[Black Pearl]

Howdy!

We just got to Kennecott on Sunday(Aug 28). Stood in the very spot you snapped that picture; cool. Yes, a nice place to visit--the whole vibe is friendly. Some great wood-fired pizza at the Potato restaurant in McCarthy. highly recommended.
Glad you enjoyed my home state. We think Arkansas is exotic! Hope to get to the U.S. next fall with our van.

Cheers,

Russ

 

[GaryBIS]

Hi,
Sounds like a great trip.

How bad/good was the road into Kennicott?
Lots to see up there?

We have thought about taking the side trip in there several times, but never actually done it.

Have you thought about side tripping over to Dawson City and the Dempster highway?

Gary

 

[Bucks County Promaster]

Beautiful and excellent!

 

[Boondogger]

Howdy!

We just got to Kennecott on Sunday(Aug 28). Stood in the very spot you snapped that picture; cool. Yes, a nice place to visit--the whole vibe is friendly. Some great wood-fired pizza at the Potato restaurant in McCarthy. highly recommended.
Glad you enjoyed my home state. We think Arkansas is exotic! Hope to get to the U.S. next fall with our van.

Cheers,

Russ

Arkansas is beautiful indeed. Just the scale is different.

I have lived in Seward and Healy and I miss Alaska very much.

 

[Boondogger]

Hi,
Sounds like a great trip.

How bad/good was the road into Kennicott?
Lots to see up there?

We have thought about taking the side trip in there several times, but never actually done it.

Have you thought about side tripping over to Dawson City and the Dempster highway?

Gary

The road to Kennecott was pretty poor as you can imagine. However, after the drive from Whitehorse to Tok it probably made it seem much better than it was. As long as you go slow in the right spots it is very doable. My van had no issues. There are no steep inclines or scary turns. Just potholes and mud.

I am going home via Chicken, AK and Dawson City partly to see new country and partly to avoid the Tok to Whitehorse road conditions. I won't hit the Dempster Hwy but it sure does look awesome. I've driven to Deadhorse, AK before when I lived in Healy so that just made the entire trip a long weekend. It was in a Honda CRV not van.

 

[Black Pearl]

The road to Mccarthy is a poor road in good condition. That is to say it's best to go slowly, 35 mph or even less at the potholes and wet spots. As a measure, consider that many of the tourist cars along the way were just small sedans like toyota corolla and honda fit.
It's only 2 or 3 hours of driving with incredible scenery with good nps toilets all along the route.
Be prepared to wave to every car as you slow to a walking pace while passing oncoming traffic. The road is often only one lane.
Adventurous but not dangerous.

R.

 

[Boondogger]

Tonsina Point. My happy place.

For only $140 per week these 4 guys used a uhaul as a camper. Genius travel hack.

 

[h1k3rb]

For only $140 per week these 4 guys used a uhaul as a camper. Genius travel hack.

Have seen that before but no windows and no ventilation. Opening and closing that back door all the time kinda sucks too, plus you can't lock it from the inside to keep hungry bears out. ;-)

 

[Black Pearl]

U-haul: Best laugh today.

Awesome hipster rig with kool graphics. ..and look at all that crap they could bring! load up at Costco and hit the road baby! .

I slept in a 40-foot Ryder truck once. It was vewy vewy kuhwaaayit.

r.

 

[Van vs Wild]

That U-HAUL is an interesting way to go RV'ing. Pretty good deal since it's cheaper than renting just a trailer. It's not a bad idea. I wouldn't be surprised if they brought that picnic table with them....and a kitchen sink.

 

[Vanpediem]

Nice shakedown! Ironically, I did my shakedown in Arkansas (lol). Kinda cheated on going to Alaska and went to Hyder, AK in August to see Salmon Glacier. I'm having the same Maxx Fan issue on my rear fan and may add a regulator to see if that resolves it? Front fan works great though. Thanks for sharing your trek!

