Alaska Trip Report 7/2-7/8
Jul 9th, 2005 | 03:34 PM
#1
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Joined: Jan 2003
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Alaska Trip Report 7/2-7/8
I just returned from one week in Alaska and wanted to post my trip report for those who are in the planning process, waiting for the trip to arrive or those who want to take a trip down memory lane. Before I start, I want to thank everyone for sharing their expertise and advice/opinions that you shared based on the experiences you have had. This was extremely useful to me while planning the trip and I attribute the success of this trip to that advice.
I arrived on Sat July 2 and was met by my friend at the Airport. She had arrived 2 weeks earlier for work. We picked up our car at Thrifty (they didnt have a compact that we reserved so we were upgraded to a PT Cruiser) went and checked into the Fairfield Inn and Suites (Marriott Rewards Stay). The hotel is very new and was nice. We then headed off to dinner at the Mooses Tooth based on a recommendation of a local friend. Great beer and pizza.
On Sunday the only thing we had to accomplish was getting up to Denali, so we slept in, got groceries, etc before starting our drive around 12pm. We made a pit stop in Talkeetna to check out the town and also to see about flightseeing. The weather wasnt great (lots of clouds) so they werent operating the flights. We ended up having a good burger at the West Rib Café to pass the time before continuing our drive north. We arrived at our lodging, The Denali Mountain Morning Hostel, in the pouring rain. (Now, this option is not for everyone, but it was really a great place. We stayed in the womens cabin in a room with 6 bunks ($25/person/night). They also have little cabins, tent sites etc that are there. Everything was new and very, very clean. Really enjoyed it. http://www.hostelalaska.com). Because it was raining so hard and it was dinner time, we headed across the street to the Panorama Pizza Pub for pizza yet again!! Fortunately, it was once again great pizza and beer so we didnt mind! Nice little place, though. Very laid back. They have a bunch of games that you can play while you hang out.
At about 10:15, it had stopped raining and it was time to head out. Once we got in the car, we decided to drive the 13 miles up to Denali to make sure we knew where were headed the next day for our shuttle trip and to do the 14 miles of the park that is driveable. Wow. I am soooo grateful that we did that. As we rounded one curve, the Mountain was visible to us!!! Absolutely breathtaking. It was the only time we would see Denali while we were there, so we were very fortunate with our timing.
cont....
I arrived on Sat July 2 and was met by my friend at the Airport. She had arrived 2 weeks earlier for work. We picked up our car at Thrifty (they didnt have a compact that we reserved so we were upgraded to a PT Cruiser) went and checked into the Fairfield Inn and Suites (Marriott Rewards Stay). The hotel is very new and was nice. We then headed off to dinner at the Mooses Tooth based on a recommendation of a local friend. Great beer and pizza.
On Sunday the only thing we had to accomplish was getting up to Denali, so we slept in, got groceries, etc before starting our drive around 12pm. We made a pit stop in Talkeetna to check out the town and also to see about flightseeing. The weather wasnt great (lots of clouds) so they werent operating the flights. We ended up having a good burger at the West Rib Café to pass the time before continuing our drive north. We arrived at our lodging, The Denali Mountain Morning Hostel, in the pouring rain. (Now, this option is not for everyone, but it was really a great place. We stayed in the womens cabin in a room with 6 bunks ($25/person/night). They also have little cabins, tent sites etc that are there. Everything was new and very, very clean. Really enjoyed it. http://www.hostelalaska.com). Because it was raining so hard and it was dinner time, we headed across the street to the Panorama Pizza Pub for pizza yet again!! Fortunately, it was once again great pizza and beer so we didnt mind! Nice little place, though. Very laid back. They have a bunch of games that you can play while you hang out.
At about 10:15, it had stopped raining and it was time to head out. Once we got in the car, we decided to drive the 13 miles up to Denali to make sure we knew where were headed the next day for our shuttle trip and to do the 14 miles of the park that is driveable. Wow. I am soooo grateful that we did that. As we rounded one curve, the Mountain was visible to us!!! Absolutely breathtaking. It was the only time we would see Denali while we were there, so we were very fortunate with our timing.
cont....
