Trip report: Alaska August - Sept, 2006
 

I messed up and posted my long Alaska trip report under the general category. So, here is the link: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...amp;dirtyBit=1

or you can find it under my screen name: georgel.

I decided to save you the trouble, and I am simply copying the posts to the Alaska forum:
For pictures from our trip you can go to my blog http://spareshare.blogspot.com/ , which contains only these pictures.

The following is a detailed description of our 19.5 day trip to Southeast and Southwest Alaska. Before beginning, I want to thank, from the bottom of my heart, all of the contributors to this forum, without whom, our trip would not have been half as successful. Your advice was priceless. In addition, I want to recommend highly to anyone traveling in Alaska by car or RV the absolutely peerless Milepost.

Our trip began on August 24th with a long long flight from Israel to Alaska, via Newark and Seattle. We landed in Juneau at around 3:00pm, and were met at the airport by MaryAnn, the proprietress of the nicest Bed and Breakfast of our trip. This was the only reservation we made in advance, and it was a real winner. The Bed and Breakfast (Mariah’s B&B – [email protected]) is in a lovely neighborhood about 20 minutes drive from Juneau, 10 minutes from the airport and very near Mendenhal Glacier. Our host family was absolutely wonderful. They took us shopping for rain gear our first evening there and helped us with reservations for a glacier cruise and whale watching. And one of the very best parts of our stay with them were the incredible breakfasts prepared by Sloan, a professional cook and baker, who made fresh, home baked bread every day along with at least one other specialty (He makes absolutely the world’s very best cinnamon rolls. I am a lover of cinnamon rolls, and when I tell you his are the best I have ever eaten, you can believe me.).
After our shopping trip at Fred Meyer’s, MaryAnn drove us to Juneau and left us there. We walked around the city center and enjoyed all of the nice shops. Then we had dinner at “The Hangar” on the wharf, where we thought the food was quite good and the atmosphere pleasant. From there we took a bus back to a little grocery store near our B&B and were picked up from there. The few bus rides we did take in the Juneau area were an experience in themselves, since we met and chatted with locals who tend to be a colorful lot.

August 25th:
This morning began with a drive into the center again and a walk over to the tourist information center at the convention center. They helped us plan our day which consisted of a lovely organ concert at the State Office Building followed by a bus ride to Mendenhal Valley to Glacier Gardens, a private botanical garden. We toured the gardens in a light drizzle aboard a golf cart with a guide who explained how the place came to be and much of the vegetation we were seeing. It was my first taste of a temperate rain forest and it was gorgeous. We also saw Sitka black tailed deer. The tour took about an hour and was wonderful.
Following the tour we took a bus back into the center and walked over to the Mt. Roberts tram. Unfortunately, the weather was moving from light drizzle to heavy fog, but this was the day we had set aside for the tram, so we took it anyway. As we rose above the city we managed to glimpse a little of the beautiful scenery spreading below us before the fog rolled in entirely and covered it all like a blanket. We spent a couple of hours hiking along one of the trails at the top, which despite the fog, was quite lovely. We took the tram back down and walked over to the A&P food market and bought the makings for sandwiches for our cruise the next day.
August 26th:
We took a whole day cruise with “Adventure Bound” to Tracy Arm Fiords to see the Sawyer glaciers. ($110). The boat ride out to the fiords was beautiful, the weather being clear and the surroundings breathtaking. We got relatively close to the glaciers because the boat had the capability of pushing through the brash ice. We saw and heard calving and also lots of sea lions lazing on the drifting ice.
At 6:00pm MaryAnn picked us up at the Adventure Bound office and we returned to the B&B, where a dinner of Salmon and Moose burgers with cheese awaited us, and home made apple pie for desert.

