Arizona to Alaska Round-Trip

[glasseye]

Originally Posted by ksalt

Glasseye - we had considered taking that ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles, do you happen to know what it costs with a Sprinter sized vehicle?

I don't know about the US ferry system, but on BC Ferries a 20ft Sprinter is neither over-height nor over-length. Just. 20ft is the cutoff. WA ferries prolly has a website.

It's far easier crossing by ferry than by road. The border crossing at Blaine is HUGE - heavy commercial traffic and long wait times. The Victoria ferry crossing to WA is low-key and lightly travelled. It's quite a small ferry. You'll save a ton of time and hassle going this way, especially if you're bound for the Olympic Peninsula.

On your way in to the Vancouver area via Whistler, the BC Hydro campground at Seton Lake, immediately west of Lillooet is one of the nicest campgrounds in BC. And it's FREE. : )

[bcislander]

Originally Posted by glasseye

I don't know about the US ferry system, but on BC Ferries a 20ft Sprinter is neither over-height nor over-length. Just. 20ft is the cutoff. WA ferries prolly has a website.

It's far easier crossing by ferry than by road. The border crossing at Blaine is HUGE - heavy commercial traffic and long wait times. The Victoria ferry crossing to WA is low-key and lightly travelled. It's quite a small ferry. You'll save a ton of time and hassle going this way, especially if you're bound for the Olympic Peninsula.

On your way in to the Vancouver area via Whistler, the BC Hydro campground at Seton Lake, immediately west of Lillooet is one of the nicest campgrounds in BC. And it's FREE. : )

Just to clarify, on the 2 major Vancouver Island routes, BC Ferries charges a flat fare (currently $49.25) for all non-commercial vehicles up to 20' long. Vehicles over 20' are charged an extra $5.60 per foot. Passengers are an extra $14.85 each. The number of overheight (over 7' high) vehicles carried on a ferry is limited, so, if you are traveling during busy times, you would be well advised to arrive early, or make a reservation (extra charge, of course).

If you decide to take in Vancouver Island, don't just go to Victoria. I recommend crossing from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo & making a trip to Tofino on the West Coast of VI, before heading south to Victoria. Lots to see on that trip.

The Blaine border crossing can be busy, but by avoiding holidays & weekends & by crossing early afternoons, the waits may not be too bad. If you go this way to the Olympic Peninsula, the ferry from Keystone to Port Townsend isn't all that large & reservations are recommended during busy times. We took our GWV Legend on this ferry in June of last year. I don't remember the fare for the van & 2 passengers, but thought it was high for a relatively short trip.

Please post your experiences in the Monument Valley area. My wife & I have a trip to the Four Corners area planned & are trying to decide whether to leave soon, or wait until September.

[ksalt]

Thanks for the great advice on the ferries, I think we are leaning towards the Port Angeles ferry at this point. We've been to Victoria before, but we only took the passenger ferry and haven't seen anything else on Vancouver Island. We'd like to see more of it.

Monument Valley was incredible (just left there yesterday). We took a great jeep tour with a Navajo guide (Garry at Navajo Spirit Tours) and also saw the eclipse.





There is a 17 mile terrible dirt road that the jeep tours take you out on, some people take their own vehicles, but I wouldn't attempt it with our Sprinter (although I did see one coming back from the road, don't know if they did the whole thing or turned around though). There's a lot more to see beyond the 17 mile road that a local guide can show you. The first two shots above are in the area that you need a guide for.

We stayed at Goulding's RV park, which is OK, but kind of crowded and overpriced. It's the only option in the area though. If you want, you can boondock in the visitor center parking lot for $10/night I think. There aren't any other campgrounds in the area. If you go to Goulding's try to get a pull-through spot, they are the same price as the back-in spots and are bigger, have more shade, and some are gravel. Our back-in spot was just sandy red dirt and was really small.

It's starting to get pretty hot in that area now, although Sept will probably be worse. It's not going to be intolerable, but you should check the forecast so you know what you're in for. It's not really a summer destination.

We have more photos and info on monument valley on our blog:

http://saltscape.blogspot.com/2012/0...izonautah.html
http://saltscape.blogspot.com/2012/0...r-eclipse.html

[ksalt]

Hey Everyone!
We arrived in Fairbanks this afternoon after 8 weeks on the road and have put nearly 6000 miles on our Sprinter so far. I think I may have underestimated when I said this was going to be a 9000 mile trip! Looking to be more like 15000 when all is said and done.

So here are some pictures we have taken of the van along the way. You can see it get progressively dirtier in each photo.

Sprinter Album

For more photos of our trip feel free to visit our blog at:
http://saltscape.blogspot.com/

Kevin

[Kat]

Wow! Thanks for sharing pictures and information about your trip. I have always wanted to go to Alaska, but wasn't sure where to go. I'm going to study your blog and take notes. You are definitely giving me inspiration to go to Alaska! My mother always wanted to go there, but didn't make it before she passed away. So I kind of feel like it is my mission to go there for her.

If you want to take a ferry from WA instead of Canada over to the Olympic Peninsula, I wouldn't be discouraged about going through the Peace Arch crossing (or the Truck Crossing at SR543 which is just east of the Peace Arch crossing). All you need to do is avoid the busy times so you will only have a maximum 10-15 minute wait (The only exception to that would be a Canadian holiday).
Here you can see what the average wait times are for Southbound I-5 Peace Arch Summer weekday: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Congestion/b...avelDelays.htm
And here, you can see current boarder wait times: http://www.wsdot.com/traffic/border/default.aspx

You said that you wanted to take the Port Angeles ferry, so I assume that means you would cross the boarder at I-5 and go through Bellingham and continue south on I-5 to Hwy 20 West to Coupeville where you would catch the ferry to Port Townsend (which leads to Port Angeles). If that is the case, here are links to the ferry schedule and to the rate schedule:

http://www.wsdot.com/ferries/schedul...x?route=pt-key

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/fare...rrivingterm=11

If you know what time you want to take the ferry, you can make a reservation online ahead of time. That holds a spot for you so if it's busy, you won't have to wait for the next ferry.

I haven't spent much time on the Olympic Peninsula, but I sure enjoyed soaking in the pools at Sol Duc Hot Springs. I thought I'd go soak in them for maybe an hour or so... they felt so good I was in there for hours! You can camp at Sol Duc camp ground ($14 per night) which is a short drive (or walking distance) to the hot springs. The campground is by a river and under tree cover so it can get cold. There aren't showers in the campground, but you can get one at the hot springs for a nominal fee (unless you are soaking, then it's included in the price). Get wood for a campfire in Port Angeles, there’s none available in the campground… When I was there last, I saw Bald Eagles in the trees overlooking the river. Here's a link to the hot springs: http://www.olympicnationalparks.com/...t-springs.aspx

If you need a place to park overnight between the boarder crossing and Bellingham, send me a PM and I'll tell you how to get to my place (I'm not too far off of I-5). I hope to take a trip myself soon so might not be here when you are passing through, but I will have a caretaker staying at the house, so you would still be welcome to park overnight. (But I'd much rather meet you and hear about your Alaska trip if you are up for it).

Kat

[glasseye]

Great post, ksalt! Your blog is inspiring me to get on the road. Thanks!

[ksalt]

Glad you liked the photos. Anyone interested in taking the trip should definitely pick up a copy of Milepost (you can get it from Amazon). It has some great info at the beginning covering all the major routes and attractions.

We're still up in the air about exactly what route we'll take back and where/how we'll cross the border. There's still a lot we want to see before we head to WA in Sept, so probably won't firm up those plans for a while. Thanks for all the great info on the ferries and the hot springs.

Kevin