Best route to Skagway, Alaska in April 2011
Mar 17th, 2011, 05:59 PM
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Best route to Skagway, Alaska in April 2011
Greetings,
I have to be in Skagway, Alaska April 18th to start a job. I am in South Central Indiana and had planned on leaving April 10th, I can leave earlier so that is not an issue. I drive a Blazer. Can I cross the Canadian Rockies and make it to Skagway at this time of year? I spent last late May and June in the Tetons last year where some of the roads were still closed at the highest elevations. I have limited funds, I have booked a ferry space from Bellingham to Skagway but it adds days and beaucoup bucks to my trip. I appreciate your advice.
I have to be in Skagway, Alaska April 18th to start a job. I am in South Central Indiana and had planned on leaving April 10th, I can leave earlier so that is not an issue. I drive a Blazer. Can I cross the Canadian Rockies and make it to Skagway at this time of year? I spent last late May and June in the Tetons last year where some of the roads were still closed at the highest elevations. I have limited funds, I have booked a ferry space from Bellingham to Skagway but it adds days and beaucoup bucks to my trip. I appreciate your advice.
Mar 17th, 2011, 09:07 PM
#2
Do you have to get a vehicle there or just yourself?
You can get a flight to Juneau and a small prop plane to Skagway. The bus service from Yellowknife does not start until summer. http://www.skagway.com/gettinghere.html#air
You can get a flight to Juneau and a small prop plane to Skagway. The bus service from Yellowknife does not start until summer. http://www.skagway.com/gettinghere.html#air
Mar 18th, 2011, 11:26 AM
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Yup, need the vehicle as I may be heading to Seattle for grad school when my gig is up in Skagway, as it is I will be in Skagway for six months and car rentals are waaaay to expensive for this kid.
Mar 18th, 2011, 01:54 PM
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Agree about car rentals- When I was working I used to buy a $500 beater car and drive it until it died. If the car you buy in Skagway is in good enough shape, you could drive it to Seattle in October. Otherwise sell the car for the fare out of town, cruise ship or plane.
Mar 18th, 2011, 06:10 PM
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Geez, yes, you CAN easily traverse the Alaska Highway at that time of year.
I drove from Seattle to Anchorage (2400 miles) leaving April 1 and encountered 'compact snow' for a period of less than 20 miles on the whole path. There was UNPAVED road for the sum total of 30 miles... perhaps chopped up into 5-ish mile segments (variable, based on road work after winter freeze & thaw).
Do not hesitate to make the drive... in general... but do keep yourself aware of weather forecasts and the like.
Get yourself to Dawson Creek, BC via any path of your choosing and then expect mostly empty, traffic-free roads all the way.
The small area that is most potentially troublesome (winding roads, and where the snow was on the roadway in spots) was at/near/in the northern end of the Rockies in BC.
I was driving your average rental car sedan, and you should be trouble-free in a Blazer (barring some unforeseen winter blizzard).
(and what you do IF there is stormy weather, is just hole up in one of the few northern towns for a couple of days, and they surely get the roads plowed pretty quick)
The scenery up there is awesome... but much of the BC area of the trip is all you... on the ONLY path through the dense forest, with mostly nothing all around. Sometimes mountains are in the distance.
There are some pretty good views between Whitehorse and Skagway, though I never went TO Skagway. Whitehorse has the only McDonald's for 1500 miles or so!!
Watson Lake is home to the "sign post forest"... and by the time you get to it, it will feel like "entertainment" (after having been lulled into deep sleep by endless trees).
As for timing, if you want to haul A**, I drove from Anchorage to Edmonton (1950 miles) in 3 days of driving.
On occasion you CAN come around a curve and find a herd of bison or cariboo ON the highway in front of you, and while that happened twice, there wasn't a safety threat to me or to them.
Most of the lakes will still be frozen, and should make for some impressive scenery.
Gas prices in Canada, while higher than those in the USA, are fairly reasonable given how relatively strong the Canadian Dollar is and the fact that the price of oil is always tethered to the U.S. dollar.
All systems "GO" for you!!
Oh, by the way, much of the Alaska Highway is in a dry area in the "shadow" of mountains which protect it from lots of weather. It is drier in one area there than it is in Arizona, even though you wouldn't imagine it.
I drove from Seattle to Anchorage (2400 miles) leaving April 1 and encountered 'compact snow' for a period of less than 20 miles on the whole path. There was UNPAVED road for the sum total of 30 miles... perhaps chopped up into 5-ish mile segments (variable, based on road work after winter freeze & thaw).
Do not hesitate to make the drive... in general... but do keep yourself aware of weather forecasts and the like.
Get yourself to Dawson Creek, BC via any path of your choosing and then expect mostly empty, traffic-free roads all the way.
The small area that is most potentially troublesome (winding roads, and where the snow was on the roadway in spots) was at/near/in the northern end of the Rockies in BC.
I was driving your average rental car sedan, and you should be trouble-free in a Blazer (barring some unforeseen winter blizzard).
(and what you do IF there is stormy weather, is just hole up in one of the few northern towns for a couple of days, and they surely get the roads plowed pretty quick)
The scenery up there is awesome... but much of the BC area of the trip is all you... on the ONLY path through the dense forest, with mostly nothing all around. Sometimes mountains are in the distance.
There are some pretty good views between Whitehorse and Skagway, though I never went TO Skagway. Whitehorse has the only McDonald's for 1500 miles or so!!
Watson Lake is home to the "sign post forest"... and by the time you get to it, it will feel like "entertainment" (after having been lulled into deep sleep by endless trees).
As for timing, if you want to haul A**, I drove from Anchorage to Edmonton (1950 miles) in 3 days of driving.
On occasion you CAN come around a curve and find a herd of bison or cariboo ON the highway in front of you, and while that happened twice, there wasn't a safety threat to me or to them.
Most of the lakes will still be frozen, and should make for some impressive scenery.
Gas prices in Canada, while higher than those in the USA, are fairly reasonable given how relatively strong the Canadian Dollar is and the fact that the price of oil is always tethered to the U.S. dollar.
All systems "GO" for you!!
Oh, by the way, much of the Alaska Highway is in a dry area in the "shadow" of mountains which protect it from lots of weather. It is drier in one area there than it is in Arizona, even though you wouldn't imagine it.
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