Alaska summer vacation

[Procision Arms]

The girlfriend and I have decided to go to Alaska this summer for vacation, due to work schedules, we're limited to one week in the month of June, I was leaning towards the last week.

At the moment I'm looking for some things to do the both of us would enjoy, the "tentative" schedule for know is fly into Anchorage, stay a day or two there and explore the city, then take a day cruise on PW sound, she really wants to see the glaciers and possibly a whale.

From there, we were looking at renting an airBnb house in Talkeetna and exploring Denali for 4-5 days. She wants to stay "in a quaint little town where I can walk to restaurants and get coffee". I'm really interested in doing a flightseeing tour, fishing and maybe some rafting?

I was hoping anyone who lives there or has visited may have some insight on our plan or have any suggestions, we're open to just about anything!

 

[AK Troutbum]

Phillips Cruises and Tours LLC | Whittier Alaska

Alaska Flightseeing Tours and Air Taxi Services | K2 Aviation

Mahay's Jet Boat Adventures in Talkeetna Alaska

Here's a few websites for you to check out, and Talkeetna is a cool little Alaskan town with everything within walking distance. The only exception would be that the Denali Brewing Company, which is a few miles down the road.



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[Procision Arms]

Phillips Cruises and Tours LLC | Whittier Alaska

Alaska Flightseeing Tours and Air Taxi Services | K2 Aviation

Mahay's Jet Boat Adventures in Talkeetna Alaska

Here's a few websites for you to check out, and Talkeetna is a cool little Alaskan town with everything within walking distance. The only exception would be that the Denali Brewing Company, which is a few miles down the road.



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Thanks for the links, those look like very cool options. Is it worth packing a rod to fish the local rivers off the road or in town?

 

[Kevin Dill]

My wife and I did a fairly similar trip 2 years ago. We flew to Anch but had little interest in seeing the city. We rented a car and drove down to Homer the first day...the drive down is worth the effort x 5. The drive down the Seward Hwy, along Turnagain Arm, Chugach Forest, over to Soldotna and Cook Inlet features scenery a boat just can't provide. From Homer we backtracked some and then drove to Seward. Just as gorgeous and our only problem was we didn't budget enough time there. You can do glacier trips by boat or plane from Seward...and you can fish out of there as well as Homer. Seward has a couple great restaurants overlooking the harbor and your gf will be more than happy you take her there. Exit Glacier is a short drive from town and you can do a one-hour hike to the tongue, or an all day trip into the Harding Icefield. Don't miss Seward.

We visited a lot of places including Kenai, Russian River Falls, Moose Pass, Portage, Whittier, Valdez, Richardson Hwy, Glenallen, Tok, Fairbanks, Chena Hot Springs, Denali, Talkeetna and plenty more.

The Denali flightseeing experience was 100% worth it to us. We used K2 and did manage a glacier landing in the mountains. There are few words to describe it. Talkeetna is a fun little and very touristy town which...for us...was good for about 24 hours. Trust me: you can see 100% of the town on a 4 hour walk around. Two days there would have me going crazy and more than that...I'd need to start drinking or something. Talkeetna is a good long drive from Denali and it's not like there's a ton of other stuff quickly available. The park has a lot going for it including a steady horde of global tourists. We heard more foreign languages there than a visit to the United Nations. Take plenty of money if you plan to stay near the park entrance as those hotels (and lots others) are designed to do one thing: generate big profits. Average night in Alaska is $150 or more. Nicer digs at $199 and you'll see plenty of people shelling $250 or more for a room.

We purposely avoided all the 'join the tour' deals possible. We wanted total control and autonomy so we could go anywhere and see anything we wanted. It took more planning but we both agreed it suited us far better than surrendering to the organized tour systems. It was nice...no, it was superb!...being a couple of anonymous people schlepping around the state and finding our own enjoyment.

 

[Ray]

In Talkeetna, one of the owners of Denali Brewing also owns the restaurant on main street. Looks like they changed to name to Denali Brew Pub.

I like the water out of Whittier better than out of Seward. Twice I have taken family to Seward and we could not get out of the bay due to the size of the swells. Green water over the bow of a huge site seeing boat is not fun for many people.

In anchorage there is the natural history museum which can take half a day to zip through if you stay out of the art rooms. Then there is the Roosevelt Room in a small Russian art/tourist trap on 4th Ave down town. Lots of old guns and African stuff. Good for an hour of browsing. A stupid tourist thing to do would be to take a ride on the late evening "ghost" tour where you get to hear some stories about all the crazy stuff that went on when Anchorage was the wild west up through the pipeline construction insanity. If you like planes there is a decent, small aviation museum at Lake Hood. And that is about it for this town. Decent hiking on several trails if you want to get out some. Bears aren't much of an issue as they are too busy eating trash in the neighborhoods.

In late June you will be at the tail end of the King salmon run in the parks highway streams. Might not be able to keep any depending on the returns. There are day guides that take people out. You can check out some folks that operate out of Willow for Willow creek, or even as far over as Deshka Landing. Deshka could be pretty hot at that time of year, and if the return is up that could be the only place open to retaining a king so it will be crowded come Friday night.