August 27th:
After a delicious breakfast of German pancakes, fruit salad and good coffee our hosts joined us on a hike out at the Mendenhal glacier. The hike we chose was a 2 hour one through a rain forest and up to the visitor’s center that stands across a body of glacial melt from the glacier face. The rain forest was lovely with waterfalls, lots of different types of mushrooms and loads of lush green lichens and muskeg.
At 3:30 that afternoon we took a whale watching cruise. The weather was drizzly and grey, but we saw plenty of hump back whales and some sea lions lazing on buoys as if the sun was out and they were sun bathing. (We learned that these whales are called hump backs because of the way in which they surface to breathe where only the upward curve of their backs show. After two or three surfacings like that they plunge deeper and up comes their lovely tail, as if to wave goodbye.
August 28th:
We started our day with a hike in the forest along the channel near our B&B. The hike took us to tide lands where the high and low tides cause up to 16 feet difference in the sea level. There were millions of shells and rivulets of water running into the sea. Luckily we all had waterproof hiking boots so we could wade safely across them and enjoy our hike. We saw a beautiful totem pole that had been erected in 1947 in honor of a Tlingit community that had once existed in the area.
Upon our return to the B&B we prepared for another benefit of our wonderful B&B - Sloan, in addition to being an amazing baker, is also a white water rafting guide. On this day he graciously offered to take us on a ride down the rapids of the Mendenhal River. We began with a leisurely ride across the Mendenhal lake where we got to bump into a lovely ice berg and touch it and get dripped on by its melting overhang. Then we were off down the river. I learned two important things about white water rafting on this day: 1. Glacial melt water is VERY cold and 2. Don’t sit in the front of the raft if you don’t like cold showers. The rapids were a blast and once past them we even stopped along the way to take a short hike in the forest to see a native carving in a tree of two salmon that commemorates the Tlingit and the salmon runs.
For dinner that night we took our host family out to their favorite Juneau eatery, Seong’s, a Korean owned Sushi bar and oriental restaurant. The place is small and crowded and the food is wonderful.
August 29th:
We took the 8:00am ferry to Skagway (the fast one – Fairweather). We were surprised at the beauty and comfort of the Fairweather and totally enjoyed the ride there. Upon arriving we began our search for a place to stay and a car to rent. To our dismay there were no rental cars available (the only real disappointment on our entire trip – we should have arranged this in advance). Finding a place to stay was also a bit nerve wracking after not finding a car, but in the end we found rooms at Sergeant Preston’s Lodge (Minimalist accommodations, but clean and unlimited tea and coffee in the homey lobby). On this day we walked till we dropped. We started out on one side of Skagway and walked along the White Pass railroad tracks to the Gold Rush Cemetery and from there on to Lower Reid Falls, which were very pretty. We continued walking back towards the center just till we reached the Skagway River Bridge. We crossed the bridge and continued up to the Dyea Road. We took a right on the Dyea road and walked towards the Ferry dock. Along the way is a wonderful observation point where you can see Skagway and the port below. For dinner we went the “The Fish Shop” at the port. The meal was enjoyable.

