NOTE: Before reading this blog, I highly recommend you first read The Dempster Highway Experience by MFI published August 27, 2024. Her blog helps put this one in proper perspective. Our next leg was 109 miles to Eagle Plains (population 8-9 depending) and a 1-night stay at “an oasis in the wilderness” according to The…
Our final stop, before driving the Dempster Highway north to the Arctic Ocean, was Dawson City, YT (population 1,557). From Tok, we drove a short distance on the Alaska Highway (AK 2), turned onto the Taylor Highway (AK 5) to Jack Wade, AK, then proceeded onto the Top of the World Highway, which ended at the…
Before leaving Red Eagle Lodge, Richard Denny mentioned several times that the Tok Cutoff Highway (AK 1) had shifted 17 feet during the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake. He told us the exact mile marker, so we wouldn’t miss it, and sure enough, it was eactly where he had indicated. Truthfully, the shift didn’t appear to…
The distance from Anchorage to Tok was simply too far to squeeze into a day’s drive. According to RV Trip Wizard, our only interim-stop option was Red Eagle Lodge in Chistochina (population 60). This lodge was a throw back to Alaska’s roadhouse system, when in the late 19th early 20th centuries entrepeneurs built them to…
Our next stop was Valdez (population 3,985), and we drove there the same day we toured Matanuska Glacier. We followed the Glenn Highway (AK 1) until it intersected with the Richardson Highway (AK 4) just past Glennallen (population 439). While the scenery along AK 4 through the Tsina River valley was purported to be the…
I planned our route for the remainder of Hanna’s visit, before we departed Palmer. The Matanuska Glacier was only an hour east and on the way to our next stop in Valdez. I reserved a 2-hour glacier tour for 10 AM, and we headed out under mostly sunny skies. As had become routine, the scenery…
The distance to our next campground near Palmer, AK (population 7,456) was just under 200 miles. We drove south on Parks Highway (AK 3) until in intersected with Glenn Highway (AK 1) just past Wasilla (population 10,838), about 40 minutes drive northeast of Anchorage. We learned, while touring Denali National Park, that the best views…
The drive from Tok to Fairbanks (population 31,856) was only 202 miles. We followed the Tanana River Valley the entire distance and paralleled the Delta Range along its eastern boundary. The scenery was dotted with snow, and the weather was clear for the most part. We stopped for gas at Delta Junction, the original north…
We picked up an enhanced and improved Arthur at Ultimate Airstreams in Clackamus, OR on 22 May, and after driving 3,388 miles over 42 days, we were finally in Alaska until mid September. Woo-hoo! Our last stop was at the Tundra RV Park in Tok (population 1,243) for 3 nights before reaching Fairbanks, our first…
We had read in The Milepost that the Alaska Highway could have bad spots despite the boastful claim of being paved over its entire length. Until the leg between Whitehorse and Beaver Creek, we had not experienced anything out of the ordinary. That all changed about a hour out of Whitehorse. Of course, the improved…
