Sure, you may note the extraordinary length of this trip, but I would like to note that we are driving away from a major winter storm by headed through Canada to Alaska. It will be a 3,620 mile journey, lasting 7 1/2 days. The amount of time spent rolling over 2 lane highways in Canada and Alaska will set the pace at only about 60mph, and our days will be through after about 482 miles. To the land of the Midnight Sun!
DAY ONE (Monday)
The toughest part of the day on Monday will be digging out of Peoria. Even that won’t be terrible, as the heaviest snow is falling south of Peoria, though that is a razor thin distance, meteorologically speaking. Peoria has about an inch at this point, and Springfield is closing in on 8. Snow or no snow on the ground now, there will be a few persistent flakes through the morning that plows will be working at scraping off the roads. The threat for fresh snow will end around Davenport, and the threat for driving through any areas that will have seen snow today will be done when we turn north at Iowa City. Unadulterated roads will be our pathway through Iowa, up to the Twin Cities. We’ll stop northwest of Minneapolis, in Albertville, Minnesota on Monday night.
DAY TWO (Tuesday)
The good news, as I sort of spoiled with the intro to this post, is that we will fully be into high pressure behind the major winter storm in the middle of the country. Bad news is it will be very cold in our drive from Minnesota into North Dakota. The day will end near Minot, in the town of Burlington, where temperatures will almost certainly be subzero when we hit the road on Wednesday.
DAY THREE (Wednesday)
We won’t be under high pressure on Wednesday, but I don’t think we will see any precipitation either. We’ll enter Saskatchewan, and pass Regina and Saskatoon, eventually reaching North Battleford, northwest of Saskatoon for the night. Low pressure will be skirting the southern border of the Northwest Territories on Wednesday, but it won’t be able to tap into any moisture, so all we will see is energy. It will be blustery on the Canadian prairies, but I think we will be hard pressed to find any fresh falling snow. The best chance will be a stray flurry as the night ends.
DAY FOUR (Thursday)
We will travel west bound through Canada, passing Edmonton on our way to Crooked Creek, Alberta. There is a patch of civilization around Crooked Creek that will offer some places to stay and eat, surrounded by oil fields and oil workers. Low pressure is looming over the Gulf of Alaska, but the Rocky Mountains will keep us in good shape for the time being. On the lee of the Rockies, it should even be warmer than it was at our previous stops.
DAY FIVE (Friday)
Don’t be surprised by a damp start to our Friday, with moisture clearing the Canadian Rockies and settling into Crooked Creek in the early hours. Snow will be a possibility for only a short while as we get moving, and head even further north into Alberta, and finally British Columbia. We’ll turn west at Fort Nelson, stopping at Summit Lake in northeastern BC. It will be clear and cold, and we still have 2 1/2 more days to go.
DAY SIX (Saturday)
Low pressure and storms buffeting southwestern Alaska, sending a cold front into the Panhandle will not bother us at all on Saturday, as we trek through northern British Columbia and southern Yukon. Our route closes at night, so it is key to make this drive during the day time hours. We’ll pull into Canyon City, just before Whitehorse, and call it a night. Maybe the Northern Lights will be out.
DAY SEVEN (Sunday)
Back in the USA! We’ll cross into Alaska shortly after midday, and will continue to be grateful the roadways mostly hug the valleys, because precipitation will first and foremost be on the coast, thanks to low pressure over the Alaska Peninsula, but also in the high terrain, where snow will fall on the peaks of Denali. We will stay dry, and it will be cloudy, ensuring that the already dark days will be grimmer than normal. We’ll pull in for the night near Chistochina, about an hour and a half south of Tok.
DAY EIGHT (Monday… again)
A resurgent round of snow fall will slam the Alaskan shores on Monday morning, and some of that will bleed north into the valley of the Chistochina River. We will face increasing snow for the half day of driving down toward the Cook Inlet. It will be snowy and a bit blustery in Anchorage as we arrive, though that seems to be the standard this time of year. Wow, 8 days. Maybe consider flying back.
