By the time the summer tour was over I had also visited Yosemite, Arches, Canyonlands, Zion and Bryce. Check back, read about them and see the pictures.

Delta Junction is the official end of the Alaska Highway

We drove the AlCan in three days from Calgary to Delta Junction August 16, 17 & 18, 2005 The MILEPOST book says Dawson Creek to Delta Junction is 1390 miles, but they call Delta Junction Milepost 1422; Dawson Creek, B.C., Canada is mile Post "0". I think the discrepancy is because they keep straightening the highway since it was first built IN 1942.

TRIVIA FACT:In 1942, the US Army Corp of Engineers built the original gravel and dirt highway, using 10,000 men, in eight months! It was a strategic defense measure giving the lower 48 states a land access route to Alaska from the Lower 48 states after Japan invaded the Aleutian Islands (the Alaskan islands that extend from Alaska into the Pacific Ocean). The following pictures share some of the scenes along the way. "Life is a jouney" and driving to Alaska is, without a doubt, a journey. When you get to Alaska, the state is awesome, but the trip there is filled with lots of amazing memories. Old original AlCan path from 1942. Current MapQuest route we took. A trip to Alaska by auto from the "Lower 48" is really a trip across western Canada, where gas (August 2005) is over $4.00 US a gallon ($0.99.9 CAN to $1.20.9 CAN per liter and there are 4.54 liters in a gallon. The exchange rate is currently $1.18 Canadian to $1.00 US, so you figure it out!). Let me say, it is a funny feeling when you fill up and it costs over $74.00. It makes $2.69.9 per gallon in the lower USA seem cheap! My trip north began following a show I did at the Carter County Fair in Ekalaka, MT on August 12th. I then passed through Billings, MT and stopped in and said hello to Tom Atkins, partner in The Mighty Thomas Carnival as it ran at the MontanaFair at the Metroplex in Billings on August 13th. I swung around the state through Bozeman, up through Butte, I visited Linda Musick-Rosen, (ex-manager of the Southwest Montana Fair & Butte Silver Bow Co Fair. She is also my tax preparer - so if you are an entertainer and you need a great tax preparer, I recommend her highly). I continued up to Kalispell, MT where I dropped in and said hello to Jay Scott, Manager of the Northwest Montana Fair and current Board President of the Rocky Mountain Association of Fairs. Jay's fair was just one day away from openning, so I didn't stay long, but I got to talk to him for about 15 minutes and it was a pleasure. He is normally a quiet person. He seems to watch from the background at conventions and remains low profile. But, one on one, he is highly insightful and when he smiles, you can't help but like him, trust him and smile back. From Billings, MT to Delta Junction, AK the total trip was roughly 2,400 miles one way, if I had gone directly - but I took the detour around the state to drive through Waterton - Glacier International Peace Park. I was on a slightly tight time line. I picked up Nick on Monday evening about 8:30 PM in Calgary and I had to be on stage Friday at 5:00 PM. We shot-gunned from Calgary to AK in three days, 1,900 miles. We spent three days in Delta Junction at the Deltana Fair. We then took eight days coming back. I camped just south of Waterton - Glacier International Peace Park. The next day I drove through the park, and crossed the U.S./Canadian border in Montana (MT) on US Highway 89 to Canadian Highway 2. It took an hour for the border patrol to search my vehicle with a dog - they found nothing, but the dog was on its way to sniff a bands bus and trailer - so they busted my chops, too ... I then proceeded to drive to Calgary and picked up my nephew Nick Goodwin, we then drove through Alberta (AB), into British Columbia (BC), through the Yukon Territory (YT) and up into Alaska (AK). The YT is about the same size as Washington State, Oregon and Idaho combined but YT's population is roughly 30,000 and 15,000 live in the city Whitehorse ... The highways are being improved, so we hit construction delays and 15 mile stretches of gravel, rock, sand and dust quite a bit - but I understand it has improved a lot over the years. It was really amazing to watch Canadians build roads. They had no supervisors standing around doing nothing. Every vehicle at every site was working and not a person was "supervising". Go Canada! If U.S.A. Road workers would learn to do this, it would be so amazing ... BC and AB are about the same size as one another, and both are really close to the size of Alaska - or are WAY bigger than any of the US States except Alaska ... so when I say, "we drove