The decision’s made. We’re going to Alaska. Well… we’re going to try again at getting to Alaska. We’re in Yuma on the US/Mexican border and our GPS tells us it’s exactly 6,640 km to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. By anyone’s measure, that’s a loong way. Here’s our Operation Reach Alaska, a gentle trot through California, Oregon and Washington, then a frantic gallop through BC and the Yukon…
Drive the 395
Our first leg is up through the USA ‘Lower 48’ to the Canadian border. Last time we headed in this general direction we took the iconic Pacific Highway all the way up. It’s a truly spectacular drive and a ‘no-brainer’ first choice. But what if you’ve done the coast road? Apparently the US395, a wee bit inland to the east, is meant to be a goodie. So why not give it a go, eh?
In May we were happy to leave the (rapidly increasing) heat of the Yuma desert behind and joined the US395 at the start near Hesperia. The first section up the Eastern Sierras is much driven by tourists and passes a whole host of attractions. First comes the movie set Alabama Hills and we were more than happy to revisit this tip-top gem of a spot.
Degrees of History
North a smidgeon (that’s a technical navigation term) is the fascinating site of the former WWII Japanese internment camp at Manzanar. From school-days history we were vaguely aware that persons of Japanese descent were rounded-up in the aftermath of Pearl Harbour. However, we had no idea how/why/where exactly this happened. The excellent memorial site and museum filled in these knowledge gaps. It’s history, buy still in living memory and well worth a stop.
Yet a further smidgeon north, a whole different degree of history is on display: the Ancient Bristlecone Pines, some 4,000 years old! Clearly not in living memory, but fascinating to see these beautiful primeval trees and consider the history they’ve survived. A bit mind-blowing really.
North again on the 395 and we’re next admiring the Mammoth area scenery. It’s a world famous winter ski area, but now it’s great to visit Convict Creek, June Lake, hot springs and great hiking yardy, yardy, yardy… Just an all-round great get-away destination.
Mono Lake
What’s next? Oh yes… Mono Lake! Now that’s a cool sight! This volcanic lake is pretty enough, but curiously it has these calcium ‘spikes’ known to their friends as ‘Tufas’. They formed by mineral-rich spring water rising-up underwater, forming a kind of stalagmite. The lake then receded revealing the formations. Cool, huh? Oh, and while you’re in the area, take a short hike up the Panum Crater for super-duper views over the whole Mono Lake area.
At this point on the 395 you could, should you feel so inclined in the summer months, scoot over the Tioga Pass to Yosemite. It’s said to be a spectacular drive but we didn’t plan to do Yosemite again. And it’s a good job we didn’t, because the road is now open by reservation only!! If you haven’t booked already, forget it! This seems to be an increasingly popular approach by the US National Parks Service – we’ve heard a timed reservation is now required to enter many of the most popular parks, such as Arches in Utah. It’s harsh if you didn’t know this before driving all the way there, but I guess the reduced crowds make it a more pleasurable experience for those who can get in.
Retarded in Reno
Off now, yet another smidgeon to the north and the 395 rolls into Nevada at the city of Reno. Reno calls itself ‘the smallest big city in the world’. On the basis that it would be tricky to successfully challenge the legitimacy of that boastful claim, we’ll go with it and give them the benefit of the doubt 😉. Here in Reno we hooked up with old overlanding friends KP Pawley (last seen chillin’ in Colombia 2017), plus Jared and Jen of Pioneering Spirit (last seen chillin’ in Borrego Springs, Dec 2021).
No longer a full-time wanderer of the Americas, KP has now set up the excellent Zero Declination using his extensive knowledge and experience to fit out adventure-overlanding rigs with top-notch battery, power and solar systems. What KP doesn’t know about the needs of overlanders in their rigs can be written on a pin-head, so we’d highly recommend him for any systems work/improvements for your treasured adventure-home-on-wheels.
As a prologue to our time in Reno, we’ll take a short trip down memory lane. Back in March 2022 we realised Cuthbert’s electro-retarder brake was no longer doing its retardy-thing and the main bearing needed replacing. This left only the ordinary brakes which (being brutally honest) we’d have to admit are spectacularly crap.
Skip forward 12 weeks, the new bearing has arrived in Reno from Telma in Europe (after us driving a mere 5,500km with only the regular brakes 🤣). KP kindly found a great space for us at his Zero Declination workshop where Marcus could fix the problem and carry out the routine 280,000km service at the same time. Thanks, KP!!!
As with any break-down of kit/components, the hassle and cost is annoying. But everything has a ‘life’ and our original retarder bearing provided over 220,000km of sterling service. It’s not unreasonable to have to replace it, it’s just one of those occupational frustrations of an overlanding lifestyle.
Oregon 395
Leaving Reno we do a quick detour to Lake Tahoe and catch-up with another cool overlanding friend, Nick Polinko in Truckee (sorry we missed you, Megan!). Then we continued on the 395 through northern California and up the whole length of Oregon into Washington State. In Oregon the 395 becomes more remote, has a more adventure-frontier-land feel, is less touristy yet just as scenic as California, maybe even more so. We loved the drive and the miles fly-by when the scenery is so impressive.
