Alaska itinerary feedback

Old Aug 2nd, 2003, 06:45 AM
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Alaska itinerary feedback

O.k., I know this forum has some great Alaska experts who provide insight for visitors. We will be traveling to Anchorage and driving around the Kenai peninsula for 12 days and want to see if any of you have any further suggestions for fun. We're very outdoorsy and in decent shape so feel free to share any adventure ideas! Here's our itinerary:

Arrive in Anchorage and stay at Hotel Captain Cook. Check out Lake Hood seaplane base (some of us are pilots). drive down to Alyeska.

Stay a couple of nights at Alyeska Prince Hotel. 6 Mile Whitewater Trip. Alyeska Mountain Run with (hee hee) wine and beer tasiting event afterwards!

On to Seward for Kayak Adventures Worldwide and Kenai Fjord boat tour. Hike Mt. Marathon?
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Old Aug 2nd, 2003, 06:49 AM
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Sorry -- something screwed up here. More of the itinerary:

Drive to Cooper's Landing and possibly fish? We will only be there a few hours as we are driving on to Homer.

Homer -- Whale Watching? Going to Halibut Cove to hang out and explore, have dinner. Bald Mt. Bear viewing on our final day before driving back to Anchorage.

Thanks for your help!
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Old Aug 3rd, 2003, 04:24 AM
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Homer isn't noted for whale watching, Seward has more opportunity, be sure to go on a Kenai fjords boat trip of at least 6 hours on the water. The Bay cruises are mostly scenery. Always take seasickness precautions, I have seen sick passengers EVERY trip. I wouldn't stay in Girdwood 2 days myself, 1 is enough. Cooper Landing is over run with fishing and sometimes neck to neck. You may want to consider a more isolated area.
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Old Aug 3rd, 2003, 06:58 AM
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thanks for the inside info. I thought Homer had great whale watching based upon some of the previous posts I'd read on this forum. Anyway, I guess we'll see whales on the Kenai Fjords trip.
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Old Aug 3rd, 2003, 10:24 AM
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How many days/nights are you going to spend in Homer and Seward? I cannot tell you much about Seward but in Homer we go bear watching every year, we went whale watching last year with the Rainbow Tours and it was an amazing experience. It took three hours (I think) to get there but once there we saw something like fifthy whales and they were everywhere and puffins and other birds. The capitan is a great naturalist too and passionate about whales.

There are some nice hiking trails around Homer and accross the Katchemak Bay.
If you are going to Halibut Cove with Danny J. there is not much time left to explore area and do some hiking but do not miss this place it is fascinating.
I recently posted here my suggestions on bear watching trip if you are interested
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Old Aug 3rd, 2003, 01:51 PM
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Wildflower, we are spending 3 nights in Seward and 5 nights in Homer. We are using the Bald Mt. Air bear viewing floatplane to Katmai Park for the day out of Homer. Am so excited about the trip after reading your previous posting about bear viewing!

I was thinking about Rainbow Tours for whale watching and will likely do that based on yours and others suggestion on this board. We may also take 3 Moose Meadow's guide service to do glacier hiking and kayaking trip (we are staying at their B&B cabins). Do you know anything about that?

Thanks so much!
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Old Aug 4th, 2003, 02:35 PM
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I do not consider myself an Alaskan expert but I think that if you have two nights in Girdwood you will be able to do not only 6 Mile Whitewater but maybe some hiking too. There is a nice trail along the ridge if you are planning on taking a tram for lunch or dinner to the Seven Glacier restaurant.

What cabin/chalet did you reserve at the Three Moose? We stayed there twice, first time it was great but second time it was so awful that we left earlier and found another place. For your sake I hope that things improved there.
I suggest you don't make any commitment for glacier kayaking before you get to Homer. There are many superior companies that concentrate just on water activities.

Another suggestion, if possible maybe you should think about arranging your bear trip in the beginning of your stay in Homer. If a weather is not proper for flying then you will be able to reschedule your trip for another day but if you plan your trip on your last day you could miss an amazing experience. We had a great weather although windy. Our windbreakers, hats, gloves, long sleeves shirts, sweatshirts and sweaters were very needed.

Did you compare Bald Mtn to other companies? Ask about their safety record.

Check the Tide Table and take a long walk on the beach. You could walk for 14 miles.

