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Alaska Via Montana & Canada

Fred.Stucklen

Fred.Stucklen

Well Known Member
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I'm starting the planning process for a trip to Alaska. So far, there are three RV's from the East Coast interested in going. The plan is to meet near Glacier National Park at S27 - Kalispell MI - and spend some time touring the park. Then into southern Canada to clear customs, then up to the Edmonton area to spend a night, then to Watson Lake then to Whitehorse to spend a night. Finally, from Whitehorse to Fairbanks to clear customs and spend 4-5 days before returning the same way.
My question to the group, is where is the best place to clear customs when entering Canada at Souther Alberta, (Coutts Ross, Milk River, Warner, or Lethbridge) and where in the Edmonton area is a good place to land and spend the night? Edmonton International???
 
You're planning a beautiful trip!
1. Hope you & your buddies are registered & up on the new eAPIS procedures.
2. Easiest routing would be direct Kalispell to Calgary Springbank CYBW (my base) to clear customs. Just over 1.0 direct. If weather dictates valley flying, routing towards Cranbrook (you could also clear customs there), then East thru the Crowsnest Pass (Fernie BC to Pincher Creek AB) then up to Springbank. Scenery is fantastic.
3. From Springbank it is about 1.0 up to Edmonton City Center airport CYXD, as the name implies, right down town. Hotel right across the parking lot & numerous others near.
When you approach Watson Lake, see if you can make out the WWII bomber on the lake bottom on final.
Have a wonderful trip.
 
Take the virtual tour first...

Fred,

My hangar mate and another commercial pilot flew up to Alaska in 2007. I created a 50-page story with over 500 photos, GPS map overlays, and some fill material from Google Earth for more detail.
http://www.n2prise.org/wakmenu.htm

Better make sure your flight plan is entered well in advance, or land at one of those airports ON the border where you can park your plane on the US side of the parking ramp. They departed Great Falls, Montana and flew to Lethbridge to clear customs. They were advised on approach they did not have their flight plan on file for entering Canada. By the time they taxied to the ramp, the flight plan had been received from flight service in the USA.
100_0771.JPG
 
I cleared at Springbank, great airport, nice folks and if you're spending the night there's a great B&B right there. That'd be my vote. One other thought, it depends if you're set up to camp or not, but I'd sure rather be at Watson Lake than Whitehorse...but only if camping. You'll have to be flexible on your plans, as weather always trumps things up in the great white nort. Seems like a long run from Whitehorse to Fairbanks, is there a reason you're not stopping at Northway to do that? On my last trip up in an airplane, the smoke from fires was awful and we BARELY made Fairbanks, the airport actually closed about ten minutes after we landed (you could not see the control tower from the ground), I thought we were going to have to land on the highway or a private strip...just saying to build plenty of flexibility into a trip up there and then be prepared to roll with what you get...you'll love it, it's an awesome trip. I'm lucky to have a relative up there who flys the bush and is an A&P, so we got a little more than the nickel tour, but then we had three weeks to spend in Alaska on that trip.
 
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Alaska Trip

Jerry,

Thanks for posting the link to such a wonderful trip. We're planning about the same route, but traveling to Fairbanks from Tok. One of our day trips out of Fairbanks will take us to Achorage, then up the Glenn hyway, and back to Fairbanks.
It was interesting to see where you made overnight stops. I was thinking Grand Prairie the first night, then onto Whitehorse for another night.
Again, thanks for the post.....

n2prise said:
Fred,

My hangar mate and another commercial pilot flew up to Alaska in 2007. I created a 50-page story with over 500 photos, GPS map overlays, and some fill material from Google Earth for more detail.
http://www.n2prise.org/wakmenu.htm

Better make sure your flight plan is entered well in advance, or land at one of those airports ON the border where you can park your plane on the US side of the parking ramp. They departed Great Falls, Montana and flew to Lethbridge to clear customs. They were advised on approach they did not have their flight plan on file for entering Canada. By the time they taxied to the ramp, the flight plan had been received from flight service in the USA.
100_0771.JPG
Click to expand...
 
Alaska Trip

Bob,

We will make a stop at Northway now that I know the runway is OK to land there. Hopefully there aren't any smoke problems on the way to Fairbanks. The last time i was there (2006) there were fires to the South of Fairbanks, but the airport was still VFR. We'll be sure to know the weather before we go, and have an out....

Bob Brown said:
I cleared at Springbank, great airport, nice folks and if you're spending the night there's a great B&B right there. That'd be my vote. One other thought, it depends if you're set up to camp or not, but I'd sure rather be at Watson Lake than Whitehorse...but only if camping. You'll have to be flexible on your plans, as weather always trumps things up in the great white nort. Seems like a long run from Whitehorse to Fairbanks, is there a reason you're not stopping at Northway to do that? On my last trip up in an airplane, the smoke from fires was awful and we BARELY made Fairbanks, the airport actually closed about ten minutes after we landed (you could not see the control tower from the ground), I thought we were going to have to land on the highway or a private strip...just saying to build plenty of flexibility into a trip up there and then be prepared to roll with what you get...you'll love it, it's an awesome trip. I'm lucky to have a relative up there who flys the bush and is an A&P, so we got a little more than the nickel tour, but then we had three weeks to spend in Alaska on that trip.
Click to expand...
 
Customs

Have been to the north country several times, have cleared customs at West Poplar, MT, Regina,Sask, and kelwona, BC. Canadian customs Have always been very fine and accommodating folks. Going into Alaska filed FP at Whitehorse cleared back into the US at Northway. Our most memorable flight was a Cessna 170 convention in Fairbanks. The trip from Atlanta and eventually going up as far as Bettles and taking into account several returns to airports due to bad weather, took 71 hours and 576 gallons of fuel. Did trip in three weeks. After leaving the US, our stops were Kindersley, SK, Edmonton, Grand Prairie, Ft. St. John, Ft. Nelson, Watson Lake, Whitehorse, Northway and Fairbanks. Everybody needs to do this at least once. One other year we went to Yellowknife, NWT...thats another story. I wish I would have had the RV speed then.

Ed Booth,
 
Pete,

So far we've only planned the trip TO Alaska. I'm not sure how long we'll actually be there, but the 4-5 days is a minimum. If I had my way, I'd stay there for at least three months!

PCHunt said:
To go all that way, it seems a waste to only stay 4-5 days.:eek: There is so much to do/see in AK!!
Click to expand...
 
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