Overland Trip to Alaska - Follow For Updates

[Cybergirl]

August 25, 2025

We left the Tundra RV Campground in Tok, AK at 6:36 am with 100% charge, destination Dawson City via Chicken, AK traveling the Top of the World highway. All the scare stories about driving this route turned out to be exaggerations. The road was dry dirty/gravel with only a few encounters with washboard. The Cybertruck handled it very well. Chicken’s only attraction is this sculpture at the entrance to a campground. I snap this photo and moved on.

The border crossing was uneventful. The custom’s official asked where we were going. When I said Tuktoyaktuk, NT, he expressed concerns about our ability to charge the truck. I informed him that for the past year there are Tesla destination chargers in Eagle Plains, Inuvik, and Tuktoyaktuk. “Enjoy your trip”, he said.

As I mentioned, the Top of the World Highway was dry, so mud wasn’t a problem. Still, by the time we reached Dawson City, the truck had this yellowish dust in every crack and crevice. We took the ferry across the Yukon after registering a campsite (#24) at the Yukon River Campground. We drove to the 50 kW Flo DCFC charger at the Visitor’s Center. I still had 30% in the battery. My efficiency on this leg of the trip was an unexpectedly good 470 Wh/mile.

We walked around town snapping memory photos like this old bank building that was being restored.

After ordering burgers and fries at RiverWest, we headed for our campsite. At that point I started feeling the chills, and I knew that I was becoming sick. Sure enough, there soon followed headache, sore muscles, and general lack of energy confirming I had contracted a virus. What else can go wrong on this trip?

We didn’t even set up camp, I crawled in the truck, activated Camp Mode and tried to get some rest. We talked about ending the trip, but decided to give it a day before making a final decision. On the plus side, the weather couldn’t be better, and the Dempster Highway should be dry.

The next day I was feeling somewhat better but had a runny nose and slight cough. When I blew my nose the output was yellow, road dust yellow. We will spend tonight at the campsite in the rooftop tent and continue onto the Arctic tomorrow. We will return to Dawson City and take in some of the attractions, like a guided tour of Jack London Museum and the stern wheeler, Keno.

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[hemiarch]

Sorry you’re sick. Get plenty of vitamin c and stay warm. Maybe some chicken soup if it’s available anywhere. If you get sicker, please turn back. You’re not going to get great medical help up there.
Safe travels and thanks for the updates. We’re all rooting for you here on team cybergirl.

https://www.massgeneral.org/news/pr...ruggles-of-explorer-ernest-shackleton-release

 

[hemiarch]

How you feeling?

 

[Cybergirl]

August 27, 2025

We’ve made it to Inuvik. It's late afternoon, the sunny skies are gone, and rain has made a return. The fair weather sure was good while it lasted. Too bad my good health didn’t last. My virus progressed to a head and chest cold with a wicked sore throat. It’s happened before and I know how my body reacts to it. I’ll be fine in couple of days.

Yesterday, we headed north on the Dempster Highway from Dawson City to Eagle Plains. The Dempster is poorly maintained in the Yukon so I kept my speed under 40 mph -- like 35 mph to avoid being shaken to death on some sections. I was surprised how much traffic is on the road between Dawson and Eagle Plains. With dry conditions, I found it necessary to put the truck’s HVAC into bio-defense mode to prevent breathing a lot of fine dust kicked up by other vehicles. Despite the uncomfortable ride, the scenery was magnificent. This photo doesn’t capture the full grandeur of the surroundings.

The drive to Eagle Plains is long (254 miles), and with the road full of pot holes and washboard, this was the least enjoyable segment of our journey. We left Dawson at 8:23 am with a full charge and arrived in Eagle Plains at 5:28 pm with 14% SoC. We drove to the Tesla Destination charger that was installed by the Arctic Cybertrek guys a year ago at the Eagle Plains Service Station. The charger had been installed in the back of the station on really rough ground near a 24/7 ventilation system that sounded like a small jet aircraft ready to take off. I plugged in and got 48 amps and 10 kW and a message on the screen telling me it will take nearly 10 hours for a full charge to provide a 15% reserve when we arrive in Inuvik. We put up the rooftop tent and after a simple dinner at the Millen Lounge, settled in for the night. The temperature overnight was a ‘balmy’ 54F with clear skies. We got our first view of the Northern Lights. Warning, girls: There’s no nearby place to relieve your bladder. Plan ahead. The good thing is that this charge at Eagle Plains was free.

