Trip Report to Alaska 6/17-6/27
Jun 29th, 2006 | 06:49 PM
#1
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Trip Report to Alaska 6/17-6/27
My 19 year old son and I spent a wonderful 10 days in Alaska. Although I looked at every tourbook I could find on Alaska, I found that the best advice came from the Fodors board. I’m going to post hotel reviews on TripAdvisor, so I won’t go into detail here but I liked all places we stayed.
Arrived in Alaska 8:30 pm and rented a car from USave. Although I looked repeatedly, they had by far the best rate I could find for a 10 day rental-$490 including taxes. We were somewhat limited by coming in late on a Saturday. We took a $10 taxi ride about a mile from the airport and USave dropped us back at the airport when we returned. Thus we avoided airport tax rate.
6/17-Spent the night at Lakeside B&B about 5 minutes south of the airport. Enjoyed a quick tour of the lake by paddleboat admiring the residents’ float planes. After seeing Anchorage and the motels by the airport. I was really glad that we opted for a quiet residential neighborhood for our first night.
6/18-Left early, drove through around Anchorage, up to Flattop Mt, (great viewpoint), Botanical Garden (not much there but I was surprised to see many of the same flowers I grow in my partial shade, NJ garden), and the Outdoor Market. The federal building on 4th street has some nice exhibits about the parks and wildlife, and also offers free tours. We spent a few hours at the Native Heritage Museum, did the 3 mile nature trail at Eagle River Nature Center, then drove to Independence Mine and hiked a few miles around Hatcher Pass. Unfortunately we got there too late for the indoor tour of the buildings. Got to our next lodging-Gigglewood B&B in Willow around 10pm. If I could do the day over, I’d skip other activities in favor of a hike at Flattop (which we didn’t have time for) and do the guided tour at the mine, as well as hiking at Hatcher Pass.
6/19-Had two brief, unclouded views of Denali as we drove to Talkeetna. Amazing how quickly the clouds move in and up. Summit flight over Denali with Talkeetna Aero-lots of fun and great pictures! One of the passengers on the flight had recently made a third failed attempt to reach the summit. On the way to the park, made all the recommended stops in vain to try to glimpse Mt. Denali again. Although it was a beautiful day, we couldn’t see any of the Alaska Range. As the consolation prize, we did get a closeup view of a porcupine. Got to Denali Lakeside Lodging around 5pm, then took the 6:30 naturalist walk to the base of Mt. Healy. Later that night, as I was starting to doze, my son yelled “Mom-there’s a moose in the lake!” We had fun watching from our window as a moose wandered in and out of the trees and then swam across the pond.
6/20-Took the 6:15 Wonder Lake bus tour. (Great coffee-Kaladi’s-at the wilderness tour center). Our bus driver, Tim, was very entertaining and discoursed on wildlife, park politics, etc. We had originally intended to hike on both days that we took the bus, but opted to stay with Tim on the first day because he was so interesting. The only time on the trip that we encountered many mosquitos was at Wonder Lake. Thank goodness we had headnets. It was amusing watching one woman who wore a headnet and capris-mosquitos feasted on her ankles. We saw a variety of wildlife, including a good view of a wolf which crossed behind our bus. Also saw brown bear, moose, caribou, dall sheep, fox from a distance. Thank goodness for binoculuars! What we didn’t see was Denali, despite gorgeous weather. After the bus tour, we walked to Horseshoe Lake. In the evening we drove back into the park to mile 9 hoping for a glimpse of Denali. After taking pictures and admiring the hares which were hopping all over, we turned around, and in the rearview mirror, I noticed that Denali was out. 100+ miles away, but out nevertheless.
6/21-Took the 7:30 bus to Fish Creek. Saw more of the Big 5 wildlife with a grizzly bear crossing in front of our bus today. Neither the weather nor drivers were as great today. We got off at Fish Creek to hike, thinking that we would be walking in fairly open space-a recommendation repeatedly made by rangers and bus drivers for avoiding “bear encounters”. We discovered that the brush was higher than we thought and the terrain was hillier, not allowing us to see bears (or more importantly for them to see us). After about an hour we decided that talking loudly so that the bears could hear us was not fun and we decided to hike the riverbed at Toklat. This was interesting for another hour or two but we didn’t really “go” anywhere and it started raining fairly hard. I couldn’t convince my son to try hiking at Polychrome in the rain. At the tour center enjoyed the movie, Across Time and Tundra about the early years of the park. Drove back into the park that night. Mountains very interesting in different lighting with clouds drifting in front of them.