Jul 9th, 2005 | 03:37 PM
#2
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Joined: Jan 2003
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On Monday we were on the 8:30 Fish Creek shuttle into the Park. The weather was very overcast but wasnt raining (yet!). It took us quite a long time to see some wildlife (almost 4 hours) but when we did WOW!! We once again were very lucky and fortunate. We came upon a bear and sat and watched her for a bit. She went over a hill so we moved up to see where she was headed. As we did another bear was within 200 yards of this first one! We were very curious to see if they would spot each other and if they did how they would react. We were NOT disappointed. They eventually worked their way to each other and began what appeared to be the bear version of the courting process. It was quite amazing to see them getting to know the other as they swatted at each other and checked one another out. It apparently is quite unusual to see two bears in the same area and our guide was just as excited about it as we were. We eventually left the two lovebirds and continued on our drive. We passed a Caribou and a mamma bear with some cubs a bit further down the road. One our way back from Fish Creek we saw some Moose and Caribou in the road and got some great pictures. We returned to the WAC at 4:30. We had tossed around the idea of doing some hiking but the weather didnt really cooperate with us, so we just stayed with our original bus the whole day.
We then headed back to the Lodge for a nap before we went out to celebrate the 4th of July. Once again, it was back to the Panorama Pizza Pub because they were having a party in honor of the 4th. What a great time that was. They had live music, homemade boat races, etc. It was a 4th of July I will remember fondly!
On Tuesday, we had originally planned to whitewater raft but the weather looked very iffy, so we opted to go back to the Park and check out the sled dogs. That was a nice excursion and we enjoyed ourselveseven with the buckets of rain that fell towards the end! It was evident the weather wasnt going to cooperate with us so we jumped in the car and started working our way back to Anchorage where we were once again using a free stay at the Fairfield Inn. This time we decided to NOT have pizza for dinner and went instead to the Peanut Farm. Yet another fun place that was recommended by local friends!
Wednesday we started our journey towards Seward. We stopped along the way in Cooper Landing to do a scenic raft trip (toursaver coupon) and to check out the fishing at the Russian River Ferry area. Wow. What a beautiful area Cooper Landing is. The river is just amazing. As we floated down the Upper Kenai, we saw too many Bald Eagles to count and a black bear eating dinner on a river bank. It was a very relaxing, peaceful way to see the river and the wildlife. Our trip ended at 5pm and we continued our trip to Seward. We made one more stop at Exit Glacier and hiked up to the Overlook. Nice, easy hike on a well marked trail. Highly recommend this. You get a very close view of the Glacier from that point.
cont...
We then headed back to the Lodge for a nap before we went out to celebrate the 4th of July. Once again, it was back to the Panorama Pizza Pub because they were having a party in honor of the 4th. What a great time that was. They had live music, homemade boat races, etc. It was a 4th of July I will remember fondly!
On Tuesday, we had originally planned to whitewater raft but the weather looked very iffy, so we opted to go back to the Park and check out the sled dogs. That was a nice excursion and we enjoyed ourselveseven with the buckets of rain that fell towards the end! It was evident the weather wasnt going to cooperate with us so we jumped in the car and started working our way back to Anchorage where we were once again using a free stay at the Fairfield Inn. This time we decided to NOT have pizza for dinner and went instead to the Peanut Farm. Yet another fun place that was recommended by local friends!
Wednesday we started our journey towards Seward. We stopped along the way in Cooper Landing to do a scenic raft trip (toursaver coupon) and to check out the fishing at the Russian River Ferry area. Wow. What a beautiful area Cooper Landing is. The river is just amazing. As we floated down the Upper Kenai, we saw too many Bald Eagles to count and a black bear eating dinner on a river bank. It was a very relaxing, peaceful way to see the river and the wildlife. Our trip ended at 5pm and we continued our trip to Seward. We made one more stop at Exit Glacier and hiked up to the Overlook. Nice, easy hike on a well marked trail. Highly recommend this. You get a very close view of the Glacier from that point.
cont...
Jul 9th, 2005 | 03:38 PM
#3
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Joined: Jan 2003
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After the visit to the Glacier, we finally made it into Seward about 7pm and checked into our lodging for the next 2 nights.a cabin at Millers Landing. Ugh. We had the Lookout Cabin which is marketed as a camping cabin which means it is just for sleeping (only has 2 bunks and a table in it). OK. We were fine with that. The place wasnt awful. BUT we opted to leave when we checked out the facilities. The restrooms/showers were next door to our cabin and the only way to describe it is unsanitary and unsafe. The trash dumpster was overflowing with trash so people just left their stuff NEXT to it (umm, bears??????). The bathroom had 2 toilets that were no longer working properly but that were still being used. Gross. The shower was primitive at best. Now, we are both used to camping and are by no means Prima donnas, but this was ridiculous. We cancelled our reservation and were SHOCKED when they gave us a full refund for the two nights. But, now it is 8pm and we have no where to stay! Ack. We drove around and popped into some places, and made phone calls. We finally settled on the Van Gilder Hotel ($170/night), which was fine. We dont need much in a hotel. We really just wanted CLEAN and safe at this point, and the Van Gilder more than met those expectations. Dinner was at the Crab Pot, which we found to be expensive and not great. They also didnt serve alcohol, which was unfortunate because we both needed a drink after seeing our Millers Landing accommodations.
