OK, we've made a our fall vacation decision and Alaska was this years winner!

We're planning on going during the 1st two weeks of September and renting a car. My preliminary plan is to go fly into Fairbanks and fly out of Anchorage (does this make sense? frequent flier tickets, so no extra cost for this). Also, are there any issues with crowds or things being closed for Labor Day?

There are a few things that we really want to do, so need to work them into my itinerary.

1) See Denali. We're both hikers and photographers. Any suggestions on where to stay, how long to stay, and how to best see the park would be greatly appreciated.

2) See bears and eagles. I've read some great things on Katmia (sp?). Any suggestions?

3) See the glaciers. We don't want to take a week long cruise, but any full day excursions or overnight cruises would be of interest. Is going from Seward recommended?

4) Flightseeing. Would love to see Denali by plane.

5) Anything typically Alaska. We've been to places like New Zealand, Belize, Kenya, South Africa and alway manage to find things (places, lodging, restaurants, etc.) that are unique to the area that we'll alway remember. Any hidden gems would be appreciated.

I've bought a couple of tourbooks (including The MilePost) and will be ordering the TourSaver shortly. Any other must have information for planning or the trip.

Thanks in advance.

Take a look into the recommendations (what to do in Denali NP) under
http://www.nps.gov/dena/home/visitor...ing/index.html

You have also to keep in mind, that Denali access n September might be restricted:
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THINGS TO REMEMBER


All bus departures/dates are subject to changes due to road and weather conditions.

Shuttle Bus Dates: May 21 - September 15

Buses to Toklat and Wonder Lake: Weather and road conditions permitting, buses will begin service to the following destinations:

Toklat: May 21, 2005
Wonder Lake; Kantishna: June 7th

Between May 21 to September 15, buses depart from the park entrance area to various locations in the park. Buses depart throughout the day beginning at or before 6am to 2pm. The schedule changes throughout the season, and for this reason it is best to contact Doyon/ARAMARK Joint Venture to plan your bus trip into the park and to make reservations.

Call:
1-800-622-7275 Nationwide
1-907-272-7275 International

for more information beginning Feb. 15, 2005. Online reservations are available beginning December 1st at:www.reservedenali.com.
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Car rental between Fairbanks and Anchorage is subject of a one-way extra fee. Check with car rental companies for details.

Thanks for the Denali information... I've gotten a decent 1 way car rental rate, so I don't think that will be a problem.

I think you have the basics adequately lined up. For bears, you ought to see some from the Denali park bus; it will be your best shot anyway.

For flightseeing, there are a number of operators at Talkeetna (south of Denali) but as with all things Alaskan, you'll need the active cooperation of the weather gods or else your money won't be well spent. There's no alternative to playing it by ear a little when touring at that time of year. If you're weathered out of Denali flightseeing, you can get some spectacular flightseeing trips out of Lake Hood (floatplane base) in Anchorage.

For glaciers, the best and easiest plan is to go on the half-day "26 Glacier" tour boat out of Whittier (south of Anchorage) which will give you all the glacier time you'll need. If you want to get up close to one, that can be managed at the Matanuska Glacier (up the road from Palmer) or Exit Glacier down by Seward.

Eagles will be where you see them. You won't find any shortage of them around salmon spawning areas where in September there will likely be plenty of mouldering carcasses available for their dining pleasure.

"Typical Alaska" is in the eye of the beholder. It sounds like you won't be traveling off the road system (i.e. into the bush) so most of Native Alaska will remain hidden to you. If your budget or tickets would allow a side trip to Kotzebue, Nome, Barrow or Kodiak, all of which are equipped to handle visitors, that would be a good thing.

Otherwise, go over the Milepost and read some books in advance of your trip. My first suggestion (old but still a great read) would be John McPhee's Coming into the Country (probably available through Amazon.com or your library) - just to get a snapshot view of the culture of the place. There's a lot more to Alaska than bears and mountains.

Gardyloo,

Thanks for the information. It's been very helpful!

For denali np, I would suggest the shuttle bus tour to either Wonder Lake, mile 85, 11 hrs, or Fish Creek, mile 66. This would give you best chance to see grizzlies, caribou, moose, wolves, sheep. You need at least two nights in area, either at park entrance or in Healy or south of park. Touch of Class BnB is well recommended. We have stayed at denali sourdough cabins, and The Perch, cabins 9 miles south of park. You need to take food and water with you on shuttle bus. We have had grizzly within 30' of bus on all 3 of our trips there and saw 12 wolves on our last trip in early Sep.
For your flt seeing, I agree that you should give yourself some leaway here. Maybe schedule for afternoon when you get there and if cancelled, rebook for next morning. We did summit flt on beautiful sunny day and it was great.
Seward is nice small town for a night ot two. Kenai Fjords NP 6hr or longer tours to glaciers are nice and you will see lots of wildlife and 50% chance of whales. In Sep, they had not seen any for two days and we didn't either. On memorial day, we saw several humpbacks and orcas. Exit Glacier is good way to see a glacier up close, You can take short trail up to face, allow an hour or two. We also went to Homer for two nights in late Aug and did the 1 day fly in bear tour with Hallo Bay. It was great and well worth money. We had no problems with crowds on Labor day (in Skagway)or in Seward (memorial day). I have a few photos on this site if interested.
http://community.webshots.com/user/jq4653

JG,

Thanks for the info... will check out your photos shortly.

Thanks!

