Sunday, September 16, 2018

How to Plan a Trip to Alaska: Intro of our AMAZING ALASKAN ADVENTURE


Alaska is home to nature at its finest. From vast mountain ranges laden with glaciers to picturesque fjords, Alaska is the ultimate wilderness.

We had the good fortune to have a sun soaked vacation Aug 30-Sep 10, 2018 in AMAZING ALASKA!

Here are a few pictures!
Jumping for joy beside Denali

AWESOME CRUISE
Hike to Byron Glacier

 Glenn Highway on the way to Matanuska glacier...


Alaska State Fair, Palmer

 Portage lake at Begich Bogg visitor center



Matanuska Glacier

 Alaska State Fair, Palmer... Pumpkin kings/queens??!!

Mt Denali flightseeing from Talkeetna

Close wildlife encounters... which were so pleasant... haha!



The famous Alaskan rail

WOW! DENALEEE!
ANOTHER WOW...VINTAGE CARS!


Awww...HAPPY MOMENT! Met up with Santa at North Pole!
Cute little port town, Valdez


 WRANGELL view 



Great local crafts...




There are more than 3,000 rivers and 3 million lakes in Alaska.
  • Alaska's largest lake, Lake Iliamna, is roughly the size of Connecticut.
  • Alaska has more coastline than the rest of the United States combined (more than 34,000 miles).
  • Alaska has more inland water than any other state (20,171 square miles).
On March 30, 1867, Secretary of State William Seward  purchased Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million at approximately two cents per acre ($4.74/sq.km) . Was this too much to pay for a piece of land that was mostly unexplored? At the time, critics thought Seward was crazy and called the deal "Seward's folly." We can judge for ourselves how the deal turned out now!

Alaska is so big, it’s divided into 5 regions. ARCTIC, SOUTHEAST (INTERIOR PASSAGE), SOUTHWEST, INTERIOR, SOUTHCENTRAL. 

 We enjoyed a few highlights of the last 2:  INTERIOR, and SOUTHCENTRAL. Our bases are marked in red/blue in the maps below

ARCTIC Circle:


Here's a brief intro on all the 5 regions:

  The Arctic is filled with a rich history and natural wonders, from the gold rush days of yore to the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. As visitors cross the Arctic Circle, many pilots give the plane a slight “bump” letting passengers know they’ve crossed the legendary circle. Alaska’s Arctic is home to the Inupiat Eskimos, many who still live a subsistence lifestyle and still preserve their history verbally from generation to generation.

SOUTHEAST/the Panhandle or INTERIOR PASSAGE:


Shaped by the staggering force of massive glaciers millions of years ago, Alaska’s Inside Passage boasts wildlife-filled fjords and lush island scenery — habitat for bald eagles, sea lions, porpoises and whales. Its mountains are carpeted with majestic forests. Inside Passage Alaska is home to Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian Indians whose history is reflected in towering totem poles. Russian settlers left a legacy of onion-domed churches gleaming with icons.

SOUTHWEST:


Brown bears amble along the hills and plains, and 240 bird species inhabit Alaska’s Southwest region. The terrain ranges from a landscape of volcanoes in Katmai National Park created by the 1912 eruption of the Novarupta volcano, to the windswept Aleutian Islands that make a 1,000-mile sweep toward Asia.

INTERIOR:


ALASKA HIGHWAY, DENALI NATIONAL PARK, FAIRBANKS, NORTHEAST INTERIOR, WESTERN INTERIOR

In Interior region/Alaska’s heartland, is the continent’s tallest peak, Denali, and wide expanses of tundra. The forests are teeming with wildlife and bird life ranging from the formidable grizzly to herds of caribou to the state bird, the Willow Ptarmigan. Interior is the original home of Alaska’s Athabascan Indians. Gold miners, farmers and fur trappers later discovered the riches of this region.

SOUTH CENTRAL:


The most populous region of Alaska, containing Anchorage, the Matanuska-Susitna Valley and the Kenai Peninsula. Rural, mostly unpopulated areas south of the Alaska Range and west of the Wrangell Mountains also fall within the definition of South Central, as do the Prince William Sound area and the communities of Cordova and Valdez.