6/22-Sled Dog Kennel talk was great-one of the highlights of our Denali experience. Includes opportunity to interact with the dogs and see mushing. Spent the afternoon driving to Girdwood. Stopped at each recommended pullout, including Potter’s Marsh where we first saw salmon swimming in the stream. I recommend getting a copy of the Seward Highway brochure of downloading information about each stop. Alaska does a great job of providing educational signs at pullouts throughout the state. Had the house pizza at Chair Five and then spent some time relaxing with the owners of Timberline B&B, sampling some of their freshly caught salmon. On their recommendation, took a quick walk to gorgeous Virgin Creek Falls at the end of Timberline Drive.
6/23-Hiked Winners Creek Trail in Girdwood. When I checked to see why a fallen tree was vigorously moving, I discovered a black bear about 75’ away (Much closer than the 300 yards recommended at Denali). We started yelling and it moved off. A short while later while we were standing on the hand tram platform, I spied another bear crossing the path in front of us. Unfortunately the tram was on the other side and we couldn’t back up. Fortunately, the bear wasn’t interested in us. Since I was weak kneed after these encounters my son had to coax me onto the tram. I’m afraid of heights and didn’t need another adrenaline rush. Once I opened my eyes, it was actually fun and the tram was quite steady. Took the Mt. Alyeska tram and watched paragliders taking off. Food in the in the cafeteria was terrible. Continued our drive to Seward, stopping at recommended turnouts. Stayed at Alaska Saltwater Lodge.
6/24-6 hour boat trip with Renown. Saw bald eagles, sea lions, a few puffins and a bit of calving at the glacier. Walked all three nature trails at Exit Glacier (gorgeous)-saw a hoary marmot.
6/25-Hiked to Russian River Falls. While I thought trail was pleasant, my son kept complaining that it was boring. He critiqued the falls as nothing special-until he saw the leaping salmon. What an amazing experience-one of the highlights of my trip! Drove to Homer and stayed at Ocean House Inn. Gorgeous location and nice host. Enjoyed sitting outside staring at the mountains. Walked around the boat harbor and shops at the spit.
6/26-Had planned to go to Katchemak Bay and hike/kayak but it was raining when we woke up. Instead spent several hours at Ocean and Islands visitor center seeing exhibits, walking on Bishop’s Beach and hearing the naturalist talk. Took a naturalist tour at Wynn Nature Center and visited the Pratt museum. The latter looks very small from the outside but had fascinating exhibits and friendly docents. One saw may son trying to don a survival suit in the allotted 30 seconds before a ship sank and spend quite a bit of time talking with us. It was a great opportunity to ask questions about Alaska.
6/27-Portage Glacier visitor center and boat ride. Initially I wasn’t sure if it would be worth the money having done a ride in the Kenai Fjords, but I wanted one more “Alaska” experience. It was great-we spent about 30 minutes sitting quite close to the glacier. We had the opportunity to taste glacier ice, see iceworms, etc.
In sum-I can’t imagine going to Alaska without going to Denali National Park, but I missed having formal hiking trails, waterfalls, and more lakes. Maybe I’d feel differently if I had seen Denali close up, but I much preferred Yosemite and the Canadian Rockies.
On the other hand, I hadn’t thought much about Homer-I picked it as a destination because it fit our route. Homer turned out to be the unexpected delight-a gorgeous location that I could easily have spent several more days at. I wish there had been time for a wildlife cruise, bearseeing at Katmai, hiking in Katchemak Bay State Park. I won’t return to the section of Alaska, but Homer made me decide that I might give another section of Alaska a try.
Arrived in Alaska 8:30 pm and rented a car from USave. Although I looked repeatedly, they had by far the best rate I could find for a 10 day rental-$490 including taxes. We were somewhat limited by coming in late on a Saturday. We took a $10 taxi ride about a mile from the airport and USave dropped us back at the airport when we returned. Thus we avoided airport tax rate.
6/17-Spent the night at Lakeside B&B about 5 minutes south of the airport. Enjoyed a quick tour of the lake by paddleboat admiring the residents’ float planes. After seeing Anchorage and the motels by the airport. I was really glad that we opted for a quiet residential neighborhood for our first night.
6/18-Left early, drove through around Anchorage, up to Flattop Mt, (great viewpoint), Botanical Garden (not much there but I was surprised to see many of the same flowers I grow in my partial shade, NJ garden), and the Outdoor Market. The federal building on 4th street has some nice exhibits about the parks and wildlife, and also offers free tours. We spent a few hours at the Native Heritage Museum, did the 3 mile nature trail at Eagle River Nature Center, then drove to Independence Mine and hiked a few miles around Hatcher Pass. Unfortunately we got there too late for the indoor tour of the buildings. Got to our next lodging-Gigglewood B&B in Willow around 10pm. If I could do the day over, I’d skip other activities in favor of a hike at Flattop (which we didn’t have time for) and do the guided tour at the mine, as well as hiking at Hatcher Pass.
