Alcan Road Trip

[akivory]

I am flying from Alaska to Minneapolis today. I will meet up with my grandson and drive straight through to Fairbanks. My first trip over the highway was in 1971 when I hitchhiked north when I was 17. I think this is the thirty fourth trip on this road. Although the route is the same the road is completly different. You were certain to get your windshield cracked and have flat tires. Now the biggest danger is hitting a large animal. My grandson completed his enlistment in the Marines and is heading home. His wife and baby flew north a few days ago. I have not seen him in a few years and jumped at the chance to spend the next few days on the road with him. We adopted his mother as a teenager and he is like my son.

 

[Roadracer_Al]

Safe travels!

When I was a "Young Adult" -- which would be 30 years ago, I really wanted to ride my motorcycle to AK. It was A Really Big Adventure, mostly unpaved, a test of man and machine... to coin a phrase. As we all know, time ticks by relentlessly, money & health issues crop up and die down, and the magical time when I had time, money and health to make the trip finally came last year. My wife and I spent 5 weeks traveling from the Bay Area, along the seaboard (we really enjoyed the AK Marine Hwy) and inland on the Eastern side of the state. As you say, it's paved pretty much end-to-end, and not quite the hairy-chested adventure that it used to be, but it was still a very rewarding trip.

And, I know it was a better trip being with a loved one.

 

[akivory]

We made it home in four days and three nights. The road conditins were far from ideal. Our first major incedent almost landed my grandson in jail. Coming through the border Canadian Customs found a AR lower receiver and two magazines. He was not aware they were in a box he had packed earlier. He could have lost his vehicle , spent time in jail and prevented from intering Canada. It was up to the Prosecutors discretion he ended up giving him and a healthy fine.and allowing us through. We hit a storm near Dawson Creek the second day. For four hundred miles we drove though ice and snow.We saw over two hundred caribou and 60 bison on the road. This is not the best time of year to travel in the north. It will be much better with a good snow pack in a month or so. Most of the lodges are closed for the winter and stations can be 250 miles apart. My grandson left a boy and came back a man. I will treasure the experience.