Final Stats and thoughts
June 19- August 20, 2026
Total Days: 61
Days Canada: 25
Days Alaska: 34
Lower 48: 2
Total Miles: 7600
Avg speed limit: 50 mph but we averaged 35/mph
Miles/gal avg: 18 miles/gallon.
Price of gas Canada: $1.95liter $5.27/gal
Price of gas Alaska: $5.45/gal
Van Life.
Days spent in sleeping in van: 49
Days in a house bed: 10
Ferry bed: 2
Campgrounds: 24
Wild camp: 22
Parking Lot: 3
Best paid campground: Liard Hot Springs because it had a hot springs and Palmer AK for view, clean showers and laundry room
Best free campground : Cassiar Highway camps on the lake… free campgrounds with pit toilets and lake front site
Best wild camp: just entering Alaska off the Top of the World Highway pullout with a view of the Alaska Range. Just us… no traffic
Tire issues: 0
Windshield rock chips: 1
Impression of Alberta. We only had a few days in Alberta at the start of our trip. The weather was warm and the air was clear. We enjoyed our few summer days. Farming and oil country and the most beautiful Rocky Mtns and huge rivers.
Places that surprised me: the size of every river… rivers were moving fast and full.
Impression of BC. Over the course of two months we spent many of the days heading north and returning south in British Columbia. It is such a friendly province. The people are really nice, we love all their provincial parks and the highway pullouts. Everything along the highway is clean and well taken care of. The have litter bins at nearly every pullout. Mostly it’s all the mountains, trees, rivers and lakes throughout from south to north.
Places that surprised me most: North Rocky Mountain Range, Atlin Lake and Smithers.
Impression of Yukon Territory. Just about everything in this province of which I knew nothing impressed me. First the vastness of the views, all the mountains all around, the tundra landscape and the massive Yukon River.
Places that surprised me most: Whitehorse and what a nice town it is with all its outdoor recreation. Dawson to the Top of the World Highway driving a ridge for miles. The Yukon River… I think it’s my all time favorite river for its size, length and history… except the Yellowstone of course.
Impression of Alaska. Where does one start with Alaska? From dropping off the Top of the World into Alaska…Mountains abound north, south, east and west with rivers coming from everywhere. So much water! Glaciers, glaciers everywhere and every river has the glacial milk color. The tundra goes forever. The wildflowers, fish and bears, moose and caribou. It’s abundance of wildlife and beauty and so much space for everything. The way of life and culture.. respect for and importance of native cultures.
Things that surprised me most: Palmer and its farms. The abundance and beauty of fireweed, glacier water forms nearly every river and how much salmon is a way of life.
This and that…
Overall favorite wild flowers.. fireweed, lupine and dwarf dogwood
Favorite cut flower: peony farms on the Kenai
Obsession: spruce tip anything. (Jelly, beer, gin) Moss thick on the spruce trees in rain forests.
Best purchase just for this trip: muck boots. Worn daily for weeks!
Wildlife. In order of abundance (more or less)
Ground squirrels, rabbits
Salmon
Eagles
Ravens
Deer
Harbor seals
Moose
Ptarmigan/grouse
Black bears
Grizzly/brown bears
Whales/Orcas
Dolphins
Sea Lions
Sea Otters
Halibut (caught)
Bighorn Sheep
Caribou
Mountain goat
Fox
River otter in the sea
Probably some I’ve forgotten…
cinnicrew 