Alaska

[Ted]

Alaska has always been a dream of ours but the time it would take to road trip up there just isn't possible for us working stiffs. So we are planning a three week trip in September that will include a seven day one-way cruise from Seattle to Seward or vice-verse, about 10-12 days of RV rental to road trip, and a couple of days on Kodiak Island.

Ideally the road trip will allow enough time to see the Kenai Peninsula, drop down into Valdez, and drive a loop up to Tok, over to Fairbanks, and back down into Anchorage. Side trips from the loop would include the Arctic Circle and Denali NP. Is this reasonable in 10-12 days?

The cruise could be at the beginning or end of the trip. Doing it at the beginning allows us to go a little later when the season is wrapping up. Is weather usually still okay in mid to late September. Does the cruise vary northbound vs southbound?

We have been getting books and brochures but they are so commercial it is hard to evaluate one place over another. Any suggestions on where to stay/camp, must see or must miss will help.

Thanks.

 

[Gormley Green]

10-12 days should be pretty good to get it done. The drive to Valdez is awesome. Beautiful mountains and you can see the pipeline. I prefer the drive to Homer, but thats just me. Should you want to do that it's the first left turn when you get out of Seward Haha. Not a lot of roads in AK! I love the peninsula. Girdwood, Hope, Cooper Landing (Kenai Lake!), Homer (and all the beaches and towns along the way), Seward (not the nicest town IMO but the Sea Life center is worth checking out).

The Denali Hwy is amazing! Prettiest drive in Alaska perhaps? Unless you get in on the Denali National Park lottery and win the entrance to drive it, which is unlikely.

Not much to see in Tok, Fairbanks, etc. But I guess if you want to do the arctic circle, and the Denali Highway, it'll be worth it.

These are just my opinions of course, but I have spent quite a bit of time up there and it's my favourite place on earth!

 

[Barko1]

Any suggestions on where to stay/camp, must see or must miss will help.

Thanks.


I enjoyed going to the Arctic Circle and beyond. There is a camp right at the circle, also a camp at the Yukon River. The Brooks Range is impressive, furthest North mountain range in NA. I think we left Fairbanks early, hit the Yukon River stop for breakfast and fuel, went over the Brooks Range then back to the Arctic Circle to camp for the night.

I didn't care for Homer, maybe it was the weather but I'd 2nd the vote for the Sealife Center or whatever it is called in Seward. I think that is the town with a city run camp right on the water. Valdez is a nice drive and more Eagles than we have sparrows. Also nice place to take a boat cruise from. I didn't see it but I think the University of AK at Fairbanks has a nice museum. I'm debating heading back there or Labrador this year. We left S.NM in early May, the coldest we camped in was 21 degrees in Arizona! In Coldfoot AK it was nearly 80. On the way up the lakes we camped by were mostly still frozen, some thawed for us on the way back. Ice Fields Parkway is a must see, but oops, forgot that'll be a later trip for you. Enjoy

 

[chnlisle]

Pam and I are going late Aug early Sep. Gene and Anne are taking my truck and ATC up. They'll leave the rig in Anchorage and fly back. Pam and I will fly up and travel for a couple of weeks and drive back. I can hardly wait.

 

[UglyScout]

Sept. can be nice or it can start snowing... I lived in Fairbanks for a year and it never rained, it was nice until the last week in Sept. when it got cold and started snowing, it stayed that way until the first week in April.

x10 on Valdez

x100 on Denali

There is enough cool stuff to spend a lot of time up there just driving around.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Ted why not put your camper on the Alaskan ferry Columbia at Seattle? You can round trip by that system probably for close to the same cost when you include the cost of the camper in Alaska. Have you taken a cruise before? You could use the Columbia to Ketchikan get off spend some time camping there,catch another AMH ferry north to another port stop spend time and so on.Or take the Columbia to Juneau camp at the NF campground at Mendenhall Glacier than catch a ferry north to Haines or Skagway and start your drive.We have done this several times different ways and have always enjoyed the trip.

The time of middle aug to middle sept a good time .Lots of color and animals around. Little to no BUGS. Which is always nice,as they can get pretty bad at other times of the year. This is a good time to start planning the trip for there are some reservations that need to be made ahead of time.As soon as possible,like camping in Denali at Tekleneka campground ,which is a must see.