August 30th:
Today we tried our luck again at Avis, and lady luck smiled on us. Someone had cancelled their order for a car and so, it was ours! Unfortunately, it was a bigger car than we had wanted (a Toyota Van that cost us $170 including taxes and insurance for 24 hours, but worth every penny). After shopping for sandwich makings we headed north for the White Pass. When we arrived at the pass itself, it was shrouded in clouds, so we didn’t dally, but headed on towards Carcross. The drive was absolutely exquisite. We were four people in the car and given that each person demanded that we stop for photos an average of once in a half hour, we found ourselves driving in fits and starts with stops along the way to gaze at the beauty of the tundra and glacial ponds and lakes and take endless pictures. We continued to enjoy the dwarf trees of the tundra on both sides of the South Klondike Highway until around 11:30am when we stopped alongside a lovely lake to eat a light breakfast.
At Carcross we visited to old general store and the visitor’s center. At this point I would like to add that so far every visitor’s center we visited was manned by very friendly, helpful and usually older people. Alaskans seem to be the nicest, friendliest people I have met in the USA.
From Carcross we drove a little further north to the world’s smallest dessert and to Emerald Lake. We continued for about another 20 minutes past Emerald Lake and then decided to turn around and head back to Skagway. Once back in Skagway we drove to the old Dyea Road all the way to its end. Along the estuary that the road follows we saw eagles, sea lions and finally and most excitingly a hungry brown bear fishing for salmon, of which there were plenty. A great day.
August 31st:
On this day we took a hike around Lower Dewey Lake before heading back to Juneau on the ferry. Luckily we had left ourselves several hours because the hike turned out to be somewhat longer than we had anticipated. It took us about 3 hours total, but was very enjoyable despite the drizzle that accompanied us much of the way.
September 1st:
On this day we flew out of Juneau to Anchorage where we were going to meet my daughter and her boyfriend who have been living in Alaska for half a year. We picked up our rental car from the airport and drove into Anchorage where we spent the morning walking around the city center and also took a walk along part of the Tony Knowles trail.
We had planned to meet my daughter at a shopping center in the afternoon, so we headed out to Diamond Road. At an excellent Thai restaurant on Diamond and King (sorry I don’t remember the name) we had very delicious Thai food (watch out if you don’t like very spicy – order it non spicy). After a late lunch we drove to Talkeetna.
In Talkeetna we slept in the only place on our entire trip that I felt was a real disappointment – Lattitude 62 at mile 13.9 on the Talkeetna spur road. My daughter and her boyfriend stayed at a nearby campground that was much nicer than our $73 room.
September 2nd:
After a short walk around Talkeetna (it doesn’t take long) and a picnic breakfast we headed out to Denali National Park. When we reached the area near Denali we began our search for rooms. It took us longer than we had anticipated to find something nice (about 2 hours), but we ended up at a lovely lodge called the Perch, where two couples each took a cute little wood cabin and the youngsters camped out near by.
Once our suitcases were stowed we drove to the Denali Outdoor Center (DOC) where we were outfitted from head to foot in dry suits and helmets for our second white water experience on the Nenana River. ($63/person). This time I kept my mouth shut and quickly grabbed the seat closest to the guide in the back. The rapids were more exciting than they had been on Mendenhal River and the ride was longer. It was absolutely fantastic.
Dinner that night was at the Perch restaurant – a real delight and lovely surroundings.

September 3rd:
At 7:00 we had breakfast at the Perch, the only small disappointment with the otherwise wonderful lodgings. The continental breakfast was pretty bad, but who cares about food on such a wonderful holiday.
By 8:00 we were in line for tickets on the Denali Park shuttle bus. For all of you yet to visit Denali I would like to suggest that if you are not the camping out sort who can spend a night or two camping in the park, be sure to take the Park bus into the park. But, do not make our mistake and take it for the 11 or 13 hour trip. That is way too much and leaves you no time to get off the bus and hike around and then get on to a later bus. I would suggest a maximum trip of 8 hours or less – just enough to get you out to where you can see Mt. McKinley (Mt. Denali) on a clear day. Then get off the bus and walk around in this wonderful park.
We didn’t realize what we were getting into, and we thought that we just had to see Wonder Lake. It is a gorgeous lake, but by the time we got out there we realized that it would be too late to stay and hike around for a few hours. We wouldn’t be able to get all the way back to the Park entrance. Of course you do get to get off the bus for short breaks, but they are no where near long enough. For those with time for a couple of full days at the park this isn’t a problem, but we had time for only one full day. We still enjoyed it, but our feet were itching.
By the way, our bus tour guide/driver, a woman named Susan Carpender, was terrific. We really enjoyed her.
We got back to our lodgings too late for dinner there again so we had to make do with sandwiches. After our late dinner we walked outside (11:00pm) and saw our only sighting of the Aurora Borealis – huge, moving green streaks of light across the sky.
September 4th:
We began our drive to Valdez, one of the prettiest roads in Alaska. We drove only as far as Copper Center because we stopped so frequently along the way for viewing and picnicking and picture taking. There was nothing to see in Copper Center and the available lodgings were ridiculously expensive for the musty rooms in the 100 year old dump they called the Copper Center Lodge. ($125/double room and $145/room with 2 double beds and no floor space between them).
Luckily the weather was great on our drive and our picnic at a state recreation area was a huge success. We barbequed some excellent steaks and ate them on a river bank. Once in Copper Center we stretched our legs with a leisurely walk for an hour or so and then went to bed. Not much to do there at night.
September 5th:
We continued our drive to Valdez, which continued to be gorgeous with waterfalls and inland glaciers and magical multicolored mountains gracing the way. We reached Valdez at around 11:00am and drove over to Stan Stephens Glacier and Wildlife Cruises, the only ones still open for glacier cruises this time of year. The cruise we took out to Columbia Glacier was 6.5 hours and we only got to within 10 miles of the glacier. After our wonderful Tracy Arm cruise near Juneau, this just wasn’t up to snuff, but we still enjoyed ourselves. The best part of the cruise was the large group of sea otters we passed floating happily on their backs. I hear they are vicious biters with those sharp teeth they use for cracking crab and oyster shells, but they look so adorable and cute that it is hard to believe. We also saw a fishing boat pulling in a net full of salmon in the port.
At night we stayed at the lovely Aspen Hotel. The accommodations were a pleasure. Dinner was at the Totem, expensive and only mediocre food.

