Destination Alaska....with a toddler

[daveb]

Surprised nobody mentioned the bugs, namely Mosquitos. I was told there are times to avoid certain areas but I've never been there. Back in my backpacking days, a buddy lived up there for several years and told me what I called a mosquito was nothing and Alaska's were called the state bird.

[BrianW]

Oh yeah, mosquitoes there can be killer bad (almost literally). Definitely take precautions for yourself and especially your child. Headnets look goofy but can help you keep your sanity. DEET works the best, but reviews are mixed for using it on children. If you are going in late July or August they aren't quite as bad, but that's all relative.

[Ford_6L_E350]

We've camped in many spots in Alaska, three different trips, mainly in June/July. Only had mosquito problems in 3 places. And one of those was called a wilderness camp. And even then, the mosquitos were only bad in the woods near the creek. 100 yards away from the creek it was ok. And we never had a problem in the open.

But, in those places, I really believe they could kill you due to blood loss.

Mike

[Angel]

The Original Bug Shirt.: This is what I have and the pants to go with it. When I got mine, I called to order it from ladies who were sewing them in a garage in Canada. That's how it all started. It is comfortable, did not always need the hood, the pants fit over my shorts and 100% cotton. When I got home , I soaked them in BIZ and they look brand new and are ready for my trip this summer.

http://www.bugshirt.com/diagrams.htm

True, the "state bird" is usually worst by the water, but then we boated down the Stikine river to Wrangle.

Angel

[LenS]

Do not remember significant mosquitoes problems on our May/June BC/Alaska trip. Did eat inside a few times. We take two Off Mosquito Lanterns with us and place them at the side door opening. For the most part they are effective.

The WORST place we had mosquitoes was near Biscotasing Lake in Ontario in August (about 100 miles east of Lake Superior Prov. Pk). It was in our tent camping days. They did drive us out of the area back to the shore of Lake Superior near Wawa. There were literally 100+ on each window of our tent. The combined humming noise was driving us mad. Have never before or since heard them that loud. We backtracked after one night. And yes there was a boy riding a bike around the campground in a full head to toe mosquito suit the day we got there. Should have clued us in.

[gnty]

Originally Posted by BrianW

Kids of that age can be really easy to travel with ........ like I said, at that age rocks are just as interesting as world-class scenery and jaw-dropping wildlife.
Have fun!

You have great ideas and insight. We'll be noting down all your suggestions.

Ya since she was born we've tried to get her used to her car seat for longer period of times. Last summer we took her to Vancouver Island and as long as we stopped every little while and stopped early for the evening she did great. I realized how important this was even more just this weekend, we brought her along on a quick trip down to Missoula MT and we pushed her way to long on the way home, i assumed she'd just fall asleep as it got latter, but she didn't and its taken a couple days for her to recover from it

We're going to be heading on our trip the last two week in Aug, to try to avoid some of the skeeters (state birds and see the changing colors along the dempster.

I've only been able to take a sneak peak at your site, it looks great, i'm looking forward to spend more time going through it all, it'll be very helpful. Thanks again.

[gnty]

I was up in Alaska about 6 years ago and floated down the Gulkana in June. Being on the water for 4 days i can add my testament to how bad the mosquitoes, i felt like they trying to gang up and take me down, i was very close to loosing my sanity. I've seen the bug nets but never the bugshirt, pants and gators, those look like they'd be worth every penny. Even in late Aug, we'll def prepare for the times we're near the water.

[BrianW]

Ah, the Gulkana is a great river! My wife and I lived in Glennallen for a few summers, and the Gulkana was our "after work" float trip. Of course, after work meant we still had 7-8 hours of sunlight in July!