{"id":26054,"date":"2026-09-11T21:49:30","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T01:49:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aleta.life\/?p=26054"},"modified":"2026-09-11T22:09:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T02:09:40","slug":"sumas-smithers-dease-lake-and-whitehorse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aleta.life\/index.php\/2026\/09\/11\/sumas-smithers-dease-lake-and-whitehorse\/","title":{"rendered":"Sumas, Smithers, Dease Lake and Whitehorse"},"content":{"rendered":"
Position: 58\u00b046’49.9″N 130\u00b006’00.3″W<\/a><\/h6>\n

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The last time I visited Alaska was 12 years ago<\/a>. That\u2019s when I rode there on my motorcycle with my buddy Sledge (see photo). I learned a lot on that trip and looked forward to revisiting many of the places we\u2019d seen back then. I was keen to learn what had changed and what hadn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

From anywhere in the lower 48, once you\u2019re past Vancouver, BC, there are only two roads north towards Alaska. Going up almost everyone takes the Stewart-Cassiar highway<\/a>. I suppose if you\u2019re heading in from east of the Rocky Mountains, then you might take the only other route north, highway 97. But coming from the south, most folks cross the border near Abbotsford or Osoyoos and pick up Highway 1 as far as Cache Creek. They then take 97 to Prince George and turn west on Highway 16 (the Yellowhead<\/a>) as far as Kitwanga where you turn right and head north on Highway 37 (the Stewart-Cassiar<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Spreading Out<\/h6>\n

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Given the number of square miles that British Columbia covers, that there are so few roads tells you how sparsely populated the territory is. Once north of Prince George everything thins out. Gas stations, accommodation, coffee shops, and grocery stores are all reduced to the point a little forward planning becomes necessary. Cellular phone service becomes patchy (at best) and your options for travel information more limited.<\/p>\n

Downloading Google maps for offline use helps. But the maps don\u2019t retain useful information like gas prices. For around $45US you can buy the Milepost<\/a> travel planner. This paperback book provides a mile-by-mile compendium of absolutely anything you might want to know about your journey. If, like us, you\u2019re determined to live the in 21st<\/sup> century, you can buy a Starlink mini satellite receiver and mount it on your sunroof for high-speed internet access. We purchased a Milepost as a back-up in any case and never opened it. If you\u2019re heading to Alaska anytime soon let us know. We\u2019ll happily give you our copy.<\/p>\n

Tires<\/h6>\n

The distances are vast. Driving from Portland, OR, to Anchorage, AK, you cover about 2,500 miles. That\u2019s the same as driving from Portland to Boston. As gas stations thin out, we decided to never let the gas tank get below a quarter full. In preparation for the journey, we packed in a few essentials like a tire repair kit and a new spare (one of those silly donut tires, but that\u2019s all the space our car Molly the Murano had available). Molly\u2019s tires were fairly new and had less than 10,000 miles on them. Having driven across Mongolia on new-ish tires I was confident Molly\u2019s would make it through the gravel roads without issue. Nevertheless, I packed in a can of Fix-a-Flat<\/a> and a small compressor.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing like redundant systems to ensure your main points of failure don\u2019t test you. Molly also had an oil change before we left. With a Canadian eSIM in my cellphone, satellite internet on board, and a bright orange windbreaker for flagging down other motorists, I figured we wouldn\u2019t be stranded for long. (I didn\u2019t dwell long on the potential costs of rescue in the wilderness.) Laden with camping gear and emergency rations, we could have camped by the side of the road for a week in an emergency. After all those preparations, it was time to go.<\/p>\n

Sumas<\/h6>\n

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Just south of the city of Abbotsford, BC, is the US border crossing at Sumas. Normally, crossing into Canada takes a few minutes of routine questions from Canadian customs. In the past, the Canadian officers have been unfailingly pleasant and polite. This time, however, the officer was so brusque it felt like we were crossing back into the United States. He asked where we were heading? Alaska. How long will you be in Canada? About 10 days. It only takes 48 hours to drive to the Alaskan border, you know. We did know, but we were planning on taking our time and doing some camping along the way. Do you have reservations for camping? No, our habit is to do a bare minimum of forward planning. It adds to the excitement of the adventure. Any guns? Nope. Drugs? Nope. Alcohol? A bottle of gin and a bottle of wine. Any fruit? Nope. As we drove away, we agreed that a renewed era of d\u00e9tente with our northern cousins couldn\u2019t come fast enough.<\/p>\n

Intents Living<\/h6>\n

To keep costs down, our plan was to camp for at least 60-70% of the time. That meant at least four nights under canvas for every two to three nights in accommodations. Fortunately, the Taj-mah-tent we used for our July 2018<\/a> cross-USA road trip was in our storage unit, along with several smaller, less comfortable alternatives. Our Taj-mah-tent<\/a> is a 10-person quick setup affair from Walmart \u2013 a fine source for cheap camping gear. It cost as much as one night in a Motel 6 and has plenty of head and elbow room when the weather or bugs get nasty. A queen-sized inflatable mattress and two collapsible armchairs fit comfortably. That makes it useless for backpacking, but perfect for car camping.<\/p>\n

Lac La Hache<\/a> is about 267 miles from the US border and as far as we wanted to drive that day. Driving east then north from Abbotsford a couple of small fires clouded the valleys, giving the trees the impression they were shrouded in nothing more deadly than a fine mist. A little further west several large fires were wreaking environmental chaos and would continue doing so for the next six weeks.<\/p>\n

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