Wandering from Tennessee to Alaska

[Machinebuilder]

I think when I get to Dawson Creek I will decide if I take the Top of the World Hwy or the Alaskan Hwy.
It depends on my timing and the Ferry's

 

[Vic Harder]

Starting in BC (where I grew up):

Route B: Hells Gate is worth seeing once, but you are in a tourist trap with their gondola really being the only way to see the hellish fury of the river at that point. The other spots are really meh...

Route A: Wonderful scenery, especially around Pemberton. Good hiking too in Garibaldi Park.

Northern BC: Still learning this area. My brother lives in PG (Prince George). Tumbler Ridge has great mountain biking if you are into that. That whole part of BC also has good fishing. Are you bringing a boat of some kind? Be aware that the Peace River Valley is being flooded this year or next when the Site C dam is completed. I note you are not mentioning Wells Gray Park, which is near PG/Quesnel and absolutely stunning.

If you do the Stewart Cassiar on the way down/up from the Yukon, then you can also stop at New Hazelton, which has a wonderful indigenous cultural centre.

Alberta: Been in Calgary for 26 years now... If you have never driven or seen the Icefields Parkway (Jasper to Banff) then you might want to consider abandoning your route from Prince George on and heading east first. See Wells Gray, Mt Robson, and the mountains along the parkway. LOTS of hiking if you are into that. If you change your route, you are welcome to stop in at our place in Calgary. And we can share a lot more info re: southern Alberta.

Moving on to Manitoba (Spent 16 years in Winnipeg)... do stop at "The Forks" in the 'Peg. Check out the Tall Grass Prairie Bakery. Tabitha (the owner) is a wonderful woman, and she is still using the same sourdough starter I introduced her to back in the 1990's (I was her original night baker while I was doing my Masters work at the UofM).

Grand Beach is really nice (used to be one of the top 10 beaches in the world... wonderful super fine white sand), and Dauphin (Winnipeg Beach) is interesting because is houses the largest population of Icelandic people in the world (outside of Iceland of course) and because of a remarkable plane landing in 1983 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

Manitoba is amazing for its many lakes/rivers, so canoeing/fishing heaven.

Can't really speak to Saskatchewan....

 

[Machinebuilder]

Thanks Vic,

I've added waypoints for everything mentioned.

My strongest "plan" is to sort of follow the NWWR to Dawson Creek, and then continue on to Alaska.

Other places on my list so far are
Clearwater Lake Provincial Park
Prince Albert National Park
Riding Mountain National Park
Meadow Lake Provincial Park
Duck Mountain Provincial park
Lesser Slave Lake
Wood Buffalo National Park
Great Slave Lake

A lot will be decided as I travel.

My return is probably the Icefields Parkway, I've never been past Glacier/Waterton Parks.

As much as I would love to have a boat many places on this trip, my shoulders don't like me paddling any more.

As I will have my dogs with me, I'm leaving motorcycles home, and haven't ridden my bicycles in years. they are up for debate. it depends on how things load up on the truck.

 

[Machinebuilder]

I've been working on getting route ideas entered in to my Garmin.

The Milepost is unbelievably detailed, its hard to locate a lot of things in Garmin Explorer or Google maps.

I am now getting a better idea of how big some of these places are, I didn't understand how far it is from Dawson Creek, BC to the Alaskan Border.
Many of the "Towns" are much smaller than i imagined.

I am glad to be doing this without time constraints, I know I will be skipping many things but the amount I won't skip is huge.

Have any of you experienced Nahanni national Park in the NWT?

 

[Vic Harder]

A friend was a canoe trip guide in Nahanni. If you have time and energy for a guided trip, it looks awesome.

 

[Machinebuilder]

I don't think I can do a canoe trip, I did a brief look ant a flight seeing tour out of Fort Simpson, NWT

 

[penner]

Dave. If you are going to be in Valdez, consider the day cruise on the Lu-Lu Belle. Captain Fred gets that boat to places where I wondered how he"s getting out. But , that was the first week of June ,probably a bit different later in the summer.

 

[Machinebuilder]

Noted, I really am not trying to plan down to details, just have a lot of ideas on what to do.

 

[Machinebuilder]

Having driven across the prairies from Vancouver to Winnepeg on the #1 several times, I'd be inclined to go the more northerly route, depending on the time of year. The boreal forest is more interesting than the prairies, at least to me. That said, do not miss driving up the Rockies from the Canadian border to Jasper via Hwy 40 and the Icefields Parkway.

I've been working at this, I think I've added about 900+ waypoints to my GPS. I am working on my way from Alaska now.

I think I'll take the Cassiar Hwy to the Yellowhead Hwy to Jasper.

After reviewing this thread and studying maps it looks like Hwy 40 and the Icfields Parkway parralel each other from the Yellowhead hwy.

Vic Harder Which is the do not miss? I've never been north of the border there.

