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North to Alaska via inland route

We are a couple of RV guys one with a 6 and the other a 9 departing from Cut Bank MT on July 8, headed for Alaska. I've done Alaska on a motorcycle and promised myself the next time would be flying.

Any must stop recommendations, places or things to see, eat etc., please give us a shout. First stop in Canada will be Springbank, Alberta (CYBW). We plan on staying at least one night and appreciate hotel/motel recommendation along with hangar availability. We're both retired so we're not in a hurry.

Thanks,
Roger Hansen and Gene Larsen
 
Kimberly

It has been 15-years since I had the RV there. British Columbia is the best kept vacation value secret in North America. Our neighbors to the north are the best friends we have ever had.

Our first night in Canada on the way to Alaska was Kimberly. We landed Cranbrook and rented a car to drive to Kimberly. Mozart House was the place recommended to say at in Kimberly. I remember going in there and asking for a room. Was told to go up the stairs and pick any room that the door was open that I like. I IRC, once picking the room and signing in, they told us that the room rate was $20 Canadian back in 2001. (about $18 US at the time)

Lots of places to stop in Canada along the Alaska Highway. Do not want to spoil all the fun you will have along the way.

In Alaska, make sure you stop at as many of the major cities that you can. Fairbanks has a great airport. There is even an aircraft camp ground there. It was strange to be in a hotel room in Fairbanks with black out drapes at 11:30 PM local time at night. Open the shades, look to the left and see an orange glow just below the horizon then look right and see an orange glow just below the horizon. This was in July that this was done.

Just my opinion.

I enjoyed the trip and forgot more about the trip than I remember. You question brought back a lot of great memories.
 
Thanks for the tip, we'll put that on the return route. If I recall correctly, went through there on the motorcycle trip 38 years ago . . .
 
We're at our cabin in Atlin, BC for the summer and have a key to the gas pump at the airport! Might also have guest cabin space depending on the date(s) you are here. On a nice day, the Juneau icefield is a short and spectacular flight from here.

On the way up, Quesnel airport is an easy walk into town, or camping on the field (with internet access) if you are coming on the west side of the rockies and up the trench. If following the Alcan, Toad River has a motel across the road from the airport. Watson Lake has nice camping on the airfield (so I've heard from multiple sources).

No phone here, but have internet (email) access most of the time (has been twitchy lately with a lot of down time) so if you come this way, let us know ahead of time.

Greg
 
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We'll take a look at weather when we get further north. That's the main driver as to where we go. Thanks for the offer.
 
Will you accept another Cowboy with a 9A? I am free most of July ,
and would love to join in the trip .
 
Why from Cut Bank? You're swinging a long ways east for going to AK from Henderson, NV. That Alberta route is flat and boring compared to BC. If you're wanting pavement under you, well, fine. There are plenty of other paved routes further west.

Are you carrying camping gear?

We like exiting the US via the Okanagan River (Oroville, WA, which BTW is a good place to arrive from Canada) and checking in at Kelowna. From there, we overnight at Smithers. Motels will shuttle you. Then it's an easy flight down the Skeena to Prince Rupert, hang a right to Ketchikan to reenter the US. That route is spectacular. The coast has more airports than inland. You can stay inland from Smithers via Dease Lake and on to Whitehorse. Much of that route is desolate if you tend towards direct, but there is pavement if you choose to IFR. Don't count on gas at Dease.

The real PITA is US CBP. Ketchikan is more forgiving as they know wx can screw things up. Phone access in Canada is mandatory. The ePISS thing is a form you file, but the important contact is phoning the office you'll use for an appointment. Your Canadian departure should be a short flight from the US customs airport to assure compliance with your timing, and weather along the short distance is unlikely to change while enroute.

John Siebold
 
Pine Lake , Yukon

Got weathered in at Pine Lake last Fall flying my 185 home.
Long gravel strip with a excellent surface in a beautiful setting. (You'll probably be the only one there!) Walk the 1.5 mile road to the highway roadhouse... excellent accommodations and the best home cooked salmon dinner I've ever had! Great folks there!
Pine Lake is west of Watson Lake...
 
Cut Bank is a meet up place

I agree with you on it not being the closest route; however, one of guys is coming from Iowa and now another may join us from NY so Cut Bank seemed like a convenient spot to meet.

And yes, there is comfort in following the highway (to some degree) but we also have more options if weather becomes an issue. Weather is the reason we are not taking the coastal route.

We do have camping gear with us but that is a last resort as we are more into life's little comforts like a bed and a real roof above. In any case, thanks for the post reply.

Roger
 
Camping gear? never been up there but is it safe to camp in Alaska with all those big furry things with claws and teeth roaming around?
 
Two questions about Pine Lake, what is the identifier and do they have gas? Gas is an issue for the RV-9's but not so much for me as I can carry 67 gallons. Otherwise it would have to be Watson Lake.
 
