Well the title say's it. I haven't been since I was a kid with my Dad. Now it's time to take mine.
I need advice on where to go and where to stop and what to see. I asked on the Maule forum an didn't get much help.
Greg, Wup told me you had been not too long ago. Any advice?
I was thinking about the Yukon, but I really don't have any idea where in the Yukon. Any advice would be appreciated. I expect to have the first two weeks of July for the trip, with three days spent on each end traveling to and from. South Georgia is a long way from Alaska.

a64,
i have flown here in alaska for 37 years. 19 of which was done in uncle sam's helicpters. i fly my maule mostly on floats and between the 2 have seen most of the state. it is a beautiful place. but be prepared to pay 7.00 a gal for hundred octane in the bush.
are you coming to fish or just see country?
i would suggest. tok, glenallen, anchorage, seward, homer then thru lake clark pass to illiamna, over to king salmon, dillingham up the tic chick lake chain into mcgrath up to gallena east to fairbanks then to circle on the yukon river and back out thru tok.
there is some great fishing along the way plus mt passes and wide life to see and a lot of gold mining history. you can fly that route and never get over 5000 ft.
let me know what interests you and i'll get more detailed
roger pfeifer [email protected]

Roger,
I'm a retired AH-64 driver myself, but as a gun guy, I never got to go to Alaska or Hawaii etc. Did you fly Chinooks?
I'd be going with a family of four, an eight and a twelve year old and a wife that will be complaining before we get half way there. Camping, fishing is out because of the wife. It will be a trip from one motel / BB to another. Mostly want to see scenery, don't mind mountain flying if it's not hard core. I will have 02 aboard.
Out of ignorance, I was thinking mostly White horse, Dawson, Ketchican etc. I remember those names when my Father and I flew up there in the mid 60's in a C182.

Roger,

Flying up through Canada will likely be amenable to your wife. The typical stops above Edmonton (Whitecourt, Grand Prairie, Dawson Creek, Fort St. John, Fort Nelson, Teslin, Haines Junction, Watson Lake, Whitehorse, or some combination of those) all have decent hotels and good airports. In Canada every small town with an airport has taxi service though it is usually a bit more expensive than you might be used to. Most have camping on the field too if you think that would work.

Once you get up here in state you can go to the bush, or do lots of flights along the highways and "civilization", or do a little of both. To keep your wife happy you can fly to Talkeetna (PATK), McKinley Park (PAIN), Fairbanks, Palmer, Glenallen, down into the Kenai (Homer, Seward, Ninilchik, Soldotna etc.), still have some great flying, and yet be on long runways and be near lodges, bed and breakfasts or hotels each night if that is what maintains marital relations If you are feeling adventurous you can fly some places off the road system (McGrath maybe, or Galena, or Port Allsworth, or Chena Hot Springs) and still have cabins or lodges to choose from.

You won't need O2 unless you are flying up around Mt. McKinley! You never want to fly over the top of any weather up here, too many pointy things sticking through the soup and never any guarantee you will find a way back down. Plus it's generally not allowed in Canada. Plan on doing a lot of flying 500-2000 agl.

Does your family all have passports? They are required to get back into the US from Canada now, even just flying to Alaska.

Here is one I might do, based on what you said. Northway>Anchorage>Homer(fish)>Seward(sea life center)>Anchorage>Talkeetna(spend a couple days here)>McKinleyPark (spend a couple days here doing the tourist thing)>Fairbanks(spend a few days here taking some day flights off the beaten path - Coldfoot? Chena Hot Springs? Galena? Lake Minchumina? Kantishna?)>back to Canada. MAybe stop in Eagle on the way through. If weather is nice shoot down the highway from Haines Junction in the Yukon, reenter the US and visit Haines or Skagway, and maybe fly down to Gustavus, or Juneau. Back up to Haines Junction and then head home.

