Safe to say we had a blast in Alaska and ticked off a few things we had pinned on our Google map from when we originally started planning this trip.

We didn’t spend too much time in the larger cities, stopping mostly for supplies as larger supermarkets are not so easy to find.  Our route was almost a figure of eight starting and ending in Tok taking in Fairbanks, Denali, Anchorage, the Kenai Peninsula, Whittier and Valdez en route. From there it was back towards Canada.

We managed to secure a camp spot at Teklanika Campground in Denali from where we were able to explore the park on the transit buses.  We didn’t see too much wildlife but Denali showed herself in all her glory for the three days we were there; on average she is visible for only three days in ten so we were very lucky!  Only about half of the park is accessible due to the road being reconstructed after a landslide a few years ago when the permafrost melted but that didn’t take away from our visit at all.  They anticipate it will be another couple of years before the public is allowed beyond mile 43.

An unusual stop next at the Alaska Scottish Highland Games and a celebration of all things Celtic (they had Irish dancers too so not entirely Scottish!).  We passed a couple of hours watching people throwing various odd shaped things to the sound of bagpipes in the background. 

Before leaving the UK we had a good clear out of all our “stuff”, selling what we could and putting the money into a “days out” pot for doing things we wouldn’t normally do.  We arrived in Anchorage for one of those days – a flight in a float plane to a glacier, spotting wildlife as we flew over the Alaskan tundra.  Big smile time for both of us.

Homer Spit at the end of the Kenai Peninsula would be our most westerly point of this trip.  We spent a couple of days here with a beachfront park up and a couple of visits to the Salty Dawg Saloon, famous for people pinning $1 bills to the walls, ceilings and just about anywhere else they can find!

Seward was home for 4th July where there were parades on and off the water, fireworks and the Mt Marathon race where very fit lunatics run a 3.1 mile course up and down Mt Marathon just outside the town.  The race climbs almost 3,000ft and takes runners across mud and loose rock.  We were amazed to see two runners aged 84 and 88 cross the finish line!

We drove to Whittier to catch the ferry to Valdez but in order to get there we had to drive through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, a shared road and rail tunnel between Portage and Whittier.  Road traffic flows for 15 minutes in one direction, stops for 15 minutes and then the direction changes for another 15 minutes.  When the road traffic is stopped, it’s the turn of the trains!

As we were on the ferry to Valdez we decided to take a boat tour (the power of social media!) and were able to book ourselves on the Lu-Lu Belle for a glacier and wildlife cruise.  We had an amazing day seeing humpback whales, albeit briefly, sea otters, sea lions and stunning glaciers.  Captain Fred gave a running commentary and his crew provided delicious, reasonably priced food and snacks from the galley.

Our final stop in Alaska was Chicken.  The story behind the name was that the original gold mining settlers wanted to name the town after the ptarmigan birds prevalent in the area but couldn’t agree on the spelling so called it Chicken instead!  After a beer in the saloon we camped, for free, in their carpark.  

Motorhoming 

For this section we did use a few paid sites, especially in towns.  Denali National Park has several campgrounds and advance reservations at this time of year are essential.

Teklanika Campground, Denali National Park: USD40 p/n for camping only and reservations needed.  No hookups, water for containers only and vault toilets on site.  There are full water and dump facilities for RVs close to the park entrance.  At Teklanika it’s a minimum three night stay and you are not allowed to move your vehicle between arriving and leaving but it’s easy to get around on the transit buses (additional cost of USD33 each but valid for multiple days). 

Fishing Hole Campground, Homer Spit: USD30 p/n for camping only on a large gravel carpark.  No booking for this one, just first come, first served and not much marking of pitches.  Water and dump available at extra cost (free if you head back into Homer).  Great though for easy access to the bars and restaurants of Homer Spit.  We also arrived early enough to get a waterside pitch.

Boulder Campground, Seward:  USD45 p/n in a similar carpark to above.  Being the 4th July all the municipal campsites were fully booked and we just managed to get one of the last places here; lots of pitches but big rigs were taking 2 or 3 places so it was a bit of a scramble.  Free service point just across the road. Good location between downtown Seward and the marina.

LuLu Belle RV park:  USD30 p/n for a fully serviced pitch.  We chanced on this place by sheer fluke as it is where the office of the tour we wanted to take was located. Close to the town centre.

The Alaska Maritime Highway is a network of ferries running between various points on the coast and the outlying islands.  It’s a great way, although not necessarily a cheap way, to see the country from a different perspective and is sometimes the quickest route between two places.  We used the website for booking and they are very adept at getting vehicles of all sizes on and off the ships.

Fuel on average was under 80p a litre!

We’re using iOverlander on a daily basis to find park ups, water, dumps, LPG (propane) and laundromats.