"John H" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:48:39 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:39:58 -0500, John H
wrote:

On Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:13:32 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:



I have heard so much about Alaskan cruises that I want to take one.
Know
people who are jaded world travelers, and to a person they rave about
the
Alaska trip.

We did that last June and it was great. I recommend flying into
Fairbanks and doing the land tours first as you work your way south to
catch the boat in Whittier. We used Princess Line for both the land
tours and the cruise. They did a great job with both.

The Disney one starts and stops in Vancouver. I'll check on the
Princess Line. Thanks

Ours stopped in Vancouver also with a bus ride back to Seattle. I
spoke with Chuck Gould a couple of times and he gave us some great
advice on where to stay in the San Juan Islands.

I've got a couple brothers in the Seattle area, so a place to stay is
no problem. We'd probably spend a few days visiting anyway.

If you stay in Seattle, take the train to Vancouver and is only a short taxi
ride to the cruise terminal.

"Don White" wrote in message
...

"John H" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 6 Jan 2010 12:47:26 -0800, (UglyDan®©T)
wrote:

John, The Dempster hwy runs from Dawson city to Inuvik in Canada
crossing over the Arctic circle, The haul road is the Dalton hwy it
starts just north of Fairbanks and runs to Deadhorse up by Prudhoe bay,
You would have to leave the trailer behind if you take either hwy all
the way up. The 4runner is a good rig for driving up though. UD




Now that I've Googled it, I don't think I'll be heading up to Inuvik
anytime soon.

Let me know how it goes when you do it.

Good decision...it's no country for girliemen!


You would not fit in for sure. We passed the Dempster turnoff on our drive
to AK. But going to AK through Poker Flat you are only 190 miles from the
Artic Circle in Keno City, Yukon Terr. .

On Wed, 6 Jan 2010 12:47:26 -0800, (UglyDan®©™)
wrote:

John, The Dempster hwy runs from Dawson city to Inuvik in Canada
crossing over the Arctic circle, The haul road is the Dalton hwy it
starts just north of Fairbanks and runs to Deadhorse up by Prudhoe bay,
You would have to leave the trailer behind if you take either hwy all
the way up. The 4runner is a good rig for driving up though. UD

How long did that take to type on your webtv?

Kinda like morse code, eh dummy?

On Wed, 6 Jan 2010 21:09:06 -0800, "Bill McKee"
wrote:


"Don White" wrote in message
.. .

"John H" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 6 Jan 2010 12:47:26 -0800, (UglyDan®©T)
wrote:

John, The Dempster hwy runs from Dawson city to Inuvik in Canada
crossing over the Arctic circle, The haul road is the Dalton hwy it
starts just north of Fairbanks and runs to Deadhorse up by Prudhoe bay,
You would have to leave the trailer behind if you take either hwy all
the way up. The 4runner is a good rig for driving up though. UD




Now that I've Googled it, I don't think I'll be heading up to Inuvik
anytime soon.

Let me know how it goes when you do it.

Good decision...it's no country for girliemen!


You would not fit in for sure. We passed the Dempster turnoff on our drive
to AK. But going to AK through Poker Flat you are only 190 miles from the
Artic Circle in Keno City, Yukon Terr. .

Based on your advancing age, one would assume that was during the
covered wagon days, eh? Did you have to do any portaging?

On Wed, 6 Jan 2010 21:02:46 -0800, "Bill McKee"
wrote:


"John H" wrote in message
.. .
On Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:48:39 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:39:58 -0500, John H
wrote:

On Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:13:32 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:



I have heard so much about Alaskan cruises that I want to take one.
Know
people who are jaded world travelers, and to a person they rave about
the
Alaska trip.

We did that last June and it was great. I recommend flying into
Fairbanks and doing the land tours first as you work your way south to
catch the boat in Whittier. We used Princess Line for both the land
tours and the cruise. They did a great job with both.

The Disney one starts and stops in Vancouver. I'll check on the
Princess Line. Thanks

Ours stopped in Vancouver also with a bus ride back to Seattle. I
spoke with Chuck Gould a couple of times and he gave us some great
advice on where to stay in the San Juan Islands.

I've got a couple brothers in the Seattle area, so a place to stay is
no problem. We'd probably spend a few days visiting anyway.

If you stay in Seattle, take the train to Vancouver and is only a short taxi
ride to the cruise terminal.


Good idea. I was wondering how to get to Vancouver without big time
imposing on a brother.

Thanks.

John H wrote:
On Wed, 6 Jan 2010 21:02:46 -0800, "Bill McKee"
wrote:

"John H" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:48:39 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:39:58 -0500, John H
wrote:

On Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:13:32 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:


I have heard so much about Alaskan cruises that I want to take one.
Know
people who are jaded world travelers, and to a person they rave about
the
Alaska trip.
We did that last June and it was great. I recommend flying into
Fairbanks and doing the land tours first as you work your way south to
catch the boat in Whittier. We used Princess Line for both the land
tours and the cruise. They did a great job with both.
The Disney one starts and stops in Vancouver. I'll check on the
Princess Line. Thanks
Ours stopped in Vancouver also with a bus ride back to Seattle. I
spoke with Chuck Gould a couple of times and he gave us some great
advice on where to stay in the San Juan Islands.
I've got a couple brothers in the Seattle area, so a place to stay is
no problem. We'd probably spend a few days visiting anyway.
If you stay in Seattle, take the train to Vancouver and is only a short taxi
ride to the cruise terminal.


Good idea. I was wondering how to get to Vancouver without big time
imposing on a brother.

Thanks.

I could always hitch hike.

