Valdez, AK to Chitina, AK (180 miles)

From Valdez it was back over the pass, this time heading north on the Richardson Highway. We took a diversion into the Wrangell-St Elias National Park on the McCarthy Road. The park as absolute wilderness, which considering how much nothingness we have seen in a lot of places this is saying something! We didn’t head all of the way into the park as it was a 100 mile round trip on a dirt road but we got as far as the first ‘town’ of Chitina. To call it a one-horse town would be an overstatement, even the horse hadn’t turned up for the season yet. It was still a great drive and spot to visit, a local that we talked to (who did a double take when he saw a tourist here this early) explained that in a month or two the town explodes with visitors who come for the full combat salmon fishing and fight over the abundance of fish.

You get an idea of the road from the notch that had been blasted out that is the one way route into town.

Chitina, AK to Palmer, AK (150 miles)

From the wilderness of Chitina it was back up the Glenn Highway and heading towards west towards Anchorage. We had yet another day of scenic driving with views of the Chugach Mountains that stretch all of the way to Anchorage.
After a detour to the Matanuska Glacier which stretches 23 miles from the mountains it wasn’t too long before we started to pass working farms and farm land on the outskirts of Palmer. Palmer is a nice working town just far enough from Anchorage to still be on the sleepy side of life. After checking out a couple of breweries (of course) we headed to an informal campground on the banks of the Matanuska River which flows from the glacier 60 miles away. Most towns along the way so far seem to have informal campgrounds that are basically places where the wont get hassled by the cops for parking up for a night or two. This overnight spot was in a particularly scenic spot and combined with some nice weather made for a good spot to enjoy a bottle of wine and some of Heathers campervan cooking.

Palmer, AK to Anchorage, AK (80 miles)

From Palmer it was time to head to the ‘metropolis’ of Anchorage. Anchorage is mainly a jumping off point for cruise ship passengers or tourists heading north to Denali but it isn’t a bad place to spend the evening. It has some good walking trails, scenic views and enough bars to keep you busy for a while – which is just what we did.

The drive into Anchorage was funny after a couple of weeks of relative wilderness, all of a sudden you have traffic lights, multiple lanes of traffic and rather than a friendly wave at junctions you are more likely to get the finger 🙂

Haines to Destruction Bay (200 miles)
We backtracked over the passes of highway 3, heading north this time. We had a bit of hassle getting propane as it was a Sunday and everything was closed up. It would have been a pretty chilly night and Heather had cooking plans that was more than heating up soup! We eventually found a place open and I thought Heather was going to kiss the propane man!

Whilst Canadians have a reputation as being a friendly bunch and we can generally agree with that, the immigration guys seem to be missing the friendly gene. I think it could be something to do with being banished to a cold outpost in the middle of nowhere or that we clearly woke him up when we arrived at the border post!

Once we were topped up with propane and fuel it was time to find somewhere to sleep. We are getting good at spotting random logging trails to off-highway spots to park up, and tonight’s worked out great. More chance of being disturbed by moose than people.

Destruction Bay to Eagle Trail Campground (260 miles)

Back on the ALCAN and heading into Alaska, we crossed the border and it looks like the Canadians start the road repairs earlier in the season than the Americans! The frost causes huge potholes and frost heaves that are basically big holes in the road. The Ford F-150 truck hauling the camper unit has been great all trip but today it took a bit of a battering. We hit some unexpected gravel patches which were half arsed attempts to fix the holes but all they did was hide them.

After a few times of pebble dashing the bottom of the truck with gravel, it finally protested and we had most of the warning lights on at one point and lots of beeping. One of the warning lights was steering fluid which was a bit of a concern considering it was 100 miles to the next garage! Luckily no pipes or hoses were damaged and after a bit of turn the engine off and on a few times (my software engineering skills were put to good use!) it was back to normal – this time with speed reduced a bit 🙂

The only damage was that one of the steps to the camper dropped off, this didn’t bother me but Heather’s legs are a bit too short to make it up without some complaining.

With the season not starting yet it means a lot of the campgrounds are closed – luckily at the one we arrived at tonight they forgot to close the gate – aka ‘free campground’.

