If you've read my post on packing for Alaska, you might be wondering whether my packing list ended up working. Mostly yes! I was super glad I did a capsule wardrobe for the trip and I was happy with my options for clothes every day. There were a few things I wish we'd packed, though, and a few things I brought but didn't use. Here's a breakdown:
Things I Wish We'd Had: Dry shampoo (sometimes showers were hard to come by), extra phone charger (we lost one and then had one break, so having backups would have been nice), more long sleeved layering options, and more cold weather clothing in general. When I packed for the trip, we were going through a 100 degree heat wave in LA, and I think mentally that made me pack less cold-weather gear. But, it was COLD in Alaska. 28 degrees at one point! We were fine, but I kind of got sick of the same coat every day, so I wish I'd brought more options for cold weather. If you happen to be planning a trip to Alaska in September, know that there likely won't be snow on the ground but it does get chilly.
Things I Packed But Didn't Use: Multiple pairs of sandals (this goes with the cold weather thing), and an umbrella. It did rain, but I just opted for a raincoat with a hood instead of juggling an umbrella and our bags and Willie's leash. It just didn't make sense to use one. I used pretty much everything else we packed, though.
Things We Were Especially Glad We Had: A warm coat and raincoat for Willie, a laptop (we debated whether to bring one and I'm really glad we did), a couple of blankets, our own pillows, and Canadian dollars. I cannot tell you how glad I was to have a few hundred Canadian dollars in cash with us before we even crossed the border. It really came in handy! I carried more US cash than I normally do, too, and I liked having that. It's just convenient for travel sometimes to have cash.
Another thing I've mulled over since getting back is what we learned. I did SO much research before the trip, but I knew that I wouldn't really have any idea what it would be like until we did the drive ourselves. Here are a few things that I learned and things that surprised me.
Finding gas was not a problem. I worried so much about this before our trip. I'd read that you can go for hundreds of miles without passing a gas station, that many go out of business, and that they don't keep regular hours. We had absolutely no problem consistently finding places to fill up the tank, so I never actually worried about that for a second on the trip.
The Alaska Highway is the wildest place I can imagine. I truly feel like the Alaska Highway is a glimpse of heaven on earth, in the sense that the vastness, beauty, and proportions of the Yukon and Alaska just blow everything else out of the water and ruin your sense of proportion and scale. I've never seen anything so shockingly wild and beautiful in my life. I was not expecting that and can never forget it now.
We got tired of camping. As people who love camping, I'm embarrassed to say this, but we chickened out of camping a few cold and/or rainy nights and ended up renting a hotel room or cabin at the last minute. Even though I'm glad I can say we camped in a tent in Alaska for one night, I'm not sad that we didn't do it more. We quickly learned with the long days on the road that we needed to be comfortable in the evenings. If the weather is nice, I can be totally comfortable in a tent. But where the weather got bad, being warm and comfortable became our priority, more so than having the "authentic" experience of camping.
While we felt like the only people on earth for a lot of our trip, we found comfort in knowing how many others have gone before us. We saw/interacted with other people pretty rarely on our trip, which was a cool and different experience given that we live in a huge city. That said, we saw evidence everywhere of other travelers who had done the same trek. The Signpost Forest in Watson Lake (read my post recapping Watson Lake here) was the perfect example of that, because we saw signs up from people on their Honeymoons or people who had come back almost every year to write their names and the date on their sign again. Along the Alaska Highway, people would often spell out their initials with white rocks, which was a fun wilderness version of graffiti to see. And, I know a couple of people personally who have done the trip, so it was fun to connect with them about all the places we saw. If you're reading this and interested in driving the Alaska Highway and getting to the 49th state by road, I HIGHLY recommend it and would love to help in any way I can. Feel free to Contact me.