Alaska, Summer 2003
The GREAT LAND

Back to Lou Ann's Place

Well, after having been bitten by the road trip bug during the summer of 2001, I decided to take the summer 2002 off ... get my finances straightened out, and then use my teacher summers for the rest of "however long" to ROAD TRIP!!  [I have more information about planning road trips, in case you're interested!]

A trip to Alaska, especially one which uses the ferry system, takes LOTS of planning.  Planning for this trip was very exciting!!  I'll use this page to list some of the sites that I found to be helpful in my planning.  I will also include some of my own thoughts about planning a trip like mine.  Enjoy!!  And ... as always, please feel free to e-mail me with any questions, thoughts, comments or ideas that you may have to share with me (as well as any dead links that you might find.)

I found a book amongst my things by Louis L'Amour called Sitka.  To show my ignorance ... I didn't even know that Sitka was a real place.  But, I fell in love with the Alaska that I read about in that novel of historical fiction.  As a result of that book, I began to do a LOT more reading about Alaska, looking at maps, and became INSPIRED!!  My desire quickly grew to include driving the Alaska Highway, spending some time driving and ferrying around to the major places in Alaska, and then to drive back through a western route and into Washington State, and then back to DC at the end of the summer.

I also enjoyed the book Alaska by James Michener.  Although it's long and very detailed, it's a fabulous historical fiction novel that exposes the reader to lots and lots about the history and atmosphere of many of the main areas of Alaska.  I'll highly recommend it, as it provided much more motivation for me to travel to the Great Land as well as motivation to drive the Alaska Highway (as if I needed more motivation!!).  :-D

I also decided to buy an SUV (my little 2-door coupe just won't cut those gravel roads in the Yukon Territory or the Interior of Alaska) in February of 2003 ... a Nissan XTerra.

Books you might look into for your reserach:
Note:  Just about any book that is about the Alaska highway will also have lots of information about traveling to Alaska and around and about Alaska.  Even if you're not going to drive the AK Highway, you might still want to get a book about it ... as it will have lots of helpful information.


Other hints:


Websites to get you motivated!


Other People's Trips to Alaska:

Alaska Highway:


Alaska Information:


Specific Travel To/Within Alaska:


Maps:


Destinations:


Great Falls, MT:


Canada - Government and Parks Sites:


Calgary, AB:


National Parks in Alberta:


Bighorn Highway:


Dawson Creek, BC:


British Columbia:


Yukon Territory:


Whitehorse, YT:


Tok, AK:


Delta Junction:


South East (Inside Passage) AK Regional:


Portage Glacier:


Haines, AK:


Juneau, AK:


Sitka, AK:


Petersburg, AK:


Ketchikan, AK:


Fairbanks, AK:


Northern, AK:

Valdez, AK:


Cordova, AK:


Alaska's Scenic Byways:


Anchorage and South Central AK Regional:

Stewart-Cassiar Highway:


Pipeline Information:


Dalton Highway and Beyond!


Denali:


The Denali Highway (Rt. 8 on your map of Alaska):


About Bears:


Northern Lights Information:


Other important & interesting information:

http://www.beringia.com
http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/
http://www.touryukon.com/
http://www.yukonmuseums.ca/mammoth/
http://www.yukonheritage.com/
http://www.attractionscanada.ca/english/mainang.htm
http://www.city.whitehorse.yk.ca/
http://www.glassmagnumyukon.com/
http://www.yukonqueststore.com/
http://www.athabascacountry.com/
http://www.britishexpats.com/archive/45/2001/04/1/22209
http://www.town.athabasca.ab.ca/
http://www.travelalbertanorth.com/
http://www2.alberta.com/home_page.html
http://www.vvw-teq.net/
http://www.tourismchilliwack.com/
http://www.mintergardens.com/
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/
http://www.adn.com/weekend/story/1366110p-1484847c.html
http://www.hellsgateairtram.com/
http://www.goldcountry.bc.ca/
http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/index.html
http://www.northcaribou.com/
http://www.canyoncreekcampground.com/
http://www.netbistro.com/bistro/
http://www.tourismpg.bc.ca/home.html
http://www.theexplorationplace.com/
http://www.pgrfm.bc.ca/
http://www.gochetwynd.com/
http://dist.hudsons-hope.bc.ca/html/opening.html
http://www.albertasouth.com/
http://www.town.fortmacleod.ab.ca/
http://www.akrr.com/
http://www.alaskaseakayakers.com/
http://www.flyk2.com/
http://www.alaskawildland.com/
http://www.chugachoutdoorcenter.com/
http://www.westmarkhotels.com/alaska_hiway/alaska_highway.html
http://www.visitalaska.org/
http://www.sitkamusicfestival.org/
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/greatland/
http://www.dehchotravel.com
http://www.thecowboytrail.com/ - through Alberta...  (Call them for a trail guide ... call later in the day)
http://www.alaskacampgrounds.net/
http://resolutionhost.com/TourYukon/_Main.htm - Tour Yukon
http://www.themilepost.com/ - The Milepost magazine
http://akweathercams.faa.gov/ - Webcams
http://www.fulcrum-books.com/html/world_famous_alaska_highway.html - Book...
http://www.fulcrum-books.com/html/tracks_of_the_unseen.html - Book...
http://www.alaska-tour.com/ - Alaska Tour ... custom alaska (includes a section for self-guided tours)
http://www.nps.gov/sitk/ - Sitka National Historical Park
http://www.nps.gov/sitk/home.htm - SNHP homepage
http://www.hlswilliwaw.com/aleutians/
http://www.juneauphotos.com/
http://www.alaskagold.com/valdez/roads.html
http://www.alaskan.com/index.cfm
http://www.alaskan.com/planvisit.html - VERY informative about all types of travvel within alaska (& to Alaska) regarding papers, registrations, insurance, phone numbers, reservations, etc.
http://www.alaskaontheweb.com/main.html
http://www.bellsalaska.com/
http://www.alaskayukon.com/
http://www.yukonalaska.com/
http://www.bcferries.com/
http://alaskaisland.com/drive_the_alaska_highway.htm
http://www.alaska.com/
http://www.jacklondon.com/
http://www.alaska.com/
http://web.hulteen.com/eric/alaska.html
http://seattle.about.com/cs/travellogs/index.htm
http://seattle.about.com/cs/daytripak/
http://netalaska.com/
http://themeparks.about.com/cs/zoosak/index.htm
http://www.akohwy.com/d/drives.htm
http://www.aracnet.com/~almy/art0502.htm
http://www.state.ak.us/local/mainmap.jpg