I thought I had things all figured out for a trip to Alaska next summer, going mid-August. But a lot of comments on another travel board about bad weather in August have me second-guessing. I chose mid-August to avoid mosquitoes, which in my experience (I used to live up there) were impressive in June but dropped off considerably in numbers by late summer. I do recall that the weather was better in June, but didn't know that this still held true (I haven't lived there for 30 years). They had a particularly bad-weather summer this year, but apparently August is known to be mostly rainy.

So which should it be? We will only be going to Denali and the Kenai Peninsula, with interests of hiking and other outdoor activities, as well as enjoying the local scene. We won't be on a cruise but probably will take a one-day glacier/wildlife cruise from Seward or Whittier. And we won't be camping or staying in an RV.

I would particularly appreciate hearing from locals, or from people who have been there several times. But a chorus of "we went in August and it was great" or "we went in June and didn't see a single mosquito" would be fine too. Thanks!

well enzian, the wether was odd this summer.. as in not the usual amount of sun we anticipated.. my flowers didn't open til mid July.

and mosquitoes after the first week or so of June were absent.. so you know, bugs are less, but typically, rain and moose hunting season go hand in hand, come August..
yesterday, my son had a bite on one ear after x/c practice.. and the dang ear is twice it's size!

Good luck with your planning.

In early-mid June this week we were in Alaska - Denali, Seward, Anchorage. Then cruise stopping in Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway.

Only mosquitoes we encountered were when DH and DS did a day hike from Anchorage. But it did rain a lot.

We went in late May/early June and had wonderful weather and only had a problem with mosquitoes one night. This was a few years ago.

Several days we just had on short sleeves and were fine. During our day at Denali, we wore gloves/hats/coats.

We've been twice in mid July. One time it was warm, dry beautiful weather and the other time it was cooler and rainier.

We've never had trouble with mosquitoes and we RV camp the whole time from Seward to Denali.

We did encounter Mosquitos July 1, 2007. They were even on glacier. That said, a good bug repellent took care of them. We didn't get all bitten up. We live in Oklahoma, and they are bad here all summer, so not that big a deal for us. But, we did find it odd for them to be on the glacier at the top of Alyeska.

Thanks for the information, everyone. I should explain that the mosquito avoidance is for my husband's sake---they love him and ignore me. I joke that after 9 years of living in Alaska I don't have any blood left. But I do find them annoying even if they are just hovering around.

So what's the verdict----late June/early July, or August? We have a teacher in our group so are limited to that timeframe.

we spent the entire month of August between Seward nd Denali in RV. Weather was cloudy/drizzle with sun breaks for suunshine. Very cool, so few mosquitos. Most we encountered were in Girdwood: strong spray takes of it. Very few mosquitos in Denali. But everyone was saying it was coldest summer in 20 years; usually lots of mos. in Denali even in August.