catherinehaas

Heading to Alaska from 9/2 - 9/12. My itinerary is as such:

9/2 Arrive ANC - stay there for the night as the flight doesn't get
in early
9/3 Pick up rental car and head to Fairbanks - stopping along the
way in Talkeetna, etc
9/4 Denali - hiking / Wonder Lake
9/5 Travel north to the artic circle - would really like to catch
the aurora at night
9/6 Pub paddle down the Chena river
9/7 Head back to Anchorage
9/8 Seward - Kayaking / Resurrection Bay
9/9 Whittier - Prince William Sound day cruise
9/10 Exit Glacier Hike
9/11 Anchorage
9/12 Home

Please, provide input if there are things I am missing or going in the wrong direction on. I have never been there and as a solo traveler, I am terrified about doing too much hiking. SO very worried that I will run into a bear and I will become his/her food for the winter hibernation. I've read all the literature but let's face it, if the bear is hungry and you are standing in front of him, you are bear food! Now, with that being said, not doing any hiking is not really an option.

Are the common paths well populated or will I be traversing this wilderness literally on my own? Are there meeting places where people gather to hike popular trails together to avoid being bear food? What about on the rivers where the bear food swims and you cannot curl up into a ball and play dead?

Please help... Whatever it takes, bells / bear spray / hot pink tootoo's / literally tell me what protected you...

Thanks!

Gardyloo

I'm sorry, your timetable just doesn't work. Notes:

Denali Park is located south of Fairbanks. It's around a five-hour drive to the park visitor center from Anchorage. If this trip is for this September, do you already have accommodation booked for Denali? It's the end of the season (you'll have nice fall color in the park) but places are crammed with tourists.

Wonder Lake is a six-hour bus ride from the visitor center, and six hours back. Not a lot of time to do anything but sit on the bus, and the weather in September can be quite iffy.

Fairbanks is two hours north of Denali, and none of the national rental car companies will allow you to drive on the Dalton Hwy or any other gravel road. Even if you could, the arctic circle is 120 miles north of Fairbanks (pretty boring) so again your timing is unworkable. Of course, seeing the aurora is a hit-or-miss thing, but quite impossible if it's cloudy, which of course is also a high probability thing in September.

9/8 Seward - Kayaking / Resurrection Bay
9/9 Whittier - Prince William Sound day cruise
9/10 Exit Glacier Hike
9/11 Anchorage

Exit Glacier is close to Seward; you'd be doubling back a great distance from Whittier.

What I'd recommend: Cut out everything north of Denali and add an additional night at the national park.

Do a Kenai Fjords tour out of Seward - more wildlife, glaciers, terrific.

If you want to say you've been north of the arctic circle, drop the car two days early in Anchorage and apply the savings to a round trip on Alaska Airlines to Kotzebue, an Inupiat Eskimo village on the Arctic Ocean (north of the arctic circle.) It's an interesting place (see a fish camp, Native Heritage Center) and you might even see the aurora. The car savings will offset much of the airfare cost; accommodation will be about the same as Anchorage.

Don't worry about bears. You won't get close enough to any of them. Worry about drivers on the Seward Highway.

janisj

I saw this when you first posted and was going to say I didn't think what you plan is doable. But since I've never been north of Denali I wasn't totally sure about the Fairbanks/Arctic Circle bits. So I'm glad Gardyloo posted - he knows a lot more about the areas and he will give you great advice . . .

catherinehaas

Thank you. I have reservations in Fairbanks and was just going to drive to Denali. Not staying in the park. Too expensive. Wonder Lake was just a thought. Guess I'll be hiking closer to the entrance. Any suggestions?

They won't let you drive on Dalton highway? How do you drive north then to say Coldfoot? I know the Aurora is hit or miss but I'm going to catch it if it's there.

The whole time in Anchorage I feel like I'll be driving back and forth. I really wanted a "home" base to take day trips from. Nothing worse than packing, unpacking, repacking, etc.

Do you have any suggestions for seeing glaciers, hiking, kayaking, etc south of anchorage?

Thank you again!

mlm59

While at Denali have you considered staying in Healy? It's only a few miles north of the park. You should be able to find a room at a reasonable price there. As others have said, you will waste a lot of time driving to Fairbanks and then back to Denali.

The Kenai Fjords tour in Seward is awesome. We enjoyed it so much when we did it during our last trip to Alaska that we are doing it again this year.

Gardyloo

They won't let you drive on Dalton highway? How do you drive north then to say Coldfoot? I know the Aurora is hit or miss but I'm going to catch it if it's there.

What they (the big car rental firms) say is that you violate your contract terms by driving on gravel roads such as the Dalton, (most of) the Denali Hwy, the Top of the World, McCarthy, et al. So if you get in a shunt, even if you took out CDW, you're fully liable. If the car breaks down or has two flat tires (not unknown) then you'll have to pay the gazillion dollars to have it towed, PLUS the cost of any repairs, etc. Total the car and you're out thirty grand. Basically it's a foolish move to risk it.

There are a couple of locally-based firms in Anchorage and Fairbanks that will allow their vehicles to go on those roads, but they're small operations and tend to be pricey, with limited fleets and options.

The main problem you have with Denali is that the real draw is the interior of the park, IMO preferably Eielson or beyond. Commuting from Fairbanks really doesn't work; getting to the park entrance is 2+ hours (and boring ones at that) then the bus takes 4 hours or more to get to Eielson, so you're looking at 10+ hours just sitting in vehicles. In September that probably also means driving in the dark coming or going, or both, not fun.

Commuting from Anchorage to Seward, ditto. The Whittier glacier cruise can be done as a day trip, but the Kenai Fjords cruises take longer and you'd have to leave Anchorage at oh-my-god-thirty to get there in time.

Look at Girdwood as a possible base - you're basically most of an hour closer to Seward but only 45 min. from Anchorage. There are B&Bs etc. available there.

But throughout your itinerary I fear you're badly underestimating how long some of these drives really are - simple mileage charts are not the best indicator. You'll be driving from Anchorage to Seward - ostensibly 2 1/2 hours - and come upon a couple dozen cars parked by the side of the Seward Hwy because there's a Dall Sheep on the mountainside above the road. Do you stop or just push on? Or on weekends in August or September, the same road is a parade of RVs coming to or from late salmon fishing on the Kenai. Pass them and die.

The point being, I think you're trying to cram in too much. I would scrub Fairbanks, work on a different plan for Denali, and sort out the order of things south of Anchorage. Just my view.

sdpryde

Gardyloo's 100% correct about all the things 'at issue' with your itinerary. Her's how I'd spend the time you have for AK:

9/2 Arrive ANC - stay there for the night as the flight doesn't get
in early
9/3 Pick up rental car and head to Denali - stopping along the
way in Talkeetna, etc
9/4 Denali - book shuttle to W. Lake (observe places to get off on next day for hiking/walking. If weather is poor, the turn around at Eielson stop)
9/5 Denali (same as 4th). If the NLs are active, you've as good a chance as any seeing them in Healy
9/6 do the 'long' drive and go all the way to Seward (make stops along Turnagain Arm
9/7 Seward - Kayaking / Resurrection Bay
9/8 Seward - Exit Glacier & as far up to Harding Icefield as ability/weather allows (Exit Glacier is in Seward, not near Whittier)
9/9 Girdwood/Portage/Whittier - Prince William Sound day cruise
9/10 Girdwood/Portae/Whittier (or go to the MAtanuska Glacier for a guided trek)
9/11 Anchorage
9/12 Home