Alaksa!

Well, it finally happened. No job, no responsibilities, so now would be a good time to do an alaskan road trip. I've been reading other peoples web pages on their alaskan roadtrips, and it seems pretty fun. I'm trying to find someone to go with me since I don't want to drive the whole way by myself. Hopefully I can sucker someone else. I was thinking about taking two weeks from Los Angeles ->Alaska->Los Angeles. Or my other option is to fly up to Canada, rent a car, do the loop, and fly back. Of course that would be a lot more expensive, but I could spend more time relaxing. Does anyone have any experiences they can share?

look below

A friend of mine and I did an Alaskan Road Trip two years ago. We got an amazing deal on flights from Oakland to Juneau, rented a Daewoo hatchback for a week, drove to Denali, took the bus in and explored the park, cut across the Old Alaskan Highway, followed the oil pipeline down to Valdez did some kayaking and hiking, and then cut back over to Juneau to complete the loop. We spent every night in the car, showered at Coast Gaurd stations and parks (never shelling out for a campground or anything like that) and ended up spending very little money. We were gone for a week.

If you would actually like to see Alaska, I would highly recommend flying up there and renting a car.

I think it's finally gonnna happen. The plan is to leave in mid september from San Francisco, take about a week to drive up there, spending a day or two in Canada and other places, stay in Alaska, and take a few days coming back down. Probably camp out along the way and cook our own meals to cut down on expenses, maybe rent a motel every couple of days to get a good night's rest. If anyone has any sights or places that they recommend along the way, post it here.

A beautiful route is Seward to Anchorage, Anchorage to Talketna to Neenana and Denali. Or, reverse it. Skip fairbanks it's forgettable.

[Mark Sedenquist]

A frequent contributor to this forum, wrote an article about his visit to Talkeenta: http://www.roadtripamerica.com/places/talkeetna.htm

Another option -- the Alaska ferry system is fairly inexpensive and runs up and down the coast from Seattle or Vancouver through the Inside Passage and even out to the Aleutians. I've not done this yet, but I understand it is common for folks to camp on the deck and the routes follow the same wonderful scenery the big cruise ships do -- for 1/3 to 1/2 the cost (last time I checked). If I remember correctly, there were also stateroom accommodations available on board these ships also. It might be fun to drive the inland route one way, and return on the ferry system, if that is possible. Has anyone done this?

[J T Richardson]

Okay the last time I posted a message my family and myself was getting ready for a roadtrip to Seattle and back to our hometown of Louisville KY.
Well we survived that little jaunt. Now we are considering the Greatest of Roadtrips, Drive up the Alaskan-Canadian Highway to Fairbanks and down to Ancorage and take the ferry back to Seattle. I believe we can find our way back from there as we have already been there and done that. Here is my proposed way of doing it, either rent or buy a class C motor home and allow 5 or 6 weeks for the journey. can some enlightened,experienced folks give me some advice, pointers and web sites etc?
Thanks everybody, like this web site
J T Richardson