Amazing Trip - Canada/Alaska

[Wonkinator]

Alaska/Canada Trip Report

Just returned from 8 weeks in Canada and Alaska. It was an amazing trip. We (wife and Border Collie) left SLC on Memorial Day and visited/stopped in Kalispell, Banff, Jasper, Dawson Creek, Whitehorse, Tombstone Territorial Park, Eagle Plains, Arctic Circle, Dawson City, Chicken AK, Eagle AK, Fairbanks, Denali (Riley Creek and Teklanika), Willow, Girdwood, Homer, Soldotna, Whittier, Seward, Tok, Snag Junction, Whitehorse, Boya Lake, Kinaskan Lake, Stewart, Hyder AK, Pemberton, Whistler, Squamish, N Vancouver, Vancouver Island for a week (Campbell River, Port Hardy, Tofino, Nanaimo, etc) and then dropped back into the lower 48 to hit North Cascades NP, Mt Ranier NP and back home to SLC. Phew!

I freak’n love this setup. Alu-Cab nailed it. Yes, there are a few things I dislike…rear door config, 270 awning piece that covers the door, etc. but they are minor quibbles. Here’s a recap of some game changes. .

Game Changers:
- Goose Gear 100% rear seat delete. We added two Kong matts on top for the dog. We Velcro’d them and they were perfect. We just flip them up to access the Goose Gear. We used packing cubes and stored our clothing/shoes in the Goose Gear. My wife loved it and it kept us from constantly moving duffle bags around. Installed by Element Outdoors in Fruita CO. (Highly recommended shop, it’s worth the drive and Travis and his team are very knowledgeable and highly skilled. Www.element-outdoors.com Plus Goose Gear is headquartered in Grand Junction).
- EcoDiesel. Love it! 10,585 miles on this trip and it performed well and averaged 21.2 mpg. Only issue was the very last day on the way home, it was 95 degrees and the Jeep went into limp mode twice. I need to research but I “ass-u-me” the turbo is over heating and shutting things down. It only happens when it’s hot (over 90 degrees) and pushing hard up the hills. Note: Do not go to Canada with an EcoDiesel unless you have your fuel funnel with you. You will find lots of remote places (including the start of the Dempster) that do not have the correct diesel nozzle size. And pay attention, the auto shut off does not work with the funnel.
- Hest Mattress, 1.5 inch memory foam, his/her electric blankets (12v). We fitted it with sheets, blankets, instead of sleeping bags and it is super comfy. Also we have stadium seats to sit in the loft if it’s crappy weather plus a small Clam Tent to sit in when it’s pouring rain.
- JCR Rear Window Molle Panel. Terrific storage wall above the Goose Gear and served as a gear wall where we hung our backpacks and a ton of gear on.
- Milepost Book – if you are traveling in Alaska or Canada just get it.
- Heat It – Do you get chewed on by mosquitoes like I do? Get a HeatIt. It works! (www.heat-it.com). This thing was a life saver for us. It keeps you from waking up in the middle of the night scratching.

Note: I have No affiliation with any of these sellers or products. I pay full bang for everything I buy.

Overall, I love this set up more now than I ever have. The Gladiator/ACC worked perfectly for us. I’m super happy with it and after living in it for two months it really served its purposes. I know there is no such thing as a perfect rig but for our purposes this setup is damn near perfect. Happy wife, happy life. We are now busy planning our next adventures.

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[StarsMojave]

Sounded like a fantastic trip! Did you bring along any firearms and if so what was your procedures you went through to get across the borders?

 

[Wonkinator]

It was terrific. I could go on for hours about everything we did. No firearms. I started checking into it and finally got so frustrated I gave up and loaded up with bear spray. Too many confusing rules. Basically it’s got to be a specific model of long gun and I didn’t think it was feasible inside the jeep/alucab. Also we were crossing the border 6 times (Canada, Alaska, Canada, Alaska, Canada, Lower 48) I didn’t want to hassle with it.
One option I considered was working with a local dealer and a dealer in Anchorage to ship a hand gun, but again, a huge hassle and most of our bear encounters were in Canada. The closest being a large black bear walking 30 ft behind the jeep while setting up camp in Hyder. The rest were while we were driving and safe and sound inside the jeep.
Cheers!