As I recall from a trip to glacier NP in 1999 I liked the west side better. If I take the Icefields I can easily take 93 south from Radium hot Springs to Whitefish Montana

Thanks

Dave

 

[Vic Harder]

Hey Dave, I'd be super interested to see your 900+ waypoints! Once you are in Jasper head south on the 93 to Banff. The Jasper to Banff stretch is only 288km, but plan on taking a day just for that, if you want to stop and do some short hikes and take pictures.

From Banff, take a short jaunt east to Canmore, and then go south on the 742 (gravel) or a bit further east is the #40. The 742 joins the 40 near Lower Kananaskis Lake.

From there stay on the 40/940 until you get to the #3. From there you can either go west on the #3 to be more in the mountains, or east, to take in the Frank Slide and from Pincher Creek south on the #6 to Waterton/Glacier NP.

Lots of hiking, mountain biking, canoeing and fishing along all of this stretch. We've spent decades in these mountains and have yet to see/hike them all.

 

[Machinebuilder]

Thanks Vic, Thats some awesome info, I don't know If I would have found 742.

I can PM a link to my Map Share page. I need to figure out some filtering first. If I get it figured out I'll post it on this thread and a trip report thread.

Most of the waypoints are campgrounds etc or POI's to help me figure out where I am. Many things that I hope I don't miss.
I will probably set up some routes just to make it easier to keep track of where I am, I may not follow them closely. Many it will be that's the only road so it will be easy to stay on the route, but harder to know where I am.

I've got an incredible amount from The Milepost, Many things in it are extremely difficult to locate on Google maps or Garmin Explore.

I did get the Benchmark atlas for Alaska, Ii got the Mapart atlases and maps for much of Canada, they were out of stock on a few.
The Mapart atlases are not as good as the Benchmark.
The Benchmark Alaska is not as detailed as some of the others I have, it just doesn't have the smaller scale because Alaska is so HUGE.

I've already had a lot of fun and learned alot by doing this. I've also been working at getting my truck and camper ready to go and workrd on many things around the house that have been put off for years.

I am one of the guys that say "I don't know how I had time to work"

 

[Vic Harder]

Another thing to keep in mind for Glacier NP, is that reservations are now required to drive into the park - VehRes - Glacier National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

And as for "what are the must dos" Let me add a do NOT do, which is hwy 40/740 south of Hinton, AB to Nordegg. LOTS of heavy equipment raising unbelievable dust clouds.

 

[Machinebuilder]

I knew about the Going to the Sun Road permiting, i didn't know about the rest.

I know some one who went out last june and got a permit while he was there.

This is going to be interesting for some of the things I would like to do because I am not planning when I'll be someplace.

I may not do much of Denali because of this, and I will likely see all the wildlife other places. the permitting there is much more restrictive and the road is closed for a long time because of a landslide about mile 44. you can't drive past mile 15 anyway.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

If your are interested in the "going to the sun" drive,my suggestion
park your rig in west glacier and take the Free park shuttle.

It's more interesting.You can look at the beautiful scenery and not worry
about keeping your eyes on the road.

We did that on our trip ion 2009. We parked at the visitors area in west and picked up the shuttle.
Then got off at the summit and hiked the trail that starts in back of the visitors center.
It's a nice easy climb to look over the lake and back at the summit.

Enjoy.
Frank

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

I knew about the Going to the Sun Road permiting, i didn't know about the rest.

I know some one who went out last june and got a permit while he was there.

This is going to be interesting for some of the things I would like to do because I am not planning when I'll be someplace.

I may not do much of Denali because of this, and I will likely see all the wildlife other places. the permitting there is much more restrictive and the road is closed for a long time because of a landslide about mile 44. you can't drive past mile 15 anyway.

IMO it's worth the restrictions. You just need to plan your 3+ night stay and the bus rides.
There are so many animals along the road you get tired of seeing them.

Again another great way to see nature and not drive.
Check my blog about our two tripe there.
Frank

 

[Machinebuilder]

I was in Glacier in 1999, I'll see when I get near there for this trip.

I'll see for Denali when I get there. for the Mountain views Petersville road is reputed to have better ones.

 

[Machinebuilder]

Deleted post

 

[Machinebuilder]

Try this again

https://share.garmin.com/Machinebuilder

Pass word
Let Me See

This is currently a work in progress with just waypoints.

Apparently Garmin Explore does not route to roads or build a route from waypoints.
I like the Overlander for the big screen and it having road mode and explore mode but it is clumsy at best for advanced planning
Basecamp was better than this web based Explore.

 

[Vic Harder]

holy moly. That's a lot of waypoints. I'm surprised that you have Killarney and Quetico PP marked, but not Algonquin PP. Depending on the time of year, the fall colours and canoeing in both are spectacular. Algonquin and Quetico parks are both easy to spend many days/weeks in!

I must say, you have a LOT more small points marked that has me super curious as to what you are planning on doing/seeing there.

 

[Machinebuilder]

A lot are so I can know about where I am

I think maybe if I use explore on my iPad and create a course it will route on the roads. I’m still playing

I ordered tires for my truck. I’m getting Yokohama geolander X-AT’s