distances that were virtually uninhabited", this is no exaggeration. It's one thing to let your gas tank "empty' light go on in a populated area, or even MT or WY when you know farmers pass, but in the Yukon, if you turn off the highway for any reason, never run out of gas unless you have applied for duel citizenship first! The Yukon and NorthWest B.C. adds a whole new dimension to the question I kept awsking myself, "how far will AAA Plus go to help you? And how long will it take them to find you?" Besides, cell phone service is worse than radio reception ... which there is none of most of the way ... Gas prices ranged from 99.9 cents a liter to $1.20.9 way up north Nick plays in a truck used to build the original AlCan Highway at a museum in Delta Junction A desserted cabin along the highway Caribou along the AK Hwy Moose in AK Crow in Jasper Dall Sheep in Glacier NP So, what does one see driving to & from Alaska? First, everything is BIG. Really, really BIG! Glaciers, mountains, rivers, fish, animals and open spaces. Let's compare: The Tetons and they soar up to about 13,000 feet! Mt. McKinley in Alaska is over 20,000 feet high! On this trip I visited Valdez and along the 220 mile trip to the coast from Delta Junction you almost never lost view of Mt. Alias as it towered 19,000 plus feet up into the air. Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and National Preserve is the largest National Park in the USA. They have a glacier said to be larger than Rhode Island! Mt. St. Alias is the second largest mountain in the USA (a mile is 5,280 feet!). The park is 20,000 square miles or 13.2 million acres! The thing that really makes this park vast is: Canada has a national preserve and park that is connected, Kluane National Park; attached to that is Glacier Bay National Park (USA) and Tatshenshini-Alsek Park (Canada). The four parks together are over 24 million acres and is a World Heritage Sight and the largest internationally protected area. Yes, they allow access for hunting, fishing, hiking, rafting, snowmobiling, skiing and research. They have very, very few roads so access is extremely limited by auto. Plan ahead if that is what you want to do. Moose There are deer in Alaska - like Moose! In all my 20 years traveling and performing all across the lower 48 states, I have seen perhaps three moose. Driving into Delta Junction the last 100 miles we were greeted by three families of moose. We saw Dall Sheep and caribou along the highway (licking salt), Nick saw a red fox but we didn't get a picture. Canada has wild herds of buffalo, and we saw spawning Pink Salmon by the thousands, and yes, they were so thick, you could walk across them and it would have been impossible to cross the stream at points without kicking them out of your way like "laundry on a frat house floor". Glaciers, Glaciers and more awesome Glaciers. We stopped in B.C. for gas after we visited the seaport town of Stewart. We were on fumes and we drove off the highway a few miles onto an indian reservation where they had the most amazing collection of authentic tribal totem poles. Waterfalls. How do I begin to tell you about the waterfalls? If you have a really big glacier on top of a mountain, and it is melting, and it's raining, lots of water flows off the mountain! There is no way to capture the grandure of dozens - perhaps hundreds of cascades that dropped thousands of feet, or flowed down the face of a mountain over thousands of feet into lakes, rivers, and to the sea... It was mind blowing. Awesome ... beyond description! Water holds my imagination and my fascination It mesmerizes me. Water is a mineral, yet it is alive, And on a journey. Water has no destination, It goes with the flow. Water, they say, can not be destroyed. The same amount of water on the earth now has been here forever. It only changes form from steam, rain, puddle, lake, river, ocean, sea, ice, glacier. Fire captures some, Water sings me to sleep. Babbling brooks are my favorite, But a shower relaxes me Yet, the sound of a sink dripping drives me crazy! Rain on a tin roof is magical And the way H20 can clean, It is the natural beverage of all animals and vegetables, It lubricates Yet dries things out, too. It can expand, And contract And it mesmerizes ... me. We saw water falls in Waterton - Glacier International Peace Park: Jasper National Park, Canada; Banff National Park, Canada Driving to and from Valdez there was Bridal Vail and Horsetail Falls; along the highway to Yellowstone AND mountains ... WOW! Driving the Alaska highway a.k.a. the AlCan In the Yukon Hours of breathtaking mountains And more mountains - mountain views that make simply do not end.

