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How would you drive to Alaska from the west coast?

Started by relaxok, June 21, 2012, 06:07:54 PM

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relaxok

See subject.  I sometimes consider doing this trip for the hell of it - but from spending some time looking at google maps, it doesn't even look like this is really possible?   I'm amazed there isn't a standard highway route all the way up the coast taking the shortest path from say, Seattle to Anchorage..

Am I missing something?  Does anybody know if there even is a good route to take?

Gmaps seems to recommend Bellingham, WA to Juneau to Haines all by FERRY- that's like 1000+ miles on a ferry, good god how long would that take?!

Any recommendations by someone who has done this would be nice.




NE2

pre-1945 Florida route log

I accept and respect your identity as long as it's not dumb shit like "identifying as a vaccinated attack helicopter".

relaxok

#2
Makes sense...  here's a non-ferry route..

http://goo.gl/maps/xkSJ

...seems particularly brutal..

agentsteel53

about the only route available is the Alaska Highway.  the Cassiar Highway is an alternate to it in British Columbia (and a very small bit of Yukon) but is not particularly coastal either.
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

kkt

Quote from: relaxok on June 21, 2012, 06:07:54 PM
See subject.  I sometimes consider doing this trip for the hell of it - but from spending some time looking at google maps, it doesn't even look like this is really possible?   I'm amazed there isn't a standard highway route all the way up the coast taking the shortest path from say, Seattle to Anchorage..

Am I missing something?  Does anybody know if there even is a good route to take?

Gmaps seems to recommend Bellingham, WA to Juneau to Haines all by FERRY- that's like 1000+ miles on a ferry, good god how long would that take?!

Any recommendations by someone who has done this would be nice.




What others have said, Alaska Highway, with the Cassiar as an alternative in B.C.

The Alaska Highway was built to supply Alaska during WW II.  They did not hug the coast in order to keep it safe from a Japanese landing or air raid.  Also, the weather is difficult along the coast, many storms, lots of snow in the winter and landslides the rest of the time.

You could drive the Alaska Highway one way and take the ferry the other way.

Bickendan

Quote from: NE2 on June 21, 2012, 06:11:36 PM
There's no direct highway because of fjords.
They talk about the fjords of Norway, but I'd say the fjords of British Columbia gives Norway's a real run for their money.

oscar

In addition to the Juneau-Bellingham ferry option, there's also twice-monthly (in the summer) "cross-gulf" ferry sailings that continue from Juneau to various ports serving Anchorage and other destinations in the main part of Alaska.  That has the advantage of bypassing customs completely (driving between Anchorage, etc. and Juneau means passing through the Yukon), which is nice for most of us but essential for people with DUI or other criminal records, that Canada won't let drive through their country.

(BTW, some extreme topography, and Glacier Bay National Park, preclude a coastal road between Anchorage and Juneau.)

You can also take ferry connections via Vancouver Island, including a ferry between Port Hardy at the north end of the island and Prince Rupert, where you can connect to the Alaska ferry system.  Not as efficient as the Juneau-Bellingham route, but a nice change of pace, which I used in 1994 on my return from Alaska via several southeastern Alaska communities. 

The Milepost (annual print travel guide to Alaska and other Arctic highways, available in many bookstores and also orderable online) is a very useful resource to play with your options to get to and from Alaska, as well as roaming around the road network once you're there.
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html

tmthyvs

Just being pedantic, but you can't drive from Juneau to Anchorage without taking more ferry.

oscar

Quote from: tmthyvs on June 28, 2012, 03:32:09 AM
Just being pedantic, but you can't drive from Juneau to Anchorage without taking more ferry.

Right, but you can drive (through Canada) to Haines and Skagway just north of Juneau.  Many of the ferries to/from Bellingham WA also stop in Haines and Skagway, as well as Juneau.
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html

texaskdog

Quote from: oscar on June 21, 2012, 07:33:09 PM
In addition to the Juneau-Bellingham ferry option, there's also twice-monthly (in the summer) "cross-gulf" ferry sailings that continue from Juneau to various ports serving Anchorage and other destinations in the main part of Alaska.  That has the advantage of bypassing customs completely (driving between Anchorage, etc. and Juneau means passing through the Yukon), which is nice for most of us but essential for people with DUI or other criminal records, that Canada won't let drive through their country.


How would they know?

