Advice re: DIY Land Tour?

We're planning a DIY land tour following our Vancouver-to-Whittier cruise this June and would love any advice re: our tentative itinerary.

CRUISE ITINERARY

6/21 - KETCHIKAN

We're trying to decide between these two flightseeing tours:

• Taquan Air's Classic Misty Fjords Flightseeing tour
  
• Alaska Seaplane Tours' bear-viewing tour (Unfortunately, we'll be there too early for salmon-spawning season but we may be able to spot bears digging for clams, grazing, etc. And plan on returning to Alaska at some point to visit Anan Creek, Admiralty Island, etc.)
  

Has anyone done either?

West Rock Alaska Tours offers a Coastal Wildlife Cruise that sounds interesting, but they haven't responded to my emails or voicemails.

6/22 - JUNEAU

Does anyone have experience with any of these whale-watching tours? We're leaning toward Gastineau's Photo Safari because of the smaller group size.

• Allen Marine Tours' Mendenhall Glacier & Wildlife Quest (3-hour cruise; maximum of 48 people)
  
• Gastineau Guiding's Whale Watching & Mendenhall Glacier Photo Safari (2 hour 15-minute cruise; maximum of 14 people)
  
• Gastineau Guiding's Discover Alaska's Whales tour (2 1/2 hour-cruise; maximum of 20 people)
  

In the evening, we'll go on the Taku Lodge Feast & Five Glacier Discovery Tour.

6/23 - CRUISING GLACIER BAY

6/24 - SKAGWAY

We'll either do the Denver Glacier dog sledding heli tour or rent a car and drive up to Emerald Lake. (If we don't do the dog sledding here, we'll try to do it out of Girdwood.)

6/25 - CRUISING HUBBARD GLACIER

POST-CRUISE LAND ITINERARY

We'll be renting a car in Whittier on 6/26 and dropping it off in Fairbanks on 7/1.

6/26 - GIRDWOOD/SEWARD

• Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
  
• Alaska Sealife Center
  
• Possibly a Punchbowl Glacier dog sledding heli tour (if we don't end up doing it in Skagway.)
  
• Or possibly a Fox Island Dinner Cruise (May not be worth doing since we'll be taking a Northwestern Fjord tour the following day.)
  

(We were originally planning to take a Prince William Sound cruise but wondered if we might be glaciered out by this point?)

6/27 - KENAI FJORDS CRUISE

Has anyone done either of these?

• Kenai Fjords Tours' Northwestern Fjord Tour (9 hours; maximum of 130 people; newer boats)
  
• Major Marine Tours' Northwestern Fjord Tour (8 1/2 hours; maximum of 36 people)
  

6/28 - TALKEETNA

We'll be taking a flightseeing/glacier landing tour with K2 Aviation. K2 said that the yellow and the green routes are the most popular. The green route circles around Mt. McKinley, whereas the yellow route stays on the western end. Is it worth the extra $50 to go around Mt. McKinley?

6/29 & 6/30 - DENALI

We'll have two full days in Denali. On our first day, we're planning to take one of the following:

• Denali Backcountry Adventure (13 hours)
  
• Kantishna Experience (11 - 12 hours)
  

Portiemom wrote a glowing review of the Kantishna Experience. Has anyone tried the Denali Backcountry Adventure? Any suggestions for Day 2 in Denali? Maybe the Husky Homestead?

Thank you! Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Diana

I'll just comment on the land portion. No glaring errors ! Good job on your research!

Personally I wouldn't make a reservation for either Kenai cruise. Wait until a day or 2 prior to see how the weather is. I've attempted the 6 hr cruise to Aialik Glacier 3 times but twice the capt turned the boat back due to rough seas and it became a boring tour of Resurrection Bay. We got a partial refund but lesson learned .... if the office says the trip MIGHT be cancelled, it will be, so take the full refund and run. The one time we got out to Aialik was FANTASTIC! The day before one of our cancelled trips was sunny and calm, and we spoke with people coming off the NW cruise and they said it was incredible. Shows you how fast the weather can change.

There are a few other stopping points along the drive from Whittier to Seward. We enjoy the boardwalk at Potters Marsh ... sometimes you see a moose at the end. Also the viewing platforms at Williwaw when the salmon are running. Summit Lake Lodge is a peaceful site for an icecream break. There's a fishing weir outside of Seward. And it might be worth a detour to Cooper Landing to watch the combat fishing.

