Get Muddy--Have Fun--Eat Well

Coming to Alaska this summer? If so, here are a couple of dates to put on your calendar: June 13, 14, 15, and 16; and July 13, 14, 15 and 16. These are the days of minus tides--locally known as clam tides--on Alaska favorite razor clam beaches on the Kenai Peninsula. The most popular beaches are near the communities of Clam Gulch and Ninilchik.

You'll need a bucket and a shovel or a clam gun, old clothes, a sport fishing license, and a willingness to cover yourself with mud, as shown by this picture of my wife some years back. The limit is the first 50 clams dug, regardless of size. Afterwards treat yourself to a feast of either clam chowder or fried clams.

Few Cell Phones Will Work along the Alaska Highway

A reader recently wrote me about using a cell phone along the Alaska Highway. Frankly, there's not much use for a cell phone along the highway in northwestern Canada simply because there is very little cell phone coverage except near Whitehorse and a couple of other towns.

To add to that, please note that my U.S.-based cell phone does not work at all from Tok, Alaska (about 90 miles from the Canadian border) until I get to Fort St. John in British Columbia, some 1,200 miles away. And then, when it does work, it is frightfully expensive. Every call I make in Canada means I have to pay roaming rates, regardless of the number of minutes I might have remaining on my contract. Usually this works out to something like $3 a minute.

I believe any active cell phone will work in an emergency if you dial 911--or so I've been told--and if you are in one of the rare coverage zones. I've never had cause to try this feature, so I have no first-hand experience with it.

Once you enter coverage areas in Alaska, your U.S.-based cell phone should work just fine, although it is worth noting that of the larger companies, only Verizon does not have a presence in Alaska. Also, there are vast stretches of road in Alaska with no cell phone coverage, just like in northwestern Canada.

Hunting for Alaskan history

When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers threw together the Alaska Highway in 10 months or so during 1942, it was the ultimate patch job. Hundreds of bridges were thrown together from nearby trees and nobody really knew anything about the permafrost that underlay the ground on much of the route.

Very little of these original efforts can be found today. The highway has been continuously upgraded and often rerouted from its original path. One of the original log bridges, though, can still be seen alongside today's Alaska Highway some 78 miles northwest of Whitehorse where the road crosses the Aishihik River. The old bridge is to the right, and there is a pullout next to it large enough for RVs.

You can walk over the bridge and marvel at its construction and perhaps wonder just how something like this could support a loaded truck carrying war supplies to Alaska.

Reserve Denali Site Now

With a couple of exceptions, you can usually make your way around Alaska by RV without worrying about reservations. A major exception is Denali National Park from late June to about August 20. While you might occasionally luck out, you are much better off with a reservation.

Visit here to make a reservation on line. The process is kind of convoluted as you work from page to page, but eventually you'll get through it. On this site, the only phone number we could find for the reservation service was 800-622-7275.

Our favorite campground is Teklinka River, about 28 miles in from the park entrance. You can drive an RV that far into the park only if you have a reservation. When you make your campground reservation for Tek, also buy a Teklinika bus pass so you can further explore the park.

Only in Alaska--Wal-Mike's

I've lived in Alaska all my adult life, and every year I, too, find something new. This past September while driving along the Parks Highway between Anchorage and Fairbanks, my wife and I stumbled upon Wal-Mike's, without a doubt the most eclectic store you're likely to find anywhere.

This one-room store with an overflowing porch and a smattering of outbuildings truly has something, new or used, for everybody. The most expensive thing we found in the store last September, and the thing which my wife immediately zeroed in on, was a beautiful, though slightly used, red fox fur coat. Thankfully for my wallet, it was still in the store when we left. Besides the coat were all manner of souvenirs, some things best classified as antiques, Alaska joke books, duct tape (new, not used), fishing tackle, mannequins and about anything else you could think of.

This is a great place to take a break between Anchorage and Denali Park. Its about 100 miles north of Anchorage on the Parks Highway in a wide spot on the road known as Trapper Creek.

Marking the End of the Road

According to officials in Fairbanks, this is the milepost that marks the end of the Alaska Highway. It is a little more than 1,500 miles from the start of the Alaska Highway at Dawson Creek, British Columbia.

In reality, though, the true end of the Alaska Highway is about 90 miles before you get to Fairbanks in a little town called Delta Junction. An existing road from Valdez to Fairbanks, the Richardson Highway, passes through Delta Junction and was built and in use for many years before the Alaska Highway was constructed in 1942.

Don't let that stop you from grabbing a photo like this in downtown Fairbanks, though. This milepost is between the Chena River and First Avenue in the middle of Alaska's Golden Heart City.

