Alaska: Make your dreams for adventure come true

Every year finds more and more people, seemingly, making a first trip to Alaska. In 1992, some 16,000 New Englanders made the pilgrimmage. Some 3,092 Maine residents bought either fishing or hunting permits. It’s too early in the New Year for the 1993 figures, though Alaskan sources assert the 1993 figures will probably equal or better the 1992 numbers.

A retired University of Maine engineering professor, Claude Z. Westfall, says, “Make your dream come true.”

Westfall and his wife, Rosemae, made the dream come true in 1993. The Westfalls made the trip in a Ford pickup truck, towing a 35-foot, self-contained, so-called “fifth wheel.”

The Westfall dream began in the wake of graduating from West Virginia University in 1952. After leaving West Virginia University, the Westfall career included service on that state’s conservation commission, a consincluded service on that state’s conservation commission, a consulting engineer, forester, and then a staff position at the University of Maine. Thirty-six years and six months later, Westfall retired, professor emeritus of general engineering. The longing to “see and touch” Alaska gripped the Orono resident like his first days in the wake of graduation at West Virginia University.

On June 25 this last year, the Westfalls left Orono, Alaska-bound via vehicle and mobile home. Westfall kept a trip diary, detailing routes, road conditions and rest stops among other observations and personal experiences.

Here are excerpts from the Westfall diary:

“If you had only one word to describe Alaska, it would be b-i-g. I mean big. Our seven-week trip this past summer allowed us only to sample this great land that is one-fifth the area of the United States, or more than twice the size of Texas.

“Alaska has 3,000 rivers, 3 million lakes, North America’s highest mountain at 20,320 feet, and more than 5,000 glaciers.

“Anyone desiring to make this unforgettable trip should plan early and allow enough time to enjoy the areas you’ve always wanted to see. For those having only a week or two, a packaged trip may be the best option. Driving to Alaska is no longer the ordeal it was in the early days. If you still have the image of trucks sunk in the mud up to the hubcaps, forget it.

“The fabled Alaska Highway, built back in 1942, is today an all-weather, two-lane, paved road. It begins at Dawson Creek in British Columbia and is a 1,400-mile scenic corridor through Canada’s Yukon Territory to Alaska’s Delta Junction and on to Fairbanks. Since the highway is continuing to be improved, there still can be some rough spots, due to the construction or surface deterioration. This should not discourage Mainers accustomed to driving during the winter months and the spring mud season. Remote roads such as the Dempster or Dalton highways are gravel.

“Between towns the traveler will find rustic roadside lodges, RV hookups, dump stations, propane, campgrounds, groceries, hot showers, laundry facilities, restaurants, souvenirs, mechanics and service stations.”

“Service stations offering repairs, gasoline and oil on average are about 50 miles apart. Gas prices will vary and are higher in Canada. We found prices for gasoline ranged from 98 cents to $2.20 per gallon.

“The MILEPOST is a guidebook that has been designed to help you get the most out of your travels to the north. It is available at many book stores and I would not be without it when traveling by car or camper. It will help you plan your trip to Alaska and guide you mile-by-mile through the country once you get there.

“Various regions of Alaska allow you to sample its unique flavor, whether it be its history, its adventure, wilderness, a mountain experience, hiking, camping, sightseeing, fishing, wildlife, panoramic views, glaciers, or rafting. Branch highways such as the Klondike, Robert Campbell and Taylor give one the freedom to take personlized side trips.

“Denali, the `high one,’ is an immense, 6-million acre natipreserve created from the former Mount McKinley National Park. It is one of the last great frontiers for wilderness adventure. More than 430 species of flowery parts exist. The lowlands and slopes consist of tiarga, a Russian term meaning `land of little sticks,’ and tundra. Wildlife that can usually be seen in these areas include Dall sheep, caribou, grizzly bears, moose and wolves.

“Other areas that should be considered on your must list include Whitehorse, Dawson City, Kenai Peninsula, the Wangell-St. Elias and Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Skagway, Haines and Valdez. Situated on a picturesque fjord, access from Valdez is the Alyeska Maine Terminal. Alaska crude makes its long 800-mile journey south from the North Slope by way of an American engineering marvel, the trans-Alaska pipeline. The pipeline accounts for approximately 25 percent of the oil produced annually in the U.S.

“The weather in Alaska can change by the minute but generally is pleasant for a summer trip. Clear, hot days are not uncommon in July, the warmest month. Daylight hours are long, allowing lots of time to enjoy, unlike any other highway in the world, the new vistas of adventure and excitement that the Alaska highway provides.”

The second half of Alaska, Make Your Dream Come True, will be published here next Wednesday, Jan. 12. The Westfall file will reveal the travel route from Orono, Maine, to Alaska, a 12,047-mile odyssey via U.S. and Canadian highways. Being an ardent angler-sportsman, Westfall recommends equipment if sport fishing is high among one’s Alaskan goals.