6/19-Had two brief, unclouded views of Denali as we drove to Talkeetna. Amazing how quickly the clouds move in and up. Summit flight over Denali with Talkeetna Aero-lots of fun and great pictures! One of the passengers on the flight had recently made a third failed attempt to reach the summit. On the way to the park, made all the recommended stops in vain to try to glimpse Mt. Denali again. Although it was a beautiful day, we couldn’t see any of the Alaska Range. As the consolation prize, we did get a closeup view of a porcupine. Got to Denali Lakeside Lodging around 5pm, then took the 6:30 naturalist walk to the base of Mt. Healy. Later that night, as I was starting to doze, my son yelled “Mom-there’s a moose in the lake!” We had fun watching from our window as a moose wandered in and out of the trees and then swam across the pond.
6/20-Took the 6:15 Wonder Lake bus tour. (Great coffee-Kaladi’s-at the wilderness tour center). Our bus driver, Tim, was very entertaining and discoursed on wildlife, park politics, etc. We had originally intended to hike on both days that we took the bus, but opted to stay with Tim on the first day because he was so interesting. The only time on the trip that we encountered many mosquitos was at Wonder Lake. Thank goodness we had headnets. It was amusing watching one woman who wore a headnet and capris-mosquitos feasted on her ankles. We saw a variety of wildlife, including a good view of a wolf which crossed behind our bus. Also saw brown bear, moose, caribou, dall sheep, fox from a distance. Thank goodness for binoculuars! What we didn’t see was Denali, despite gorgeous weather. After the bus tour, we walked to Horseshoe Lake. In the evening we drove back into the park to mile 9 hoping for a glimpse of Denali. After taking pictures and admiring the hares which were hopping all over, we turned around, and in the rearview mirror, I noticed that Denali was out. 100+ miles away, but out nevertheless.
6/21-Took the 7:30 bus to Fish Creek. Saw more of the Big 5 wildlife with a grizzly bear crossing in front of our bus today. Neither the weather nor drivers were as great today. We got off at Fish Creek to hike, thinking that we would be walking in fairly open space-a recommendation repeatedly made by rangers and bus drivers for avoiding “bear encounters”. We discovered that the brush was higher than we thought and the terrain was hillier, not allowing us to see bears (or more importantly for them to see us). After about an hour we decided that talking loudly so that the bears could hear us was not fun and we decided to hike the riverbed at Toklat. This was interesting for another hour or two but we didn’t really “go” anywhere and it started raining fairly hard. I couldn’t convince my son to try hiking at Polychrome in the rain. At the tour center enjoyed the movie, Across Time and Tundra about the early years of the park. Drove back into the park that night. Mountains very interesting in different lighting with clouds drifting in front of them.
6/22-Sled Dog Kennel talk was great-one of the highlights of our Denali experience. Includes opportunity to interact with the dogs and see mushing. Spent the afternoon driving to Girdwood. Stopped at each recommended pullout, including Potter’s Marsh where we first saw salmon swimming in the stream. I recommend getting a copy of the Seward Highway brochure of downloading information about each stop. Alaska does a great job of providing educational signs at pullouts throughout the state. Had the house pizza at Chair Five and then spent some time relaxing with the owners of Timberline B&B, sampling some of their freshly caught salmon. On their recommendation, took a quick walk to gorgeous Virgin Creek Falls at the end of Timberline Drive.
6/23-Hiked Winners Creek Trail in Girdwood. When I checked to see why a fallen tree was vigorously moving, I discovered a black bear about 75’ away (Much closer than the 300 yards recommended at Denali). We started yelling and it moved off. A short while later while we were standing on the hand tram platform, I spied another bear crossing the path in front of us. Unfortunately the tram was on the other side and we couldn’t back up. Fortunately, the bear wasn’t interested in us. Since I was weak kneed after these encounters my son had to coax me onto the tram. I’m afraid of heights and didn’t need another adrenaline rush. Once I opened my eyes, it was actually fun and the tram was quite steady. Took the Mt. Alyeska tram and watched paragliders taking off. Food in the in the cafeteria was terrible. Continued our drive to Seward, stopping at recommended turnouts. Stayed at Alaska Saltwater Lodge.
6/24-6 hour boat trip with Renown. Saw bald eagles, sea lions, a few puffins and a bit of calving at the glacier. Walked all three nature trails at Exit Glacier (gorgeous)-saw a hoary marmot.