We left Eagle Plains at about 4 am when the battery was fully charged and the tent had been stowed for travel. I still didn’t feel good and wanted so much to let FSD do the driving, but CT’s FSD has no concept of “pothole”, unless it’s designed to drive over as many as possible. I drove slowly in the early morning hours with virtually no one else on the road. I thought it would be a good time to see some wildlife, but nothing made an appearance. About 26 miles north of Eagle Plains we reached the Arctic Circle. I took this photo at 6:05 am as the sun was slowly rising.

We drove to Fort Mcpherson to buy some groceries and meds for my head cold. We attracted a lot of attention from the locals who hadn’t ever seen a Cybertruck. It was almost like the first couple of weeks after taking delivery of my Cybertruck in the states.

When we crossed into Northwest Territories, the condition of the Dempster Highway took dramatic step up in quality. From that point, to our arrival in Inuvik, the road was nearly as good as driving on pavement. I cranked the speed up to 55 mph and arrived in Inuvik in early afternoon.

There are three Tesla Wall Chargers in town. Two at the Char Suites and another at Polar Tire and Lube. I talked to the owner of Polar Tire. He reluctantly allowed me charge while informing me that he plans to remove the charger. He said that he didn’t understand the costs and other implications. I plugged in and discovered that I could only pull 32A rather than the expected 48A. I unplugged and drove to the Char Suites and called the number on the door to have these destination chargers turned on. No problem, except I had to pay a $100 flat fee to charge. When no other practical option, I paid the fee, plugged in the truck, and walked across the street to the Mackenzie Hotel to get a room ($340 for the night).

We had dinner at the hotel and retired for the day. Tomorrow it’s on to Tuktoyaktuk and the Arctic Ocean!

 

[REM]

August 27, 2025

We’ve made it to Inuvik. It's late afternoon, the sunny skies are gone, and rain has made a return. The fair weather sure was good while it lasted. Too bad my good health didn’t last. My virus progressed to a head and chest cold with a wicked sore throat. It’s happened before and I know how my body reacts to it. I’ll be fine in couple of days.

Yesterday, we headed north on the Dempster Highway from Dawson City to Eagle Plains. The Dempster is poorly maintained in the Yukon so I kept my speed under 40 mph -- like 35 mph to avoid being shaken to death on some sections. I was surprised how much traffic is on the road between Dawson and Eagle Plains. With dry conditions, I found it necessary to put the truck’s HVAC into bio-defense mode to prevent breathing a lot of fine dust kicked up by other vehicles. Despite the uncomfortable ride, the scenery was magnificent. This photo doesn’t capture the full grandeur of the surroundings.

The drive to Eagle Plains is long (254 miles), and with the road full of pot holes and washboard, this was the least enjoyable segment of our journey. We left Dawson at 8:23 am with a full charge and arrived in Eagle Plains at 5:28 pm with 14% SoC. We drove to the Tesla Destination charger that was installed by the Arctic Cybertrek guys a year ago at the Eagle Plains Service Station. The charger had been installed in the back of the station on really rough ground near a 24/7 ventilation system that sounded like a small jet aircraft ready to take off. I plugged in and got 48 amps and 10 kW and a message on the screen telling me it will take nearly 10 hours for a full charge to provide a 15% reserve when we arrive in Inuvik. We put up the rooftop tent and after a simple dinner at the Millen Lounge, settled in for the night. The temperature overnight was a ‘balmy’ 54F with clear skies. We got our first view of the Northern Lights. Warning, girls: There’s no nearby place to relieve your bladder. Plan ahead. The good thing is that this charge at Eagle Plains was free.