Drive guide such as this one. Or look at Bells Alaska guide

http://www.alaska.org/guide/turnagain-arm-drive

I've been weathered out of flightseeing in Talkeetna 3 times so still haven't gone up. Now I 've lost interest. I really enjoy flightseeing over water AND glaciers.

As for Denali, I only do shuttles not the tours. I either book the Wonder Lake shuttle but get off at Eielson Visitor Center if it's crappy weather, or I just book Eielson. I like the fact that it's 1/3 the cost, plus I can hop off if I choose to walk a bit. I can easily do the shuttle 2 days in a row. The free sled dog demo is great. I went to a different kennel but I didn't like seeing the dogs chained to barrels and standing in mud. The dog houses at denali are mostly little log cabins. We got there early and had lots of time with the ranger and the pups. For other things to do, look at the park newsletter ( I included a link to it in the HELPFUL RESOURCES thread) ..... ranger led hikes and talks, several trails around the entrance area, drive to Savage River at mile 17 of the park road and do the hike, exhibits, films,

https://www.nps.gov/dena/learn/news/upload/Alpenglow2016.pdf

And I'll put in a plug for my favorite stop on the way out of Anchorage .... Eklutna Spirit Houses and Orthodox church.

I'll just comment on the land portion. No glaring errors ! Good job on your research!

 

Personally I wouldn't make a reservation for either Kenai cruise. Wait until a day or 2 prior to see how the weather is. I've attempted the 6 hr cruise to Aialik Glacier 3 times but twice the capt turned the boat back due to rough seas and it became a boring tour of Resurrection Bay. We got a partial refund but lesson learned .... if the office says the trip MIGHT be cancelled, it will be, so take the full refund and run. The one time we got out to Aialik was FANTASTIC! The day before one of our cancelled trips was sunny and calm, and we spoke with people coming off the NW cruise and they said it was incredible. Shows you how fast the weather can change.

 

There are a few other stopping points along the drive from Whittier to Seward. We enjoy the boardwalk at Potters Marsh ... sometimes you see a moose at the end. Also the viewing platforms at Williwaw when the salmon are running. Summit Lake Lodge is a peaceful site for an icecream break. There's a fishing weir outside of Seward. And it might be worth a detour to Cooper Landing to watch the combat fishing.

 

Drive guide such as this one. Or look at Bells Alaska guide

http://www.alaska.org/guide/turnagain-arm-drive

 

I've been weathered out of flightseeing in Talkeetna 3 times so still haven't gone up. Now I 've lost interest. I really enjoy flightseeing over water AND glaciers.

 

As for Denali, I only do shuttles not the tours. I either book the Wonder Lake shuttle but get off at Eielson Visitor Center if it's crappy weather, or I just book Eielson. I like the fact that it's 1/3 the cost, plus I can hop off if I choose to walk a bit. I can easily do the shuttle 2 days in a row. The free sled dog demo is great. I went to a different kennel but I didn't like seeing the dogs chained to barrels and standing in mud. The dog houses at denali are mostly little log cabins. We got there early and had lots of time with the ranger and the pups. For other things to do, look at the park newsletter ( I included a link to it in the HELPFUL RESOURCES thread) ..... ranger led hikes and talks, several trails around the entrance area, drive to Savage River at mile 17 of the park road and do the hike, exhibits, films,

https://www.nps.gov/dena/learn/news/upload/Alpenglow2016.pdf

 

And I'll put in a plug for my favorite stop on the way out of Anchorage .... Eklutna Spirit Houses and Orthodox church.

Wow. Thanks for all the great advice, mapleleaves.

Re: the Kenai Fjord cruise, no cruise ships will be docked in Seward that day so I may follow your lead and hold off on pre-booking. We've only got one day to do the Kenai Fjords so fingers crossed the weather cooperates. (Ditto for all of our aerial tours planned for Talkeetna and every single stop on our cruise!) Actually, if our Kenai Fjords cruise falls through on 6/27, we could try again on 6/28 if we skip our Talkeetna flightseeing and try to catch a flight while we're up in Denali instead.

