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The trip to Alaska was fantastic! The Alaskan Highway is only 1,400 miles, however, it was 2,024 miles to Dawson Creek, British Columbia, which is mile zero of the Alaska Highway. In all, right around 3,260 to the Alaskan border.
I was very fortunate to be driving north through the Yukon Territory during a period of new moon (or whatever it's called when there is no moon) and was treated to a spectacular display of the Northern Lights over a three day period.
After visiting Valdez, Seward, Anchorage, Fairbanks, and dashing up to the Arctic Circle, I decided to take a little time off from the driving and put the van on a very large ferry. Sailing the Inside Passage was a nice, relaxing change. Made stops in Skaguay, Wrangle, Juneau, Ketchikan, and finally Prince Rupert, Canada. With the exception of Prince Rupert, none of these communities is accessible by road - one must either fly or sail in.
After all that resting, decided I needed to get some more driving in, so I headed east from Prince Rupert through Canada, including Edmonton and Winnipeg, and then south through the Dakotas, and eventually to Knoxville, Tennessee to visit my kids.
Temps weren't too bad. Mid to high 30's through much of Canada on the way up, about ten degrees warmer in Anchorage and most of the Inside Passage, rather cold in Fairbanks and the Arctic Circle ( 5-10 degrees) and mostly in the teens heading east through Canada. First saw snow about 300 miles over the Canadian border, and although it was always around after that, the roads were generally clear. Notable exception was a rather nasty blizzard heading into Fairbanks, and then again when I departed.
The van has held up much better than I imagined. One flat tire on the Alaskan Highway, a broken battery cable ( I had a spare, though it was interesting changing it out in ten degree temps!) and three oil changes - that's it!
Did have a bit of a scare when I left Fairbanks. Started losing a lot of oil - perhaps a quart every 150 miles or so. Figured I would hit Prince George - a large city about 400 miles east of Prince Rupert and have it looked at, but when I took the van off the boat in Prince Rupert, it had stopped - completely! I'm guessing the seal wasn't happy with the cold weather? I've driven well over 5,000 miles since then, and it absolutely is not leaking or burning oil. Anyone heard of such extreme leaking just stopping, or know of cold weather related oil leaks?
Going to attempt to send a few pics. The one with all the water was taken while sailing the Inside Passage. The one with the big chunk of ice was taken at the Mendenhal glacier, which is just outside Juneau. The funny looking one is the Northern Lights, and the other was a sunset along the Alaskan Highway.
Best wishes to all!
Trent
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