Trip Report: Dalton Highway in an 80, Plus Introduction (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter dtchevy42
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TrickyT
Hate that mud...
Cost aside, would you take the ferry again? And just to confirm, you could not access your vehicle at all during the water crossing, or you just couldn't sleep in it? I recall you had a tent duct taped to the deck and enjoyed the views and nights from there, but what if you said "sorry, I just need to get xyzzy from my truck", would they let you down there?
lumbee1
Native American
Great story and great trip! With the area being so remote, how did you find folks to take pictures of you and the truck?
Great report and good for you for taking that trip!
I did that trip on a BMW motorcycle back in 2003. Rode up from Florida on the Alaska Highway to Prudhoe. Then I took the ferry back to Bellingham. Looks like we were on the same boat but I got a lounge chair on the solarium deck and hung out with a really cool bear biologist.
I see you had some shotgun shells in the truck. Were you able to bring those from Washington? I got checked for firearms when I entered Canada on my way up. I guess it's not an issue if you take the ferry and don't enter Canada - although I thought the Top of the World takes you back into Canada.
Did you stop at Chicken Creek Saloon? Pretty fun place.
I did that trip on a BMW motorcycle back in 2003. Rode up from Florida on the Alaska Highway to Prudhoe. Then I took the ferry back to Bellingham. Looks like we were on the same boat but I got a lounge chair on the solarium deck and hung out with a really cool bear biologist.
I see you had some shotgun shells in the truck. Were you able to bring those from Washington? I got checked for firearms when I entered Canada on my way up. I guess it's not an issue if you take the ferry and don't enter Canada - although I thought the Top of the World takes you back into Canada.
Did you stop at Chicken Creek Saloon? Pretty fun place.
1973Guppie
Supporting Vendor
fantastic......
- Thread starter
- #67
For most of the pics you see me in, I was alone and I used my tripod. On the latter part of the trip (after the Dalton), my dad and a family friend flew up and met me for the ride home. You can see them in some of the pictures toward the end. We certainly used three drivers to our advantage and we were able to cover a lot of ground throughout Yukon and BC in a pretty short amount of time.
Yes, the ferry was a great experience. I would do it again in a heartbeat, as long as I was alone. If I had kids or other people that needed to be entertained, it could be a rough go. It's definitely not a cruise ship. For entertainment, they had Star Wars "Force Awakens" on repeat, with a couple kids movies thrown in occasionally.
Every 6-10 hours, they would announce a scheduled "car deck call" where you could go downstairs to your vehicle. These were posted ahead of time, so you sort of knew when to expect them. While we never missed one, it was said that if the seas were rough they would skip it. The deck call lasted only 15 minutes, and the main purpose was so people with could go down and walk their dogs. Or if you were this lady, you could walk your cats!
She was moving to Alaska, and she leash-trained her cats specifically for the boat ride.
Supposedly there was also a pet rabbit on our boat, but I never saw it.
Since there is no longer a bar on the boat, I used the deck calls as an opportunity to walk to the Land Cruiser and get some cold beer from my cooler.
We also made stops in Petersburg, Wrangell, and Juneau, Alaska. These stops took 1-2 hours, during which you could go back and forth to your vehicle as you desired.
Damn, I can't imagine driving that whole trip on a motorcycle. It makes my adventure seem sooo easy. What a ride! And I agree, meeting people was the best part of the ferry. Since there was no wi-fi on the ship, there wasn't much else to do besides make friends.
But what struck me was the gravity of what some people were doing - not everyone was on vacation like I was. For instance, there was a military family who boarded with me in Bellingham. They were moving to Alaska, I think for three years. As the boat pulled away from port, there were lots of tears. Kind of hard to watch. I also met a single dad with an 11 year old daughter. He was moving from Arizona to Alaska to teach elementary school, and all their belongings were in his RV below deck. For many, this was the last they were going to see the lower 48 for a long while...very emotional for them.
As to the firearms, check out the first page of this post. I used the Canadian Non-resident Permit so I could bring my shotgun into their country.
And yes to Chicken! We stayed the night there and had a drink at the saloon. Very interesting place.
