Lina

Our family includes 2 young men in their early 20's. This is our first trip to Alaska. Plans for a small-ship Inside Passage Cruise were scrapped due to lack of availability and flight arrangements. We are now flying into Anchorage and plan to spend 3-4 days prior to going to a fly-out lodge on Lake Clark for 6 days of fishing. We will use a float plane each day to reach different fishing destinations but will also flightsee Valley of the Smokes, McNeal Falls, and other areas. I guess we will see plenty of bears and wilderness.

Upon arrival in Anchorage, we will spend one night and then head to Seward, stopping at the Portage Visitors Center, Mt. Alyeska, and Exit Glacier & Harding Icefield (we will have a car). From Seward we will take the NW Kenai Fiords tour, possibly a halibut trip, and possibly a kayak trip. That means at least 2 nights in Seward.

Should we budget time for a day to Whittier for a PW Sound cruise? Would it be different that the Kenai Fiords? What else is not to be missed? We are very active and enjoy hiking and biking. How early should we reserve the Kenai Fjords tour? Can anyone recommend a kayak company near Seward?

Thanks for all the advice. I love these boards!

Gardyloo

Wow - 6 days at a Lake Clark lodge? Wow.

Can't help on kayak operators, but the glacier tour out of Whittier is quite different from the Kenai Fjords tours - fewer animals, more floating ice (duh.) I'd do both if possible. Half a day at Whittier is sufficient.

What month will this occur?

Only comment (and OT I suppose) is to suggest you try to get to a native village while you're out in the bush. IMO (and just M) too many people come to Alaska to see mountains and bears and moose, oh my, and miss the fact that there are ancient and interesting local human cultures and communities too. In most cases, people doing the Denali-Kenai-Anchorage trek don't have the opportunity to visit some of the hundreds of off-road bush settlements in Alaska. In your six days at Lake Hood you may have that opportunity - if the weather goes sour, or you want a break from fishing, ask your lodge operator if they might take you to one of the closer villages to your lodge (don't know which lodge so can't suggest specific villages.) You might find it interesting and educational. Just a suggestion and I'll now climb down from the pulpit.

Gardyloo

Lake Hood. Doh. Lake Clark.

Lina

Thanks for the good advice. We will be going in mid-July but I am already praying for nice weather!

Lina

How far in advance should I reserve Kenai Fjords tour tickets? I read on another post that kayaking is better (calmer) from Homer. I wanted to go there anyway but wondered about time. Will the traffic in mid-July be awful? If we do the sites previously mentioned on our way to Seward, spend the night and take the KF tour the following day, is it reasonable to then drive back north (maybe to Cooper Landing) that evening, continuing on to Homer the next day. I think we would have 2 nights in Homer and be able to do some kayaking. My guys might go halibut fishing one day while I go to the Pratt Museum and art shops. Thanks.

Bob1108

message: We went to AK. in summer of '04. We got our tickets for the Kenai Fjord tour a couple of mos. before on line. Although I understand that often you can get tickets the day of the tours. We enjoyed both the Kenai Fjord tour and don't miss the Exit glacier in Seward. Other than those two things we enjoyed the sheer beauty of Homer. But if you go to AK. and don't go hallibut fishing in Homer I think you are missing a memorable time.

Connie

Following suggestions here we bought our Kenai Fjords tickets the day before to be sure the weather would be good. We had no problem getting the tickets we wanted. This was in mid July and the weather and seas were perfect!

Exit Glacier doesn't take long to see but Harding Ice Field takes hours to hike up to and back down. It's something guys in their 20's would love if they are in pretty good shape. The sign calls it strenuous.

Lina

Thank you. We have decided to spend a few nights in both Seward and Homer. Do we need to plan extra time for traffic from Seward to Homer (Wed) or Homer to Anchorage (Fri)?

dfrostnh

Our trip last summer was late June to July 6. We never saw much traffic on the KP. We went Kenai to Homer on a Sat, returning Sunday afternoon. We returned to Homer on a weekday. Decided at the last minute to go to Seward on a weekday for an overnight and then Kenai Fjords cruise. According to the traffic reports, there was heavy traffic from Anchorage south when salmon started running. There was congestion around Russian River ferry but only a slow down. Another time, traffic was backed up around Ninilchik because of a bad accident. Since there aren't any alternate roads, I think your only problem will be if there's an accident. We spent the Friday of 4th of July weekend in Girdwood at the Forest Fair and then headed south in the late afternoon. We may have been ahead of the weekend traffic. I expected it to be heavy because of both salmon fishing and a clamming tide but it wasn't bad. There will be heavy traffic in Soldotna during commuting/shopping hours but that's only a small stretch of highway between Seward and Homer.