How about halibut fishing from Homer? As you may know Homer is considered the halibut fishing capital of the world.

Also in Homer, the Homestead hiking trail has some beautiful views. The Pratt Museum is astounding.



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Old Aug 4th, 2003, 06:29 PM
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Thanks for the info. What was the problem with 3 Moose? Ours friends booked the cabins there, so I'm not sure which ones we are in.

Unfortunately, the bear viewing was booked the other days we are in Homer. We are praying for good weather, but may check back again with them when we arrive to see if we could go earlier. I would hate to miss out on that!

Thanks for all the other suggestions. We are leaving soon and are so excited.
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Old Aug 5th, 2003, 04:58 AM
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Bald Mountain has a toll free number, you can always check with them 1-800-478-7969

As to Three Moose place. This is not very pleasant story that I like to recall so if you know what cabins you are staying in I will let you know about our ordeal (if this is the same cabin). They have cabins in two different places. Two are in Homer and rest of them are 10 miles from Homer on East End Road. Their toll free number is 1-888-777-0930
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Old Aug 5th, 2003, 03:10 PM
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Wildflower, we are staying in The Log Cabin, The Cabin Suite and The Log Chalet. I'm dying of curiosity...what happened there? If it's that serious, we would like to know to rearrange the itinerary!

Thanks so much for the other info. We checked into Bald Mt. and they have good rep.
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Old Aug 6th, 2003, 05:49 AM
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The places you listed are 10 miles from Homer. We stayed in the other location. Your place is where the hosts live so I am certain it will be fine. ?Our? cabin, in a great location, during our first stay was newly built and just wonderful. When we came back one year later the same place looked like it wasn?t clean since we left. It was filthy with a thick mold on a shower curtain, the deck full of rubbish, kitchen sink covered with greasy substance (?), giant ants nesting on a kitchen counter, somebody?s underwear between the sheets. It was really gross. We spent a couple hours cleaning. Then next day someone closed off our water. Maybe we used too much the first day? Further, the price for this cabin went up from $125 including breakfast to $165 without breakfast. Again, it is not worthy to think about it now.
In spite of everything our trip that year was amazing and we love Homer.

The best experience when in Homer is always bear watching. But that time we also had a very successful whale watching trip and we did some interesting hiking in Halibut Cove, Seldovia and across the Katchemak Bay. When you go bear watching take plenty of film. I shot four rolls and it was our fifth trip with Emerald Air Service.
I hope you will have a great positive experience with your accommodation and your bear watching trip will be a very unique episode of your whole trip to Alaska. When are you going? Are you staying in Anchorage and then Girdwood before heading to Homer? By the way during our 18-day trip we did not have any problems with mosquitoes.
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Old Aug 6th, 2003, 05:52 AM
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What is going on with all these ?????????
Wagsdvm, I'm sorry about not checking before posting
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Old Aug 6th, 2003, 06:11 AM
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Thanks Wildflower. You've been immensely helpful!

Just to let you know, we could not locate Emerald Air -- don't know if they went out of business or what, but Bald Mt. seems very professional and buttoned up with good safety history. We were actually able to move up our day so that we didn't risk bad weather on our last day in Homer, and the potential to miss out on the experience. We expect the bear watching to be the highlight of the trip!

We will spend 2 nights in Girdwood. Will do the river rafting and hiking there. There is also an organized race up the mt.! We then move on to Seward for 3 days. Our friends are big kayakers and we will do the Kenai Fjords or other expedition there. Check out sealife museum, go to glaciers, etc.

We finish up at Homer for 4 nights. I would love to Halibut fish, but no one else is into it!! They are great outdoorspeople, but are concerned about getting seasick! (And I know that will also be a concern for Kenai Fjords, so I may be going alone on that one too.)
I hope to find another fishing option -- maybe casting from shore for Salmon? I think I read something about that somewhere. We will also go to Halibut Cove and Seldovia. I hope to do some shopping in the area for Xmas presents...

I talked to someone in Homer yesterday and she said the weather has been glorious! We leave today so we are excited.

Thanks for the info about 3 Moose. Believe me, if there are problems, we will let you and others know. But, so far, the owners seem very nice and I hope we actually see moose there. We will also probably have bfast in town at Cafe Cups -- based on the suggestions I've read on these boards.

