Alaska trip report and photos..
 

Hello fellow travelers, I have finished posting my trip report and photos onto my travel journal from our July 2004 trip to Alaska. You can find the website at www.nbhtravel.com I think it will be very helpful to anyone planning an Alaska vacation. Here is a synopsis:
We flew into Anchorage-rented a car
drove to Homer
went whale watching with Rainbow Tours
flew to Katmai via Bald Mountain Air
picked up our rv from Great Alaskan
hiked Exit Glacier and Harding Icefield
drove to Seward and did tour with Kenai Fjord Tours
hiked Matanuska Glacier
drove to Valdez
tour with Stan Stephens of glaciers/wildlife
hiked Worthington Glacier
drove Denali Highway
bus tour of Denali
drove back to Anchorage
hiked Flattop Mountain
flew home
This was a two week trip from July 15th-29th. Our report on our website contains lots of info and TONS of photos...bears, whales, other wildlife, and scenics. I hope everyone enjoys the report. Please feel free to ask questions and I will do my best to answer. Thanks.

Lovely photos! Is photography your profession or just a talent? They are amazing. It makes me want to go to Alaska that much more!

Hi Mazey, Thanks for the compliment. Photography is not my profession, right now I just sell a few prints here and there, but hopefully someday it will lead to a more lucrative career. I appreciate the positive feedback on the photography. Thanks for checking out the report. Have a great week.

Velodurt,

Great report and fantastic photos! I highly recommend that others, especially hikers, check out the trip and hike descriptions.

velodurt, the pictures of the wildlife viewing out of homer are awesome. what kind of camera and lenses did you use for these shots and were these on autofocus or manual. i'm just learning and your photography inspires me. thanks.

Well, well well, so much to take in, I have put you in my Favorites file to further explore you many travels! What type of camera are you using these days? I'm in the market for something new, and would like digital with manual options. Photo 101 with the old pentex is sooooo loooong aggooooo!!!!!!!!! Thanks for future trips to your website!

What an awesome report! Thanks so much!

Velodurt,
I have to agree with the rest. Sounds like great trip. Too bad about your first deposit, you just never know. We took the 1 day bear viewing trip to Katmai with Halo Bay and had a great trip too but not the big groups of bears as you had in your pictures. I can relate to your three bears on the trail incident, as we were sitting with the bears on the river bed, as close as 10 ft with no platforms or anything. And once or twice, we thought, what are we doing here? But it was great, and I loved your trip reports and pictures. We had wished we had booked the overnight trip already and your trip backs up that plan. We talked to a wildlife painter at our BnB in Anc who had just come back from Brooks Falls. Since you had to fly twice as far to Brooks as we did to Halo Bay, I can only imagine what the 3 day cost might have been. Hope you sell lots of photos. Thanks again for report.

pop to top for summer :-)

And for you hikers out there check out our trip reports and photos on our personal hiking website at www.naturalbornhikers.com Thanks and enjoy.

Loved your report and pictures.

I had just seen a program on TV about unusual campgrounds and Brooks was included. It really stirred my interest as I've always wanted to make that trip. We've done the usual Denali/Anchorage/Kenai RV trip and would like to go back but get off the road more.

Did you buy your camping equipment in Alaska or bring yours from home?

I'm sure there was a weight limit on the plane so did they suggest camping equ. to bring? I'm guessing you only brought a back packing (light weight) tent and sleeping bags.

Does anyone bring cooking equipment or is that out?

How far out did you need to make your camping reservations?

Thanks

Hi Connie, Glad you enjoyed the report. To answer your questions: We brought our own camping equipment which consisted of two lightweight tents..one for gear one for sleeping, our sleeping bags, one bag for clothes for three people, and our monstrous camera gear :-) We didn't bring any cooking equipment but most campers did, we opted to eat at the lodge. We were actually never told a weight limit by Bald Mountain Air, so I guess we didn't go over it. We made our camping reservations rather last minute ( thanks to the snafu with the thieves from Go Alaska)...I think in May if I remember correctly. Hope this helps. Have a great time at Katmai!

Wow, what a great trip report!! Thank you for bringing it to the top!

Would you make some camera recommendations for novices?? We wouldn't know where to begin with the setups you have (huge lens, etc.), but we'd like to invest in a good camera--maybe digital. We're not technologically savvy about what's available, etc., but if digitals are the best way to go, we are quick learners and we'd like to purchase a good camera before our first trip to Alaska in June. Thank you!

Hi BayouGal, Glad you enjoyed the trip report. As far as camera set-up goes I would look into the new Canon digital Rebel. It is an 8 megapixel camera, which means it will have great picture clarity at enlargements as big as 11x14. There are package deals out there complete with a lens for around $900.00 and some change. I highly recommend this camera...I have the Canon 20D and this is almost the same quality at half the price...good for a beginner and very user friendly. If that is more than you would like to spend look into the point and shoot varieties like the canon s500 of fuji finepix...both have great picture quality. I can personally vouch for the s400(now replaced by the s500) as well...my friend uses it for underwater shots and it does an amazing job! Hope that helps you out. Let me know if you have other questions. Have a great Alaska trip!

Thank you so much, velodurt! I am shopping online now to see what's available. I really appreciate the prompt advice!

Also, we are doing the NW Kenai Fjords tour out of Seward and looking into Rainbow out of Homer. Would you recommend doing both . . . even though your Kenai trip was a wash? We are particually interested in whale watching. We'll be on the Kenai the end of May/first of June, so hope it's not too early. Did you see whales out of Valdez with Stephens?

Again, thanks for all the great info you are providing travelers to Alaska!

I would definitely recommend both tours. Of course, we had a much better experience with Rainbow tours, but if the weather would have cooperated I am sure Kenai would have been amazing too. We did see one whale with Stephens...it put on quite a show--tail lobbing and splashing around...just farther away than the whales on the Rainbow tour. I am not sure when the whales start arriving, but hopefully you will get lucky. Happy travels.

Natural Born Hikers your website is amazing! I am impressed by your travels and photos.

Hey adoptionisfab, thanks so much for the kind words! Glad you enjoy our site...comments like yours make all the hard work worth it! Thanks for making our day :-) Happy travels. ~The NBH Crew

amazing photos! wow! I'm contemplating a trip for next summer with a friend - his parameters are "US national park" and I said "how about Denali" so I just started searching... and came across your wonderful photos.

July looks like a great time to go, would June be just as appealing do you think?

Cool flygirl, Glad you liked the photos! I have heard that June is also a good time to visit Denali. We picked July to coincide with the salmon run. Hope you have a great Alaska adventure! Thanks again for the compliment.