Good Morning. I’ve been following this forum and noticed a few items you may want to think about before you go. We (myself, wife, 6 kids, & a demented cat) drove from Rome, New York to Centralia Illinois and then to Anchorage in the early 80s. The road is now paved, but I suspect the same trip items need to be looked at.
1. Passport: You can enter Canada without a passport, but you CAN’T get back into the US without a major hassle if you don’t have a passport.
2. Mile Post Magazine: There is a milepost every mile on the AlCan (which actually starts at Dawson Creek) and the Mile Post magazine tells you where and what you will encounter on the highway. This lets you plan where to stop for food, fuel, general sight-seeing and overnight stops. Take a look at
https://www.milepost.com/highway_info/alaska_highway.
3. Currency exchange: I would use a credit card as much as possible due to the fluctuating exchange rates. Today, the rate is 1 US dollar to 1.12 Canadian dollars. The credit card companies automatically compute the ratio and bill you at the prevailing rates, so you don’t need a big wad of Canadian currency to cover expenses. However, I would carry some Canadian currency to cover costs where credit cards are not accepted.
4. Bug Spray: Yes!! If you aren’t moving faster than a mosquito can fly, you are a target. We used Deep Woods Off and survived. Skin-So-Soft wasn’t available back then, so I don’t how effective it will be. I do know it repels Illinois mosquitoes.
5. Frost heaves: On the way back, we hit a frost heave and bent the axle on the camper. It then chewed up a tire and we waited 3 days to get another tire. If you see the vehicle in front of you suddenly leap into the air, slow down because you’re next!
On the way back, you can turn South onto highway 37 (Cassiar Highway, DC Mile post 626.2) just West of Watson Lake and drop into Washington and Oregon. We took that route back because we were transferred to Southern California after Alaska. Back then, some sections of that road were still gravel; I don’t know the current status.
It will be a wonderful trip on cycles and I thought about joining you, but my wife says (in tones of deep disgust), “I have absolutely no interest in doing that!”