For those who haven't been there, the town of Chicken, Alaska would be like a remote KOA Campground, if the KOA had no plumbing or phones. Electricity is by generator. Mail is flown in twice a week, and if you don't have a motorhome, you use an outhouse. There are showers you can pay for, but they close at 8pm so that the generators can be turned off overnight. There are a couple gift shops, restaurants, and this bar. Half the patrons were tourists and half were amateur gold miners, up for the summertime to work their claims.
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Thanks for sharing. Your very fortunate to have a father like that. Would love to do something similar one day.
Columbia falls, Kalispell, Whitefish, GNP.
I've noticed nobody asked the most obvious and most important question about your trip.
How did you brew your coffee?
Camp Coffee
How did you brew your coffee?
Camp Coffee
Glacier National Park still utilizes the original White shuttles from the late 30s. Now on Ford E-series chassis's, these still serve the park with a bit of elegance.
Man, what a cool experience that must have been. Thanks for sharing.
We made it up to Glacier last year, it was on my bucket list for a while now. We did the long tour of 8-9 hours, sat in the very back seat and got to just look around the entire time. I opted to ride in the red jammers so I could look around vs having to pay attention to the road the entire time.
Hornd
SILVER Star
About the Dalton Hwy:
http://www.alaska.org/guide/dalton-highway
Guide to the Dalton Highway | Livengood to Deadhorse
http://nyti.ms/1HfDADK
About the Boat:
Alaska Ferry, Alaska Inside Passage Ferries, Ferries Seattle to Anchorage, Alaska Tours, Alaska Ferry Cruises & Alaska Vacations, Viking Travel
http://www.alaska.org/guide/dalton-highway
Guide to the Dalton Highway | Livengood to Deadhorse
http://nyti.ms/1HfDADK
About the Boat:
Alaska Ferry, Alaska Inside Passage Ferries, Ferries Seattle to Anchorage, Alaska Tours, Alaska Ferry Cruises & Alaska Vacations, Viking Travel
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Do it in the FJ55, of course.
Cool Trip. I've been up the Dalton a few times, though never in an 80 - it is always interesting. I remember waking up due to a pothole while my buddy was driving and looking over at the speedometer - we were going 80MPH on the gravel.
The CB/VHF is highly recommended. Trucks own that road, and it is nice to be able to communicate.
Chains are also highly recommended, regardless of season. The road is very well maintained, but there are times you'll be waiting for a while.
I think I like top of the world better than the Dalton - there is some cool country out there, and you can pretty much do whatever you want.
The CB/VHF is highly recommended. Trucks own that road, and it is nice to be able to communicate.
Chains are also highly recommended, regardless of season. The road is very well maintained, but there are times you'll be waiting for a while.
I think I like top of the world better than the Dalton - there is some cool country out there, and you can pretty much do whatever you want.
awesome post!!!
This is awesome! Fun to see Ketchikan again, I even rode on the Columbia too! I was surprised how much it was, even just from prince rupert to Ketchikan, no cabin and a camry. Sounds like an awesome tripNext, I found myself in Bellingham, Washington. My friend had flown home from Seattle, so I was all alone. On Friday June 10th, one week after departing Arizona, the Land Cruiser and I boarded the ferry to Alaska.
This boat, the Columbia, was built in 1967 and is part of the Alaskan Marine Highway System. Our tax dollars support this ferry service, which runs from Bellingham to Juneau and beyond. It cost me $400 to ride the ferry, plus $1100 for the Land Cruiser. Interestingly, they never asked my weight, only my overall length.
I did declare a firearm, my Remington 870, for which I received an orange sticker for my windshield. To my surprise, 1/3 of the vehicles in the holding bay also had firearms. I guess we are going into bear country.
I was headed for Haines, Alaska, north of Juneau. It was going to be a 3-day trip, but I opted against a cabin to save money. I am not very camping-savvy, but I managed to get my tent duct-taped to the deck of the boat in a timely manner.
Coast Guard rules mandate that the car-deck is generally off limits, so sleeping in the truck wasn't an option.
Out on the deck, it was a little bit cold and wet at times. But, they serve beer in my room! Plus, the Inside Passage was not to be missed.
Finally, after three nights of sleeping outside on a steel deck, I drove off the boat in Haines, Alaska.
