through Banff and Jasper... something I hope to have the time off to do one day.

 

[MCtree]

Great trip, and beautiful photos!

You lucked out with the border guards actually putting your stuff back in the car in some semblance of order. I've heard stories of cars being literally stripped down (door panels, screws, bolts, laying on the ground) and being handed over to the owner to put back together.

Thanks!
I presume if you mouth off or aren’t helpful they will not be so kind when they put the stuff back in the vehicle.
Like I said, they seem to have a lot of power. I heard one guard asking to see into a young guy’s bank account to see if he had enough money to support himself in Canada. Seemed awfully intrusive, but the kid had to show him the account if he wanted entrance.

@TheIcemanCometh
Yeah, I bet night crossings are worse. And not just because it’s late but also because it’s a lot less busy. The guards are bored and have more time to dedicate to each crossing.
I suspect that, on my way back, I was able to get into Canada more easily with the pistol because of that delay due to the bomb scare. A large line had built up so the guards may have been rushing vehicles through.

@AZLX570
I would not consider doing the drive on all terrains. Like you, I am not experienced at driving on snow and ice so I wanted to slant everything in my favor. And yes, you are right that my Blizzaks were not studded.
Though now in rereading, are you asking about how the Blizzaks would compare to studded? If so, I can’t say - I have no experience with studded tires.
But the Blizzaks were okay on ice. Not perfect. Even on snow there were a few occasions on the highway where I hit the brakes to take a turnoff and then went skidding by the turn. Happily the highway is empty enough in the winter when it was never an issue to simply put the LC into reverse and backed to the turnoff.
I did hit a few patches and pure ice in Fairbanks on the busier roads that had melted in the day and then refroze. On those, I felt I had very little traction even with the Blizzaks. Turning was nigh impossible on this ice. I just took it gingerly and hoped the drivers around me were doing likewise.
As for how the Blizzaks did in Houston’s 70F weather: I think they did great. I only had to slam on the breaks once. It was when traveling only 30mph - but at this speed I felt the tired might have grabbed better than my all terrains. Like the softer rubber was better - but maybe would wear more quickly.

@GordJ
You are serious that you have only heard bad reviews for Muncho Lake?
If so, I guess I would not be overly surprised. I thought it was wonderful and the staff was warm, friendly, and helpful. But it could be that the winter experience is completely different from the summer. The entire place had a youth-hostel vibe to it and most of the cabins were closed for the winter. So maybe it gets hectic and overworked in the summer when the crew there is overworked.

 

[MCtree]

Love those photos @MCtree (and @04UZJ100). We met multiple people heading to Alaska while we were traveling through Banff and Jasper... something I hope to have the time off to do one day.

Wasn’t your most recent trip like 4 weeks?
Seems like you are able to make time to get to Alaska and back - especially since Chicago is already half way there!
There… I’m helping plan your next trip for you!

And after your story about the fridge search, it’s funny that they allowed me to bring some broccoli and blueberries at my border crossings. I was honest about it all but they didn’t seem to care or were too busy to bother.
It all seems so random.

 

[eatSleepWoof]

Awesome write up and journey - super cool.

I'm not an expert on tires/driving in snow. Looking back, and to others that have experience, how necessary do you feel the need for dedicated snow tires is? I'm assuming the Blizzacks were not studded, but another poster mentioned he had studded tires on his trip.

Obviously, you were probably driving on ice at some points. How confident would you have felt with, say, 3 peaks/winter rated tires on those roads? Looking back, did you feel the dedicated snow tires necessary? How different did they feel on Texas roads compared to your normal ones? Just wondering as I do not have experience with lots of winter driving/snow tires.

I live in south-central BC. We don't get "Alaska winters," but we do get proper winters for 3-4 months of the year, and I've driven on snow most of my life. I'll confidently tell you that anyone driving to Alaska in the winter in anything OTHER than top-notch winter tires is an utter idiot.

Good all-terrains with the 3-snowpeak winter tires are great for winter TRAIL use, but are significantly worse than actual winter tires for HIGHWAY use. I've ran both back to back (year to year) on the same LX in the same winters here. When the first snowfall hits, I install Blizzaks.

When my wife's car comes due for a new set of winters, she'll be getting studded Nokians. With a newborn in the mix she's getting the best winter traction that can fit on her car's wheels; no alternatives.

--

When I lived in Vancouver I'd be crossing the border into the US sometimes as frequently as two or three times per week (mostly to pick up packages on the US side). I'd do regular trips down south for shopping, road trips, visiting friends, what have you. No noticeable difficulties crossing the border at night (vs day). I wouldn't even think about bringing alcohol (post above mentioned beer), fruit, or meat, much less firearms. The simpler your "transaction" at the border, the better off you will be. Border guards have more authority than any local police force, don't give them an excuse to use it. Most are reasonable folks and will treat you well if you're polite and prepared. Don't crack jokes unless they start first (some do!).

 

[linuxgod]

Wasn’t your most recent trip like 4 weeks?
Seems like you are able to make time to get to Alaska and back - especially since Chicago is already half way there!
There… I’m helping plan your next trip for you!

And after your story about the fridge search, it’s funny that they allowed me to bring some broccoli and blueberries at my border crossings. I was honest about it all but they didn’t seem to care or were too busy to bother.
It all seems so random.

Close. It was 2 weeks in CO/UT, one week back at home to work, then 2 weeks in Banff/Jasper. I might be able to do 4 weeks but I'd need to work some days in there and then it's less of a vacation (plus it eats into exploration time). The drive up and back to Alaska will be 2 weeks round trip alone. I want to hit all the NPs in Alaska though (or at least all the ones you can drive to), so I think I need 6-8 weeks to make it worthwhile. It'll happen for me, but probably not for a few more years until my middle/high schoolers are out of the house.

Yeah the border guards seemed very focused on citrus (we were asked several times, but didn't have any). They took a couple peppers but left the cherries, cheese, onion, and milk. Go figure.