Eagle Trail to Valdez (245 miles)

We took another diversion from the highway and headed down to the coast again, this time to Valdez. Valdez is infamous for the oil spill and the town is less tourist town and more oil terminal town but it is still a beautiful spot on the waterfront of Prince William Sound. We took the Richards Highway south over the Thompson Pass and had great views of the Worthington Glacier.

With the season still not having started yet, the kayak companies were not running any tours so we parked up at the waterfront and had a campervan party and worked through the beers we had collected from each state along the way!

French Creek, BC to Whitehorse, Yukon (290 miles)

After heading off from our campground by the Dease river alongside the Cassiar Highway we joined the Alaskan Highway. It is also known as the ALCAN which was the military name for the Alaska-Canada military highway which was completed in 1942 but not open to the public until 1948. The road was punched through the wilderness by the military to counter concern about those pesky japs. It seems a bit unfair to the Canadians as aboot 1000 of the 1500 miles of the Alaskan Highway is in Canada!

The ALCAN is also great for spotting Caribou from the highway!

After a few stops at random hamlets to try to top up the propane tank, we arrived in the relative metropolis of Whitehorse which is the capital of the Yukon Territory. (Heather told me to stop faffing about looking for propane until I explained how we heated the campervan, after which she agreed it was worth it!).

Whitehorse, Yukon to Kathleen Lake, Yukon (150 miles)

After a later start from Whitehorse we were back on the Alaska Highway (yes, there was a hangover involved, but also a run around the city). This stretch of road from Whitehorse was listed in the guide book as ‘a bit dull’, but we thought the views as we approached the Kluane National Park were stunning – maybe it pissed down with rain for them or they were in a bad mood!

We are ahead of schedule on the miles so we decided on another detour into Alaska from Canada, this time to Haines, AK. After turning off from Haines Junction heading for Haines, we pulled in at Kathleen Lake. The disadvantage of traveling at this time of year is that the campgrounds are mostly closed. The advantage of traveling at this time of year is that no one cares where you park up and sleep. So we nabbed a spot right by the lake for the night, next to the no camping sign in the day use area.

Kathleen Lake, Yukon to Haines, AK (120 miles)

Probably our shortest drive so far but it was one of the most scenic ones. We headed down highway 3 to Haines, passing over the Chilkat and Guardsman passes. The road was ploughed and good but judging by the height of snow I wouldn’t like to be here in bad weather!

The lonely planet guidebook raves about Haines – mainly because it dodges the cruise ship traffic which leaves it with a distinct lack of t-shirt shops! There are plenty of options out of town for free camping spots but that would have involved a stagger back from the local brewery, so we splashed out on a camping spot down by the waterfront in town.

Missoula to Polson, Montana (80 miles)So with Heather picked up from Missoula’s International Airport it was time to get this road trip going… Once we get north we will have plenty of chances for wilderness camping. But for now we will make do with convenience which involved our first Walmart camping experience in Polson, Montana (if the city ordinance doesn’t specify no camping then Walmarts allow you to camp for a night in their car park). We got lucky and found one of the most scenic Walmart car parks there is with a cool view over Flat Head Lake. 

Polson, Montana to Calgary, Alberta (370 miles)

With no reason to hang around a Walmart car park early in the morning we headed off to the border. We would have loved to have added Glacier National Park to our visited list but this time of year the road is closed so we had to make do with skirting the edge on highway 2. The park must be stunning as even this highway had some cool views. After passing Glacier we headed up the 89 to the border. We had our first ‘should have stopped at that last gas station’ moment but made it in the end over some gorgeous scenery to the border. 

After passing back over the continental divide and into Canada, it was funny how flat this part of Alberta was. 

It wasn’t long before we hit the city limits of Calgary. As with last night we went for the convenient option of the Walmart car park to spend the night. No scenery like last night but it was within walking distance of a brewery so all good!!

Calgary to Jasper National Park (250 miles)

We did a 10K running event in Calgary and after which we had to check weather forecasts and toss coins on deciding a route. The most scenic route north for us was the Icefields Parkway through Jasper National Park but this time of year it is hit and miss – only last week they had closed the road for a couple of days because of snow. The forecast was good so we went for it. It would have been a good chance for a blog post of us stuck in the snow but unfortunately we had brilliant clear skies and an amazing drive through some awesome scenery. 