We left Eagle Plains at about 4 am when the battery was fully charged and the tent had been stowed for travel. I still didn’t feel good and wanted so much to let FSD do the driving, but CT’s FSD has no concept of “pothole”, unless it’s designed to drive over as many as possible. I drove slowly in the early morning hours with virtually no one else on the road. I thought it would be a good time to see some wildlife, but nothing made an appearance. About 26 miles north of Eagle Plains we reached the Arctic Circle. I took this photo at 6:05 am as the sun was slowly rising.

We drove to Fort Mcpherson to buy some groceries and meds for my head cold. We attracted a lot of attention from the locals who hadn’t ever seen a Cybertruck. It was almost like the first couple of weeks after taking delivery of my Cybertruck in the states.

When we crossed into Northwest Territories, the condition of the Dempster Highway took dramatic step up in quality. From that point, to our arrival in Inuvik, the road was nearly as good as driving on pavement. I cranked the speed up to 55 mph and arrived in Inuvik in early afternoon.

There are three Tesla Wall Chargers in town. Two at the Char Suites and another at Polar Tire and Lube. I talked to the owner of Polar Tire. He reluctantly allowed me charge while informing me that he plans to remove the charger. He said that he didn’t understand the costs and other implications. I plugged in and discovered that I could only pull 32A rather than the expected 48A. I unplugged and drove to the Char Suites and called the number on the door to have these destination chargers turned on. No problem, except I had to pay a $100 flat fee to charge. When no other practical option, I paid the fee, plugged in the truck, and walked across the street to the Mackenzie Hotel to get a room ($340 for the night).

We had dinner at the hotel and retired for the day. Tomorrow it’s on to Tuktoyaktuk and the Arctic Ocean!

Great update; Those prices are crazy! The owner of Polar Tire is probably too lazy to do enough research to understand that you can setup fleet charging with Tesla so that guests who plug into the charger can be charged at either at cost, or a little more to recoup the costs.

The vast majority of business owners are really missing out key attractors and revenue streams.

 

[Cybergirl]

Great update; Those prices are crazy! The owner of Polar Tire is probably too lazy to do enough research to understand that you can setup fleet charging with Tesla so that guests who plug into the charger can be charged at either at cost, or a little more to recoup the costs.

The vast majority of business owners are really missing out key attractors and revenue streams.

He didn't strike me as someone capable of setting that up.

 

[hemiarch]

Great update; Those prices are crazy! The owner of Polar Tire is probably too lazy to do enough research to understand that you can setup fleet charging with Tesla so that guests who plug into the charger can be charged at either at cost, or a little more to recoup the costs.

The vast majority of business owners are really missing out key attractors and revenue streams.

Absolutely bonkers extortion.

 

[hemiarch]

August 27, 2025

We’ve made it to Inuvik. It's late afternoon, the sunny skies are gone, and rain has made a return. The fair weather sure was good while it lasted. Too bad my good health didn’t last. My virus progressed to a head and chest cold with a wicked sore throat. It’s happened before and I know how my body reacts to it. I’ll be fine in couple of days.

Yesterday, we headed north on the Dempster Highway from Dawson City to Eagle Plains. The Dempster is poorly maintained in the Yukon so I kept my speed under 40 mph -- like 35 mph to avoid being shaken to death on some sections. I was surprised how much traffic is on the road between Dawson and Eagle Plains. With dry conditions, I found it necessary to put the truck’s HVAC into bio-defense mode to prevent breathing a lot of fine dust kicked up by other vehicles. Despite the uncomfortable ride, the scenery was magnificent. This photo doesn’t capture the full grandeur of the surroundings.

The drive to Eagle Plains is long (254 miles), and with the road full of pot holes and washboard, this was the least enjoyable segment of our journey. We left Dawson at 8:23 am with a full charge and arrived in Eagle Plains at 5:28 pm with 14% SoC. We drove to the Tesla Destination charger that was installed by the Arctic Cybertrek guys a year ago at the Eagle Plains Service Station. The charger had been installed in the back of the station on really rough ground near a 24/7 ventilation system that sounded like a small jet aircraft ready to take off. I plugged in and got 48 amps and 10 kW and a message on the screen telling me it will take nearly 10 hours for a full charge to provide a 15% reserve when we arrive in Inuvik. We put up the rooftop tent and after a simple dinner at the Millen Lounge, settled in for the night. The temperature overnight was a ‘balmy’ 54F with clear skies. We got our first view of the Northern Lights. Warning, girls: There’s no nearby place to relieve your bladder. Plan ahead. The good thing is that this charge at Eagle Plains was free.