Home to over half of Alaska’s population, South central is a playground of activities from world-class fishing to hiking and wildlife viewing. With mountains and lakes, South central offers the advantages of remote wilderness, but is linked via roads. South central has the amenities travelers seek, while serving as a gateway to the wilderness experience.


WHEN TO GO?


For Summer visits, Most tours operate mid-May to mid-September, with the exception of those into Denali (mid-June to end of August). Peak season is mid-June to mid-August. 
Solstice festivals and 20-hour days are enjoyed in June. Salmon runs peak in July and August. Mountain trails and passes are snow-free.

Shoulder season is May & Sep.

These days it's pretty tough to predict weather patterns due to the global warming. 

 We always avoid peak tourist season; after a lot of deliberations, decided to use the Labor day weekend for our Alaskan vacation. We don't have direct flights to Anchorage from Houston, we decided to fly in on a Thursday and fly back early Monday morning to avoid weekend crowds. Our trip got scheduled August 30 through Sep 10.

As an unexpected and welcome offshoot, souvenirs were available at 30% discount as the season was winding up

WEATHER:


We read reviews extensively and noticed many visitors faced inclement weather with the resultant lack of views. Statistics reveal that Denali is sighted by only 20-30% of visitors. Cruises and drives/hikes are also marred by gray overhanging clouds. So after looking at the brochure pics shot on perfect weather days, we looked at pics posted by real visitors with cloud cover and fog obscuring scenic beauty. We lowered our expectations so that we won't be too disappointed when confronted by harsh reality!

Now here comes our real tip. I believe the Weather Elves take a peek when we pack our travel bags and LOVE to thwart our well laid plans. So I religiously packed in our rain pants, ponchos, cardigan, jacket, light thermals and firmly discarded the sun hat/caps and shorts packed in by son. I was reading reports that August was pretty rainy but guess what, EACH AND EVERY DAY of our Alaskan holiday (except Sep 6th) had glorious sun shine! I bet the Weather Elves were rubbing their hands in glee as we carried around our rain ponchos in our day pack and ensured there was nary a cloud in the clear blue skies!!

The Sun followed us around as we crisscrossed the state; son picked up caps displayed enticingly at souvenir stalls but kept them back as the Weather Elves may be watching and we did not want to jinx our luck!! We baked a bit as we drove and hiked around with our bare heads but it was all so worth it! And yes, ALL our pics look like the brochure version with the mighty Denali, Hunter, Foraker, Wrangell, Chugach range and the myriad glaciers presenting themselves in all their sun soaked glory!

WHAT TO SEE


Alaskan cruises are very popular but we are not “ cruise people”. As husband jokingly says, we feel “ Cruises are for the Newly-Weds and the Nearly-Deads” [just kidding, no offense meant to the numerous cruise aficionados!]. We love the flexibility of self drive vacations and we travel at a fairly brisk pace.

An itinerary including Kenai Fjords National Park, south of Anchorage, and Denali National Park, to the north, is Alaska's most popular land trip for first-time visitors. That's because these parks and the area in between offer so much of what visitors come to Alaska to see: spectacular Kenai Fjords, with waterways full of whales, marine birds, and glaciers; and Denali, with broad swaths of mountain tundra frequented by bears and caribous. There is the famous Alaskan railway plying the route. But to save money and have more flexibility, doing the tour with a car rented in Anchorage works great.

We had 2 cruises based in Seward: Kenai fjord cruise out of Seward as well as Prince William Sound cruise out of Whittier



From Seward straight to Denali National Park is a journey of more than 360 miles. So we broke it up with 2 bases in between: Palmer and Talkeetna before spending 3 nights in Denali national park. 

 We had a lovely flight seeing at Talkeetna.




Instead of returning back to Anchorage we wanted to drive the famous Richardson hwy as well as the Glenn hwy. So we drove onward north to Fairbanks as well.

There was the added attraction of the antique car museum at Fountainhead 


as well as the quirky Santa Claus house at the tantalizingly named North Pole which proved huge highlights of our trip.









