alaska

[Mark Harfenist]

Yep: watch for cold snaps, possibly including bits of snow (which will melt off pretty quickly) in the Brooks Range and on the North Slope. Watch for northern lights if your trip eases into late August/early September. Watch for wildlife, especially around dusk (which can last a long, long time). And try to leave some extra time for exploring, since the best scenery in Alaska is not actually on the AlCan or the Haul Road. I d suggest seeing as much as you can of the usual places: Denali, McCarthy, Wrangel-St. Elias, Valdez, Stuart Hyder, etc. etc. etc. In fact, up and back in a month is kind ve hurried, so see if you can stretch it out a bit. You ll be late in the season, which is good not so many RVs clogging up the roads, and the mosquitoes and black flies might be tolerable by then. Take the AlCan one way and the Cassiar Highway the other or the Cassiar and the Alaska Marine Highway, if possessing more money than energy. Some good 80/20 tires will serve you well unless it s been a wet summer or there s recent road construction, in which case you ll be cursing me out some folks switch to semi-knobbies in Fairbanks. Hope that s helpful. Mark Sent from my iPad