"John" wrote in message
m...
John H wrote:
On Wed, 6 Jan 2010 21:02:46 -0800, "Bill McKee"
wrote:

"John H" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:48:39 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:39:58 -0500, John H
wrote:

On Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:13:32 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:


I have heard so much about Alaskan cruises that I want to take
one. Know
people who are jaded world travelers, and to a person they rave
about the
Alaska trip.
We did that last June and it was great. I recommend flying into
Fairbanks and doing the land tours first as you work your way south
to
catch the boat in Whittier. We used Princess Line for both the land
tours and the cruise. They did a great job with both.
The Disney one starts and stops in Vancouver. I'll check on the
Princess Line. Thanks
Ours stopped in Vancouver also with a bus ride back to Seattle. I
spoke with Chuck Gould a couple of times and he gave us some great
advice on where to stay in the San Juan Islands.
I've got a couple brothers in the Seattle area, so a place to stay is
no problem. We'd probably spend a few days visiting anyway.
If you stay in Seattle, take the train to Vancouver and is only a short
taxi ride to the cruise terminal.

Good idea. I was wondering how to get to Vancouver without big time
imposing on a brother.

Thanks.

I could always hitch hike.

We'd better send that 'god awful' picture to the Canadian Border Services
people.

"jps" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 6 Jan 2010 21:09:06 -0800, "Bill McKee"
wrote:


"Don White" wrote in message
. ..

"John H" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 6 Jan 2010 12:47:26 -0800, (UglyDan®©T)
wrote:

John, The Dempster hwy runs from Dawson city to Inuvik in Canada
crossing over the Arctic circle, The haul road is the Dalton hwy it
starts just north of Fairbanks and runs to Deadhorse up by Prudhoe bay,
You would have to leave the trailer behind if you take either hwy all
the way up. The 4runner is a good rig for driving up though. UD




Now that I've Googled it, I don't think I'll be heading up to Inuvik
anytime soon.

Let me know how it goes when you do it.

Good decision...it's no country for girliemen!


You would not fit in for sure. We passed the Dempster turnoff on our
drive
to AK. But going to AK through Poker Flat you are only 190 miles from the
Artic Circle in Keno City, Yukon Terr. .

Based on your advancing age, one would assume that was during the
covered wagon days, eh? Did you have to do any portaging?

No, that was 4 years ago. Driving a 2004 Chevy Duramax diesel with a
Palominorv Bronco B-800 camper. No flat tires, one chipped windshield. 50
years ago my older cousins drove up to commercial fish for a summer. 9 flat
tires.

wrote in message
...
On Wed, 6 Jan 2010 21:01:43 -0800, "Bill McKee"
wrote:


wrote in message
. ..
On Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:31:50 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:21:57 -0500, wrote:

This is a glacier in that park you can call your own for a while.
http://gfretwell.com/ftp/alaska/Glacier%20lake.jpg

Nice. How far did you have to hike back in? Were you able to rent a
4WD in Alaska or did you drive your own?

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/4...hallglacie.jpg


I think that lake was about 3 miles in but it is over a pretty good
sized hill (1000' or so I guess) I was dead reckoning with a compass
and we finally found the trail.
It was a good 6 hour hike with sight seeing along the way. We walked
around that lake for at least an hour and got lost coming back, pretty
scary actually. There really isn't much of a trail and my GPS was
virtually useless up there for some reason.

We ended up in a Hertz Windstar van, not 4wd but we still got around
OK. Flew into Fair banks, out of Anchorage.
About 99% of the "roads" in Alaska are dirt paths. There are a few
main roads but vast areas without any vehicle access at all except
snow machines and dog sleds.

My truck is 4x4. And I only used the 4x4 a couple times. More for
safety,
than anything else. Top of the World Highway in a rainstorm. We did not
see that big of a percentage of dirt roads. A few gravel but mostly
paved.
You can rent 4x4 truck campers.



I guess we just look for dirt roads. The most interesting things are
at the end of one ;-)
That was one reason why we liked South Dakota so much. In the Black
Hills there are hundreds (thousands?) of miles of logging roads.
We put 2300 miles on a 4WD Suburban in 3 weeks, probably half in the
dirt.

I did take some back dirt roads, but they were not 4x4 required. Maybe if
there was rain, but I think most of AK is gravel and rock. There are so
many glacial moraines that they can gravel coat a road easily.

wrote in message
...
On Thu, 7 Jan 2010 14:31:49 -0800, "Bill McKee"
wrote:

I guess we just look for dirt roads. The most interesting things are
at the end of one ;-)
That was one reason why we liked South Dakota so much. In the Black
Hills there are hundreds (thousands?) of miles of logging roads.
We put 2300 miles on a 4WD Suburban in 3 weeks, probably half in the
dirt.

I did take some back dirt roads, but they were not 4x4 required. Maybe if
there was rain, but I think most of AK is gravel and rock. There are so
many glacial moraines that they can gravel coat a road easily.

I agree, I suppose I was generalizing when I said dirt. They were
mostly rock, in Alaska and in the Dakotas. We didn't really use the
4wd more than a couple times in the Dakotas, and only because we had
it. In Alaska we did fine with a 2wd.
We figured out if you just fast idle along a road like that you do
not startle wildlife and you can drive right up to all sorts of
things.We came up on a family of black bears on a particular road we
liked around Coopers Landing in the Kenai that were just mildly
interested as we drove up them at about a walking pace. We looked at
each other for a few minutes and went our separate ways. I was mad
that my camera was out of film but that is always the way it goes
isn't it? We saw the only porcupine I have ever seen on that road too.
This lake is on that road
http://gfretwell.com/ftp/alaska/Kenai%20Lake.jpg



We probably saw that lake. But a lot of the lakes look like that.