MonicaH

Hi!

I have just moved over from the Africa site (after a great safari) and we are now planning to go to Alaska for the first two weeks in August 2008. We want to see wildlife and the husband wants to do a little river fishing. We will be renting a car.

So the question is, after doing our first few nights at Brooks Falls (gotta see those bears) where would you recommend we head to next on the coast? Kodiak looks interesting, any thoughts? Is it worth staying at the lodge in Glacier Bay? We both are open to more remote, out of the way places as well.

Thanks for your feedback!

Monica

DaveS

Did you consider Hallo Bay rather than Brooks? Chances are you will see more than bears there and you can get your fishing fix at the same time. Their two large dominant males (Alph and Ted) were just on a bear special on I believe Discovery Channel this past weekend. When there in August 2003 we caught a bunch of salmon and also a few dolly varden in short order. Two rivers right by camp. You said you didn't mind remote. Bear watching was nice/natural as it was just our family of four with a guide. We spent the rest of our time in Denali Park and Seward so can't help with other locations.

repete

Kodiak is a fun trip but unless you fly out to a lodge, you're pretty much on your own. For fishing, it's a great place to rent a car and stop at rivers and beaches. Don't expect to see many bears there unless you are a ways out in the sticks.

There are decent fishing charters as well.

Nonetheless, I wouldn't do it if it means missing the Kenai Peninsula or Denali.

If fishing is a big priority, Brooks Lodge is in the heart of the premiere lodge area. Pricey but remote and a tremendous experience.

MonicaH

DaveS and repete-

Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it. Looking into Hallo Bay also. Thinking about skipping Denali on this trip and staying close to the coast. And perhaps I will just catch Kodiak on another trip, as I want plenty of time to wander.

Monica

MonicaH

So, here is the rough plan:

Day 1: San Jose to Anchorage
Day 2-4: Brooks Lodge
Day 5-6: Homer
Day 7-8: Seward
Day 9-10: Valdez
Day 11-13: Glacier Bay
Day 14: Home or can add a day somewhere

I am still thinking about adding Kodiak, but really not sure what I want to give up to do that. Any thoughts on the whole itinerary? Thanks!

OnlyMeOirish

Hi Monica!
We just got back from Alaska. We travelled July 20th to 27th on a land trip and we did Brooks Falls on July 24th. It was FANTASTIC ...but ..... although there were still quite a few bears there (I counted 15 in sight at one point at the Falls), the rangers there told us that most of the bears would be gone by the begining of August sooooo, if Brooks is one of your priorities I would definately look at going in July rather than August. The peak this year was around the middle of July but the rangers told us that the salmon run was late starting this year. It might be no harm to contact a couple of the operators (eg Katmai, Regal Air etc) to see what they have to say about timing.

Imelda

spirobulldog

We just got back from Alaska. Highlight were, Train ride from Seward to Anchorage, fly out fishing and bear watching. We caught our limit (sockeye) and saw 15+ bears. Kenai Fjords National Park Tour. Saw whales and Ailik Glacier calving. We took a helicopter from Alyeska resort to a glacier and went dogsledding. Only negative thing about trip was the fact that it is daylight all night long.

lifelist

Agree with Imelda - Brooks Falls is best during the beginning of July when the salmon are moving upstream. That's when you get the salmon leaping into the bears' mouths at the top of the falls. When the salmon stop running, the bears disperse and you won't find them hanging out at the falls. Hallo Bay would be a better choice at that time of year, and there are a number of lodges in that area. Furthermore, most flights to Hallo Bay depart out of Homer, so it fits within your itinerary.

How are you getting from Valdez to Glacier Bay? Small plane?

MonicaH

Based on the feedback here, I just called Hallo Bay Lodge and spoke with Clint (owner) and he spent about 30 minutes on the phone with me giving me the scoop on the bears and their timing. For some reason I thought the salmon runs up the river all happened at the same time and I wasn't getting that it depends on what part of the park you are in. So, with that cleared up (thank goodness for all of you or I would have missed out!) and August being the only time I can travel, I will switch my time to Hallo Bay instead of Brooks.

Lifelist-to answer the question about getting to Glacier Bay...I have no idea how I will get there. I see flights from Anchorage, but those are super expensive. Any thoughts or am I being a little too ambitious?

Imelda-happy to see you on the Alaska forum as I have read all your stuff on the Africa forum and used some of your tips to plan my 20th anniversary trip last February to Rwanda and Tanzania (which was the most awesome trip and experience of my life!). Husband is picking the trip in 2008, hence the Alaska trip, which I am totally eager to do, but I think it will be back to Africa for us in 2009.

Spirobulldog-wow, it sounds like you did a lot of incredible things on your trip...where did you do your whale trip from?

Thank you all for taking the time to help me!!!

lifelist

Monica,

I just wasn't sure if you were accounting for travel back to Anchorage from Valdez or if you were just doing day trips into Prince Williams Sound from Anchorage. I imagine you would get to Glacier Bay flying Anchorage to Juneau or Gustavus (via Juneau) to access Glacier Bay. To be honest, if you're doing sightseeing in Kenai Fjords (Seward) and Prince William Sound (Valdez), I don't know that I would do Glacier Bay too. It's an outlier on your itinerary. I'd rather spend time in Denali or perhaps Wrangell-St. Elias.

MonicaH

Thanks Lifelist. I will look at sticking to the general area. I was going to skip Denali this first trip but maybe I will add it back in..perhaps staying inside the park for a day or two. Just not looking forward to that long bus ride!