On Thursday we took the Northwestern Fjord Cruise with Kenai Fjord Tours (again using the Toursaver). We had spectacular weather and lots of wildlife on our trip. We saw a lot of whales, porpoises, puffin, and seals. The Glaciers, of course, were gorgeous. We saw some minor calving. Because the day was so nice, the water was extremely calm and I am not aware of anyone getting sick. Phew! For dinner we went to the Salmon Bake on Exit Glacier Road. Fun, relaxed place that I would recommend to people looking for a very casual dinner!
Friday, we went on a guided kayak tour through Millers Landing at 8am (Toursaver). Fortunately, this was a MUCH better experience than the lodging! We were taken by water taxi to Thumb Cove and we paddled around that for about 2-2.5 hours. We were new to kayaking so this was the perfect introduction! Again, it was a beautiful day and the scenery was just amazing. We really enjoyed it. Would recommend to others in a heartbeat.
We stopped by the Sea Life Center (Toursaver) on our way out of Seward. That was nice and fairly interesting.
cont...
Jul 9th, 2005 | 03:38 PM
#4
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Joined: Jan 2003
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We got back to Anchorage and cleaned up at a friends house, went to dinner at the Peanut Farm and then jumped on the 11:45 pm flight home. Last thing we saw before heading to the airport was a moose wandering around the entrance to our friends neighborhood. It seemed to be the appropriate send off!
Wow. This got very long. I apologize for rambling on like I have but I wanted to share as much as I could. I also wanted to address some things that I wondered about before I got heremainly cell phone coverage. I am (what was formerly) an AT&T wireless customer with a cell phone AND a blackberry. I was able to get coverage in most towns that we were in. In the Denali area, I only got coverage near the WAC and visitors center, not at the Hostel 13 miles south. I had coverage for BOTH almost everywhere we stopped: Talkeetna, ANC, Cooper Landing, and Seward. My friend has a cell/blackberry from Sprint and was only able to receive Cellular coverage in those same areas. She was unable to use her blackberry email the entire trip (she was there for 3 weeks) because she did not receive the proper data coverage. Just thought Id share.
If youve made it this far, thank you! I just thought it would help others planning their trips to see how ours worked out for us. We didnt have a lot of time but were still able to see A TON of stuff and not completely wear ourselves out in the process. We did drive 1000 miles total but there were days were we really didnt drive that much so it wasnt too overwhelming.
And yes, get a Toursaver book. And a Mile Post. We used both religiously and faithfully! Well worth the investments.
I hope this helps. Feel free to ask questions if you have them.
Wow. This got very long. I apologize for rambling on like I have but I wanted to share as much as I could. I also wanted to address some things that I wondered about before I got heremainly cell phone coverage. I am (what was formerly) an AT&T wireless customer with a cell phone AND a blackberry. I was able to get coverage in most towns that we were in. In the Denali area, I only got coverage near the WAC and visitors center, not at the Hostel 13 miles south. I had coverage for BOTH almost everywhere we stopped: Talkeetna, ANC, Cooper Landing, and Seward. My friend has a cell/blackberry from Sprint and was only able to receive Cellular coverage in those same areas. She was unable to use her blackberry email the entire trip (she was there for 3 weeks) because she did not receive the proper data coverage. Just thought Id share.
If youve made it this far, thank you! I just thought it would help others planning their trips to see how ours worked out for us. We didnt have a lot of time but were still able to see A TON of stuff and not completely wear ourselves out in the process. We did drive 1000 miles total but there were days were we really didnt drive that much so it wasnt too overwhelming.
And yes, get a Toursaver book. And a Mile Post. We used both religiously and faithfully! Well worth the investments.
I hope this helps. Feel free to ask questions if you have them.
Jul 10th, 2005 | 05:52 PM
#6
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 346
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hi sid,
sounds like a great trip. we are going on the Northwestern Fjord Cruise with Kenai Fjord Tours in aug. sounds like you saw some great stuff. im assuming when you saw lots of whales you mean humpbacks (did you also get to see orcas). also we really want to see puffins so the fact that you did gets my hopes up. do u know if its common to see them? any tho0ughts would be appreciated. thx
sounds like a great trip. we are going on the Northwestern Fjord Cruise with Kenai Fjord Tours in aug. sounds like you saw some great stuff. im assuming when you saw lots of whales you mean humpbacks (did you also get to see orcas). also we really want to see puffins so the fact that you did gets my hopes up. do u know if its common to see them? any tho0ughts would be appreciated. thx
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