6/25-Hiked to Russian River Falls. While I thought trail was pleasant, my son kept complaining that it was boring. He critiqued the falls as nothing special-until he saw the leaping salmon. What an amazing experience-one of the highlights of my trip! Drove to Homer and stayed at Ocean House Inn. Gorgeous location and nice host. Enjoyed sitting outside staring at the mountains. Walked around the boat harbor and shops at the spit.
6/26-Had planned to go to Katchemak Bay and hike/kayak but it was raining when we woke up. Instead spent several hours at Ocean and Islands visitor center seeing exhibits, walking on Bishop’s Beach and hearing the naturalist talk. Took a naturalist tour at Wynn Nature Center and visited the Pratt museum. The latter looks very small from the outside but had fascinating exhibits and friendly docents. One saw may son trying to don a survival suit in the allotted 30 seconds before a ship sank and spend quite a bit of time talking with us. It was a great opportunity to ask questions about Alaska.
6/27-Portage Glacier visitor center and boat ride. Initially I wasn’t sure if it would be worth the money having done a ride in the Kenai Fjords, but I wanted one more “Alaska” experience. It was great-we spent about 30 minutes sitting quite close to the glacier. We had the opportunity to taste glacier ice, see iceworms, etc.
In sum-I can’t imagine going to Alaska without going to Denali National Park, but I missed having formal hiking trails, waterfalls, and more lakes. Maybe I’d feel differently if I had seen Denali close up, but I much preferred Yosemite and the Canadian Rockies.
On the other hand, I hadn’t thought much about Homer-I picked it as a destination because it fit our route. Homer turned out to be the unexpected delight-a gorgeous location that I could easily have spent several more days at. I wish there had been time for a wildlife cruise, bearseeing at Katmai, hiking in Katchemak Bay State Park. I won’t return to the section of Alaska, but Homer made me decide that I might give another section of Alaska a try.
Jul 11th, 2006 | 05:49 PM
#4
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 274
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Kevin-
Sorry, but neither of us can remember exactly. We had to hike an extra mile each way from the overflow parking lot because of the Salmon run. The hike was relatively flat and we spent quite a bit of time at the falls watching the salmon leap. I think we hiked about 5 miles and spent about 3 hours in total.
Sorry, but neither of us can remember exactly. We had to hike an extra mile each way from the overflow parking lot because of the Salmon run. The hike was relatively flat and we spent quite a bit of time at the falls watching the salmon leap. I think we hiked about 5 miles and spent about 3 hours in total.
Jul 13th, 2006 | 07:51 AM
#7
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 20
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Good idea. These are the rules right?:
1) Walk quietly so I can sneak up on the bear to get a good picture.
2) Have the kids approach the bear with food to appease the bear so we can get neat pictures of the kids with the bears
3) Encourage my kids to play with the bear cubs -they are just like teddy bears and the mother bear will appreciate the break from having to watch her children.
JUST KIDDING!!!!!
Bayougal: Thanks for the recommendation. I appreciate the reminder that we will be in bear country and need to act accordingly.
1) Walk quietly so I can sneak up on the bear to get a good picture.
2) Have the kids approach the bear with food to appease the bear so we can get neat pictures of the kids with the bears
3) Encourage my kids to play with the bear cubs -they are just like teddy bears and the mother bear will appreciate the break from having to watch her children.
JUST KIDDING!!!!!
Bayougal: Thanks for the recommendation. I appreciate the reminder that we will be in bear country and need to act accordingly.
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Jul 13th, 2006 | 09:39 AM
#8
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 8,296
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Actually, as I was reading 1 - 3, I was thinking that you had really done your homework!! ;-) Seriously, if you happen to see a gizzly with 2 cubs not far from the trail, your mind will race to remember everything you have ever heard or read. It is nice to see them from afar, but that close on some isolated trail in the wilderness with my child is not my idea of fun.
Enjoy your trip!
Enjoy your trip!
Jul 13th, 2006 | 10:04 AM
#9
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 28
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Hi Stillhouse - can you remember anything about the hike to Virgin Creek Falls? Was it a difficult hike? My traveling buddy is 60ish (or will actually turn 60 during our trip) and not into hiking - it would need to be a very easy trek for her to agree to go, but this sounds like something I would enjoy. Was it worth the effort or is there a close in area where we could drive and park that would get us closer?
Jul 14th, 2006 | 06:22 PM
#10
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Joined: Apr 2003
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Alaskafan21-
If your companion is not into hiking, Virgin Falls is perfect-it's 5 minutes from the end of Timberline Drive. The falls is not big, but we thought it was quite lovely and the walk is through a rainforest environment. If you are going to stop in Girdwood, it's well worth the short walk.