September 6th:
After a very nice continental breakfast at the Aspen in Valdez we headed to the Valdez airport where the only open museum in the city (after Labor day many businesses and tourist attractions are closed) had a lovely display of stuffed wildlife and native artifacts. We enjoyed our visit there.
We drove back along the same road we had come on, and enjoyed it enormously the second time round. We were headed for Palmer where we stayed at a wonderful B&B over night (River Crest Manor). On our way to Palmer we saw tens of hunters and hunting vehicles all out for moose. We had yet to see a moose of our own, so we stopped along the way and took an undefined trail into the country side. The fields were multicolored and absolutely beautiful, so we walked for two hours. Due to the rain the trail was crisscrossed with streams and we found ourselves walking in water past the soles of our shoes, but our excellent hiking boots held up and we had a great time – but saw no moose.
Once in Palmer, it was quite late but we were hungry, so we asked our hosts where we could get a decent meal. They sent us to a 24 hour café, the name of which I have since forgotten. It was the dirtiest place I have ever eaten in – the floor was carpeted, but strewn with filth. But the service was great and so was the food.

September 7th:
Our host at the River Crest Manor was a very pleasant fellow who sat with us during our very satisfying continental breakfast and told us about life in Alaska as he and his family have experienced it. We really enjoyed the food and the conversation.
Following breakfast we drove to Girdwood. In Girdwood we took our longest hike of the vacation. It was not planned that way, but we got lost on the way back. No matter, we still had plenty of daylight and we made it back to our cars exhausted but happy. Our hike was through a very mucky rain forest to a river that ran through a gorge that was crossed with a hand pulled tram. Only two people could fit in the tram at a time (they actually gave a weight limit, so we were all figuring out our weight in pounds and deciding who should ride with whom. It took 3 crossings to get all 6 of us over the gorge.) It was a little scary pushing off, but we really got a kick out of pulling ourselves across the gorge high above the roaring river. It was a beautiful hike, and when we reached its end, we simply made the wrong turn on a country road and ended up walking in a very wide circle around Girdwood.
That night we wanted to celebrate a birthday of one of our crowd, so we decided to try a restaurant that has an excellent reputation in Alaska called the Double Musky. It is a place with great ambiance, high prices and the crowd to get in was impressive (they do not take reservations), but the food was pretentious and very unimpressive. We do not recommend that anyone waste their time or money there.
Following dinner we drove to Cooper’s Landing where we stayed in a satisfactory little lodge called the Hutch. The rooms were small but adequate and the continental breakfasts were excellent with a wide selection, although served in a niche the size of a pantry which was not adequate at all, so guests had to wait outside for their turn.
September 8th:
On this day we split up with half of us doing some hiking in the area and the other half taking a horseback ride up a mountain to a wonderful view of the river. The ground was very wet and the horses were slipping and sliding, which gave us a start at the outset, but after a while we saw that no one was falling so we just hung on and enjoyed. In the afternoon we looked for a good spot to do some fishing for an hour and then took another hike in the area in search of bears. Since it was getting dark we decided to head back before we found any.

