Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Alaska - Just Returned: Trip Report

I have found this site useful in planning trips and thought I would actually post my 1st trip report, in the hopes that it may help others as well.

We just got back yesterday from a WONDERFUL trip through Alaska.

Some insight first -- we are a couple, early 30's, adventurous; picked the week around Memorial b/c we didn't want crowds and also b/c it worked best for our jobs (and using FF miles).

We spent many nights talking (and arguing!) over what we were going to do regarding accomodations/transportation. Had it narrowed down to 3 categories:
* Rent vehicle and Tent camp(boyfriend is huge outdoor enthusiast)
* Rent RV
* Stay in Hotels, B&B's, etc.
Money was not the factor in our decision, we just wanted what we thought would be the "best" way to see Alaska, given our timeframe. We went with the RV rental option. Decided that tent camping would be too much effort - not to mention it was cold. Didn't want to worry about packing/upacking wet tent, etc. Also decided against the B&B/Hotel option. For one, I travel every week for my job and stay in hotel rooms 4 nights a week, 50 weeks a year! So, that didn't really appeal to me. Also, the packing and unpacking of suitcases and making advance reservations were additional "negative" factors.

I picked up a zillion guidebooks(including the invaluable Milepost), and read this forum for our trip planning.

Below is our trip.

5/27- Fly from NYC to Anchorage. Arrive 2:30pm. Pick up 24' RV from Clippership motorhomes. Although their prices weren't the cheapest/best deal etc. We planned the trip at the last minute - 3-4 weeks ahead of time, so I didn't have too many choices in RV rentals for the days I wanted(unless I wanted a larger RV!). The RV was great. Drove very easy. Was new model(only had 11,000 miles on it - we added 1300 to it on our trip). TV, CD, Video, etc.
Leave RV place and drive to Fred Meyer Store to stock up on Groceries, etc.
Drive approximately 90 miles south to Cooper Landing. Stay overnight in Quartz Creek campground. Very pretty State campground on lake. We had site #41(reserved via www.reservusa.com - though we didn't need a reservation). We chose this campground b/c of its location - and wanting to mountain bike the next morning.

5/28- Pick up Mountain Bikes from Kenai Lake Sea Kayak Adventures(www.kenailake.com)- right across from campground. Bike the Crescent Creek trail (13 miles r/t). Absolutely beautiful. We do a lot of mountain biking and this has to be one of my favorite trails for scenery, etc. It would also be a great hike. Saw bear tracks, but no bears.
Drive to Homer. Have 3 nights booked at Heritage RV park on the Homer spit(www.alaskaheritagervpark.com). The campground(or shall I say 'gravel parking area') was brand new. Sites overlooked the bay and were next to the "Homer Fishing Hole". Ridiculous prices of $45-50/night... but the location was perfect for us; full hookups with modem line, etc; new office open 24 hours; great free "real" hot showers and laundry room. Could build a campfire right on the beach(using the tons of washed up driftwood) right in front of the RV.

5/29- Homer. Hiking/kayaking trip in Kachemack Bay state park with kayaking in front of a glacier. Booked through Three Moose (www.threemoose.com). Absolutely beautiful. Had a wonderful day. They have good pictures on their website, but they still don't capture the beauty of it all.

5/30- Homer. All day halibut fishing trip booked with Award Charters-someone else had recommended it here(www.awardcharters.com --you can actually see our picture on the site, if you click on the calendar and look on May 30th!). Guess since it was still the beginning of the season, we got lucky, as the boat accomodates 6 people, but it was only the 2 of us. Weather cooperated wonderfully. Took the boat 1.5 hours out and had a great time catching halibut all day. Limit of 2 per person, so we'd throw the small ones back. At end of day, I caught a 116 pounder!! A highlight, as I have never had much success fishing. Gave this fish to the skipper. Kept 4 fish in the 30-40lb range(smaller size supposed to have tastier meat) and had 60lbs. packaged and fedexed home.