We left Eagle Plains at about 4 am when the battery was fully charged and the tent had been stowed for travel. I still didn’t feel good and wanted so much to let FSD do the driving, but CT’s FSD has no concept of “pothole”, unless it’s designed to drive over as many as possible. I drove slowly in the early morning hours with virtually no one else on the road. I thought it would be a good time to see some wildlife, but nothing made an appearance. About 26 miles north of Eagle Plains we reached the Arctic Circle. I took this photo at 6:05 am as the sun was slowly rising.

We drove to Fort Mcpherson to buy some groceries and meds for my head cold. We attracted a lot of attention from the locals who hadn’t ever seen a Cybertruck. It was almost like the first couple of weeks after taking delivery of my Cybertruck in the states.

When we crossed into Northwest Territories, the condition of the Dempster Highway took dramatic step up in quality. From that point, to our arrival in Inuvik, the road was nearly as good as driving on pavement. I cranked the speed up to 55 mph and arrived in Inuvik in early afternoon.

There are three Tesla Wall Chargers in town. Two at the Char Suites and another at Polar Tire and Lube. I talked to the owner of Polar Tire. He reluctantly allowed me charge while informing me that he plans to remove the charger. He said that he didn’t understand the costs and other implications. I plugged in and discovered that I could only pull 32A rather than the expected 48A. I unplugged and drove to the Char Suites and called the number on the door to have these destination chargers turned on. No problem, except I had to pay a $100 flat fee to charge. When no other practical option, I paid the fee, plugged in the truck, and walked across the street to the Mackenzie Hotel to get a room ($340 for the night).

We had dinner at the hotel and retired for the day. Tomorrow it’s on to Tuktoyaktuk and the Arctic Ocean!

Congrats on making it. Wish you a speedy recovery from your illness.

 

[Cybergirl]

We did it!

We were welcomed by a Canadian policeman (RMCP) who was told of our plans to travel north to Tuktoyaktuk by a nice Canadian Fisheries officer that we met in Fort Mcpherson. I guess they were concerned about the safety of two old ladies venturing as far north as roads can take you. Love these people.

 

[hemiarch]

Those are two old ladies I’d like on my side in a bar fight though.
Snap judgments can be so misguided. I mean….youre there right? That means from a traveling standpoint, you’re tough as nails.
No more Shackletoning from me @Cybergirl, I just want to say I’m in awe of the accomplishment.
If you’re ever down in Arizona, would love to meet you both and your truck.

 

[Urander]

We did it!

We were welcomed by a Canadian policeman (RMCP) who was told of our plans to travel north to Tuktoyaktuk by a nice Canadian Fisheries officer that we met in Fort Mcpherson. I guess they were concerned about the safety of two old ladies venturing as far north as roads can take you. Love these people.

Congrats!!!

 

[mbrockus]

What a journey!!! Hope the return trip goes smoothly!

 

[RobertWarren]

August 27, 2025

We’ve made it to Inuvik. It's late afternoon, the sunny skies are gone, and rain has made a return. The fair weather sure was good while it lasted. Too bad my good health didn’t last. My virus progressed to a head and chest cold with a wicked sore throat. It’s happened before and I know how my body reacts to it. I’ll be fine in couple of days.

Yesterday, we headed north on the Dempster Highway from Dawson City to Eagle Plains. The Dempster is poorly maintained in the Yukon so I kept my speed under 40 mph -- like 35 mph to avoid being shaken to death on some sections. I was surprised how much traffic is on the road between Dawson and Eagle Plains. With dry conditions, I found it necessary to put the truck’s HVAC into bio-defense mode to prevent breathing a lot of fine dust kicked up by other vehicles. Despite the uncomfortable ride, the scenery was magnificent. This photo doesn’t capture the full grandeur of the surroundings.