Finally, I've noticed your posts on Andulsia. Seems we're kindred spirits. We traveled there 2 years ago and loved it too. Mostly stayed in Paradors in the countryside. I want to go back!

Thanks again for all the info. I'll follow up with you with a post when we return.
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Old Aug 6th, 2003, 06:37 AM
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There are days that the Kenai Fjord tour is very calm. We were lucky to have a good day and didn't see anyone getting sick.

As for fishing the Kenai River, the first day we "combat fished" by the Russian River national forest campground. A few days later, we parked in a pull out just west of the bridge that goes over the river, walked east over the bridge, followed a trail through the trees and found a good stretch of river edge with very few people.

If the salmon are running, it is just awesome to stand in the river and have schools of bright red fish, over two feet long, swimming right by your legs!!

They use a fishing technique we hadn't seen anywhere else so we watched for a while. They basically through a fixed amount of line straight out and drag it back toward them, across the river.

Stop at Cooper Landing for the correct lures. You will need pretty substantial poles to pull these big fish in.

You can easily do this in the short time it seems you have.
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Old Aug 6th, 2003, 07:17 AM
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Thanks Connie! It sounds like fun!
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Old Aug 6th, 2003, 07:22 AM
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From all your posts, questions and comments I know you will have a great trip
We took a bear watching trip with Emerald Air Service about two weeks ago. They are doing great and are very popular, all booked.

If you have a chance check their website www.emeraldairservice.com They have some fantastic photos and very useful information.
Bald Mountain suppose to be good too. These are two companies with clean safety record and they deliver the most.
I wish I was going to Homer soon. Maybe we could go together halibut fishing. My husband doesn't want to hear about it. He rather dive or snorkel with fish.
We love Andalusia and hope to return there one day but there are so many amazing places to visit around the world.
Please let me know about your trip. I always look for some new ideas.

I don't think that Cafe Cup is open for breakfast. Just across the street from the Cafe there is a public library where you can check your e-mail free of charge.
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Old Aug 6th, 2003, 07:27 AM
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We stayed in five Paradors including Mazagon. Would you like to compare notes when you return from Alaska?
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Old Aug 6th, 2003, 08:49 PM
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You make no mention of glaciers. We spent 2 weeks in Alaska. the very best experience of all was sitting in a boat in icy waters in front of huge wall af ice and witnessing huge chunks plunging into the ocean.
You have great opportunities from Girdwood.15 minutes away is Portage glacier. There is a boat that takes you onto portage lake right up to the face of the glacier. we saw it carve 3 or 4 times. the whole deal only takes 1 hr.
A further 5 minutes away is Wittier. there you can take a boat into prince william Sound to see 21 glaciers. this takes 4 hours or so.
While in Wittier , you can hike the "Portage trail". There is no obvious sign from the main road, but you turn right over the train line near the public toilets about 200 metres from the tunnel.
It is all uphill, somewhat uneven ground.I am a fit 45 year old and it was a tiring half hour to the summit, my kids did it easy but I think your average 55 year old could not do it.
At the peak of the walk it is like being on the top of the world with 3 or 4 glaciers boggling your eyes and Prince william sound stretching out to the south, On the mountain to the west we saw 3 bears scurrying around. We sat and watched them for an hour.At that distance they were only the size of a fingernail but still entertaining.you can walk on for another half hour to the shore of portage lake directly opposite the glacier. It would be nice for a little picnic on a nice day.
Wittier itself is a very interesting place to spend an hour in. Have a look in Lonely planet for their info.
Another activity from Girdwood is the "glacier city snowmobile tours " . If you want to spend $500 per head, they will helicopter you up to the top of a glacier where you will spend 2 or 3 hours exploring it by snowmoblile.We were looking foreward to this but the weather was never good enough to let the helecopter to land.
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Old Aug 20th, 2003, 11:58 AM
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We booked our accommodation at 3 Moose for 2 nights in September. Should we look for something different? We got some starnge e-mails from them with 'Jesus loves' you attachements.
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Old Aug 20th, 2003, 02:32 PM
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Be sure to visit Exit Glacier and hike up to the Harding Ice Field. We were there and our 8 year old was too tired to do the hike. It's the one thing my husband and I really regret not doing on our recent trip. Also, the ranger at Exit Glacier highly recommended kayaking out of Homer as Seward was much more expensive. He said he never even bothers to kayak in Seward anymore and always goes to Homer. Have fun.
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