5/31- Contemplated taking bear-viewing flight trip from Homer for day. However, after talking the previous few days with the tour companies, it was still really early in the season for seeing the bears. We decided not to spend the $$ for the flight when the viewing opportunities weren't at their best. Decided to catch up on sleep and then drive to Seward. Right before Seward we stopped at Exit Glacier and walked on trails there. Spotted some bears up in the hills. Once in Seward, stayed at Miller's Landing(www.millerslandingak.com). Campground was okay - as it was empty. Sites were small and close together, so not sure it would be great when crowded. Their "hot showers" were small stalls with kitchen nozzle sprayers, but did the job. Didn't really see too many other great choices in Seward for camping.

6/1- Seward. Took the Kenai Fjords Northwestern Glacier 9.5 hour cruise. Absolutely loved it. Saw tons of wildlife - lots of humpback and orca whales; sea lions; seals; otters; bald eagles; birds, etc. One of the reasons we loved it was that the boat, which normally accomodates 150 passengers, only had about 30 of us on it. So it was easy to move around, from inside to out; side-to-side; to see the wildlife and take pictures. I don't think that I would have the same review of this if the boat was at capacity. It did make for a very long day. Many of the folks on the boat(myself included), took catnaps on the ride back from the glacier. Overall a great day.
Ate dinner at Chinooks. -Only choices in 'downtown' Seward for nice dinner were Ray's and Chinooks - both on the bay. Looked at both menus; both looked good, but Chinooks had more of the items we were "craving" that evening. Food was good.

6/2- Seward. "Free" day. Decided to hike up Marathon Mountain. Wow. What a long, but beautiful hike. Took longer route up the mountain, which required walking through about 1/2 mile of snow. Getting to "peak" was a bit of a struggle, clawing our way up the steep bits, but wow, were we ever rewarded with the view! It was Sunny down below and snowing on top of the mountain. I was able to stand on top and capture a picture of the most glorious rainbow over Seward. Took the race trail down - very steep, bit of torture on the knees. Not a recommendation for families/young children, but if you're fit and an outdoor enthusiast, the hike is a good one!
Stop in Kayak shop to use internet. While I'm online, boyfriend picks up brochure for "ice climbing" the Matanuska glacier. The 3rd was a "free" day - though had to make our way north towards Denali. He thinks it sounds like great idea. Call ice climbing place at 6pm and sign up for 8 hour Ice Climbing class the next day!
Finally depart Seward now for looong, unexpected drive towards Matansuska glacier. See giant grizzly bear along Seward highway, just munching on grass 100 yards from the road. Stop to take photos. Were going to stay in Anchorage, but were wide awake and wanted to drive as far as possible. Drove to mile 76 on the Glenn Highway and camped at King Mountain State Recreation Site. Once again, a nice site by the river.

6/3- Drive down the Glenn highway to mile 102 for the Matanuska Glacier. (note to anyone driving here, they are doing road construction, so only 1 lane with pilot car leading - may have wait of 20 minutes to get through). Got to park and went to Mica Guides hut(www.micaguides.com). Then had fabulous 8 hours(was only supposed to be 6, but we stayed out for 8) of glacier trekking and ice climbing instruction!! We had a great time. Was definitely worth the extra effort to get here. Our guide was great; learned something new. Very cool experience.
Left at 8:30pm to head to Talkeetna.... loooong drive. Stopped at Carr's at Palmer-Wasilla highway junction to re-load on groceries, etc. Drive to Talkeetna to Talkeetna Camper Park. Arrive after midnight, tired, but happy. Also can clearly see Denali from the Parks highway - after midnight with sort-of setting sun around it. Stop along highway for photos.

6/4- Wake up to beautiful bright blue skies. Have 9am "Grand Denali with Glacier Landing" flightseeing tour with Talkeetna Air(www.talkeetnaair.com). I had reserved this several weeks ahead of time. Wow. Wow. Wow. The guy said that this was only the 2nd day of the year that the weather was that spectactular. The flight was fabulous. That being said, the weather and scenery were so great, that I could have been hanging on the wing and having a great time. Luck with mother nature, but we were definitely treated to a fabulous morning. Couldn't stop taking pictures!
After flight, walked around Talkeetna and ate lunch. Then drove up to Denali. Stock up on last minute beer/wine. Had reservations for 3 nights at Teklanika campground(29 miles into park). Won't go into too much detail here, but the jist of this campground is that you get to drive the 1st 29 miles into the park to the campground and then cannot drive back out until your departure date. We decided on this b/c we wanted to spend our time hiking in the "heart of the park" - did not want to do the marked trails by the visitor center. were going to rent bikes from Denali Outdoor center, but decided against it at last minute - very happy with that choice. Hiking was great... biking along the dusty park road would not have been fun.
Campground was great. Smaller than many of the others, not overly crowded. Had the Teklanika river in background. Very happy with this choice for campground(I debated this one a zillion times) - will definitely camp here again if I go back.