The drive to Eagle Plains is long (254 miles), and with the road full of pot holes and washboard, this was the least enjoyable segment of our journey. We left Dawson at 8:23 am with a full charge and arrived in Eagle Plains at 5:28 pm with 14% SoC. We drove to the Tesla Destination charger that was installed by the Arctic Cybertrek guys a year ago at the Eagle Plains Service Station. The charger had been installed in the back of the station on really rough ground near a 24/7 ventilation system that sounded like a small jet aircraft ready to take off. I plugged in and got 48 amps and 10 kW and a message on the screen telling me it will take nearly 10 hours for a full charge to provide a 15% reserve when we arrive in Inuvik. We put up the rooftop tent and after a simple dinner at the Millen Lounge, settled in for the night. The temperature overnight was a ‘balmy’ 54F with clear skies. We got our first view of the Northern Lights. Warning, girls: There’s no nearby place to relieve your bladder. Plan ahead. The good thing is that this charge at Eagle Plains was free.

We left Eagle Plains at about 4 am when the battery was fully charged and the tent had been stowed for travel. I still didn’t feel good and wanted so much to let FSD do the driving, but CT’s FSD has no concept of “pothole”, unless it’s designed to drive over as many as possible. I drove slowly in the early morning hours with virtually no one else on the road. I thought it would be a good time to see some wildlife, but nothing made an appearance. About 26 miles north of Eagle Plains we reached the Arctic Circle. I took this photo at 6:05 am as the sun was slowly rising.

We drove to Fort Mcpherson to buy some groceries and meds for my head cold. We attracted a lot of attention from the locals who hadn’t ever seen a Cybertruck. It was almost like the first couple of weeks after taking delivery of my Cybertruck in the states.

When we crossed into Northwest Territories, the condition of the Dempster Highway took dramatic step up in quality. From that point, to our arrival in Inuvik, the road was nearly as good as driving on pavement. I cranked the speed up to 55 mph and arrived in Inuvik in early afternoon.

There are three Tesla Wall Chargers in town. Two at the Char Suites and another at Polar Tire and Lube. I talked to the owner of Polar Tire. He reluctantly allowed me charge while informing me that he plans to remove the charger. He said that he didn’t understand the costs and other implications. I plugged in and discovered that I could only pull 32A rather than the expected 48A. I unplugged and drove to the Char Suites and called the number on the door to have these destination chargers turned on. No problem, except I had to pay a $100 flat fee to charge. When no other practical option, I paid the fee, plugged in the truck, and walked across the street to the Mackenzie Hotel to get a room ($340 for the night).

We had dinner at the hotel and retired for the day. Tomorrow it’s on to Tuktoyaktuk and the Arctic Ocean!

The owner of Arctic Char Suites said it cost him several thousand dollars to get the chargers professionally installed by an electrician and the power is expensive so we didn't mind paying for the convenience. We are still returning home from our trip I'll post more once we get home Monday. We left NB August 2nd, went to Tuk, Top of the world, counter clockwise loop around Alaska right to Homer etc. Should be about 12,500 miles / 20,000 KMS by the time we get home. We were in Tuk Aug 14th.

 

[Oden's Beast]

We did it!

We were welcomed by a Canadian policeman (RMCP) who was told of our plans to travel north to Tuktoyaktuk by a nice Canadian Fisheries officer that we met in Fort Mcpherson. I guess they were concerned about the safety of two old ladies venturing as far north as roads can take you. Love these people.

Congratulations! So awesome !

 

[Cybergirl]

August 31, 2025

We arrived in Tuktoyaktuk on August 28th after driving 97 miles from Arctic Char Suites where we added enough charge to ensure that we could return to Inuvik if unable to charge the truck in Tuktoyaktuk. In fact, there are two chargers in Tuk, one is at Kitti Hall which is free, but only delivers 32/32A. The other is at the campground at the Arctic Ocean sign. It costs $70 which you pay at the Hamlet (village hall). I didn’t test to see how much power it delivers.

