ALASKA!! in September??

[WyoJim]

Is September too late for a vacation scouting trip to Alaska?

 

[Speedo]

Alaska in September

Alaska can be great in September, early in the month the leaves

are changing. While they are not as colorful as some of the hard-

wood forests in the north eastern states they can be quite spec-

tacular with a backdrop of snow capped mountains. While you

could run into snow, especially in the mountains, it is not likely to

stay until October. If you could give me a better idea of where

you are planning on going and what you're interested in I could

give you more detailed information.



Gus

 

[Speedo]

more....

You might even see some critters.....

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26391

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

WyoJim, you should PM IdahoCTD (aka Nathan). When I saw him a few weeks ago he mentioned he was planning to drive to Alaska in September. He lives in the Boise area.



Vaughn

 

[WyoJim]

Speedo... I will try to come in over Dawson Creek to Chicken the first week of Sept.

I will enter the drawing to drive my truck into Denali. Don't figure I will be successfull, but if I am I will go from Tok to Fairbanks then Denali. If not, my wife wants to see a whale so I will probably head from Tok to Seward or there abouts.

I am not naive enough to think I can see Alaska in one trip. So I will try to experience Denali a little bit, find my wife a whale, and cruise all of your highways looking for wildlife and scenery. And finding what is there that I have to come back and get serious about.

I have been an avid hunter, fisherman and photographer all my life. But am not planning on anything but snap shots on this trip. I just want to look and I hope most of the tourists except us old farts have gone home.



I can use all the advice I can get.



P. S. I like good food, especially BBQ.

 

[Speedo]

Alaska in September

WyoJim,

Well, it sounds like you have given this trip some thought already

and your itenerary sounds pretty good. The trip from Dawson over

to Eagle then on to Chicken could possibly run you into a little

snow so I would prepare for that eventuality. That route is not

maintained in the winter and I'm not sure when the maintenance

ends so you might want to check that out. It becomes a groomed

snowmachine tail in the winter from Tok to Dawson. A lot of the

tourist traffic ends around Labor Day so that should make your

travels a little less harried. If you can't get into Denali Park you

might want to consider taking the Denali Highway from Cantwell

to Paxson its close to 140 miles of gravel road and used a lot by

hunters in September but it will put you into some fairly wild areas

again it gets you up in the mountains where you might run into

snow so be prepared and by the way getting up in altitude here

is different than in the western states in that 4,000 feet would be

extreme for a highway and tree line is around 3,000 feet. Here's

a link you might find helpful; http://www.dot.state.ak.us/stwdplng/planresc/road_cond.html

I'll try to answer any other questions you might have.



Gus

 

[JR2]

Speedo is giving you good advice... If you make it to Anchorage and want to chat shoot me an email and I can give you my phone #. I will be off work and running around Southcentral Ak from the 12th to the 24th.

 

[WDaniels]

If you want to chat and or need any mechanical help, pm me and I'll give you my phone number. I have most of anything that you might need to work on your rig. Will even travel if you need it. Bring your good camera. The least expensive thing you will do on the whole trip is pictures. If you want to see a whale, the best thing to do is drive to Whittier with your truck. Put it on the ferry and go to Valdez and then drive back up to Seward, then anywere else you would like. Even think that they do the trip the other away around too.

Warren

 

[WyoJim]

Well we have the camper loaded and will leave on our trip to Alaska after breakfast.



Should be in the Wasilla Anchorage area around the 9th or 10th. Will look for Speedo, JR2, and Crazy Horse.



We were successful in the lottery to drive the Denali Park road on the 13th.



Should be around Fairbanks around the 16th. Will try to look up WDaniels.



Back to Wyoming by the first of October

 

[Speedo]

WyoJim

Originally posted by WyoJim

Well we have the camper loaded and will leave on our trip to Alaska after breakfast.



Should be in the Wasilla Anchorage area around the 9th or 10th. Will look for Speedo, JR2, and Crazy Horse.



We were successful in the lottery to drive the Denali Park road on the 13th.



Should be around Fairbanks around the 16th. Will try to look up WDaniels.



Back to Wyoming by the first of October

I'll wish you good luck on your trip now as we're leaving on our

annual hunting trip Saturday morning. Congratulations on your

successful drawing for Denali that should be an enjoyable trip in

itself. We go into the woods for three weeks or more every year,

kinda nice to go where you have no radio contact, no cell phone

signal and no newspapers.



Gus

 

[JR2]

Jim - I can talked into doing the denali road (girlfriend won the lottery) on the 14th. I am not sure where we will be staying but I know I will be in the Denali area on the night of the 13th. Unfortunately I will not have my truck as it does not have enough seats for all the folks going along. I will shoot you a PM with my phone # in it so you can call me in Anchorage.