September 9th:
This morning we headed out to Seward right after breakfast. The drive along the Kenai Lake and river is lovely. Once we were near Seward we also enjoyed the coastal drive. Our first stop was at the Sea Life Center there where we took the behind the scenes tour. It was not all that interesting, so I don’t recommend it. The center itself is lovely and fascinating. I particularly loved the opportunity to touch all sorts of sea life such as sea cucumbers and star fish. I also could not pull myself away from the sea bird exhibit where you could watch puffins and herons dive down into a two story tank of water to feed from the bottom. Wonderful. I highly recommend a visit to the center!!
In the afternoon we drove out to Exit Glacier, just outside of Seward, and took a hike out to the glacier face. It is interesting, and a bit sad, to walk towards the glacier and see the signs showing where the glacier had reached in years gone by. We reached the furthest point designated for seeing the glacier and there were still several hundred meters from us to the glacier. Visitors are asked not to proceed beyond this point, however, everyone who had walked out that far continued on to the glacier itself. We chose to climb up a hill and view the glacier from above. Quite impressive.
Dinner was at The Salmon Bake which is on the road leading out to Exit Glacier. It was the last night before they close for the winter, lucky us. We had hamburgers and halibut with chips – very yummy.
Our first night in Seward was spent at the The Seward Hotel, because we couldn’t get a room at the Holiday Inn until the next day. The rooms we got were in the old section and therefore inexpensive, but musty. It was ok for one night at $69 for a double room without breakfast. (Our last two nights were spent in absolute splendor at the Holiday Inn where the rooms are large, clean, modern and comfortable and there is free internet and a lovely breakfast.)
September 10th:
We started the day with a brief stroll on the beach until everyone was ready to go. Once all six of us were ready we headed out to Tonsina. We hiked on a very wet trail out to Tonsina point. The trail was so wet that much of the time we felt we were walking in a shallow stream rather than on a trail, however, it was not too slippery and we really enjoyed the walk. When we reached the end of the trail we saw that we had come to the area where the river empties into the bay. The river was full of salmon, some of them already dead others searching for the right spot to spawn. For a brief few moments we spotted a black bear that had come down to grab a meal.
In the afternoon we rented a motor boat and took a two hour ride around Resurrection Bay (the last 20 minutes in the rain). We loved it.

September 11th:
We took a drive out towards Moose Pass, just past the hatchery on the right side of the road is a designated hiking trail around a lovely lake. We couldn’t find the name of the lake, but we spent about 3 hours hiking approximately half way around it and back. There were lots of signs that bears had been on the trail very recently, but we didn’t meet up with any.
On the way back to Seward we stopped in at the home of an Iditerod racer who raises Alaskan huskies. She is an acquaintance of my daughter’s so we took the opportunity to see the dogs and hear a little about how the race is run and the difficulties.
The day was finished off with a fantastic cookout at the foot of Mount Marathon.
September 12th:
Sorrowfully, our last full day in Alaska.
We drove in two cars to Portage where one couple took the Portage Glacier cruise on Portage Lake. They said it was lovely.
The rest of us, who can never get enough of wild life, drove to the nearby animal refuge across the highway at the Portage Glacier cutoff. We saw loads of animals and enjoyed it very much, despite the fact that they were all behind fences and not exactly wild.
From there we said goodbye to our Alaskan kids, who returned to Seward (they have since moved to Anchorage) and we drove to Anchorage. On reaching Anchorage we all expressed a sadness at not having seen a single moose our entire vacation. It was suggested that we head for a park that borders the Anchorage airport, since moose are often spotted in that area. The park was lovely and we walked along its many trails for a couple of hours until it got dusky, which is exactly when we finally saw a moose – a big female lazily munching away in the brush. She seemed totally unconcerned when we approached to take pictures with her. Unfortunately, it was so dark by that time that the pictures didn’t come out well.
I wish we had had another 3 weeks.