For a 2 week trip, I would suggest 3 days in Fairbanks, with an Arctic flight, if of interest. The toursaver coupon for the flight to Coldfoot and shuttle back is a great tour. Denali Park- you need at least 2 overnights. I would go to Wonder Lake. Plan an overnight in Talkeetna, plenty of excellent flightseeing, with my preference a summit flight with Talkeetna Aero. Anchorage is worth a couple days. As mentioned, consider a glacier tour out of Whittier, again, toursaver coupons may be available. Continue on to Seward. With the highlight a Kenai Fjords tours longer is better, plus plenty else to do.
For clairfication the B&B in Healy is Touch of Wilderness, my top recommendation there. As I mention, a www.toursaver.com could offer discounts for you and you should be able to pick up a used book, I would not purchase a new one going in Sept.. BUT VERIFY all restrictions before you buy. Some coupons expire.

BudgetQueen,

Thanks for all of the information... I was able to get a couple of SkySaver freq. flier tickets on Delta this morning for Sept 2 thru Sept 17, so I'm all set.

I've made a bit of a change in that we're now flying into and out of Anchorage (I was originally going to fly into Fairbanks).

I did notice that some of the toursaver coupons do expire around Sept 1, so I'll keep my eye on that.

Once I get a tentative itinerary, I'll be back with more questions!

Thanks again for all the help.

We've travelled to Alaska in early September a couple of times. Phillips 26 Glacier Cruise has a price drop after September 1, so you will be able to save money. We hesitated going on this boat because it was so big and held lots of passengers; we also were not thrilled about the mandatory lunch. However, it ended up being wonderful! We saw so many glaciers, the ride was really smooth, the wildlife viewing was ok. We had no problems viewing and almost always had a front deck view.

We also always take a cruise from Seward and have used four different operators. We go with whoever has the best price for the longest cruise. We did see humpback whales bubble-feeding last September. We also saw orcas, dolphins, sea otters, eagles, and lots of birds. We were told that we might not see any puffins since it was September, but we did see a few.

We did a float trip from Cooper Landing that we really enjoyed - saw oodles of eagles. We were amazed with the number of salmon we saw in the Kenai and Russian Rivers.

We hiked to the Russian River Falls where you may be able to observe salmon climbing the falls in their efforts to spawn. We were warned that bears might be there but did not see any bears on our two trips.

Our favorite place to stay in the Moose/Seward area is Teddy's Inn the Woods. Teddy prepares amazing continental breakfasts. The chalet is so homey with lots of extra touches. It has a separate bedroom and also room for four to sleep in the living area.

Exit Glacier is a must. We encountered an adolescent bear on the trail last September.

We were in Denali in late May; we were there the first day that the hotel opened for the season. We took the 6:00 am NP tour and saw an amazing number of animals - grizzly bears, moose, caribou, and sheep.

We enjoyed visiting the musk ox farm near Palmer and also the reindeer farm near Palmer. The animals were not wild but it was better than seeing them in a zoo.

The Mile Posts provides almost all of the information you need. We checked ours out of our local library.

As far as seeing, staying, and photographing in Denali take a look staying at Hawks Nest Cabin. It is owned by Camp Denali (campdenali.com. A bit rustic, but staying there gives you a pass to drive your own car into the park. This allows you to stop when and where you want on the road for pictures etc. It alos allows you to drive around and explore the Kantishna area. You view the entire Alaska Range from the porch and it is walking distance to Wonder Lake. Don't know if it's you're cup of tea, but our family loved it.

Now that you're not flying into Fairbanks, you should consider taking it out of the itinerary and concentrate from Denali south.

Sept. weather can be very fickle -- it can rain for days or be lovely. A driftboat float on the upper Kenai can be excellent at this time of the year.

Thanks for all of the help...

Any thoughts on a 2 week itinerary if I don't drive up to Fairbanks?

Thanks again!

I'd add a ride from Palmer to Glennallen to Valdez with a ferry trip. That's a gorgeous chunk of road. Check out Blueberry Lake and Worthington Glacier.

Add a trip out of Homer to Seldovia or Halibut Cove.

If you go to Katmai, see if the pilot will take you by the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes -- amazing site. Brooks Lodge is another choice but I'm unsure about the September viewing conditions there.

Do an extended hike from Exit Glacier. You can reach the edge of the Harding Icefield.

Hey Repete!

Thanks for all of the suggestions!

Thanks again for all of the help.

I've got one major thing that I've got to decide before working on the rest of my itinerary --- should I go to Katmai?

It looks fantastic and having been on safari a couple of times in Africa, I know that my wife and I would really enjoy it. My only issue is the cost. It would basically double the cost of the trip.

So, your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to convince me whether or not I should go (and if I do go, for how long). I like the trips thru Hallo Bay, but am open to any ideas.

Thanks!

After you have researched the various tours and Katmai thoroughly for the time of year you'll be there, if all things look great, then the only thing you might want to consider is: will you be going to Alaska again? Some folks go year after year--others make it a once-in-a-lifetime trip because there are other places they want to see and they don't know if they'll get back. If you fall into the latter group, then don't pass up this opportunity if it is really something you want to do.

It sounds like you will have a wonderful trip! Please post a trip report here when you get back, and ENJOY!

BayouGal,

Thanks for your input... I agree with you and I usually based my decisions on the 'am I ever going to have the chance to do this again' factor. This method has found me in cages with great white sharks, in balloons over the Serengheti, and on rebar ladder in pitch black Mayan caves.

I guess the only thing holding me back is the overall cost. Seems like 2 days, 2 nights ends up being like $3k for two people and I'm having a hard time justifying it.

September seems like it will be a good time of the year (from what I've read so far).

I would also recommend that you schedule Denali early in your trip and go on from there. Weather starts to be iffy and that first week of Sept would be better. You can also drive the first 15 miles of paved road into denali on your own and we have done that on both trips. Didn't see a lot except moose which we also saw right outside of park along hwy.

Thanks jg...

Thanks for the suggestion. Our plan will likely be to go directly from Anchorage to Denali, so we'll be there around Sept 3 and hopefully get decent weather.