Here is some advice that I give people, that somewhat conflicts what I wrote above. Too many people spend all their time up here driving (or in some cases flying) and not enough time sitting back and smelling the Forget-me-nots (state flower), if you know what I mean . With the loooooong days it's easy to get in the habit of go, go, go without enjoying yourself. You will be taking a long flight already to get up here, and to get back, with multiple stops.

Less destinations, more time on the ground to enjoy yourself, I say.

Oh yeah, if you want to spend the money you can put the wife and kids on the train that runs between Seward and Fairbanks, and pick them up somewhere else, so you can have the plane to yourself for a while. The best section is between Talkeetna and Denali Park (the airports are right next to the train depot at both places), or maybe Anchorage and Denali Park. http://www.akrr.com/

I am not exactly a veteran either, so I have a couple of questions. I have made the trip once, flew the Alcan and then to Fairbanks and then across to Kotzebue. I didn't have any problems.

This year I plan on leaving Fort Worth on the Saturday of Labor Day. I am picking up a friend that is flying commercial to Anchorage. We are going to the Dillingham area, specifically to Aleknagik. I fly a Husky.

My questions are: Is the best route up the Alcan to Northway and then down to Anchorage? Next, what is the best route to Dillingham?

Although I am Commercial IFR, that is not an option in that area in the Husky, too much ice! I am looking for the most reliable VFR route, on wheels too by the way.

Thanks,
Gary

All the thoughts above are valid. Remember that reservations at hotels may be tough to get, same with cars, so be prepared to be flexible.

Get a copy of the Milepost, from Alaska Northwest Publishing. Since you're mostly going to be sticking around civilization, that will be more useful than some of the aviation stuff.

There is a VFR Chart, called the Alaska Highway Chart, which covers the whole route. Get one. Otherwise, it takes a hundred charts (okay, I'm exaggerating) to cover that much ground. From Georgia, head pretty much direct to Edmonton, AB or so. That will dump you into the east end of the AK Highway system, then north to Ft. St. JOhn, Ft. Nelson, then west to Watson Lake. If you get jammed up betwixt, there's a little place right on the highway in the midst of the mts called Toad River, BC. Airstrip right across from motel. Not great accomodations, but not bad. Restaurant as well. These are the Rockies, and weather can be a factor.

From Watson, to Whitehorse, then Northway (NOT Tok--customs is in PAOR, not Tok), then Alaska. From Tok, which is just up the road from Northway, you can cut south through the Tok Cutoff to Glenallen. From there, go to McCarthy. There are a couple of B & B's there. Fantastic place, and lots of absolutely spectacular scenery in the Wrangell Mountains.

THEN go west to Prince William Sound, maybe Valdez, or hop on over to Anchorage. South to Seward. Then cut up across the upper part of Cook Inlet, through Lake Clark Pass to King Salmon, or on to Dillingham. There are also landing areas and lodges ($$$) on Tikchik Lake. Then inland to McGrath for a flavor of the Interior, on to Fairbanks, and a few days there. Day trips to Anaktuvuk Pass, peek out onto the North Slope from there, see some of the Brooks Range. Stop in Bettles for gas/lunch. Several other sights to day trip from FAI. Do the Riverboat Discovery deal in FAI. Family will love it, and they really do a nice job. I lived there for 20 years, and went on the boat a number of times with relatives, and enjoyed it every time.

Then east, quick stop in Eagle (maybe), but especially, and don't miss this one--DAWSON, YT. Dawson is very touristy, but loads of fun. The airport is 26 km out of town, and the cab fare is outrageous, but they have a bus that meets the scheduled flights, OR make a reservation at one of the local B and Bs or hotels, and they'll come get you for free. Fuel is spendy, but.... Accomodations last time I was there were reasonable, and the B and Bs are nice. Diamond Tooth Gertie's is a recreated gambling house, with gambling. There's also a theatre there with a play on the history of the gold rush. Both fun. Lots of history here, the gold rush of 98. The Klondike. Need I say more?

Fly a day trip maybe out of Dawson to the north to see some of the mining stuff, up the highway. In any case, don't miss Dawson.