Helpful resource for Alaska RV camping

RVers headed to Alaska will find a wealth of information in a special section at Alaska.com devoted to camping, campgrounds and RV rentals. If you plan to head to Alaska with your RV include this in your arsenal of planning tools.

Here's where to find wild critters

When heading to Alaska everybody hopes to see wildlife, and there's one section of the road where I can almost guarantee critters. Starting at Summit (the crest of the pass through the Rockies) about 100 miles northwest of Fort Nelson and extending to Muncho Lake is a stretch of road that has never failed to offer bighorn sheep and caribou on all our trips along the highway. I took this young fellow's picture right out the window of my motorhome.

Actually, this is probably a fanin sheep which is believed to be a cross between the pure white Dall sheep of Alaska and Yukon Territory and the bighorns that frequent the Rockies.

If you want to linger in the area for a few days, we really like the Provincial Parks along the shore of Muncho Lake and the Provincial Park at Summit. Lake trout can be found in both lakes, too.

Alaska in September. Consider hanging around

I grabbed this picture of the Matanuska Glacier from a roadside pullout in mid-September last year. It's about 90 miles northeast of Anchorage on the Glenn Highway.

Most of Alaska's visitors are usually gone by September 1 each year. That's unfortunate because they leave just a few days before scenes like these can be found along most of the major roads. While there may be a light frost at night this time of year, the roads are in great shape because most of the construction projects are complete, and the crowds are long gone.

When planning an Alaska trip, give some consideration to staying into September. What makes it really special is that starting home in mid-September allows you to literally follow the fall colors all the way home in some years.

Tips for summer entertainment in Alaska

Fairbanks News-Miner writer Christopher Batin shares some of his favorite things to do and places to see in and around Fairbanks. "It’s time to start planning, because relatives and friends will be starting to inquire about what there is to do in Alaska when they arrive this summer," he tells his readers. Read his first installment and maybe pickup some tips if you're headed into his neck of the woods anytime soon.

Camp free in Alaska this summer as a camp host

RVers who are interested in spending their summer in Alaska as campground hosts can learn about many opportunities at The Alaska Department of Parks and Recreation website. Dozens of opportunities are listed from urban settings near Anchorage and Fairbanks to more remote locations including Kodiak Island where three positions are available. Camp hosts typically receive a free campsite with full hookups in exchange for performing basic duties including assisting campers and doing minor chores. Learn more here.

To learn more about Workamping in general as well as campground hosting, read Jaimie Hall's blog Working on the RV Road.

2007 Milepost Now Available

For nearly 60 years, the Milepost has been known as "the Bible of North Country travel." And well it should. It documents, in a mile-by-mile format, everything you'll find along the Alaska Highway, all of the roads in Alaska and many of the roads in northwestern Canada.

Along with the roads, are ferry schedules, write-ups on the larger towns encountered on the trip, and, as always, hundreds of color photos.

Although I've written my own Alaska Highway guidebook in recent years, I still purchase and use a Milepost regularly, simply because of the incredible detail of its information and from a slight case of nostalgia since I used to work for the company that produced the book some 20 years ago. Many of my photographs have appeared in its pages in years gone by.

The first Milepost I purchased in 1972 was about the size of a Reader's Digest magazine--no more than a couple hundred small pages with some ads, a few pictures (mostly black-and-white in those days), and the mile-by-mile description of the roads, and it fit in the glove compartment. Today the book measures 8.5 x 11 inches, probably weighs about five pounds, has more than 500 pages, and likely will have to ride on the dashboard or the seat alongside you. Part of that is due to the growth of northern road systems, part of it is due to the growing number of businesses along the route buying advertising, and part of it is an effort to provide even more information to highway travelers.

This year's Milepost has just been released and it is available through the RVbookstore.com. The book includes a fold-out map of the northwestern Canada and Alaska road systems. If you're headed for Alaska or just driving around Alaska, this is a good book to keep handy.

Canada Customs Made Easy

Some years back we were headed back to Alaska from my sister's house in Wisconsin. We chose to enter Canada at an out-of-the-way crossing in central North Dakota. For the first time ever, we were directed to the side of the road and our entire rig was searched. Turns out we had picked a crossing that drug smugglers were apparently using, and every vehicle crossing that day was being searched from stem to stern. My wife's bumper sticker on the trailer, "Ask for Alaskan Grown" probably didn't help matters, either. Our home is in the only part of Alaska with farms, and our neighbors were promoting their products. Unfortunately, as any customs officer will tell you, "Alaskan Grown" has a certain status in marijuana-smoking circles, too. Needless to say, the bumper sticker disappeared within seconds.