The AlCan is 1442 miles long
Note the bald peaks. This means they are above the tree line which is above 11,000 feet.

It did become overwhelming after seeing so much - beyond the imagination.

Then there are the sunsets

all along the way

much to many to share here.

Sunsets - beyond the imagination.

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Plan ahead. For more information on Alaska, the AlCan Highway or Alaskan Highway I found the following publications and information useful.

There are fees for the recommendations in RED.

Blue recommendations are free.

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Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve Park Administrative Headquarters
Mile 106.8 Richardson Highway
P.O. Box 439
Copper Center, AK 99573
Copper Center (907) 822-7261
Headquarters (907) 822-5234
Fax (907) 822-7216
Visitor Center (907) 822-7440
www.nps.gov/wrst

Kennecott Visitor Center Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark (907) 554-2417 (Memorial Day to Labor Day) Slana Ranger Station Nebesna District Visitor Center Mile .2 Nabesna Road Box 885 Slana, AK 99586 (907) 822-5238 Gulkana Operations Center Mile 118 Richardson Highway (907)822-5236

Yakutat Ranger Station P.O. Box 137 Yakutat, AK 99689 (907)784-3295 Bureau of Land Management P.O. Box 147 Glennallen, AK 99588 (907) 822-3217 Chugach National Forest Cordova District P.O. Box 280 Cordova, AK 99574 (907) 424-7661 Kluane National Park and Preserve Park Canada Box 5495 Haines Junction, YT, Canada, YB 1L0 (403) 634-7279

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Yellowstone National Park
Park Information: (307) 344-7382 (TDD: 307/344-2386)
Backcountry Tours - List of certified outfitters available from Visitors Services
P.O. Box 168
Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190
www.TravelYellowstone.com
www.YellowstoneAssociation.org
www.nps.gov/yell

Road Construction Updates: (307) 344-2117 If you drive, you need to know ... some roads are closed after 8:00 PM Beartooth Highway Updates ONLY (888) 285-4636

Reservations for lodging, dining, camping, guilded tours and activites: Xanterra Parks & Resorts (307) 344-7311 or (TDD: 307/344-5395) Hotel rooms cost $116 plus tax, total=$123 (August 2005) Campsites cost $14-$17 a night

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THE ALASKA YUKON COMMUNITY TRAVEL GUIDE
The cover says "Over one million copies are distributed", but then on page six it says "125,000 copies printed and distributed", so you figure it out.
It is available along the way at hundreds of locations for free. The 66 page publication is well written in short story form. It tells you all the commercial sites to see (most advertise with them) and it will give you listings for hotels, historical facts, maps, tails about the aurora borealis, the original construction of the highway and descriptions of museums along the way. If you plan on buying souvenirs that are valuable (not t-shirts, but things like Jade, or native art) I recommend this publication. It has something for everyone. I found myself reading aloud to the others in my car.
Alaska Yukon Travel Magazine
Harper Street Publishing
Box 988, Dawson City
YK, Canada Y0B 1G0
(888) 848-6671
greg@AlaskaYukon.com
Price on line is $4.95, or it is free along the way.
www.alaskayukon.com

"BELL'S" ALASKA HIGHWAY AND CONNECTING ROUTES MAPBOOK
Included accommodations, camping, things to do, dining, city and really, really great highway maps
This 118 page free magazine was available everywhere along the way. Filled with advertisements, the publisher encourages you to use the advertiser's services. We used the magazine enough that we did use the advertisers, after all - the guild for free!
Short history essays that were fun to read, and lots of brief listings of things to see and do. The maps were good and clear and had clear marking for 12 services everyone needs while traveling (gas, emergency, airport, hiking, camping, hotels, information booths, mechanics, RV dump stations)
BTG Bell's Travel Guides, 2676 Moore Drive, West Bank B.C. V4T 1R9
(250)768-2426 www.bellsalaska.com

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THE MILEPOST
Like it says on the cover, and I strongly agree
Since 1949, the bible of North Country
"If you're driving from the South 48, you need the MILEPOST.
Don't Argue, just go get one. NOW!"
ÑDANA STABENOW, Alaska Magazine

This soft coverd magazine cost $25.95 US ($34.95 CAN) and is 786 pages. It tells you EVERYTHING you can imagine from food, gas, lodging, camping, fishing, sightseeing, and road conditions along the highways and byways of Alaska, yukon, northwest Territories and major access routes in Alberta and British Columbia. It is updated annually. it includes Alaska's marine Highway and B.C. Ferry Schedules, a very good map and is written from south to north, or in other words, as you head north from the lower 48 into Canada and to Alaska, the guild is written in order as you progress north.

www.themilepost.com

RETURN TO ESSAY

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If you drive an RV or camp along the way, the following might be handy:

High Country RV Park, 91374 Alaska Highway, Whitehorse, Yukon Y1A 6E4
Local Phone: (867) 667-7445 or Toll Free: (877)458-3806
Over 125 RV spaces with electric, water and most are pull through sites
Nice showers, a recreation hall, wireless internet, laundry, gift shop, impecably kept - yet lots of trees. Really nice people! I had checked in (tent space was $15.00) and forgot my credit card. We went to town and saw a show, (Frantic Follies - 867-668-2042, the show was O.K., not dynamic, nothing that set it apart, but tasteful and PG rated and priced reasonably). We returned after the office was closed and someone was waiting for us at the gate to return the card (I didn't even know I had forgotten it!)

www.hicountryrvyukon.com

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For Bookings and Show Info send email to:

Alan Sands Entertainment

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© 2005 by Alan Sands