Alaska- help with 4-day itinerary that includes pipeline
 

Hi,

My wife and I will be taking a cruise from Vancouver up to Whittier in early August of this year. We arrive in Whittier Saturday morning and will get a rental car in Anchorage. We tentatively plan to spend 6 days land touring after the cruise. We will need to be in Soldotna the last two days for a planned fishing day on the Kenai with relatives. So we really have four days/nights to work with. Nothing really on our list to see other than we want to see the pipeline (this is the scientist/engineer side of me) and at least trying to see/view Mt Denali. To see the pipeline, we could see it either outside of Fairbanks or at the Richardson Highway by Glennallen. One option might be to take the loop from Anchorage up to Fairbanks and back and include Richardson Highway. This is a bit of driving but there will be some involved. We would prefer to not do too much hotel hopping but this could be challenging. Any recommendations on a four-day itinerary out of Anchorage?

For views of the pipeline along with some truly spectacular scenery, I think the Richardson Hwy, from Glenallen down to Thompson Pass and Valdez is your best bet. The section of the Richardson through Thompson Pass and past the Worthington Glacier is, IMO, one of the most scenic drives in Alaska, and that's saying something. I'd think about a day to Valdez, a day exploring that area, and a day back. As for Denali, you can drive up the Parks Hwy toward Talkeetna and get some decent views of the mountain from there, but if it was me I'd splurge on a flightseeing trip from Anchorage, because seeing Denali from the air is life-changing.

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Thanks for feedback.. I am looking at this option...going to Valdez. This sounds like a good option. We will be there the second week in August. It appears the hotel situation is tight. I will keep looking at options.

Any recommendations for sites things or things to do in Valdez?

Are the Bridal Veil Falls Trail and Worthington Glacier worth a look?

In June 2016 I visited a virtual geocache called "Surf The Line" (GCG7V7). It is at a visitor area for the pipeline about 8 miles north of Fairbanks on the east side of the Steese Highway (Rt. 2). If you want to enter it into your GPS, waypoint N64 55.77 W 147 37.80. I stood under the pipeline there.