Actually, though, the two fellows doing the search were quite good-natured about it, and we bantered back and forth as they went about their duties. Then the one in the camper opened the oven door. My wife, who firmly believes in the value of squirt guns at her family reunion--which we had attended a few days previously--had stored them in a large bowl in the oven. And wouldn't you know that the one on top looked an awfully lot like a real pistol at first glance. First the officer said, "Oh-oh," then there was a pause as he reached inside followed by a hearty laugh. He then decided to play a little joke on his partner and told me to call the other fellow over. I then endeared myself to my wife by saying, "Hey Jennifer, this guy found your guns," at which point the other guy came from the back of the trailer at a dead run. Within seconds we were all holding our sides because we were laughing so hard.

Since we had nothing illegal on board, we were on our way after about half-an-hour. In those days, all a U.S. resident needed to enter Canada was some sort of photo identification, normally a driver's license. However, on September 11, 2001, nineteen Islamic terrorists changed that forever. As a minimum this year you will need either a current passport or a combination of a birth certificate and photo ID to enter Canada and reenter the United States. Starting early next year (2008), you will need a passport, no exceptions. And if you don't yet have a passport, get down to the post office and apply for it today. Because so many people who regularly travel to Canada--and to Mexico and various Caribbean destinations--have recently applied for passports, the issuing offices are terribly backed up and it will likely take you several months from application to receipt of your passport, even if you pay extra for rapid processing.

The other things most likely to get people in trouble at border crossings are guns, tobacco, liquor and pets. As for guns, the best advice is to leave them at home. Handguns are absolutely forbidden and will get you jailed instantly if found in your possession. Certain long guns are legal to carry, but only after a bunch of paperwork and cash necessary for a permit.

For liquor, think in terms of one. Each adult can bring one case of beer, one bottle of hard liquor and one bottle of wine into Canada. Anymore than that and you will be subject to paying duty. And, if you're a beer drinker, why bother. Bringing U.S.-brewed beer into Canada is like bringing a sandwich to a banquet. The Canadians have a number of great beers.

If you're a smoker, a carton of cigarettes is the limit along with similar restrictions on cigars, pipe tobacco and chew. And, if you're a cigarette smoker like I once was, be sure and bring your own up to the limit. Canadian cigarettes are made for tougher lungs than mine and are also priced astronomically.

Pets are are welcome in Canada so long as Fluffy or Fido has a health certificate from a veterinarian indicating that all inoculations are up to date and that your pet is healthy. Get that certificate within 10 days of entering Canada. And, if you stay in Alaska too long, you're probably money ahead to check with an Alaska vet for a certificate before you head south again, so carry the necessary medical records for your pet in your rig.

In my book, "The Alaska Highway: An Insider's Guide," available at http://www.rvbookstore.com/, I devote several pages to getting yourself through customs.

North to Alaska

There's a tired old joke out there about Alaska being twice as big a Texas, which most of us have heard by now. But, did you know that at low tide we could cut Alaska into thirds and make Texas the fourth-largest state?

Seriously, though, everything in the North Country is on a scale most people can't begin to imagine unless they see it for themselves. And by far the best way to get a feel for the size and scope Alaska is to first cross the vastness that is Canada in your RV. Just getting to the start of the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, is more adventure than many RVers will experience in a lifetime to say nothing of the 1,500 or so miles of the highway itself that leads from Dawson Creek to Fairbanks. I've driven the route more than 30 times now and never tire of it. I am, in fact, eagerly looking forward to doing it again later this year. I still consider the Alaska Highway the last great driving adventure left in North America.

On any trip to Alaska by RV, getting there has certainly got to part of the fun. I see all too many people every year rushing along the Alaska Highway so they can spend more time in Alaska. Sometimes they tell me they want to get to Alaska for the splendid fishing. And, indeed, the fishing in Alaska can be fantastic. Yet, in rushing up the highway to Alaska, these people drive past some of the most outstanding angling opportunities in North America. The same holds for scenery, for wildlife viewing, and for just about anything that strikes your fancy. As splendid of a destination as Alaska is, I urge you to allow time for the other, equally spectacular things enroute.

In the weeks and months ahead on this blog, we'll get into the nuts and bolts of driving the Alaska Highway, we'll look at some prime spots for RVers to visit along the way in Canada and in Alaska itself, and I'll probably engage in at least a little story-telling from more than 35 years of driving the Alaska Highway and visiting every place in Alaska accessible by road. I invite you to come along for the ride, and if you think I'm wrong about something or you have information to add about what I have written, please e-mail me at rdcomm@gmail.com.

For those of you who are planning a trip to Alaska this year, next year, or even farther in the future, I've just released the latest version of my book, The Alaska Highway: An Insider's Guide. It will literally take you from your front door anywhere in the United States and Canada to Alaska and back. It's available online at http://www.rvbookstore.com/.