 

[sfdafna]

I will have to check the serial number to see about the age. It rattles in every position. I almost always drive with it closed. @MsNomer heard it when she visited. I have been meaning to get up on the roof and check those 4 screws that it is attached with but it mostly just seems to be the lid. I might end up with a diy solution eventually.

I tried to find out if the manual lift fan needed a voltage regulator and I couldn't find any information so I installed it just in case.

Gorgeous trip —- and “@MsNomer visited” 😮 . Doesn’t get any better !!

 

[Licensed in 64]

The road to Kennecott was pretty poor as you can imagine. However, after the drive from Whitehorse to Tok it probably made it seem much better than it was. As long as you go slow in the right spots it is very doable. My van had no issues. There are no steep inclines or scary turns. Just potholes and mud.

I am going home via Chicken, AK and Dawson City partly to see new country and partly to avoid the Tok to Whitehorse road conditions. I won't hit the Dempster Hwy but it sure does look awesome. I've driven to Deadhorse, AK before when I lived in Healy so that just made the entire trip a long weekend. It was in a Honda CRV not van.

Last I saw the ferry across the Yukon was broken down, plus the border crossing on TOTW closed Sep 1. if you are planning on driving out yet this fall I’d double check before heading to Dawson. Love your menagerie and spirit!

 

[ajhorner]

Such a beautiful Trip. That's my dream.

 

[HiknSolo]

We must have passed somewhere on the road.
I recommend every ProMaster owner head north going up on the AlCan and back home on the Cassiar with a stop in Hyder to see the bears.
Just got back to CA after 3 months and 12,600 miles of wandering with my wife in our 136 hightop with an average of 19.2 MPG. We did over 1000 miles of dirt and the van did well. Road from Top of the World to Eagle I thought was tougher than then road to McCarthy but what visits they offered. Yes, going slow you get to see so much. I returned spoiled after the many beautiful boondocking sites we enjoyed.
What amazed me was upon arriving at the end of a few gnarly roads to find I was camped next to 4x4 Sprinters, large Dakar type RV's, etc Two wheel drive performed well.
We did returned home with some interesting windshield art, Dempster Highway and AlCan being the worst.
Thanks for sharing.
Doug

 

[HiknSolo]

Last I saw the ferry across the Yukon was broken down, plus the border crossing on TOTW closed Sep 1. if you are planning on driving out yet this fall I’d double check before heading to Dawson. Love your menagerie and spirit!

I just read the Ferry is working. Should anyone head north from there on the Top of the World there is a great boondocking site approximately 3 miles north of the border crossing on the right. A very large gravel pit where you can park on the edge and enjoy the vista.

 

[jackg48104]

We did returned home with some interesting windshield art, Dempster Highway and AlCan being the worst.

I took Top of the World Hwy to Alaska from Dawson once. When I was in Tok a day later, I noticed that around 8 out of 10 vehicles parked in front of the store had windshield cracks. I think it's a rite of passage for up there.

 

[Snoho3]

Great pics - thanks for posting. My shakedown trip was Seattle- Dawson back in '19. Completely awesome and now that the pandemic ended I hope to head north again next year. Question: Does anyone know if there are any special requirements/permits to get a dog over the Canadian border (or back into the US)?

 

[GaryBIS]

Great pics - thanks for posting. My shakedown trip was Seattle- Dawson back in '19. Completely awesome and now that the pandemic ended I hope to head north again next year. Question: Does anyone know if there are any special requirements/permits to get a dog over the Canadian border (or back into the US)?

We are in the US, but have taken our dog back and forth across the border quite a few time.
The only requirement for us to get back in the US with the dog is a Rabies certificate signed by our vet.
Most of the time they don't ask for it, but sometimes they do.

Gary

 

[Boondogger]

They checked rabies certificates both times I entered Canada.

Just south of Fort Nelson tonight. More pics soon.

Saw black bear, sheep, bison, elk, and caribou all today!