We drove on to Valdez, the lovely port town from Fairbanks on the scenic Richardson highway sighting the awesome Wrangell mountain 




before driving back to Anchorage on the stunning Glenn hwy completing our loop.

It was a spectacular trip all through!!

Here's the map I marked up; you can zoom in, click on the bubblesand check out the details written:


LOGISTICS:


CAR RENTAL/DRIVING:


 We booked the car many months out with Enterprise where son has a corporate discount. The rental office added other corporate perks like free airport drop off (otherwise $100 extra), roadside assistance as well as tyre and other coverage along with our full insurance and upgraded the car to full size sedan

We collected at their downtown office just one block from our hotel. Rates are cheaper than the airport and anyway we were arriving at midnight and had a free shuttle pickup by our hotel. So made sense to sleep and then collect the car in the morning.

We adhered to the speed limit of 65 mi on highways. We saw almost a dozen cars pulled over by the traffic cops on our Seward hwy drive on Aug 30.

When we came from Girdwood to join the Seward hwy again, we saw cops regulating traffic. When our turn was signaled to cross, we saw the aftermath of a bad accident. A SUV coming from Girdwood had collided with a car going straight on the Seward hwy, the driver side was completely bashed in. We were so sorry for the victim and sent out some prayers for their well being!

At Whittier, the parking assistant lady as well as the captain of our cruise boat announced that Whittier cops dole out plenty of traffic fines and advised to be well within speed limits as well as mind parking regulations. We saw a patrol car scouting the hwy after the tunnel. 

 We did not see any activity on Parks hwy. 

 On our drive on Richardson hwy from Fairbanks to Valdez, we were at 70 mi speed when a car zipped past us overtaking us. A police car flashing lights zoomed in from the oncoming lane. We cursed our luck and pulled up on the shoulder. The police car reversed and sped on past us; we slowly got back on the highway... ahead we found our overtaker (!) pulled over by the cops! 

 A little further when we stopped at a scenic view cum rest stop there was a police van parked watching the traffic. Always a good idea to be within recommended speed limits.

ACCOMMODATIONS:


 All our hotels were reasonably priced, conveniently located, had some aesthetic touches and above all, the loveliest owners/ managers.

  I'm giving details in the day to day report that follows. There are a few pics in this post.
has our video of all Alaska Hotels we stayed in

FOOD:


We are vegetarians. As is usual with all our vacations, we self catered. 




Bought groceries at Walmart Anchorage twice and at Three bears, Healy. Excellent produce and variety at slightly higher prices than Houston. No complaints.

OUR ITINERARY:


Day 1 Aug 30, 2018: 

 We flew in to Anchorage from Houston; boarded Delta Airlines at 2.12 pm from Houston and arrived a little past 11 pm at Anchorage after 2 transfers. Our hotel near the airport sent in a shuttle; we moved into our room and slept off.

ACCOMMODATION: Merrill Field Inn, Anchorage 1 night



Day 2 Aug 31, 2018: 

 To Seward & Kenai Fjords National Park:

Spectacular drive on the Seward hwy

Girdwood Alyeska aerial tram to the top of the mountain, 


 Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center,


  Begich Boggs visitor center

 Byron Glacier hike



ACCOMMODATION: Seavey's Ididaride cabins, Seward 2 nights




DAY 3, Sep 1, 2018:

Major Marines Kenai Fjord cruise of 6 hrs, starting at 11.30am. Again terrific weather and great cruise.








We drove around a bit before calling it a day





DAY 4 Sep 2, 2018:


Exit glacier hike in the morning before drive to Whittier for Prince William Sound Cruise and drive from Whittier to Palmer.


 Brochure day again for the cruise, we had a lovely time. 





ACCOMMODATION: Pioneer motel, Palmer




Day 5, Sep 3, 2018:

Matanuska glacier (state recreation area: observation platform as well as the 1 mile hike through the woods; 


 then onward to glacier park where we paid the private owners of the land for glacier access; drove slowly on gravel road, parked and had a SURREAL time with the glacier gleaming like a Pearl and glittering like crystals in the shimmering melt waters)


Hatcher pass till the paved road (terrific views), Independence Mine, 

  then went back to Palmer for the Alaska State Fair for a well spent 3 hours gaping at huge pumpkins, and other veggies and flowers, and farm animals. 
The crafts were great too, truly Alaska in a nutshell.