Renting a car with a one-way drop-off is ridiculously expensive (but then again, what isn't ridiculously expensive in Alaska?) but I'm looking forward to exploring on our own, so I really appreciate all your roadtrip tips. I've already ordered a copy of The Milepost and will plan on downloading guides from Bell's, Murray's, etc.

And I was also disturbed to see the sled dogs chained up in the dirt (especially because the chains are so short), but it seems to be the norm as they do it at Husky Homestead, Seavey's, the Musher's Camps in Juneau and Skagway, and the Iditarod HQ in Wasilla.:(

I remember reading about Eklutna in Atlas Obscura so we will definitely try to stop by on our way up to Talkeetna.

Thanks again for all your help, mapleleaves!

Diana

How was your trip? What would you do again, what would you change?

How was your trip? What would you do again, what would you change?

We had a fantastic time. We were lucky to have great weather in most places, including Juneau, Glacier Bay, and Girdwood for dog sledding, so we were able to accomplish pretty much everything on our list. The only activity that was hampered by weather was our Kenai Fjords cruise; we saw lots of whales (humpbacks, orcas and even a fin whale), puffins, eagles, mountain goats, harbor seals, sea otters, etc., but were unable to make it out to Northwestern Fjord as the water was too choppy. The weather was much better on the days preceding and following our cruise so I would schedule an extra day the next time we're in Seward.

We ultimately decided to skip our night in Talkeetna and drive from Seward to Denali in one day, although we did stop in Talkeetna to wander a bit and take our Denali flightseeing tour. The drive was long but perfectly doable as we stopped along the way (Exit Glacier, Potter Marsh, excellent BBQ in Indian).

In Denali, we did two full days on the Wonder Lake shuttle (5:15 am on Day 1; 6:45 am on Day 2) and saw tons of animals (grizzlies, caribou, moose, wolves, Dall sheep, eagles) on both days. Luckily for us, Denali showed up on Day 1 so we went all the way out to Wonder Lake. On Day 2, Denali was completely shrouded in fog so we turned around at the Eielson Visitor Center.

If you're going to Denali, I highly recommend the Tonglen Lake Lodge. It's seven miles south of the park entrance and absolutely gorgeous.

http://tonglenlake.com

We're pleased with the way our trip turned out so we'd probably do something similar the next time we're in Alaska, although we'd try to go back later in the season so that we could go to Anan Creek or Katmai, and possibly take a northern lights tour out of Fairbanks. If we were to take another cruise, we'd choose one that includes Sitka. Our rental car was pricey because of the one-way drop charge but it was worth it as it enabled us to cover A LOT in a limited time.

Hope some of this is helpful. Have a fantastic trip!

 

As for Denali, I only do shuttles not the tours. I either book the Wonder Lake shuttle but get off at Eielson Visitor Center if it's crappy weather, or I just book Eielson. I like the fact that it's 1/3 the cost, plus I can hop off if I choose to walk a bit. I can easily do the shuttle 2 days in a row.

 

I realize the OP has returned from their trip...but for those who are still planning, I'll add this bit to what Mapleleaves said.... (Always grateful to Mapleleaves for all the valuable information when planning our trip. :))

We, too purchase the shuttle because we like the on/off privileges for hiking, exploring, etc....

But....When purchasing that ticket, we purchase to Eielson only. If you get to Eielson and want to venture on to Wonder Lake, you can purchase that extra portion there at the Eielson Visitor Center...Just pay the difference between the two tickets...no 'extra' charge for purchasing them this way. That way, no money is 'wasted' if we decide NOT to go to WonderLake.

There IS one thing about that though...you MUST have CASH. They do not have the means to process credit card payments there.

When we go, we figure out the amount of cash we will need to purchase those tickets...have it in an envelope (in exact denominations...they may or may not have change) and once at Eielson, we decide if we'll turn around there or go further - based on time, weather, how tired we are :) -- and the BIGGEST FACTOR - whether the mountain is 'out' or not.... This gives us 'freedom' to make the best decision in the moment.

dcindb and rgmacm, we already have reservations on the Wonder Lake shuttle for late August, so we'll hope for clear skies around Denali. One thing I'm not clear on is where the shuttle stop is at the Lake. Is it near the campground? Assuming you went to the Reflection Pond, how long is the hike from the shuttle stop?

Thank you!