National Parks are not really known for their wild camping options in an RV so we ended up at a campground just outside of Jasper but we had the place to ourselves and found a great spot. Very happy campers.

Apologies in advance this is Darren typing – so you get facts rather than Heather’s fancy prose :)For those that are interested, and for Heather and I when we are old(er), I have put together a list of where we travelled and stayed for the night…..

First stop was of course to pickup the Campervan – train, metro and uber later and I was at the RV dealership. Joined the queue with the mix of sad looking people dropping off and excited looking ones picking up, and half an hour later I was heading up the 405 back to home to pick up supplies. 
After loading up with a little bit of food and a lot of beer, I was off. 

Vegas

The bright lights of Vegas was as good a place as any to stop, no partying on the strip for me but I did fit in a beer or three at Hop Nuts Brewing. Not wanting to stay in too many campsites (where you end up parked next to a massive RV with its generator running), I decided to find a random spot to park up, and random it was. I noticed a couple of other campervans parked in the big overflow car park opposite the Stratosphere so this did the trick as it was in staggering distance of the above brewery.

Waking up, I enjoyed the Nevada desert heat in the van and knew that was probably going to be the last of the warm starts!!

So with my first experience driving out of Vegas without a massive hangover, it was north bound and time to get into the road trip routine…

Salt Lake City

Next stop Mormon Town – surprisingly Salt Lake City is a bit of a brewery mecca so sounds like a good stopping point. After heading up the I15 the scenery changes from desert to mountains. After a side stop in the Kolob Canyons of Zion National Park, I reached the city limits of Salt Lake City and the rain started to pour down. Luckily it wasn’t raining in the pub so after a side trip to pick up supplies at Epic Brewing I found a neighborhood brewery that had some deserted side streets and parked up for the night. Luckily the beers helped me sleep through the rain pounding off the van roof!

Idaho Falls

Another day, another state and another brewery. After a scenic drive through Idaho (which was a first for me) I followed the Snake River to Idaho Falls. A mile out of town they had a city park with free camping spots by the river and only a mile from the city’s brewery (imaginatively named Idaho Falls Brewery). After checking out the brewery it was back to the campsite and chatted to the homeless meth head who had set up camp next to me around his campfire. Nice guy and interesting chat where he explained he is a Buddhist and in training to be a grand master chess player. I skipped the offer of a game of chess and left him to the fire.

Butte

The homeless guy was also a lover of road trips and suggested I get off the I15 and skirt past Yellowstone National Park. It was a great drive and I passed through the Caribou Targhee National Forest (I hadn’t head of it either). No Caribou but did spot a family of moose stood around in the river 🙂
Yellowstone wasn’t open for the season but I was able to rent a bike and at least explore a few miles of the park. Probably a better way of seeing the place as I heard it gets pretty busy in summer! The only ‘traffic jam’ I had was waiting until some Bison crossed the road so I could ride through. I assumed giving way to Bison was the smart thing to do.

From Yellowstone it was up the 191 and then on to Butte. Butte, Montana is an old mining town and the climb over the Pipestone Pass which goes over the continental divide was made interesting by a blizzard! Luckily we are doing this trip early spring rather than winter!

I parked up in Butte at the again imaginatively named Butte Brewing and after a chat with the friendly barman I was all set up to just park overnight in the brewery car park so it was a short walk to bed. He did ask if I was planning on breaking in overnight… I explained that I had been collecting beer all the way up and the van was fully loaded with beer so no need. 
And then there were two…

Short drive to the cute college town of Missoula in Montana. Definitely a place to come back and explore. Heather was flying in to ambitiously named Missoula International Airport (one building!) so I had a few hours to kill. I had been dropping in on some Crossfit gyms along my way and I did a lunch time workout at 5 Valleys Crossfit – definitely the friendliest place so far.

After a bit of a sort out in the van and topping up and emptying the relevant tanks it was time to pick up Heather and head north!!