Alaska 2018

Next year my wife and three English Setters will be on the way from PA. To. Alaska! We have a 17' Jayco  Hybird trailer. The tow vehicle is a 2015 GMC Acadia.
We have pulled to California two times. We went to Yellowstone and now we want to see Alaska. We have a month to do it. Can anyone tell us how they did it and what to pack for our trip.

Our first trip to Alaska in 1994 was a fast one. We were still working and only had "X" amount of days to make the trip from East Central Indiana. It took 8 days to reach Tok, Ak, (4000 miles). The last few days were less miles per day due to the highway and the scenery. The longest stop was two days at Denali NP because of the bus ride back to Wonder Lake.
On the way up and back home we had several days of 700 miles per day. We were much younger then and could travel much farther with less rest.
Total time from home to Alaska and back home was 37 days. Needless to say we did not get to see as much as we wanted in Alaska.
We have been back four times since then, none of these trips were as fast as the first one.
We are now planning one "last" trip to Alaska, it won't be a fast one.
Buy a "Milepost" and read it. Try to plan your trip around what you want to see and how much time you will need. One month might not be enough.
Good Luck,
Indiana Journey

skirk55 said:

Next year my wife and three English Setters will be on the way from PA. To. Alaska! We have a 17' Jayco  Hybird trailer. The tow vehicle is a 2015 GMC Acadia.
We have pulled to California two times. We went to Yellowstone and now we want to see Alaska. We have a month to do it. Can anyone tell us how they did it and what to pack for our trip.

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You would have to leave the dogs at home/kennel, but for only a month, and the cost of fuel/RV Parks along the way, you are much better off flying to Anchorage and either renting an RV or renting a car and staying in motels. 

Keep in mind that while the highways in Canada, going to Alaska are good roads, you are not going to drive at 65-70 mph.  The roads are two lane, full width, much of the time with some paved shoulders, 3-10 feet of paved shoulders, but there are plenty of hills and curves.  A lot of the hills have 5-6% inclines and a number of them have some short 10% sections.  Nothing really bad as the 10% grades are not very long.  I mention these because all the hills and curves slow you down.  There is almost always some construction areas on the roads.  Some of the construction areas are from one mile to 15 or more miles long.  That means going really slow on the gravel area.  The speed limit in Canada (on the roads to AK)  is usually 55mph (90KM/hr) with some 60mph.  Trying to drive 350-400 miles in Canada, in a day, pulling even the small trailer you have, makes for a very long and tiring day.  You are going to spend more of your time driving to AK than you will have time seeing the sights in AK. 

I would not plan a driving trip to Alaska without 2 months and preferably 3-4 months.

We took 4 1/2 months from Portland, Oregon and back to Portland on our AK trip in 2016.  It was very enjoyable and relaxing trip, no rush, no hurry.  There was extra time for travel from Texas to Portland, not included in the above mentioned 4 1/2 months. 

I agree on flying to Anchorage. You need to take a look at the mileage involved. The Alaska Highway alone is 1400 miles (each way). My lovely wife just estimated that from the center of Pennsylvania to Anchorage is about 4200 miles. Averaging about 45 MPH, this is 93 hours of driving. At 8 hours per day, it will take 12 days to get there and 12 days to get back. That leaves 6 days for touring.

Doesn't sound like a relaxing vacation to me.