thanks so much--brought back memories of my recent rip.

Sorry to read you didn't like the Double Musky, since I am among several folks here who recommend it. It's the first bad review I've ever seen of it. It was just named Anchorage's top place in the newspaper dining poll.

http://www.adn.com/play/dining/guide...-8186690c.html

I've never had a bad meal in dozens of trips -- although it's hard to order anything other than the blackened red salmon or the pepper-crusted steak. The prices have jumped.

I'm guessing (and hoping) you of caught them on an off-night ... which is no fun when you also have to deal with high prices and long waits.

Sounds like a great trip all in all, however. It's great to hear of folks having a good time in less than ideal weather. Glad you didn't go totally mooseless.

BTW, the Seward Hotel was even musty 20 years ago ... :)

Sounds like a fabulous trip. Thanks for sharing. Your comments about the Denali shuttle bus are interesting. We're planning to spend one full day and probably a half day exploring Denali late next Aug. Figured one day would be spent on the bus, starting no later than 7:30am. We'd also like to do a moderate, scenic hike at some point. If you don't go all the way to Wonder Lake, do you miss much wildlife or scenery and are there nice trails near the bus stops prior to the Wonder Lake stop?

Actually, Denali is not a place of trails as far as I know. You need a good map and the ability to read it in order to do any serious hiking there. But, if you get off the buss, you can hike in the areas that are within sight of the road and still get a feel for being out in the open. Wildlife is spread at random throughout the park. On our 11 hour ride we actually saw most of our wildlife in the first and last couple of hours, that is, nearer to the entrance than to Wonder Lake.

Regarding the Double Musky, I think I should have been clearer regarding what we didn't care for. The steaks that some of our party ordered were tender and would have been great were they not smothered in a sauce that we felt did not enhance their flavor. The stuffed mushrooms were expensive and unimpressive. In short, it is not that the food was bad - it just was not worth the very expensive prices.
In comparison, the Thai restaurant that we ate at in Anchorage near King and Diamond was moderately priced and simply superb in taste. I guess that we are people that appreciate value for the price. But, once again, it is all a matter of taste, and I was just reporting mine.

Wow, goergel! As a Juneau resident I have to compliment your travel style. You saw a lot most tourists don't even have a clue exists, let alone visit. Seong's IS the best place for Sushi IMO in Juneau. The only other site I would have visited would be St. Theresa's shrine "out the road". Did you see the film on the naive culture presented in the center at the top of Mount Roberts? I find it very well done, myself.

Thanks for the report!

Sorry...that should read NATIVE culture, not naive!

I loved the review of your trip - took some notes. We are going for 3 wks. at the end of July 2007...Homer, Seward and Denali...

When taking the bus trip in Denali, youi see wildlife where the wildlife are. They are on their own as to where and when they will be. We saw most of our grizzly bears quite near Wonder lake the day we went. I felt that going all the way to Wonder lake was a great trip, but the mountain was out all day with no clouds in the sky at all until late afternoon. I have seen lots of mountains in my travels and the word "Denali" was sort of ho-hum to me until I saw the mountain. Now I really realize why the natives call it "the high one". In most mountain ranges, the difference between the highest and the second highest is measured in a few hundred feet. Denali is so different!

I've been back into Denali one time and stayed there. BUT, if we do the school bus for a one-day trip, what is the length of that trip? Do they all offer lunch down in Kantishna?