My wife an I are planning to rent an rv in Anchorage for 2 weeks in 2008. We,plan to visit Denali, Seward,and Homer, and maybe Valdez. We are primarily interested in seeing wildlife, hiking, and some kayaking. We might also pay to do a bear viewing side trip, and we'll be doing a 9 hour glacier/wildlife boat trip out of Seward. To keep costs down, I'm looking at either late June-early July, or late August-early September. Any recommendations on the best times to go would be greatly appreciated. thanks

I would go in August/September for lower incidence of bugs and smaller crowds, although no guarantees on either.

Do look at the total cost/day when considering an RV vs. car + hotel/motels. I think you might be surprised.

I would also opt for the later visit for the same reasons Gardyloo mentioned. I have not made the fly-in bear visits you want to do but from the bear experience I have in Alaska, I think they are more likely to be congregated for the salmon during the later period as well.

Late June, early July is the peak tourist season - not a "cheaper" time to visit. Weather is beautiful normally at that time but unless you really shop around you won't find too many "discounts". Late May and early Sept are the "off season" periods that often offer reduced prices. An RV is great and mobile but I agree - research the prices before you commit. Although even if you stayed in a hotel you'd still have to rent a car to get around and that's not cheap. RV would also allow you to prepare meals and snacks, reducing the costs of eating out which can really add up!

We went the Friday before Memorial Day weekend. The crowds were basically non-existant and all the places we wanted to go were open. We saved some on lodging, too. The only thing our timing was bad for was a bear viewing trip, but didn't plan to do that anyway.

We had wonderful weather, were fortunate to see Denali in all her glory, took a summit flightseeing trip, a humpback whale breached beside our NW Kenai Fjords boat trip, and we kayaked in Valdez. No, that's not typical, but it's what we experienced going late May and early June. We saw quite a bit of snow still on the mountains, which might be something you want to consider. The locals told us it basically disappears later in the summer (with the exception of glaciers of course). The wildflowers were just starting to bloom when we left, so that might be something you want to consider, too.

whoops I meant to post "late may-early june" Thanks for the quick replies.

Since we booked based on events and didn't compare costs for an earlier trip, my favorite time has been late june-early july (flew home on July 6). The wildflowers were blooming, the salmon started running in the Russian River late June. We were able to enjoy both the Girdwood Forest Fair and Kenai's 4th of July. On Father's Day weekend also visited the Quilted Show (Quilting on the Kenai) but missed plow-up day in Wasilla in favor of another event in Palmer. The weather was great and no problems with bugs since we weren't camping (relatives camped in Palmer and said mosquitoes were horrible). The only place that was crowded was Talkeetna so we weren't able to get a hotel room. It was a Monday night and I didn't think we would have any trouble getting a room without reservations. Otherwise we had reservations for weekends including a package trip to Seldovia/boat ride over -flightsee back and overnight at the Boardwalk hotel. When we hiked thru areas that looked like they might have berries in August, I wondered if hiking in late June was a better time. The 9 hour Kenai Fjords trip was fantastic, we lucked out on a perfectly calm day. The orcas were beautiful.

I was in Anchorage and Seward in late May in the 90's. Still cool, though no mosquitos yet. Highs in mid to upper 50's and lows in upper 30's. Partly cloudy and I think we had light rain one day.

We went in late June/early July the time we went. The day length was very long which gave us lots of time to see things. You might check the difference between then and the late August/early September time period.

A couple of years ago, when I was planned a different trip, I used day length as a deciding factor.

Debbie

I did some googling. I used 60 degrees latitude since it was one of the choices that on the chart that I found. (Anchorage is actually 61.218 and Denali is 63.)

On June 16, the daylength is 18.43 hours.
On July 1, it is 18.38 hours.

On Aug. 16, it is 15.36 hours.
On Sept. 1, it is 13.91 hours.

Debbie

I just reread your note and noticed the difference in time periods.

That makes a less dramatic, but still meaningful, difference in daylengths.

For 60 degrees latitude.

On May 16, the daylength is 16.81 hours.
On June 1, it is 17.88 hours.

On Aug. 16, it is 15.36 hours.
On Sept. 1, it is 13.91 hours.

Debbie

Good point, Debbie. We stayed in a cabin with a view of Mt McKinley/Denali around the longest day (summer solstice). My husband took some video of the mountain at 1 in the morning. It was dusky but still very visible. We tended to stay up later with all the extra daylight.

was there for the summer soltice a few years ago. we were lucky that it was a late spring so the bugs were non existant except in one riverside hike north of
fairbanks.

none in denali, and we saw the mountain everyday! since it was basically light all the time, no northern lights! Sept. is the time for that

We've visited Denali and Katmai several times in late August - early Sept as this is probably the best time to combine wildlife viewing and photography with great scenery. In Denali the tundra typically turns from green to a hundred shades of red and orange the last week in August (most years), the antlered game animals like moose and caribou are starting to shed their velvet and begin the rut and so are much easier to see, and the grizzly bears are often pigging out on blueberries to fatten up for winter, so are also easier to view. Twice we've seen 18 grizzlies in one day and have photographed wolf kills several times from the park roads in September.

At Katmai the brown bears are usually congregated around Brooks Falls (easy to reach via a day trip or, better, take a three day trip and stay at a cabin at the lodge) and you will typically see many bears at very close range from the viewing platforms or even just walking past the cabins.

And no bugs!

Bill

We rented an RV a couple of years ago for three weeks and did essentially what you are planning. We were there in late August, early September and the weather was fine, we never saw a mosquito, although we had been warned about them.

We did go to Valdez and while the drive there was absolutely beautiful it was a long drive there and back and I would not do it again.

loves_labs - Are you renting the RV to try to keep costs down? It seems like we looked into that before our trip and decided that it would be cheaper for us just to stay in motels.

Another thought - a cousin rented an RV a year or two ago. He said it was cheaper for them to buy sleeping bags etc and then donate them afterwards than to rent them from the RV place. Of course, you could bring along your own.

Debbie

We did our RV trip about four years ago. At that time we figured the costs of renting a car, stayin in motels and restaurant costs, and we came out pretty close to the cost of renting a car, finding motels, and eating every meal out.

In addition we weren't limited to sleeping in places where the motels were available. There are a lot of state parks, etc. In Alaska. We wouldn't have done it any other way. The flexibility was wonderful.

I'm sort of cooling to the idea of renting an rv, especially after looking into b&bs. Thanks for all the replies. I guess I'm leaning towads late august-early sept....really want to see bears.

Early June in Anchorage was a nice time. Tourism had just started. It was just beginning to get warmer and there was 24 hours of light. The sun went down for an hour or two, but it never got dark. Walking around downtown Anchorage at 02:00 AM was an experience.

Rent a small plane and have them fly you around the mountains. They fly real close. If you are lucky, they'll land on a lake so you can get out and walk around in the wilderness.

Rent some time on RV's. Make sure you have a guide too. They are licensed to bring guns -- just in case. Do the 3 hour trip. If you are not used to RV's, your wrists and arms will be very sore after 3 hours.

If you have hotel bonus points, you might want to invest them there. Hotels are very expensive ($200+ per night). We spent a week at a Homewood Suites for free. It was well worth it. That hotel chain has full kitchens. We were able to buy fresh native fish and cook them in our room. It was great!

Hope this helps!

When we did the Denali tour, I was kind of disappointed at the amount of wildlife that we saw. We saw three bears at a distance, a wolf which was evidently a big deal, and then the more common moose and the like.

Debbie