MarleneSusan

We have been to Alaska once before and this was our trip the first time. We stayed in Anchorage the first 2 nights where we biked the Tony Knowles trail (husband loved it, some of the hills were a little too scary for me) and did a local hike in the Chugach Mts. Then we went to Seward (beautiful trip down) and did the Kenai Fjords trip where 3 out of 6 of us got seasick, kayaked in Resurrection Bay (loved it), ate at Ray's (loved it), walked around Exit Glacier (liked it). Then went to Russian River and saw the salmon jumping upriver. Incredible. Then spent 2 nights at Girdwood and took the tram up Mt Aleyska and hiked around, (loved,loved it) and hiked a beautiful trail to a self tram crossing, stayed in a comfortable chalet. Then drove to Talkeetna and took a summit flightseeing tour over Denali (loved it), took the early morning bus tour into the park (loved, loved it), saw over 20 bears, saw some cubs wrestling and playing like patty cake, moose, elk, dall sheep, went all the way to Wonder Lake, it was wondrous. Then on to Wasilla at a B&B (really nice) and went to Hatcher Pass (loved,loved it). We hiked way past the mine and sat in a mountain cirque. Beautiful!

Now we want to go again and experience Alaska we didn't the first time starting late June

Day 1 & 2
Anchorage- bike Tony Knowles, hike another trail

Day 3 & 4
Drive to Sheep Mt Lodge
Do a glacier trek

Day 5
Drive the Richardson Hwy to Valdez

Day 6
Kayak tour and see whatever else Valdez has to offer

Day 7
Ferry to Whittier & drive to Cooper landing

Day 8 & 9
Rafting trip on the Kenai River

Day 10
Slow drive up Seward HWY to Anchorage taking in the sights

Take the redeye home

What do you think? Anything we should add, take out. Any questions about our first trip, I will be more than happy to answer.

WannabeinaMontserrat

"What do you think of my Alaska itin. ?" will serve you better as a topic header.

BudgetQueen

In my opinion, you are not allowing enough time for Valdez and the Richardson Highway section. You are completely missing McCarthy and Kennicott, which are highlights and a significant reason to be in the area.

In my opinion, I would skip the Kenai River and add that day as above, since that is your only activity?? I would ferry to Whittier on your departure day instead to make the most of your time where is counts and then have 2 more days.

MarleneSusan

Thanks, Budget Queen, but how do we do McCarthy Kennicut. Do you need to fly in or drive miles on gravel? What do you do there or see there? We are going to be coming off the ferry and arrive in Cooper Landing in the late afternoon and then do the raft trip the next day. I was hoping the raft trip would allow us to see animals which we might not see otherwise. What do you think?
Thanks for answering all these questions.

Marlene

BudgetQueen

I recommend flying into Kennicott/McCarthy. There also is a shuttle to consider. NONE of the major car rentals allow you to drive the gravel road. It's nonstop scenery, and needs a full day. The mine tour extremely interesting.

I've already stated my opinion only, on the Kenai River, I would skip it completely and add your days elsewhere. Do NOT expect any wildlife and not the reason for the priority of taking this.

MarleneSusan

Thanks, Budget queen, for guiding me on this. My husband is very intrigued by this area with the mines and isolated beauty. We are 60 years old and are in reasonably good shape, do you think this is too rugged of an area for us? I think we would want to do a couple of 4-5 mile round trip hikes, visit the mines, and see the glacier. Is there any must do, I've left out? What makes this area unique from lets say Denali, or Kenai Peninsula?
I appreciate your help.

Marlene