Then, south from Dawson to Whitehorse, and back out the way you came.

I think your time estimate of three days each way is VERY optimistic, by the way. Straight line distance from Georgia to Fairbanks is roughly 3500 miles according to Google Earth (if you don't use Google Earth, GET IT AND USE IT planning for this trip). That would be a little over 1100 miles a day, STRAIGHT line. You aren't going to go direct, believe me, and if your spouse starts whining as soon as she gets in the plane, she will NOT be happy after nine hours in it in a day. I know I'm not.

Also, weather is a distinct factor. I got weathered in Red Deer, AB for two and a half days last summer on that route southbound, and turned around between Watson and Ft. Nelson.

DO NOT cut yourself short of time. This is not a trip you want to be pushing weather, believe me.

Have fun, most of all. Don't miss Dawson.

Send me a PM if you want more specifics. I lived up there for 30 years.

MTV

There's a website FlyNorth.com that professes to have all the information you'd need to plan a trip to Alaska. Not too sure how useful it actually would be, but its worth taking a look at none the less.

After 30 years in The Great Land and flying to every corner in a cub I have some suggestions for the most beautiful and more true Alaska where not all the ferry tourists travel. Fly up the Alcan making a left turn at Tok and head to Anch. Head south and west To Homer , Seldovia , English Bay , Kodiak , west over the Katmai to King Salmon , Naknek to see real commercial fishing back to Anch via Illiamna then to Valdez the pipe line terminal then to Tok and back home. I would not waste time in the interior ( Fairbanks ) the land is flat and dull with bugs bugs and more bugs. A side trip from Anch to Talkeetna and Mt Mckinley is also a beautiful flight.

What concerns do you have about single engine across the water from say Kodiak to the peninsula and King Salmon? Do you reccomend more than just a life jacket?

I have flown across the Sea of Cortez in several singles, the water isn't as cold though!

Cold Duck wrote:What concerns do you have about single engine across the water from say Kodiak to the peninsula and King Salmon? Do you reccomend more than just a life jacket?

I have flown across the Sea of Cortez in several singles, the water isn't as cold though!

It is done fairly routinely. To give yourself a little margin to deal with problems climb to 7 or 8K feet before starting across.

A life jacket in those waters will not even postpone the inevitable much in the event of a forced landing. It will perhaps allow the Coast Guard to find your remains. Unprotected (eg. no survival suit) you have roughly 10 to 15min before going unconcious. The only item that will keep you alive very long is a survival suit. They are difficult to impossible to wear while flying (and will impede egress), difficult to drag out of a sinking aircraft and you'll need a bit of practice to put them on while in the water. You'll need to get one and practice putting it on while bobbing around fully clothed. Then keep it where it can be reached with minimum effort when needed. Keep any survival stuff (EPIRB, flint, knife etc.) in a small pelican case in the survival suit bag. You might even tether the case to one of the various points on the survival suit with a long enough tether so it floats away from you down current while you put the suit on. Make sure the entire mess can easily fit out through your closest egress point.

7853H wrote:I would not waste time in the interior ( Fairbanks ) the land is flat and dull with bugs bugs and more bugs.

Hmmm...those might be fighting words The man wants to experience Alaska and you want to steer him away from the principle (and really, the only important) part of the state

i personally don't fly over bodies of water that i cannot glide to the other side, or at least if i do i limit the exposer time to a very minimum and i fly on floats. i have only taken one trip over the prince william sound and i had another float plane off my wing.
i have done too many search and rescue missions that ended up to only be searches. these waters are dangerous and some of the beaches are glacier silt and even if you could get to a beach you may get stuck in the silt and die in the next tide. the tides around anchorage are some of the biggest in the world up to 33 feet . they are very dangerous. i advise take a little more time and go around. my 2 cents
roger pfeifer

Guy's
Thanks, a lot. This kind info is invaluable and priceless. If any of you guy's are ever near Albany Ga. and need anything I'll do what I can.
Does anyone have any experience with this Flynorth web site? From what I can see if they are anything like what they advertise, then that would be the ticket for me.