 

[StarsMojave]

Did you wish you had mud flaps? Did the mud restrict your ability to open doors and other functions? Did you make any alterations to your Gladiator to handle the extra weight of equipment? Thanks

 

[Wonkinator]

Did you wish you had mud flaps? Did the mud restrict your ability to open doors and other functions? Did you make any alterations to your Gladiator to handle the extra weight of equipment? Thanks

The Dempster was an absolute mess after having 3 days of rain. Got to Eagle Plains and the entire parking area was 4 inches of mud. They have a car wash there (power washer) and charge $40 CA to use it. . It was the best money we spent since we couldn’t open the back, jeep doors or side panels without having our hands and clothes covered with mud. A nasty mess and the mud is like concrete. It’s tough to get off and I still have some on the inside of the wheels.
Add insult to injury they shut the ferry down that day due to high water so we could only go as far as Arctic Circle sign.
To answer your question I don’t think mud flaps would have helped much. I have the AEV Dual Sport 2.5 with the heavier rear springs. It handles the weight very well. Cheers!

 

[flipboltz]

I

Did you wish you had mud flaps? Did the mud restrict your ability to open doors and other functions? Did you make any alterations to your Gladiator to handle the extra weight of equipment? Thanks

I have the same pic! What a great adventure. We loved the Salmon Glacier, did you get to see the bears feeding at the park in Hyder? It was so cool! Did you make it to Tuktoyatuk?

 

[Wonkinator]

I
I have the same pic! What a great adventure. We loved the Salmon Glacier, did you get to see the bears feeding at the park in Hyder? It was so cool! Did you make it to Tuktoyatuk?

Cool pics! After reaching Eagle Plains they shut the ferry back down due to high water so we didn’t get to Tuk. It’s my fault because I only scheduled 3 days for that and we had to keep moving. Lesson learned, next time I’ll set aside a full week for Tuk so we can “wait it out” until the ferry is running.
Salmon Glacier was breathtaking. The salmon weren’t in the creek yet at the observation site so no bears, although one big black bear did walk 30 ft behind the jeep while we were setting up camp in Hyder. We did see 1 grizzly and 21 black bears on the trip…amazing.

 

[Scoob]

Alaska/Canada Trip Report

Just returned from 8 weeks in Canada and Alaska. It was an amazing trip. We (wife and Border Collie) left SLC on Memorial Day and visited/stopped in Kalispell, Banff, Jasper, Dawson Creek, Whitehorse, Tombstone Territorial Park, Eagle Plains, Arctic Circle, Dawson City, Chicken AK, Eagle AK, Fairbanks, Denali (Riley Creek and Teklanika), Willow, Girdwood, Homer, Soldotna, Whittier, Seward, Tok, Snag Junction, Whitehorse, Boya Lake, Kinaskan Lake, Stewart, Hyder AK, Pemberton, Whistler, Squamish, N Vancouver, Vancouver Island for a week (Campbell River, Port Hardy, Tofino, Nanaimo, etc) and then dropped back into the lower 48 to hit North Cascades NP, Mt Ranier NP and back home to SLC. Phew!

I freak’n love this setup. Alu-Cab nailed it. Yes, there are a few things I dislike…rear door config, 270 awning piece that covers the door, etc. but they are minor quibbles. Here’s a recap of some game changes. .