 

[lgibson]

Sure wish I could go up with ya. I haven't been back up there since 98. I still own a little place in Anchorage. It has been a while but in January of 98 I drove up from Las Vegas in a 84 Isuzu p'up 4x4 diesel with over 200,000 miles on it. It was the first Isuzu sold in Alaska, was what the only owner told me as I bought it. I drove that trip about 10 times round trip within a year. Summer of 97 I drove it in a Jeep CJ-5. Now that was fun open air crusing. I liked the winter trip because all the pot holes were filled in and the turist were not on the road. In fact, I drove from Whitehorse to the border without seeing anyone else on the road. Talk about isalation, 45 below zero and don't see anyone for a day and a half driving in 4lo with blowing snow. Had to shovel my way through a few snow drifts. I blocked off the radiator and the Isuzu's heater still had only cool air coming out. I had the time of my life right then and there, one I will never forget.

My friends dad is there right now. His brother just bought a boat and wanted to try it out. Last boat he bought, he picked up from Seattle and sailed up. Everyone got seasick that trip so he had it shipped up this time. What I would not give to be back up there.

 

[Idaho CTD]

Alaska in September...Woo Hoo

I leave in 5 days. Four of us are driving from Boise to Fairbanks to fill up on supplies. Then we're going up the Dalton Hwy to the Yukon R. All four of us drew moose tags in the Koyakuk NWR. We built 2 boats for the 400 mile one way trip to our hunting area. At 9k a pop for a guide we figured we could build two boats and pay for the trip and still be 10k+ ahead, plus we'll get to bring our whole moose home. Sunday the 8th we'll be making the 400 mile trip down the Yukon and up the Koyakuk .



I just got the 375-358STA dialed today for the trip. I changed to 270gr Failsafe bullets @ 2920fps. With a 200yd zero, I was 7" low at 300yds (3" group), 15" low at 400 (4" group), and 34" low at 500 (4" group). Look out moose here I come . If you see a couple of four door phurds pulling a pair of ugly bare aluminum jet boats, wave or say hi.



Man I cant wait

Nathan

 

[WyoJim]

JR2... . Tried to call you several times on Thursday 9/5. Kept getting your message machine. Didn't leave any messages, guess I should have, but I was using a Walmart pay phone, so you couldn't return my call.

We had a good day in Denali on 9/13 and spent the evening browsing the gift shops in Denali Park. Here we were, both in the same little wee town and didn't get together. Damn Damn double Damn, Thats a shame.

Hope you had a good day on the 14th. We saw Moose, Caribou, Dall Sheep, Grizzly Bears, and a black bear. But Mckinley was mostly clowded in. The 14th looked like a better day to see the mountain.



Didn't get a hold of Speedo but I see now he was hunting and I wish him luck.



Got to try for Crazy Horse once and he wasn't home. I wouldn't walk through the down pouring rain to try again and it poured all night.



I must apoligize to WDaniels as I didn't get a chance while in Fairbanks to try to call him. My wife does beadwork and I had to find all the Bead shops in Fairbanks and wait for her to browse them then take her to a Salmon Bake and then crash into bed. But she's worth it.

 

[WDaniels]

Jim,

Glad your trip was a good one. Maybe next time your up or next time we are down we'll drop in and see you all. I will be making a trip in the next year or so to look for retirement property. I personally like area around the middle fork of the crazy woman river. Nice area. Oh well, here is for the next time.

WD

 

[WyoJim]

Warren... I'll make that into a standing invitation for you to stop and visit.

Crazy Women, Powder River at the bottom of the Big Horns... definately nice. I killed my first mule deer there in 1961. 29 inches wide. I have it hanging on the wall.

 

['956Wheel]

We went in September and it was very nice. beware of those "noseeums" tiny mosquito bugs. Take mega doses of brewers yeast and they leave you alone. I was fine upon returning my buddy Scott looked lie he had the measles! Bring your fishing pole and a fold-up smoker!



Mike

 

[TPCDrafting]

So Jim, are you back in WYO. Yet? The other night I was outside and we were getting one of them nor-westerly winds and I thought I could smell BBQ. JK, there's been some talk of a WY get-together in Thermop. I'm thinking Jan. or Feb. but wanted to make sure you were at least back. Sounds like a good trip to Alaska. In another 30 years when I can semi-retire, maybe we'll make the trip too.

 

[WyoJim]

tpcdrafting... Yep we are back HOME in Wyoming. I'll show up at any WY get together, except we plan on going to AZ, TX and NM in Feb.

We had lots of vacuum packed BBQ with us. Meal size packages boiled in water were quick to fix and we ate like Kings. BBQ every day, sometimes twice.

A fantastic trip with my best friend, my wife. Try treating your wife like she is your girl friend and see your relationship make a giant improvement.

 

[JR2]

Glad to hear your trip when well. I was in Denali the 14th and saw all the same stuff you did. The weather did clear some and we got some good shots of the mountain. Drove all the way to the airport at Kantishna... 12 hours round trip. Had a rented Ford Excursion... what a hog, but we had plenty of room and had a real nice trip. If you come up next year we will have to try to get together. I was at work (out of town) when you called anyway so I would not have been able to catch up with you.....



If you want a couple digital pics of the mountain let me know and I can email em to ya... they make a nice desktop background.



JR2