Driving to Emerald Lake - Skagway

[narsibvl]

Never before have we driven far on our own, we will be doing it in Skagway upto the Emerald Lake, here is a hypothetical question

 

What is the module operand i when you get a flat tire ? I was wondering what to do in order to reach the docks back on time.

[generichandle]

Make certain the vehicle has a spare before leaving ........ then change to it if you have a flat. Voila!

 

Doug

[narsibvl]

Make certain the vehicle has a spare before leaving ........ then change to it if you have a flat. Voila!

 

Doug

 

Confession to make....never changed a flat before in my life !!!! :eek:

[frugaltravel]

Ask the car rental company. If you have AAA or other roadside assistance they might help too.

[mapleleaves]

I think everyone who drives a car should know how to change a flat. It's not difficult to do; you need a little strength to lift the tire onto the wheel and to tighten the lug nuts but it's not a complicated task. As a single woman who does a lot of driving .... I've changed several flats. Afterwards I stop at a gas station to have someone inspect my work just to be sure ... so far so good.

Practice changing a tire at home ... it's good knowledge to have. And before you leave the rental office, find out where your spare is located. The only problem I ever encountered was with a minivan ... the tire was located underneath and I couldn't figure out how to access it. The fact that it was dark and I didn't have a flashlight didn't help. We were in an isolated area and had to wait 2 hrs for AAA to appear.

[Coral]

Confession to make....never changed a flat before in my life !!!! :eek:

 

I have never changed one either. I wouldn't fear. There are a lot of nice people out there who will stop and help you change a tire.

[slider728]

I think this is an excellent question and I think it is great to have a little foresight to ask.

 

Skagway is not a terribly long distance away from Emerald Lake (a little 70 miles if I recall). If you have to call AAA in Skagway, if you are at Emerald Lake, in the best of circumstances, you'd have to wait about 90 minutes and then still have to drive back to Skagway.

 

I've had to call the rental car company for some mechanical issues in the past when I was working on Florida. It was a suburb of Orlando and the time to get someone out there was 5 hours. So personally, I would not rely on AAA or the rental car company coming to save you personally. They show up when they want to show up.

 

That being said...

 

As someone mentioned, ask the rental car company when you pick up the car. What do they suggest.

 

Remember you are in Alaska and Western Canada. Things are not always very close. For that reason, I would make sure you have an idea how to change the tire yourself.

 

I'd begin by going to your own car and look at the owners manual. Changing a tire is actually pretty simple. Most vehicles have a scissor type jack or a bottle jack for emergencies. They look different, but the concept is the same. The owner's manual will tell you where to place the jack under the car. From there, it is just a matter of taking the lug nuts off, taking the old tire off (should slide right off), put the new tire on, and putting the lug nuts back on. Most likely, your rental car will have the manual inside as well to refer to. I would take a few minutes and just get an idea of where things are located in your car and what your car's proper jack points are (a jack point is the safe area to put the jack to lift the car).

 

After you look at your owners manual, I would go to youtube. There are some great videos on how to change a tire. Here is one that I looked at and thought it was pretty good:

 

The road you will be traveling is well used (relatively speaking). Most likely, someone will stop to help. It is not like the interstate in the lower-48 where people will drive right by. In Alaska and Canada, most people from the region will stop and see if you need a hand.

 

Enjoy your drive! It is a beautiful one.

[SorrentoCruiser]

I am a 48 yr old female, who will be driving 3 other ladies (all in 70's & 80's) up to Emerald Lake from Skagway. Technically, I know how to change a tire, but haven't changed one in 30 years. I was concerned about running into any trouble on the road, so, I posted on our cruise roll call to exchange contact info with others on my cruise doing the same drive that day. There are 3 or 4 of us that have exchanged info and I do feel better knowing that if I run into trouble, dead battery, flat tire, etc, I'm not alone in the area and worse case, can bum a ride back.

[animal_cookie]

it is not a bad drive, i did it last week in an ancient rental car with 150,000 miles on it. i wouldn't count on having very reliable cell service on the drive tho. i lost service a few miles outside of skagway and didn't have any service in canada either. but i use sprint which is not exactly known for good coverage :rolleyes:

 

there was a mudslide outside of emerald lake that they were cleaning up. it made the road a little muddy. this was taken when we stopped at emerald lake.

 

[BlueEyesMI]

I read on another thread that there are lots of tour buses and other travellers that will stop and pick you up. Not a guarantee, but hopeful. Also remember your cell phone may not work in this area.

[Cruisechristi]

We did this exact drive several years ago. Rented a car, I think it was AVIS. Found here on CC. We loved the drive. We ended up at a cool taxidermy museum with a Wooly Mammoth and Saber Tooth Tiger among other cool items. We visited a dog sled show, saw an Eagle retreat, drove past very usual landscapes finally culminating in a visit to beautiful Emerald Lake. And it costs the car rental and gas (less than $200 for the four of us. And what did all the other people on our ship do? It rained in Skagway so all their air tours were cancelled.

 

 

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