I lived, worked and flew out of Kodiak for eight years. Great place. I WOULD NOT go there with my family in a single engine airplane, no matter HOW high I could get.

It's close to 40 miles of water between the south tip of the mainland to the north part of Shuyak Island. The only land between is the Barren Islands and there are about three sorta okay little beaches there you might land on. There's also NO safe place to land a wheel plane on Shuyak-its all rock and timber.

Now, from Kodiak ISLAND (note I did not say from an AIRPORT) to landfall on the peninsula is about 30 miles minimum as well. Nothing but water in between.

This body of water is known as Shelikof Straits. When I used to have to take airplanes back and forth to Anchorage, I swore that the Boogie Man does exist, and he lives near the Barren Islands. Weather sucks out there, wind is serious.

There are a lot of other places to see in Alaska. I love Kodiak, but going there in a single engine airplane is not something I'd do today.

Did it back when I was young, dumber than dirt, and getting paid the big bucks. Sure wouldn't do it for fun.

The Interior lies between the Alaska Range and the Brooks Range. While the interior is flat in places, it, like a lot of other places, is worth seeing.

If all you give a rip about is big mountains, go to Tok, turn left, Gulkana for fuel, McCarthy, as I suggested earlier, and see the Wrangells. Mt. McKinley is spectacular, the Wrangells are JUST as spectacular, without most of the tourists. There are also a number of airstrips up there that a person can use, as well as cabins, etc.

Then, go home via Chitistone Pass on your way out to Northway. You will have seen some no joke mountains.

But there's more to Alaska than that.

Skip Homer--touristy, jammmed with motor homes in summer, etc. And, it's not on the way to anywhere except that big pond I described.

MTV

AH 64,

Almost forgot. AOPA has a note in their magazine that they now have a link on their web site on information for flying to Alaska. Tom George is the AOPA Rep for Alaska, and I'd bet he's taken a really careful look at that, and he knows the route well.

Take a look at AOPA's web site.

MTV

mtv,
I have delivered crop dusters over the North Atlantic and down to South America, up to twelve hours over water, but I won't fly out of gliding distance with my family over less than 80F water, don't worry. I believe anyone should be allowed to kill themselves, but not others.
I DO APPRECIATE ALL OF THE SUGGESTIONS it's a little overwhelming, I'm trying to digest it all. I have been trying to contact that flynorth website. I'll give them a try as well.
Biggest problem is that I don't have nearly enough time.

Guys, this thread could not have been timed better. I put my 185 on floats yesterday near Williams Lake, BC and the plane is now in front of my house at Bridge Lake, BC. Last year I flew all summer long around central and northern BC. It was the best summer of my life.

This year my wife and I want to continue the quest and the Yukon and Alaska are definitely on our schedule. Camping, fishing, hiking, and wild life viewing are what we are interested in. With straight floats some of your suggestions might not help us, but there seems to be much info that will be of great help and I will be contacting a couple of you for more specific help.

Thanks to all for sharing your advice and experiences with us. Later, Ford

In your trip planning, add all the things to your kit that would serve you in an unplanned trip to the bush. Canada requires specific stuff on board for remote flying. Not least of all, is the mosquito net head nets. (The mosquito is Alaska's state bird ) !
The west coast of B.C. is a spectacular route to S.E. Alaska, but Wx can be a major dissuader.
I was "Wx'd" in at Fairbanks for better part of a week by very low visibility from forest fires, a few years ago.
- Time to spare? - Go by air!
Have a great trip, and send reports.
Enjoy, Berk

When you get to Alaska, McCarthy and Talkeetna are two great stops. Get the Milepost it is worth the money.

Chris

ford,
if you need any help planning any portion of your trip to alaska feel free to email me. i do most all my airplane flying on floats and have been flying in the state for 37 years. i love the state, its beauty and wildlife and adventure. i am not the greatest fisherman in the world but i know where they hang out and how to get there.
rog pfeifer [email protected]