Drove on to Talkeetna

ACCOMMODATION: Talkeetna Roadhouse 100 year old historically significant Alaskan frontier roadhouse. Full of antiques and beautiful hand made quilt curtain. I had to restrain myself from fixing the couple of flowers that had come off and were dangling.



Day 6, Sep 4, 2018:

Mckinley flightseeing (AWESOME)




 SOUVENIR shopping, 


 drive to Denali national park to collect our shuttle passes for the next 2 days. This is the lovely Denali visitor center





ACCOMMODATION: Denali Park Hotel for 3 nights.



Day 7, Sep 5, 2018:

AMAZING DAY in Denali National Park on Denali shuttle with great weather and very clear views of the elusive Denali.







Eielson visitor center ... view from inside of Denali and the entire range


Wonder Lake with Denali in the background



Day 8, Sep 6, 2018:

Murky weather, some wild life viewing in Denali National Park on Denali shuttle,




Evening drive to Savage river before rain started to pelt.

Day 9, Sep 7, 2018:

Reached Fairbanks by 9.30.

ACCOMMODATION: Golden North Motel, Fairbanks



 Pioneer park




  Morris Thompson cultural and visitor center, 

Antique car museum Fountainhead [WOW, JUST WOW!], 




 Georgeson Botanical center at the University of Alaska, Wedgewood wild life sanctuary



Day 10, Sep 8, 2018:

Drive on Richardson hwy from Fairbanks to Valdez 

ACCOMMODATION: Downtown B&B Inn, Valdez


2 hour visit at Santa house at North Pole[WOW], then numerous scenic stops, culminating at Thomson pass and Bridal veil and Horsetail falls. Valdez promenade






Day 11, Sep 9, 2018:

Morning: Glacier View Park, then short hike to Worthington Glacier observation platform






 .
Drive on Glenn hwy from Valdez to Anchorage.




  Midnight flight back to Houston.

 I've posted the videos. As usual, they are set to music, few frames are captioned. you can click on full screen and HD choose 720p resolution. A COUPLE OF VIDEOS DON'T SHOW THUMBNAILS BUT THEY DO PLAY.

VIDEO LINKS:


All Alaska videos are at:


INDIVIDUAL VIDEO LINKS:

Portage valley, Begich Boggs visitor center, Byron glacier:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Y3bcRYHsGi8fYPHE8

Alaska wildlife conservation center:



Matanuska glacier:

Antique car museum, Fountainhead, Fairbanks:

Girdwood:

 SANTA CLAUS HOUSE, NORTH POLE, FAIRBANKS:

Alaska Hotels:

Palmer and Fairbanks (Hatcher pass, independence mine, Alaska state fair, Pioneer park, Morris Thompson cultural and visitor center, Georgeson Botanical garden, Wedgewood Wildlife Sanctuary):

Denali national park Day 1, part 1:

Denali national park Day 1, part 2:

Denali national park Day 1 Part 3:

Denali national park Day 2:

Denali National Park Wildlife:

Kenai fjord cruise:


 Prince William Sound Cruise:

Talkeetna flightseeing part 1:

Talkeetna flightseeing part 2:

Talkeetna flightseeing part 3:

 Seward highway drive:

Seward Highway 2 (Dir: From Seward) and Glenn Highway:

Seward Whittier drives:
Drive to Fairbanks:
Richardson highway:

Valdez:

I'll start the day by day detailed report with pix now.
REPORT OF DAY 1 AND 2 CONTINUES HERE:


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2 comments:

  1. IndyRita317January 19, 2019 at 4:18 PM

    AMAZING!!! I can't tell you how much I appreciate all the effort you put into this review. My husband and I and two other couples are going summer of 2020. I'm the "chief planner" and I start early so this is going to help me bunches! Thank you so much!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bhagvat KripaJanuary 21, 2019 at 4:23 AM

    Hello IndyRita,
    Good to read these appreciative comments!
    Hope you guys have a GREAT vacation!

    ReplyDelete

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