Do you have a Milepost? if not get one even a used one and read through it .Lots of good info to get you started on planning,and a must have during the trip.

PM me for some more info,if you like.
Frank

 

[generubin]

Ted,

Denali is a must. By all means, you should make reservations to stay at the small Teklanika Camp which is 30 miles into the park rather than staying with the hordes of people at the campground on the main hwy. This or the Dempster will be your highlights.

Valdez is very nice if you take the 1/2 day boat trip to see the glacier.

For me, Seward Peninsula is a waste. It is very crowded, very touristic. I was there once and felt my days were wasted, couldn't wait to escape.

I've been to AK many, many times. My favorite itinerary is: Anchorage to Denali's Teklanika Camp spend a few days, then camp along the old Denali Hwy (gravel road, wild camping), take Top of the World Hwy to the absolute, not to miss, jewel, Dawson City (eat at Kolondike Kate's), take the Dempster Hwy to Inuvik, then back to Valdez, then back to Anchorage. You need 10 to 14 days to do just this.

I've spent several trips on the Inside Passage and I think Jay agrees with me, while spectacular, it all looks the same pretty quickly. I always was on the ferry system. I would not take a cruise. They drop you at the small towns and you never see these places as they really are, only as they are with 2,000 of your shipmates invading the little shops. With the ferry system, you can stay at any town you wish and see it as it is without the crowds from the cruise ships. If you hit Valdez and spend some time on the water, you'll have all the maritime scenery you need.

Gene

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Ted,

Denali is a must. By all means, you should make reservations to stay at the small Teklanika Camp which is 30 miles into the park rather than staying with the hordes of people at the campground on the main hwy. This or the Dempster will be your highlights.

Valdez is very nice if you take the 1/2 day boat trip to see the glacier.

For me, Seward Peninsula is a waste. It is very crowded, very touristic. I was there once and felt my days were wasted, couldn't wait to escape.

I've been to AK many, many times. My favorite itinerary is: Anchorage to Denali's Teklanika Camp spend a few days, then camp along the old Denali Hwy (gravel road, wild camping), take Top of the World Hwy to the absolute, not to miss, jewel, Dawson City (eat at Kolondike Kate's), take the Dempster Hwy to Inuvik, then back to Valdez, then back to Anchorage. You need 10 to 14 days to do just this.

I've spent several trips on the Inside Passage and I think Jay agrees with me, while spectacular, it all looks the same pretty quickly. I always was on the ferry system. I would not take a cruise. They drop you at the small towns and you never see these places as they really are, only as they are with 2,000 of your shipmates invading the little shops. With the ferry system, you can stay at any town you wish and see it as it is without the crowds from the cruise ships. If you hit Valdez and spend some time on the water, you'll have all the maritime scenery you need.

Gene


Gene.our thoughts exactly. The info you gave us for our trip last year was right on.We did find that the campground at Savage River was nice,we stayed at all three that you can drive to.The entrance camp is ok to get stocked up and clean after the road trip but there are a lot of people there.We didn't find many there on our stay there but I can see where it can be wall to wall campers.

Frank

 

[generubin]

Frank,

I always stocked up in Dawson City, hit the Dempster early and stayed in the camps farther north than Savage Creek. I'm glad you enjoyed your trip. Anne and I are headed up in Jay's truck this Summer. I can't wait!!!

Ted, how about skipping the cruise and just take your own truck and camper? You can always get in a boat trip from Valdez.

Gene

 

[Ted]

Wow, thanks for all the info. We have been looking over maps and reading books to see what everyone is talking about. It sounds like a number of places are recommended by most of you so we will work them into our schedule for sure. Frank, we did pick up a 2008 Milepost. Do you think things have changed enough to justify a new edition? Teklanika campground has a three night minimum. My first thought was we don't have time to stay in one place that long. But based on the comments about Denali, I think we will reconsider.

Jay, it sounds like we will be up there around the same time. Splitting the trip with Gene is a great idea. Unfortunately that won't work for us. Our camper is our other vehicle and with different commutes we can't go without for several weeks.

Gene and Frank, the ferry is an interesting idea. Unfortunately again, it just doesn't work for us. Just the drive to Washington and back would be four days for us. If I'm reading the ferry schedule right, add the time on the ferry and we would end up with less than a week to drive around. Perhaps someday when we join the ranks of the retired we can do it that way.

