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ALASKA


rudi-h

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Have spent the better part of last month cycling in and through parts of Alaska. Trails so fast and scenery so beautiful I couldn't keep the tears from my eyes as I was smiling trough every corner!

 

Cycled through the Kenai Peninsula - home to many glaciers and ice fields!!!, then through a part of the Southeast - home to one of earth's greatest rain forests, and finally through Denali National Park - what more should I say than... Mount Mckinley!

 

Awesome trip, awesome adventure, awesome memories and a definite 5-star recommend to everyone!!!!!

 

Seward - Lost Lake

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Juneau - Mendenhall Glacier

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Denali

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One part of the world I have always wanted to visit and, so far, never made it.

 

Where did you leave from and where did you ride to.? Alaska must be one of the last remaining true pristine land sites, gotta get there soon.!

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Very interesting, and tempting! Talk us through a bit of the pricing and logistics (getting there and cycling around there, particularly food and water) please!

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Very interesting, and tempting! Talk us through a bit of the pricing and logistics (getting there and cycling around there, particularly food and water) please!

 

It's a lot to say in a short post, but I'll try to give you some idea.

 

Pricing:

 

Food, restaurants and general supplies are roughly 2x SA price

 

Hotel / B&B lodging is about 3x SA price

 

Camping is comparable to SA prices (+- $10 / night), but you don't get showers at most of them

With that said, camping is legal anywhere in Alaska's public land (96%), so if you're touring, you can just jump off the road and camp in the rough for free. You just have to be "bear aware" and hang up your food in trees

 

You can pick up Airplane tickets for about R12k if you buy them for the less popular flights

 

Transport is expensive, but that's why I cycled everywhere. Taxi's within cities are very expensive and probably charge about $2 / mile, where trains and busses go at about $100 / 500km

 

All in all, it is pretty expensive, but if you're willing to camp out, cycle your way around and eat some canned food it's not too bad.

 

Logistics.

 

I stayed on trails, park roads and highways all of the time, which means that you are never more than I'd say 100km from civilization, and in most parts you get towns or small establishments every say 40 - 50km. It does however feel pretty remote, cause there might be hours where nobody else passes by. Water is available at most parts, and if you've got a water pump / chlorine tablets, you can get water anywhere from millions of glacier streams and rivers. Food is not hard to get by, only had to carry food for 3 days when I was cycling in Denali.

 

Trains, boats and busses also make it easy to pass the long "boring" stretches of road between places, and they take bikes and other extra's for a marginal extra cost.

 

So I guess to conclude, it is more expensive than a holiday closer to home, but with a bit of saving it's possible. It's pretty easy to get by once you're there and you can get pretty much anything in the towns. Even the smallest towns / establishments have grocery stores which tend to carry everything from food to bike tube patches.

 

One BIG bonus when traveling to the States, is that you can take 2 pieces of checked luggage. That means you can fly over your bike for free!!!

 

I keep saying this, but it really is a beautiful and worthwhile destination!

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Pretty detailed answer, thanks

 

Nice about the two checked bags!

 

Yep, if you do this kind of thing, it's camping for sure - free camping (away from bears) sounds even better!

 

No showers? Don't these dudes wash?

 

How far apart were the towns?

 

cheers

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Just spoke to my dear wife about coming with for a two week cycling trip to Alaska.

 

She said "ALASKA! What's wrong with Mauritius" lol!

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Thats the FS bike you traveled with? How did you pack your kit? don't see a bike rack for panniers.

 

You were there for summer no doubt, the evenings must have gone on forever. Did you see the Aura Borealis?

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There's a lot more interest than I thought, so I'll try to compile a tour report and send it through in the next few days. That should give a bit more perspective on the whole trip!

 

As for GuyP, you've got some work to do there, but I hope you succeed with your wife-convincing act!!!

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