Truck rental Dalton Hwy
Caribou
I'm having a bit of a problem finding a truck rental in August that is not crazy expensive. Any suggestions?
Uhaul might be cheapest option. Many don't allow you to drive up there.
Anyone who knows you will be going to Prudhoe will be expensive. It's a rough road with lots of rock coming at you everytime you meet a big truck.
Not sure why you want to go considering the quality of hunting the last few years. May be better off paying somebody like 40 Mile Air for a flyout.
I have hunted the haul road several times. taken many caribou and a griz. I only rented a truck one time in Anchorage to drive and that cost me an extra $1000 for new tires. The agreement said the Dalton highway was off limits. Your best bet for a vehicle with no trouble. Is to fly into Deadhorse and rent a truck there. If the truck does not have 8 or 10 ply tires you will have flats. I have had as many as 10 flats in a week with passenger tires. Never been there without a flat.Good luck
Year before last - we flew in to Anchorage, rented a mini van, and drove 30 hours up to Deadhorse.
No windshiled issues or tire issues, but it was such a butt-kicking drive.
Whatever you find it will be worth it. One of the best road trips ever. Don't forget to stop in Coldfoot for the buffet . Hunt
We drove from Colorado to Deadhorse last summer, with a meandering route back. We had no tire problems on the travel trailer or truck, and only one windshield chip on the entire trip. But I always upgrade my tires. The truck has E rated tires (BFG ATs) and the trailer I upgraded from C to D. The photo is on Atigun Pass. We weren't hunting, but if I were to hunt it, I would bring some type of boat (I just bought a Flycraft inflatable) to be able to cross some of the rivers, especially the Sag.
+1 on the Coldfoot buffet!
Dang! That's brave taking the travel trailer up there! Never seen that before. I made five trips up there from Anchorage between 2010 and 2013. Two of those trips were the very end of October.
In that time I got one flat tire, a broken windshield and a rock through my radiator from an oncoming big rig that was hauling ass. The radiator issue was my first trip up and put a mesh grill cover on my truck after that. The tow to Fairbanks was not cheap.
I don't know who you can rent from but there is a place or two that will allow it. I think you there is a place in Deadhorse that will rent trucks. I ran into two guys that had done that but they may have been slope workers too, so not sure on that.
Very cool country up there. +2 on that Coldfoot buffet! I've never encountered food that good in a place that remote.
Take some blunt tips for ptarmigan too. Sometimes they are thick and can be a lot of fun chasing around if there aren't any caribou.
We were cautioned repeatedly from just about everyone about taking a travel trailer up the Dalton. However, driving it was something I always wanted to do, and well, we were traveling with a travel trailer. I would not hesitate to do it again. We decided to just take it one step at a time, and retreat if we were uncomfortable. We only saw one other travel trailer and that was a family caravan headed for the Yukon R. complete with several boats, and everything including the kitchen sink.
As to the big rigs. I kept a close eye out for them, both oncoming and catching up from behind. I ALWAYS slowed down and gave them as much road as possible. With only one exception (the one windshield chip), as long as I respected their use of the road, they also slowed down and gave me as much road as they could. Just that one trucker blasted by in the opposite direction on a particularly gravely section. It sounded like we were hit by a shotgun blast. The truckers all use CB radios, so they know where other traffic is in their vicinity. It would have been nice to have. The biggest hazard was the amount of calcium chloride they use up there. In places, the road was muddy with it! I wouldn't carry anything outside an enclosed vehicle.
I will stress that we weren't in any hurry. I drove a comfortable speed for the conditions. In a few spots, as slow as 25 mph. I never got up to the speed limit.
Here is a quick shot we took of one of the vehicles the Alaskan Clampetts were driving.
Thanks for all the feedback guys, appreciate it, I'm still working on my options. It will be a flyout hunt with 3 guys total, using Arrowhead Outfitters. Other 2 guys are not bowhunters so this will be a rifle hunt, although I haven't completely ruled out taking my breakdown recurve, if for not other reason than to shoot at ptarmigan.
That is a hilarious picture Ziek!
I heard you can rent a uhaul in Anchorage and drive it up just dont tell them that you are. Thats a much further drive tho..
That wouldn't be a half bad idea Hugh and if the timing worked out that I wasn't using it myself I would consider it. I offered up last year, with a raft to a bowsiter but he ended up not being able to come.
Here's the rub with not telling them. Tow charges if the vehicle needs repair.
In 2014 my starter went out 80 miles south of Deadhorse. Tow bill to Deadhorse was $560. Insurance paid half, but that wouldn't apply if you were not on an authorized highway.
I think we paid $800 for our 4x4 van rental for the week. Kinda steep!
I may make a trip up this fall for 5-6 days depending on my schedule. Did the hunt in 2013 and had a blast. We had zero issues with flats.
I am the one who took the Uhaul from Anchorage. While it worked out for us, looking back I'm not sure it's worth risking it. We rented it with a don't ask don't tell mentality. No harm done. The cargo van was a PERFECT hunting rig though. :)
D rated tires on my vehicles. 15-20 trips up the haul rd since Nov of 2013 (not all the way to deadhorse each time) and 0 flat tires, though a window chip or five but those can happen in town, and have for me and many.
While road conditions change and can vary considerably depending on weather, and the last time a particular section was worked, we found the second half (from Coldfoot to Deadhorse) in much better condition than the first half. There was a long stretch of GOOD pavement (paved sections were generally worse than gravel) starting at Coldfoot. And they were re-building the road from Galbraith Lk. to Deadhorse due to the flooding earlier in 2015, so that was pretty good. Some of the worst road was just out of Fairbanks on the Elliot Hwy.
Just to follow up on the U-Haul suggestion, I did call up one place in Fairbanks and they said it was OK to drive on the Dalton, but I would only be covered with my own insurance policy. That's usually best anyway, but the problem is my auto insurance policy on rental vehicles specifically mentions they do not cover "moving trucks". So I will probably go with a "legit" rental at ~$120/day, several I've found are closer to $200.
