Hi everyone-

I have the 'misfortune' of having a cranky boss for my major client, who has decided that vacation time can only be 2 weeks MAXIMUM, and that it has to be the last two of May.

We have booked a cruise up to Alaska for the first week, and will then join my parents (from central Canada) who will have driven up to Anchorage in their RV. I will have 6 days with them, where I would like to do two things - exlore Denali and go bear-viewing on a day trip somewhere.

We have to fly home from Anchorage on June 1st as I have to be back at my desk June 2nd AM.

I have looked for one day bear viewing flights, and have so far come up with the fact that they start June 1st and that is that. We could do this as late as May 31st if only the bears didn't have such stringent calendars!

Does anyone know of a company that may do a day trip at the end of May?

topping for Lynda

You might try Grayline tours.

Does anyone know of a company that may do a day trip at the end of May?

Hi Linda, off the Africa forum now?

These guys are based in Homer and start day trips to Hallo Bay May 15th ...

http://www.hallobay.com/Alaska_Bears_1.html

Maybe others in Homer like Bald Mountain or Emerald Air would also do something similar if you asked, but Hallo Bay is definitely advertising for those early dates.

Bill

We used Bald Mountain this past summer. It was the highlight of our Alaska trip. The couple who owns Bald Mtn are very friendly and bear knowledgeable. I suggest that you call them, and ask about bear tours in late May.

We were there towards the end of June and seeing bears was a highlight. I wanted to tell you though, that doing a glacier dogsled ride and riding the train were just as good as seeing bears. If you have time amd budget to work those in, it was a very memorable experience for us. Kenai Fjords National Park tour was good also.

Thanks all for some of the suggestions, I haven't tried Grayline Tours (I didn't know they did flightseeing!) yet, but I have tried bald Mountain Air, they told me that the bears may not be out until June 1st, and since they guarentee you will see bears, they won't fly before June 1st. (this is why I thought they issued the bears calendars...)

But, yes, good news - Hallo Bay said they would tentavely (spelling?) book a flight for us on May 31st, they said that if the bears are out, we will go! Incredible, I love it! I love their flexibility, that is customer service. Simyra (from Hallo Bay) explained that the bears won't be there if spring is late and the sedge grass hasn't turned green yet, but she seemed to be saying chances were pretty good.

Thanks Bill and everyone for the tips! PS - Bill I haven't left the Africa board - no, no, no could never do that! I just have to do a bit a pre-planning for the Alaska trip for May. But my heart and soul remains in Africa and I have already started planning for 2009.... I have looked at your pictures from Alaska by the way - spectacular as usual!!!

Dogsledding, yes, I would love to do that too spirobulldog - any suggestions as to where? I understand I can book this as shore excursion on the ship, but do you have any other recomendations?

Trains I love too - we are going to try and take the Princess train from Whittier to Anchorage, but so far they twll me we can't book it, it's only for people who buy their 'cruisetour packages'. Any other suggestions on a train?

Lynda, glad Hallo Bay works out for you ... they assemble their summer 'cabins' over there in late May so will know the local bear situation well. We are going there in Sept for a week to photograph the bears during the coho salmon run.

Bill

You can do the train from Whittier, but I think doing it from Seward is better choice. It is longer ride and you would miss some very scenic events. We did the dogsled glacier ride in Girdwood. It was spectacular. www.alpineairalaska.com
You can also do dogsledding in Seward and actually spend the night on the glacier in a tent near the dogs if you want to. There are places that do dogsled rides much cheaper, but they are not on the snow. The dogs just pull you around on a wheeled cart. You might try kayaking in Seward also. It was great. The train also runs to Denali. By the way, we nearly hit a black bear in the car that we had rented. I would also imagine that you will see a lot of bald eagles. We didn't see any elk or moose. We didn't go to Denali. The only thing we didn't like about alaska was the fact that the sun doesn't go down. We had a hard time sleeping, unless the place we were staying had good blinds.

I want last year booking through www.katmailand.com, but I visited in July ... not sure if they offer tours in late May, though.