The road to Tuk was gravel, of course, but not particularly rough. It rained a little the night before so dust wasn’t a problem.

In the early mining days, Tuktoyaktuk was a big and bustling town, but today it’s a small and deteriorating place. Although incomes are low and the condition of the town shows it, I have to give credit to the people that live there year-round. It’s got to be a tough life, but people still smile and welcome all visitors.

On this particular day the weather was cold, cloudy, and windy. People would drive up in their RVs, a few in testy moods, get out for a picture at the Arctic Ocean sign, jump back in their vehicles and drive off. Clearly, Tuktoyaktuk is an aspirational destination. Other than its unique location on the Arctic Ocean, that sign, and the Pingo landmark, there’s not much reason to go there. After we had another tourist take our picture at the sign along with a Canadian RCMP officer, we drove back to Kitti Hall for a little more charge.

We headed back to Inuvik at 1:29 pm with 45% SoC.

Arriving back at Arctic Char Suites in Inuvik, I saw that the Tesla wall connectors were still turned on so I didn’t have to call Merle, the owner, to switch them on for us (for another $100?). I plugged in and we walked across the street to the MacKenzie Hotel for an evening meal. We ordered a 14” pepperoni pizza, ate half of it, and saving the rest for later.

We spent the night in the truck until it was fully charged. It was still dark when we departed at 5:24 am for Eagle Plains, 227 miles south, a distance that required careful attention to preserving driving range. We were a bit early for the Mackenzie River ferry crossing (service starts south at 8:15 am), but they took us across anyway. I got the impression that the people of the region were not hung up on formalism.

We arrived back in Eagle Plains with only 7% SoC at 12:31 pm. I plugged the the Wall connector into the Cybertruck to begin charging at 9 kW. Guys were busy working in the service station garage. With the truck covered in mud, I ask if there was some way to clean it. Employee, Steven, said I could rent a power washer from them for $15, but then there was the matter of water. The station boss was the only one who could authorize my use of water since all water had to be trucked in. The boss refused, so I’d have to wait until I returned to Dawson City to remove an estimated hundred pounds of dried on mud.

The charging operation interrupted over and over during the afternoon. Apparently, the wall charger was sensitive to the power level supplied by the electrical system. They generated power for the garage and hotel using a large diesel generator. Any large power draw from an appliance would pull down the split phase power level causing the Wall connector to stop charging the truck. I’d have to re-initiate the charge to continue. After closing, the charging continued uninterrupted.

At sundown, however, the weather turned nasty! Black clouds rolled in, dumping rain accompanied by 19 mph winds. The air temperature dropped as well into the 30s F. When we woke and left at 1:10 am with a full battery, the storm was over except for the winds, and the temperature at 39F. We were facing a 254 mile trip to Dawson City under anything but favorable conditions. I calculated that we would need an efficiency of 470 Wh/mi to make it to Dawson using every bit of battery energy. That was our overall travel efficiency under more favorable conditions. I expected to have to use my 24A 2.8 kW propane generator to supplement the battery when we got to Tombstone Territorial Park near to end of Dempster highway to complete the trip.

I turned off the truck’s HVAC and 120 Vac outlet to the refrigerator and headed out intending to limit speed to 35 mph, facing a 7 to 8 hour drive. The temperature continued to fall to 32F, and, in the course of the trip, it dropped to 28F. The Northern Lights were in full bloom in the crystal clear night skies.

When we arrived at Tombstone park, our conservation efforts had paid off. We had enough charge to continue on as the bright sun began to raise air temperatures back to a more comfortable 38F.

On Saturday, the 30th, after driving almost 9 and a half hours, we pulled up to the Flo DCFC charger in Dawson City at 10:33 am with 12% battery, plugged in, and heard the charger jump to life. The 253.1 mile trip consumed 98.7 kWh for an efficiency of 389.9 Wh/mi. We were safely back in Dawson City on what became a beautiful, sunny 60s day.

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