OnlyMeOirish

Hi Monica,
Glad my reporting was useful planning your trip - isn't Rwanda just amazing!!!
While Alaska is very different to Africa I can honestly say it is absolutely spectacular too - you won't be dissapointed.
Re Denali - we didn't stay in the park itself but we did the 11 hour round trip shuttle into the park and it was awesome. It definately wasn't a journey to dread - there is just so much to see. And, if you do end up staying within the park then your journey in would only be about 5 hours (without stopping to hike). Denali is really really beautiful and in July the colours will be beginning to turn so should be even more amazing. If it were me I would not miss Denali.
We also hired a car which I would definately do again - we stopped LOTS along the way - to the extent that we panicked a little when we discovered it was 4pm and we still had 200 miles to travel to the park (due to so many stops) . We made it in great time though - the roads are really good.

Anyways, happy planning, Alaska is really spectacular.

Imelda

MinnieNo1

We were thinking about going in August of 2009, but now may change to July because of the bears. Were the flies bad?

lifelist

Monica - if you're used to Africa, just think of the bus ride in Denali as an all-day game drive with lots of company. That's essentially what it is. If you pay to stay at the private lodges, then you'll get a game drive out to the lodge in a smaller vehicle with fewer people. Again, like Africa - and it's just as expensive.

Minnie - it's not the flies you have to watch out for, it's mosquitos. They grow 'em big in Alaska. I've spent at a week at Brooks Lodge in the campground at the beginning of July, and the mosquitos weren't that bad - at least, I didn't think so. I wore long-sleeved shirts and trousers and used a deet-based insect repellant on exposed skin, and I wasn't too bothered.

I understand that Wonder Lake in the summer in Denali is horrendous with mosquitos. A headnet is recommended. I don't have first hand experience since I usually visit Denali in the autumn - last week of August/beginning of September.

MonicaH

Imelda-Ahhh yes, Rwanda was amazing. I only wish I spent more time there. Looks like Denali is back on the list and we are definitely going to rent a car.

Lifelist-Funny, I spent all day in a safari vehicle in the dust and the grime and I am whining over a bus trip.!?!

Thanks again for your help and I will continue to obsess about Alaska!

fball

We just returned from a 2 week RV trip through the Kenai. We do not fish but people were doing so everywhere & catching their limit. In particular, the area around the Kenai-Russian River confluence is prime salmon fishing in August, So much so that the area is very regulated by the park service. If you look at a map, you can see an area just beyond the confluence where there is a private ferry service across the Kenai river. This is just beyond Cooper Landing. If I was interested in fishing, these are the areas I would be interested in. There are lodges in Cooper Landing. Also, people were fishing from the spit in Homer & on the shore in Seward & having fairly good luck. There were also a fair number of bears in the area of the Kenai River which we were able to watch safely.

farm123

We got back from our 3-week trip on Aug. 18 - WHAT a trip! Thanks to everyone a year ago helping me by their comments.
You need to definitely go down into Denali. We have done both - stay down in at one of the lodges and this time we just took the bus down to Wonder Lake - Yes, it was long, but so exciting...We loved every minute of it. We saw 15 bears (they let you count them going in and coming back out - HA), wolf, carribou, and a number of moose (very close up).
If you don't mind being 30 minutes from Seward (and it will put you closer to Cooper Landing/Kenai-Russian River (for fishing), you could stay where we did - a brand new 3-bedroom cottage (extremely nice) in Moose Pass. We stayed there a week. It was Trail Lake View Luxury Cottage.
The whale trip we took w/just 6 of us and the captain was out of Whittier - Sound Eco Adventures - the hightlight of our trip...(all day trip)
We did the larger boat out of Seward to see the glaciers (you also see whales, puffins, etc.)
We feel in love w/Homer - stayed there a week..I think we loved it because of the fabulous view (meadows, bay and snow-capped mountains/glacier) - so beautiful. Caught our limit on halibut (just had some of it this weekend)

MonicaH

fball and farm123-

Thank you so much for your feedback. Homer and Seward sound outstanding. The hotel and side trip trips sound like they were well worth it. I will check them out.

I am awaiting confirmation back from Hallo Bay on my dates and then I can start to put the rest of the trip together.

I am reading Moon's publication "Alaska" and I think it is really great. Very honest about locations and lodgings from the writer's perspective. Moon publications are my favorite as they always seem to give the straight scoop.

centralpa

MonicaH

Another option for August would be Lake Clark National Park. There are 2 lodges in the Silver Salmon Creek area and plenty of bears in August fattening up for winter. The Coastal brown (grizzly) bears at Lake Clarke have an abundant food supply and get very large like the Kodiaks. I stayed there earlier this year during an 18 day trip and thoroughly enjoyed it. It ended up being my favorite of the 4 National Parks (Lake Clark, Kenai Fordge, Wrangell-St Elias, and Denali) we visited during our travels in AK.

LyndaS

Hi Monica!

Just had to jump in and say hi, it's Lynda from the Africa board - also planning a trip to Alaska, but we have to go in late May 2008 due to my major client being a major headache. That's the only time she said I could go....

We are also booking with Hallo Bay, but only for their day trip as we only have 6 days on land while there. (due to cranky client again). I am booking for as late in May as my plans will allow (May 30th or 31st) and hoping that the bears don't have calendars and that they do come out a day or two before June 1st. Hallo Bay was very helpful, she said they would tentavily book a day trip for us, and if the bears were there, we'd go, if not, well then I guess we will enjoy Homer! She was so helpful, it was incredible, and I certainly hope it works out for us!

Jim and I are doing the week long cruise up from Vancouver (where we live) to Whittier, then taking the train to Anchorage, and meeting my parents there. They have a 35ft RV, and will be driving up from Manitoba. From Anchorage we are going to drive up to Denali for 2 days, back down to Anchorage for a day, and then to Homer for 2 days, with a final day back in Anchorage. It's a whirlwind land trip, but what can you do, right?

Imelda and Lynn (Atravelynn) have been so helpful helping me plan, it's incredible!