Just into Washington State we parted company with the US395, heading a bit west-ish to the border at Oroville. Even after leaving the 395, Washington still delivers great scenery and within no time at all (well.. a couple of days, but that’s fast for us 😉) we’re knocking on Canada’s door.
Bordering into Canada
We approach Canada with a teeny bit of curiosity. Why so? What’s the big deal? Well… last time we entered for six months but due to covid, ended up having to extend our visas to two years. Returning just seven months after leaving, we had an inkling the immigration system might flag us up for attention. We weren’t wrong. The border chaps had plenty of questions for us… why we had chosen to stay in Canada for so long when (apparently) “everyone else was flying home”?
They absolutely agreed we’d done nothing wrong. The border had been closed for the whole time we were there so we couldn’t have driven Cuthbert out of the country, and that (due to vehicle import laws) it would have been illegal for us to leave Cuthbert and fly out of the country without him. But they were still only prepared to give us limited time… just three weeks to reach Alaska 😬.
Now… it’s only 3,000km to Alaska. Under normal circumstances, with a normal car, that’s three to four days. But we’re in Cuhbert. He’s a bit (lot) slower than the normal car. He’s an aerodynamic brick. He wasn’t designed for highway cruising and sits comfortably at a mere 50mph/80kph. Generally, we find 400-450km per day to be plenty, thank you very much. That’s how we roll.
With a bit of luck and a fair wind, we could probably do it in around seven days. So three weeks is, in theory, more than enough. But what if we have any problems with Cuthbert? Let’s face it… it’s not unheard of 😉. If we encounter a snagette, it’s not just a matter of popping into Canadian Tire for parts and a fix. Parts often need to be shipped from UK and certainly won’t be delivered within our allocated three weeks if we needed the in the Yukon! Nevertheless, we’re ‘in’ and Operation ‘Reach Alaska’ is underway!
Kelowna Friends
As we cross into the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, we’re immediately into our old stomping ground. Way back in the second covid lockdown (remember that??) when we could travel around BC but not cross international or provincial borders, we spent a lot of time around here. And in Kelowna we have a few friends to catch-up with.
First, we’ll take (another) little trip down memory lane… back a few weeks ago to Yuma, AZ. There we were, parked-up by the Algodones border when we saw a note under our windscreen wiper. Well whaddya know… we’d been spotted by Johanna and Joseph, a lovely couple we met last year up in Kelowna, Canada. We hadn’t been in touch with them for months, then suddenly we just happened, by totally bonkers coincidence, to be in the same Yuma car-park on the same day!!! How bizarre is that, eh???!! Anyway… we had a lovely time with them there, and they kindly invited us to visit them when we reached Kelowna again. So here we are… back in Kelowna enjoying their wonderful hospitality in their fabulous home overlooking the Lake.
Also in Kelowna, we’re lucky to be invited to re-visit our overlanding friends Jeff and Lois for more lovely hospitality. Jeff is building-out a new Sprinter camper, so as well as catching up with them, it was cool to see the progress on this.
It’s always great to revisit like-minded travel friends and we never ceased to be amazed by the kindness and wonderful hospitality offered to us by people we meet on our travels. It would be great to stay longer in town, but remember… we’re on Operation Reach Alaska ! We do the scenic 2,000km up the Alaska/Canada Highway to the Yukon in four days.
‘Home’ in The Yukon
Entering the Yukon Territory felt a bit like coming home for us. It’s the place we got ‘stuck’ when covid first hit the planet in March 2020. The full story is here, but we’ve just got to repeat here how welcoming and generous the people of Whitehorse were to us. In the end we spent over four months ‘locked’ in the Yukon, being pretty much the only tourists in the whole Territory at the time.
Now two years later, in a ‘normal’ tourist season, we must confess to being a bit peeved at having to share the Territory’s roads and attractions with a million, no… a trillion, other RVs. OMG. We knew this place would be popular, but RVs of all shapes and sizes are everywhere now!! ☹ Nevertheless, it’s cool to be back here. If there is such a thing as happy memories of a global pandemic, then here in Whitehorse and the Yukon is where we made them.
While we’re in Whitehorse we finally (after years of social media following) caught up with Ferenc and Evelin of Overlandsite. They’re also in an Iveco Daily 4×4 on their way to Alaska, so we hope to catch up with them again somewhere up the road!
It takes us just over two (long) days driving to cross the Yukon to finally complete our Operation Reach Alaska. Two years later than planned, but better late than never, eh?
Operation Reach Alaska
As instructed, we stopped at the border exit to hand in our Canadian transit-visas. The nice immigration officer there laughed and seemed surprised that we’d had the time restrictions imposed. Oh well… c’est la vie (as they say in Quebec)!
Our Operation Reach Alaska has been a tiring few days, rushing on the Canada section. But it sure was worth it to get to this mighty fine place! Stay tuned for our next report… tales of derring-do and adventure in Alaska!