On November 23, 2015 the U.S. State Department issued a Global Travel Warning—here's what you need to know before canceling your summer vacation.
This travel warning is not set to expire for one full year the primary focus is not on Alaska nor Canada or the west coast. Its travel to parts of Europe and most of the Middle East that needs the most precautions; even travel in and out of Russia would be considered an area to use some added safeguards.
For the North American continent it’s pretty limited to localities and situational events. Large sporting events, movie theatres, busy open markets, and airports and aviation services are all listed as precautionary but still highly improbable thanks to the added security imposed at these places.
Is It Safe To Drive to Alaska in 2016?
So with this knowledge we see a glaring reason to pack up the car and take that amazing but journey through the semi secluded yet amazingly beautiful highway to the Yukon and Alaska. Why not? I seriously cannot think of a better reason to do the Alaska Highway this summer than the ultimate family low stress getaway.
Need another reason? How about the best U.S. to Canadian exchange rate we’ve seen in years. Yesterdays close was an amazing $1.33 to $1.00 exchange rate allowing your vacation budget a lot of room for added adventures.
Have you seen gas prices lately? The forecast is for excellent prices to continue into the coming summer and once again that vacation budget receives another windfall. Gas prices, if they remain as forecasted will really help with those driving their RV’s to Alaska in 2016. It should just about cut the fuel budget by 35% to 40% over previous years. What a great gift to that family vacation.
Transportation Choices!
Now we need to comment on transportation just a bit as there have been a number of excellent upgrades to the trip up the Alaska Highway. While it was a pretty remote and desolate journey when we first made the trip those times have really changed and the options for a less trying journey are more than welcomed by all. Driving a 4x4 was necessary when we first made the trip over the for the most part gravel, mud, ice and snow roadway in the month of February 1980. We traversed the road in a 1978 Ford F150 and a 1953 Willy’s wagon minus a heater. We were young and fresh out of the military, young men looking for an adventure and some peace and quiet too. We were successful in more ways than we ever dreamed. We not only found adventure but we once again found ourselves in the process too. The forbidding road to Alaska led us to finding everything we were looking for… and a new life to boot. I can’t say what your trip will expose you to but I will say that whatever does happen, it will be something you will remember for the rest of your life.
Today there is the opportunity to drive the Alaska Highway from the seat of your Harley Davidson to the comfort of your Mercedes. You will see everything from bicycles and motorbikes to Unimog’s and the legendary handcrafted Foretravel Motor Coaches. Greatest thing is that there are services appropriate for all modes of transportation.
Today’s Alaska Highway campgrounds may best be suited for tents and small RV’s while the full
service RV parks most often have services for all forms of transportation. We are beginning to see
the beginning of Glamping in all places, the Yukon. At Discovery Yukon Lodgings there are really
decorative log cabins, a vintage long house, wall tents with real beds and wooden floors and a living
museum of real vintage military equipment from the construction of the highway itself. There is
a pond with a bridge that is part of an included walking tour of the history of the Alaska Highway.
This all sits adjacent to an old airfield backed up to the magnificent views of the towering mountains
just beyond. Discovery Yukon brings your adventure to life. This is one of those must stay locations
where you want to arrive early and stay a little bit late.
Whatever your chosen mode of transportation is there will be plenty of opportunities for adventures. Lodgings are numerous but planning is essential. If you’re looking for hotels they’re there in the cities and towns you pass through from Dawson Creek, B.C. all the way to and through Alaska.
Motels and even bed and breakfasts are an option too. Places like Fort Nelson and Whitehorse Yukon
are actual cities with all the amenities you find in your home towns, you just happen to be bordering
those legendary “Destinations Unknown”.
Pink Mountain, Toad River and Watson Lake offer great resting places with a flair for the frontier
while on Muncho Lake you find Northern Rockies Lodge which is the only true 5 star lodge along the
Alaska Highway.
As you can see your options are as varied as the whereabouts is wild. While the chosen vehicle will not stop you from experiencing this journey choices like a SUV or pickup will allow for some last minute side trips that very few will ever get to see. Add a small boat and outboard and things will really begin to get interesting. I always wanted one of those light weight john boats to slip through some of the amazing lakes and sloughs you see along the trip north. I’ve stopped and fished in many of them and the pike and grayling fishing is superb. But what I want is to see this country from beyond the confines of the highway. These small lakes and waterways seem like that perfect place to take the cameras and get totally lost for a day or so. The allure of the Yukon is beyond all things known. What you see along the roads is the same scenery that greeted the fortune seekers of the Klondike Gold Rush, the servicemen that slaved over the construction of the highway and the same scenery that has kept people returning to this area time and time again. Amazing, the word pales in the magnetism of this wilderness. Come on up, this may be the years safest vacation destination on planet earth. Alaska and the Yukon awaits everyone, all you need is a sense of adventure, a hunger for the unknown and a craving for nostalgia with a twist of glamor at the same time.
Continued — Alaska Travel Choices