Camping gear? never been up there but is it safe to camp in Alaska with all those big furry things with claws and teeth roaming around?

Sure, folks do it all the time. Probably safer than the Sierras where bears are habituated to people.
 
We're at our cabin in Atlin, BC for the summer and have a key to the gas pump at the airport! Might also have guest cabin space depending on the date(s) you are here. On a nice day, the Juneau icefield is a short and spectacular flight from here.

On the way up, Quesnel airport is an easy walk into town, or camping on the field (with internet access) if you are coming on the west side of the rockies and up the trench. If following the Alcan, Toad River has a motel across the road from the airport. Watson Lake has nice camping on the airfield (so I've heard from multiple sources).

No phone here, but have internet (email) access most of the time (has been twitchy lately with a lot of down time) so if you come this way, let us know ahead of time.

Greg
Greg, we have you schedule for sometime between the 10th and 12th of July weather permitting with an overnight in Toad River and then on to Atkin.
 
Pine Lake is CFY5. I've not been there but doubt there is fuel. I would stop in Watson Lake to be sure.

I will send a PM with more info on Atlin.
 
That's why I carry a big gun! To the both of us camping is the result of poor planning, we carry the gear but hope not to use it.
 
Remote country

Which ever route you go.... a 406 PLB is a really good idea. A light Piper with 2 persons went missing from Cranbrook, BC to Kamloops last Thursday. Although the military and multiple CASARA civilian AC have been searching for nearly a week they remain gone without a trace. The trees are often 80 to 100 ft tall. Finding any light AC in endless miles of that can be difficult to impossible. I really like a lot of Vlads first Alaska trip report to the effect of following the worlds longest runway as boring as that may sound. With two AC to cover each other it should allow for a great summer of sight seeing.

Have a great trip. I envy your retirement schedule as it makes waiting for good weather a relaxing and enjoyable event wherever you find yourself.
 
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Wetaskewin Alberta

You will have a great trip. If you are going to land at Springbank, it would be a short flight on north to Wetaskewin, Ab., where there is a great aviation museum, Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame, DC-3 on Skis, etc. and a very interesting museum with everything from carrages to old motorcycles to even a large farm implements section. Google it, it is hard to describe. They are side by side just on the west side of the runway. The fbo folks are great. You can camp right in front of the fbo in a nice grassy area and use the facilities of the fbo etc. Or they will let you use the Airport car, to go to the hotel,etc.

Bernie
 
Identifier for Wetaskewin?

Thanks for the tip, we'll check it out on the web as it sounds like an interesting place to visit. What is the airports identifier?
 
Thanks for the tip, we'll check it out on the web as it sounds like an interesting place to visit. What is the airports identifier?

Wetaskiwin is CEX3. The museum is Reynolds-Alberta and it's not just an aviation museum. They have transportation, agricultural and industrial exhibits as well. I haven't been in quite a while, but I remember it was pretty good.
 
Might save you $1000.

You will enjoy the museums at CEX3. Just a tip that might save you a bundle of money. Either taxi your RV and park on the museum side apron, OR park on the terminal side and take a car. Do not be tempted to park on the terminal side and walk across to the museum side or vice versa as many pilots have done.
Transport Canada enforcement love to break in their Edmonton based enforcement staff and hand out massive fines. Even if your AC was the only one flying that day. I have never seen TC there but have heard from pilots that have.
 
We had planned on parking at the museum since we saw a plane there on Google Earth. But the warning is well received, flying is expensive enough without getting penalized for not knowing about such laws.
 
You will have a great trip. If you are going to land at Springbank, it would be a short flight on north to Wetaskewin, Ab., where there is a great aviation museum, Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame, DC-3 on Skis, etc. and a very interesting museum with everything from carrages to old motorcycles to even a large farm implements section. Google it, it is hard to describe. They are side by side just on the west side of the runway. The fbo folks are great. You can camp right in front of the fbo in a nice grassy area and use the facilities of the fbo etc. Or they will let you use the Airport car, to go to the hotel,etc.

Bernie
Bernie, thanks again for that tip so we took a quick trip to Wetaskiwin from Springbank and spent about 4 hrs doing the tour. Learned some Canadian automotive history I never new of before. Took lots of pictures, rode in two different Model T Fords and the older couple who were driving them were very informative. We then went to the aviation hangar and definitely saw some aircraft we've never heard of before, too bad they didn't have room for the military aircraft indoors.

Just a tip for anyone else who wants to stop in there is look for a "red button" on the building next to the fence on the south side of the hangar where you park on the ramp. That alerts people inside to open the gate if it is locked. In our case, it was open since there was a fellow giving rides in a Waco UPF 7, don't know how much he charged but it was a nice aircraft.
 
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