6/5- Denali. Have reservation on 1st 6:30am bus to visitor's center(this is as far as they go in early June). Bus got to our campground at 7:40am, so save the 1st hour or so of the trip. Saw several grizzlies, caribou, moose, dall sheep on ride to visitor's center. Most were at a distance - definitely bring binoculars. Arrive at visitor's center at 10:30am. Another glorious day with clear blue skies and fabulous views of Denali. Not sure how we got this lucky! Took tons of pictures - the pictures look soo amazing, when I pull some of the digital ones up, I think they are "fake" - look like a movie backdrop!
We eat packed lunch. Hike up steep trail at visitor's center to ridge. Great views again. Then spent 4 hours hiking along the various ridges near the visitor's center. Got back at 2:45, hoping to take the 3pm shuttle bus back. Well, here's where we ran into a bit of a hassle. You sign up to take the shuttle bus back, then, assuming there are seats available, you can ride any bus back. Well, this was the 1st week they were running the buses out to the visitor's center and then combined with the extraordinary weather, there were tons of people that took the early morning buses out; spend day out by VC and all wanted to catch the afternoon buses, that were already full, back! We ended up having to wait at the VC until 4:30 to catch a shuttle bus back! Thank goodness we could get off at mile 29 for our campground.

6/6- Denali. Originally planned to take shuttle bus out the park road, get dropped off for day of hiking... however, the previous day's "bus fiasco", kept us from doing it(we saw about 8 hikers along the road the previous day, that had been waiting over 3 hours for a shuttle bus with an empty seat on it for a ride!). Decided to just hike out from campground along the Teklanika river basin and then up along the park road. Also along small ridge trail the leads to rock outcrop overlooking Teklanika. Great hiking. Felt like we had the whole park to ourselves. Didn't see any wildlife up close, but the scenery was wonderful.
Get back to campground in early evening. Take cold beers, chips, salsa and lawn chairs down to river bed by campground and just kick back, relax, and take in the scenery. Note - it looked like they had the bus issue figured out, as the buses we pass today had seats available and even tried to pick us up along the park road.
Mosquitos are getting really bad. Not bad along river(as the water is flowing) and not too bad at the campsite with fire burning and mosquito coils burning!

6/7- Depart in morning. Mosquitos are in swarms. Stepping out of camper for even a few minutes leads to mosquitos everywhere, with a bunch flying into the RV. From these 2 days, ended up with more mosquito bites, than previous 3 week trip to Africa! So bring the Deet!!
Drive to Anchorage. Stop at cute little pizza place in Trapper Creek - mile 115 (only place around), which is half way to Anhorage. Had delightful pizza lunch.
Return RV and get ride to Sheraton in Anchorage(picked this b/c I could get for free and also have 4pm check out following day). Walk around Anchorage. Eat at Simon and Seafort's for dinner. Had great fresh Copper River Salmon dinners overlooking the cook inlet. Meal was nice - probably b/c we had great, attentive server. Stop in Humpy's for a few beers.

6/8- Anchorage. Planned to bike the coastal trail, but wake to drizzly weather. Opt to explore Anchorage and then walk a bit of the trail instead. Have Sushi for lunch at Kumagoro. Go back to hotel, grab showers before leaving at 4pm. Pick up last bit of "souvenirs". Eat dinner at Glacier Brewhouse. Very nice meal. Perfect for what we wanted - great food, but not too formal, and fast attentive service. Unfortunately have to leave at 8pm to grab luggage and go to airport. 9:50pm Red-eye flight home and straight to work - Ugh. Didn't want it to end!

Anyway, that was our trip. Might not suit for everyone, but worked out great for us and couldn't have wanted anything more.

Feel free to ask any questions or let me know if you want to see pictures from any of the locations/activities.

Kathi