Trailering on the Alaska Highway (Alcan)

M

Midwatch

New member
My husband and I just finished our USCG tour in Cordova, Alaska and begin our transfer tomorrow to Washington State. We thought it would be beneficial to others to give our tips on preparing the C-Dory for the Alcan. This will be our second trip on the Alcan as we picked up our shiny new C-Dory last July from the factory and trailered it north. First off, we are driving a 2002 Ford Explorer 4X4 that hasn't had any trouble pulling the boat and trailer. Although the Alcan is mostly paved now, there is always construction and frost heaves. Here are our suggestions:
1. Have good heavy duty mud flaps to help prevent rocks kicking up.
2. Wrap the bow in an area rug, securely tied off.
3. Make cardboard cutouts, cover them with trash bags and tape them on with painters tape over the front windows.
4. Cover the remaining vertical front areas with painters tape.
5. Make sure you have a spare tire.
6. Make sure all bolts are secure before and after the trip!
7. Check all connections often. On the way up the vibrations loosened some of our light connections en route.
8. Wash your vehicle, trailer and boat as soon as you reach your destination as the dust is of a special breed and doesn't like to come off.

Here is the link for a mini-scrapbook we made of our trip last July which has some interesting pictures: http://www.midwatchcrew.com/midwatch.htm
 
Nicely done scrapbook on the web! We'll look forward to meeting you soon at one of the gatherings...hopefully Bellingham.

John
 
Bon Voyage! How are you leaving Cordova, and accessing the Alcan? Are you taking the Ferry to Whittier and driving from there or connecting to the Kennicott to get to Hains, Scagway or Prince Ruppert? You cut out a lot of trailering accessing the Alcan from SE Alaska or BC, but of course it costs a couple grand more for the cross gulf ferry, and you have to make one or two connections.
 
We are now in Haines Jct, YT. We took the ferry from Cordova to Valdez, and then overnighted last night in Tok, AK. Tomorrow we will drive to Haines and then catch the ferry to Bellingham. So far, the roads are better then last year, but still alot of frost heaves and gravel. We also got a rock in our windshield (don't worry, not the boat, but the truck). That makes three, by the way, all courtesy of the Alcan. We're posting our adventures in a blog at: http://web.mac.com/midwatch .
 
Stacy and Virginia,

Having travelled the highway many times and will again this summer, these are excellent tips, especially for those new to the trip!

There is one other that should be emphasized and this the frost heaves. They are very previlant from Haines Junction (Yukon Territory) north into Alaska as far as Valdez and/or the Matanuska Valley. There are others along the way, but this stretch seems to be the worst in my experience.

Good luck to all headed north!

Doug
 
Overload":3usg9kxn said:
There is one other that should be emphasized and this the frost heaves. They are very previlant from Haines Junction (Yukon Territory) north into Alaska as far as Valdez and/or the Matanuska Valley. There are others along the way, but this stretch seems to be the worst in my experience.
Click to expand...

How do you deal with the frost heaves? Anything other than slowing way down? What speed do you usually end up going over these stretches of highway?

Thanks,
Warren
 
Midwatch":2acot057 said:
Although the Alcan is mostly paved now, there is always construction and frost heaves.
Click to expand...

If you check out our blog at http://web.mac.com/midwatch , you'll see photos of the "three stages of the road" as we like to call them: warning flags stuck by the side of the road for specific spots, washboard signs for particularly bad spots, and then gravel ( with or without flaggers and heavy equipment). You gain a quick eye for spotting the little flags and SLOW DOWN, you then have to pre-judge how bad it looks. We found we generally slowed down to 20 to 30 mph or switched lanes (if no one was coming and the damage was only in our lane) over the single bad spots. We made about 20 mph on the gravel areas...but there is nothing to do when oncoming vehicles are blasting by at 50 mph and kick rocks at you. Also we have a tandem axle trailer which distributes the load and we believe helps with the changing pavement.

As for the affected road, we found Valdez to Tok to be pretty good, with the area before Tok brand new. The Alcan from Tok to right before the border was also pretty good. BUT the Yukon all the way to Haines Junction had numerous bad spots, including short stretches of gravel with one about 5 miles long with heavy equipment at Kluane Lake. The road from Haines Junction to Haines was really good and very scenic.

We hop on the ferry tomorrow enroute Bellingham. Good luck to anyone heading North to Alaska!!!
 
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