Any DUer's ever drive the ALCAN highway in December?

[panader0]

My daughter flies to Alaska tonight and will be driving back to N. Mexico with her boyfriend in a few days. I'm quite nervous about this. Hell, it's almost as far from Alaska to the border of Washington as it is from there to NM. Yikes!

[Whoa_Nelly]

1. Only driven it in late, late summer

Can they get cell phone Internet for road conditions and weather updates? There are roadhouses along the way, but the road can be bumpy, and has large truck traffic.

If they plan a little ahead, they can mile-mark the towns, roadhouses in between, and other handy stops. Also a good idea to get head lamp covers, carry at least to real tires for extra, rope, jumper cables, basic tool kit including socket wrenches, duct tape and plastic sheeting (no...not for terror alerts..lol), and, of course, extra blankets or -0 sleeping bags, food, water, de-icer for windshield, flares, and reflective triangles.
Others have done this trip...pacing and planning makes all the difference. Hopefully, the car will also have a deer bar on the front. As long as they try to drive mostly daylight for as much as they can, and set reasonable distances that include actual places to stop, they should be fine. There is a gazetter they can get that has all the mileposts http://www.themilepost.com/ , and I think there's one for the Al-Can as well. Just make sure they know to NOT take the Stewart-Cassier (logging) Road as a short-cut...it is very desolate, and the logging trucks run and rule that road.

[Cleita]

2. I never had but I have known people who have.

My cousin who did it in summer carried extra tires strapped to the roof of his car. They say it's actually easier to drive on when there is snow packed on it. However, I met some people in Anchorage once who broke down on it in the middle of winter. It was below zero in temperature and they knew they only had hours before they froze to death. There was no traffic for a long time and then a truck came by that was able to rescue them. But you can't count on it. All I can say is be prepared with contingency plans and equipment just in case. I don't know if there is even some kind of cell phone or short wave radio gear they can carry to send an SOS.

[Arctic Dave]

3. As long as they don't hit a snow storm it is no big deal.

Just drive cautiously and bring warm clothes, food and water. Always fill your gas tank at every open station because some shut down in the winter.

Oh, bring a camera. It will be absolutely gorgeous.