If your companion is not into hiking, Virgin Falls is perfect-it's 5 minutes from the end of Timberline Drive. The falls is not big, but we thought it was quite lovely and the walk is through a rainforest environment. If you are going to stop in Girdwood, it's well worth the short walk.
Jul 14th, 2006 | 07:23 PM
#11
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 28
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Great - thanks Stillhouse. Another question - as you have convinced me to change our lodgings to Ocean House Inn, how close is it to the Spit? We will have a car, so it's really not an issue, I'm just curious. I went on their website and it looks lovely - I'm really looking forward to this stop on our trip (except for the fact that it happens to be the end of our trip). Thanks again for the suggestion - the savings will pay for a full day of halibut fishing for me!
Jul 16th, 2006 | 05:52 PM
#12
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 274
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Alaskafan-
Ocean House Inn is close to the beginning of the spit. I believe it's 2-3 miles from the end. You could contact them for more precise information. This place salvaged the end of our trip. We had wonderful although varying accomodations in our first 8 days. As I mentioned previously, we were not scheduled to stay here. This was a wonderful ending to our trip.
Ocean House Inn is close to the beginning of the spit. I believe it's 2-3 miles from the end. You could contact them for more precise information. This place salvaged the end of our trip. We had wonderful although varying accomodations in our first 8 days. As I mentioned previously, we were not scheduled to stay here. This was a wonderful ending to our trip.
Jul 16th, 2006 | 07:12 PM
#15
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 7
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Thanks for your trip diary. I'm headed to that area the 1st of September. Now I'm REALLY excited.
Did you buy a toursaver coupon book to save a few bucks? I want to buy a used one. [email protected] if you have one to sell
Did you buy a toursaver coupon book to save a few bucks? I want to buy a used one. [email protected] if you have one to sell
Jul 17th, 2006 | 08:07 PM
#17
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 28
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Bayou Gal - I'm planning on posting a trip report the weekend I return. I'm hoping I have some exciting experiences to report. I've been to Denali twice and have had limited time in the park (land tours with Cruise both times). I'm hoping we're luckier this time and can actually see the Great One, even if briefly. A friend was in Denali a week after I was there a couple of years ago and he came back with pictures of the mountain that were so clear they almost look as though he posed in front of a backdrop. I couldn't believe his luck. When we were there (August 2004) the Alaska Range was totaling smoked in due to wildfires. Had I not previously been to Alaska (August 2001), I wouldn't have known the Alaska Range existed due to the smoke. That was disappointing, but even with all the smoke, Alaska is breathtaking. I haven't heard any reports of wildfires being an issue in Alaska this year.
I've also been doing some reading about Denali State Park and I understand there are some chances to see Denali at different points on that Park's road as well. Since we will be leaving Denali Nat'l Park and driving to Talkeetna to overnight, I'm thinking we might have time to explore that area and perhaps allow for a different perspective of the mountain. I wonder if anyone has any experience with the State Park? Does anyone know if this is something I could incorporate on the trip from Denali to Talkeetna? We'll be leaving the Park entrance sometime around lunchtime, I think. If memory serves me, our itinerary has us leaving Kantishna at approximately 6:15 a.m. and arriving at the Denali Cabins around noon - 12:30.
Again - thanks to everyone who has contributed. Nothing beats the experience of those who have been there, done that! Thirty-three days and counting...
I've also been doing some reading about Denali State Park and I understand there are some chances to see Denali at different points on that Park's road as well. Since we will be leaving Denali Nat'l Park and driving to Talkeetna to overnight, I'm thinking we might have time to explore that area and perhaps allow for a different perspective of the mountain. I wonder if anyone has any experience with the State Park? Does anyone know if this is something I could incorporate on the trip from Denali to Talkeetna? We'll be leaving the Park entrance sometime around lunchtime, I think. If memory serves me, our itinerary has us leaving Kantishna at approximately 6:15 a.m. and arriving at the Denali Cabins around noon - 12:30.
Again - thanks to everyone who has contributed. Nothing beats the experience of those who have been there, done that! Thirty-three days and counting...
Jul 18th, 2006 | 07:02 AM
#19
Joined: Jan 2005
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Bless you heart, alaskafan21! I am hoping and praying you get a clear day when you are at Denali. Don't worry about the state park, if Denali is out in all her glory, you'll see it well from the Parks highway once you get to around Wasilla (coming from Anchorage)and from many other points around that area. We saw it on the drive in and while in Talkeetna, but the next couple of days when we were in the NP, it was no longer visible. I'm living for the day I get to see it from the shuttle bus like all those folks with the fantastic photos!! 