NE2

Telepathy. One of those big brother things our borders keep out.
pre-1945 Florida route log

I accept and respect your identity as long as it's not dumb shit like "identifying as a vaccinated attack helicopter".

vdeane

Quote from: texaskdog on June 28, 2012, 08:28:06 AM
Quote from: oscar on June 21, 2012, 07:33:09 PM
In addition to the Juneau-Bellingham ferry option, there's also twice-monthly (in the summer) "cross-gulf" ferry sailings that continue from Juneau to various ports serving Anchorage and other destinations in the main part of Alaska.  That has the advantage of bypassing customs completely (driving between Anchorage, etc. and Juneau means passing through the Yukon), which is nice for most of us but essential for people with DUI or other criminal records, that Canada won't let drive through their country.


How would they know?
The US and Canada share ALL of their law enforcement data with each other.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

Scott5114

Do they actually pull all that up on the computer when you enter? I thought Canada was rather more apt to just wave you through at the border...
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

J N Winkler

Quote from: Scott5114 on June 28, 2012, 11:22:26 PMDo they actually pull all that up on the computer when you enter? I thought Canada was rather more apt to just wave you through at the border...

It is never that casual, in my experience.  This is the basic routine:

*  I drive up to the booth

*  I hand over my passport--the MRZ is scanned using an optical scanner the border guard has at his desk (I don't actually remember passing through any border crossings that did not have this facility--even Third World countries invest in the technology to check on who is coming and going)

*  "Are you bringing in alcohol or tobacco?"  "No."  "Are you bringing in goods to be consumed or left in Canada?"  "No"

*  "How long do you propose to stay in Canada?"  I reply with a ballpark number, in days

*  Border guard hands me back my passport and says, "You may go"

It is a three- to five-minute job even when it has been greased to the max with a simple and plausible itinerary, no dutiable goods, and honest face.
"It is necessary to spend a hundred lire now to save a thousand lire later."--Piero Puricelli, explaining the need for a first-class road system to Benito Mussolini

vdeane

And customs on both sides will also flip through EVERY page of a passport, though they'll keep asking questions even if you're otherwise clear to enter in their minds before this is done just so nobody gets bored.  Must be some official procedure they have to follow.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

agentsteel53

I've never had them look at every page of my passport... I've just had them ask inane questions designed to psychologically unnerve me.  at one point, I was asked this Rube Goldberg contraption of an inquiry: "if we were to search your car, would you be lying to us if you were to say that there are no surprises for us to find?"

I think I replied with "I don't have any idea what you just asked.  if you want to search the car, go for it."
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

kkt

Quote from: agentsteel53 on June 29, 2012, 12:13:58 PM
"if we were to search your car, would you be lying to us if you were to say that there are no surprises for us to find?"

"Can you diagram that sentence for me, officer?"

707

I would travel to Alaksa using US 97/BC 97/Yukon 1/AK 2 aka the Alaska Highway. Either that or I would meet up with BC 97 by taking I-5/BC 99.

NE2

pre-1945 Florida route log

I accept and respect your identity as long as it's not dumb shit like "identifying as a vaccinated attack helicopter".

tmthyvs

If you're truly coming from the west coast (I-5 country), the shorter route in Canada is TCH-1 to BC-97 to TCH-16 to BC-37 (the Cassiar highway). It's about 100 miles shorter than taking the Alaska Highway.

However, if neither time nor money is much of an object and scenery is, I think I would catch a series of ferries--some sequence to get onto Vancouver Island, the Inside Passage ferry from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert, and the Alaska Marine Highway up to Haines.

agentsteel53

Quote from: tmthyvs on July 19, 2012, 04:57:48 AM
If you're truly coming from the west coast (I-5 country), the shorter route in Canada is TCH-1 to BC-97 to TCH-16 to BC-37 (the Cassiar highway). It's about 100 miles shorter than taking the Alaska Highway.

However, if neither time nor money is much of an object and scenery is, I think I would catch a series of ferries--some sequence to get onto Vancouver Island, the Inside Passage ferry from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert, and the Alaska Marine Highway up to Haines.

I did a Seattle-Anchorage-Seattle run, so I got to do both the Alcan and the Cassiar.  I can't decide which is better, but can highly recommend that if the opportunity arises, to do both.  The Alcan is faster and has a lot more trucks, but the Cassiar is a very good road as well.

as for the ferries... it would drive me batty to be under someone else's control like that.  the whole point of road trips is to stop when I want to stop!
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com



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