JC98

Has anyone heard or used "Two Dogs Truckin' & Transportation"?
http://home.gci.net/~twodogs/

The reason I'm interested in them is they're the only company I've found that offers transportation (via van) from Seward to Anchorage at mid-day (noon departure).

Let me know if they're professional and reliable.

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My cruise will get to Seward at 7 a.m. and I'd like to go to Exit Glacier and hike for a few hours. If Seward doesn't hold my interest too much, I'd like to take an early bus to Anchorage.

The other option is to wait til 6 p.m. and take the train but it arrives in Anchorage really late -- 10:30 p.m. It's probably past 11 p.m. by the time I get to the hotel. And we have an early morning start to Denali the next day.

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Car rental seems really expensive. $250 per day from hertz.

If you have some other suggestions on how to get to Anchorage from Seward, please advise.

BudgetQueen

Frankly, in Seward you are missing the highlight of touring- Kenai Fjords boat trips. My top tour recommendation there. And Exit glacier isn't a "few hours hiking". It's either 30 minutes or 6 hours to the Harding ice field. There isn't anything except woods if you go past the 30 minutes to the lower glacier viewing.

Even though the train does get into Anchorage after 10pm, it is the best option in my opinion. How are you getting to Denali Park??? If driving, you can EASILY leave around 10am and make it there in plenty of time with stops along the way. Choose a downtown hotel that has depot and airport shuttles, then easy to transfer between the three.

tcapp

I would strongly suggest you rent a car. It's really the only way to go in Alaska, and you will be so glad you spent the extra money.

JC98

Thanks for your replies.

We'll rent a car in Anchorage and drive to Denali the next day.

We'll be staying at the Sheraton in Anchorage and they don't seem to provide any shuttle to and from the train depot or the airport. Seems pretty lousy service to me.

BQ, I know you've insisted on the Kenai Fjord Tour, but spending another 6 hours on a boat after a week of cruising doesn't sound too appealing to me at this point. I'll be seeing Glacier Bay, College Fjord, and planning to kayak near Mendenhall Glacier too.

tcapp

You may already realize that you can't actually drive into Denali. There are shuttle busses you must take inside the park. Have a good time on your trip.

BudgetQueen

I am certainly not "insisting", but I have traveled there enough to know that it is a top tour.

And I will continue to post- it is NO comparism to anything from your cruise ship.

Go with what your touring priorities are.

Actually MOST hotels in Anchorage do not provide downtown/airport shuttles. Budget about $25+++

lyntom

Budgetqueen: Is the hike to the Harding Ice Fields 6 hrs. one way or round trip? I thought that would be a good hike for us, but 12 hrs.--I may have to reconsider. I am hoping to hike Root Glacier in Wrangell-St. Elias. Is Exit Glacier comparable to that, better, not as good?

amwosu

I was just looking at one way day rentals for cars between Seward and Anchorage (looking each way on different days) and came up with $95-139 depending on car size and company. I was looking for early July....

JC98

lyntom, we just got back from Alaska. If you want to do ice trekking in Seward, you may want to go with Exit Glacier Guided Tour. It's a small outfitter in a trailer right opposite of the train depot.

The total trip is 5 hours and costs $120. They provide ice picks and tools. We also went with them but wimped out. The young guys who led the trek said we should be able to handle it and when we asked who else is going that day, they said 9 navy guys who are stationed in town. Urghh, it might turn out to be a boot camp trying to keep pace w/ these navy guys.

We took the shuttle bus w/ this company to Exit Glacier and hiked about on our own. It costs $9 roundtrip per person. It's a great deal, compared to a taxi which costs $50. They come back to Exit Glacier every hour or whenever you want them to come back.

JC98

Sorry for the typos in the previous post.

We "almost" (not also) went on the ice trekking tour but wimped out.

lyntom

Thanks, JC98. We really would like to make that hike, but it does sound rather tough. I appreciate your telling me of your experience.

Is there anything you did that you absolutely loved and would do again? Is there anything that wasn't so hot and you would not do again?

Thanks.

Lynda

JC98

lyntom, let me know what stops you have on your cruise and elsewhere, and perhaps I could share with you what we just experienced. This was our first trip to AK, so our knowledge would be very limited. We did all the shore excursions on our own and we went to Anchorage and Denali on our own too.

There are also a lot more knowledgeable people on this forum that had provided very useful to our trip planning.