We are really looking forward to this. Thanks for helping to make it the best trip it can be.

 

[simimike]

I can guarantee you will have the trip of a life time. I'm already planning my next trip. Here's some teaser pics.

Mike

 

[chnlisle]

Ted,
Pam and I are very excited about this trip. Since I started the new business we've done almost no camping but this year that will change. Baja in March. Alaska in late August and of course Expo!

 

[Ted]

Jay,

If there was any way I could swing it, we'd be in Baja with you, too. But it will take all the vacation time I can accrue to do Alaska later this year. Trust me, Ive been following your baja planning thread with envy. Sigh, maybe the next one.

 

[Missing Link]

A few more teasers - Ted, I sent you an email last week about your upcoming trip; did you get it?
Richard

 

[generubin]

Ted, yet a few more teasers.
1. Iceberg from boat ride out of Valdez.
2. View along Old Denali Hwy. You can camp anywhere you want along this gravel road. Plenty of side roads to explore.
3. View along Dempster Hwy. Again, try not to miss this drive. It, Teklanika Camp, and Dawson City might be your favorite part of the entire trip.

 

[Ted]

Oh, man, you guys are killing us with these teaser photos. We still have seven months to go. It is going to be a long summer.

Richard,
Thank you, yes, I did get your email. I sent a reply over the weekend. I noticed it came through WTW and I just did a reply to sender, so maybe it got lost in the "internet cloud". I'll resend it as a PM to you.

 

[ski3pin]

Oh, man, you guys are killing us with these teaser photos. <snip>


Yeah, and I bet 3/4 of the folks here want to go with Ted now!

 

[generubin]

Ted, I can't resist your excitement, you've got me excited for our coming NWT/Alaska trip as well. Even though I have made the trip many times, I'm like a kid waiting for Xmas.

I'd suggest these books. Anne and I got these on iTunes Audiobook and listened to them on the long drive, though you might want to pass your time reading or listening to these now. They may also help you plan your trip:

1. "Coming Into The Country"--John McPhee. Main character is a friend of mine, the older fiddler pictured below, John Borg, from Eagle Alaska. John is a legend in Alaska. I'm the younger fiddler. Excellent book about general life in Alaska.

2. "Jason's Gold" and the sequel "Down The River". These are "young readers" historical fiction. Especially if you are lucky enough to be going to Dawson City on the Yukon, these books will fill you with wonderment.

3. "Kabloona", This is my favorite book ever. Very well read audio, I would recommend the audio over the book. You have to give it an hour of listening but then you're hooked. About a Frenchmen who lived on the ice with Inuit in 1940. Written in English (not translated) by a french author, the most amazing story, vocabulary and writing style.

I have not finished but just started "The Floor of Heaven" by Howard Blum. Also audio, seems excellent so far.

And JAY, if you are reading this, I'd suggest all these for you and Pam before you head up this summer. If you have an ipod you can send me I can load you up on these books.

Pictures are:
1.Just outside of Anchorage along the road to Tok.
2.John Borg and me.
3.View of the Yukon River from a hill behind Eagle, AK, looking towards Canada.

 

[Barko1]

Ted, I can't resist your excitement, you've got me excited for our coming NWT/Alaska trip as well. Even though I have made the trip many times, I'm like a kid waiting for Xmas.
Pictures are:
1.Just outside of Anchorage along the road to Tok.
2.John Borg and me.
3.View of the Yukon River from a hill behind Eagle, AK, looking towards Canada.


Two pictures of great beauty

 

[robbie]

Wife and I are looking forward to our summer in Yukon and alaska as well. Luckily our drive is not far. We have 10 days on a trip in the Yukon scheduled from June 18 - 28,

then a few shorter trips, in july, Around August first we will be out looking for caribou and moose for a week. August 13 to 25 we are heading over to Valdez to fish silver salmon. I have a boat rented for five days. September first we will go out again for three or four days then september 12 - 28 we plan to go up to the Keno City area in the yukon to look for moose again.

I still have 45 days holidays left from this year and April first I get another 42 days.

If anyone is through or near Watson Lake, Yukon you are welcome at our house for a visit..

the trips you have planned in alaska will be a thrill. I agree the Denali road is superb scenery. Lots of moose to be seen late in the afternoon.

The Dempster is a real gem too.

The planning is half the fun...

robbie