Game Changers:
- Goose Gear 100% rear seat delete. We added two Kong matts on top for the dog. We Velcro’d them and they were perfect. We just flip them up to access the Goose Gear. We used packing cubes and stored our clothing/shoes in the Goose Gear. My wife loved it and it kept us from constantly moving duffle bags around. Installed by Element Outdoors in Fruita CO. (Highly recommended shop, it’s worth the drive and Travis and his team are very knowledgeable and highly skilled. Www.element-outdoors.com Plus Goose Gear is headquartered in Grand Junction).
- EcoDiesel. Love it! 10,585 miles on this trip and it performed well and averaged 21.2 mpg. Only issue was the very last day on the way home, it was 95 degrees and the Jeep went into limp mode twice. I need to research but I “ass-u-me” the turbo is over heating and shutting things down. It only happens when it’s hot (over 90 degrees) and pushing hard up the hills. Note: Do not go to Canada with an EcoDiesel unless you have your fuel funnel with you. You will find lots of remote places (including the start of the Dempster) that do not have the correct diesel nozzle size. And pay attention, the auto shut off does not work with the funnel.
- Hest Mattress, 1.5 inch memory foam, his/her electric blankets (12v). We fitted it with sheets, blankets, instead of sleeping bags and it is super comfy. Also we have stadium seats to sit in the loft if it’s crappy weather plus a small Clam Tent to sit in when it’s pouring rain.
- JCR Rear Window Molle Panel. Terrific storage wall above the Goose Gear and served as a gear wall where we hung our backpacks and a ton of gear on.
- Milepost Book – if you are traveling in Alaska or Canada just get it.
- Heat It – Do you get chewed on by mosquitoes like I do? Get a HeatIt. It works! (www.heat-it.com). This thing was a life saver for us. It keeps you from waking up in the middle of the night scratching.

Note: I have No affiliation with any of these sellers or products. I pay full bang for everything I buy.

Overall, I love this set up more now than I ever have. The Gladiator/ACC worked perfectly for us. I’m super happy with it and after living in it for two months it really served its purposes. I know there is no such thing as a perfect rig but for our purposes this setup is damn near perfect. Happy wife, happy life. We are now busy planning our next adventures.

Wonkinator, man that is awesome! You sir are living the dream. I hope and dream to travel to and around out west and Alaska. I am just starting into the whole overlanding thing. Living in Georgia I want to start with the Georgia travers and slowly head west. I would really like to not have to buy a camper shell and rooftop tent, is a trip like this doable with a ground tent and a tonneau cover? Any other websites or places to get started in planning such a journey? Thanks ahead and hope you gained many great experiences and memories.

 

[nanook12]

I disagree on the mud flaps, this picture is after a N Idaho to Kluane Lake, YT run. XL mud flaps and came up the Cassiar.

 

[Wonkinator]

Wonkinator, man that is awesome! You sir are living the dream. I hope and dream to travel to and around out west and Alaska. I am just starting into the whole overlanding thing. Living in Georgia I want to start with the Georgia travers and slowly head west. I would really like to not have to buy a camper shell and rooftop tent, is a trip like this doable with a ground tent and a tonneau cover? Any other websites or places to get started in planning such a journey? Thanks ahead and hope you gained many great experiences and memories.

It was one of my dreams too. We’d been to Alaska several times fishing but this was the first time driving and I never realized how beautiful Canada was. Just amazing.
We saw lots of ppl ground tenting everywhere we went so it’s certainly doable. Only real issue is ensuring you are following all bear safety rules. Some campgrounds don’t allow ground tents due to bear activity. We got kicked out of Meziadin Campground because they are not allowing soft sided campers in 2025.
I know you said you don’t want to buy a topper, but prior to our Alu-Cab we had a soft topper, JCR rack and sock tent. With that we were sleeping in the back of the jeep, protected somewhat and not sleeping on the ground. It was nice and comfy and we had the tent to sit in during bad weather. Canada/Alaska get a lot of rain and ground tents are not fun to set up in the rain.
To get started there are a ton of YouTube sites to follow (Story til Now, TrailRecon, AplusK, etc) and definitely get the latest version of the Milepost. They also have a YouTube channel, and FB site. The great thing about driving is you set your own schedule, how many miles you feel comfortable driving each day, where you stop and the sights that you want to see.

Safe travels!

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