Willow creek and Montana creek do have some decent CAR rainbow fishing. Not much into dry flies as they are hitting the King eggs pretty hard, but bigger 'bows will still be going after sculpin in June and wet flies can end up with some nice fish. If you are going to spend that many days in Talkeetna Montana creek will be a great way to spend time when you are not people watching in town.

 

[wyosteve]

We were there 2 yrs. ago in mid-July and in downtown Anchorage they had a weekend farmer's market style festival. We had time to kill and found it very enjoyable. Lots of booths with crafts, gold, fried halibut, etc.

 

[Procision Arms]

We weren't interested in joining the tourist hatch ourselves... We wanted more of a small-town "real" alaska trip.

I'll definitely be bringing a rod just in case, would like to slip in a little fishing.

The flightseeing of Denali is something we want to do for sure. How many days do you think it takes to do Denali right?

 

[AKMAN]

I'd definitely bring something to fish with. Almost anywhere you throw a mepps spinner or mosquito style fly theres something in there to catch. Might not be real big, but still.

A few thoughts on items above and some unsolicited advice:

a. There are lots of campgrounds and places to camp (material sites, etc) all along the road system. If you're comfy in a tent you can save some serious cash. That said, the more popular campgrounds are mostly a reservation (recreation.gov) or show up early in the day affair.
b. Talkeetna is a one full day stop but is 3 hours-ish north of Anchorage. Flight seeing, the Denali Brew Pub, and a bit to walk down to the Susitna and check out some little shops. Camping isn't too far away if you want to end there. The little campsites right in town are a bit noisy but very Talkeetna. K2 is a reputable op.
c. I would saltwater fish out of Seward or Whittier not Homer. Check out Crazy Rays Adventures in Whittier.
d. I wouldn't visit the kenai peninsula without trying out/experiencing the zoo that is fishing at/near the Russian River. (Kenai River)
e. Best lodging in Kenai/Soldotna is the Cannery Lodge in Kenai at the mouth of the river. My place isn't bad, but often busy in June.
f. Hope, AK is super neat and a fun side trip on the way to Seward/Kenai/Homer/Etc.
g. Hatcher Pass is outside of either Palmer or Wasilla (not as confusing as it sounds/looks) and has lots of good history stuff, hiking, and a pretty drive to boot.
h. Fairbanks isn't all that exciting and would likely be disappointing to nearly anyone. Turn around at Denali on the Parks Hwy or cut over to Paxon and down the Richardson. Rough road and most rental car companies probably take exception, but someone must do it every day of the summer.
i. If you get near Glenallen, go south a few miles to Copper Center. Maybe fish near there too.
j. Bear Mountain Lodge is across Cook Inlet from Homer (basically) and a great place to see bears (not hunt...) and an aerial view of that area. For a little more than the day trip you can stay the night. Not super inexpensive but cool.
k. Don't drive past Alyeska Resort without taking the tram up for a picture and a Fizz at Seven Glaciers.

I've got a lifetime (mine) goofing off around the state and have been to most of the main drags; feel free to shoot me a PM/email if you have any area specific questions or want a little more detail/recommendations about anything. I'm not going to post anything toooooo specific about my cool spots.

 

[jwatts]

My wife and I did a vacation up there last summer. It was awesome. We flew into Anchorage, drove to Seward, Soldotna, Talkeetna, Denali, then back to Anchorage. It was a blast. We picked activities we wanted to do, but left plenty of time to do things as we drove or as we found them. We stayed in VRBO rentals the whole time except for when we were in Anchorage.

We did the tourist thing in Anchorage when we were there. We saw the Roosevelt Room, the museum, and the zoo. If you feel like a walk, the Tony Knowles trail is right on the water downtown and has some great views. We hiked Flat Top one afternoon. It was a fun hike on a well established trail. When we got to the top the clouds lifted for a few minutes and we had really good views of town.

We planned to hike Savage River in Denali. It was closed due to a bear attack so we didn't get to do that one. Instead we went hiking around the Eilson Visitor Center. It was cool to see. The sled dog kennels and demonstration were worth seeing too.

I would highly recommend doing a day cruise of some sorts to see the sea life and glaciers. We did a day cruise out of Seward. We also did a kayaking trip from Seward.

We did a bear viewing tour out of Soldotna. The float plane flight in and out of the lake alone was worth it. We saw bears catching salmon as the ran up a creek. On the flight back we flew around a few glaciers. Seeing them from the air lets you know just how big they really are.

There isn't a lot in Talkeetna. The rangers station was cool. The cemetery was pretty neat too. They have a memorial for climbers that died on Denali. There are also several bush pilots buried there with their props as headstones.

If you're interested I have our itinerary saved and can send it to you. It has all of the suggestions we got for meals, activities, where we stayed, etc. Just PM me your email and I will send it to you.

Here is a thread I started prior to our trip. Lot's of good info in it
http://www.rokslide.com/forums/general-discussion-forum/38867-alaskans-vacationed-vacation-questions.html

 

[Boreal]

I live in Anchorage and have a lot of friends and family from outside come visit. If you're limited to a week, choose one part of AK and do it well. First thing, get out of Anchorage as quickly as possible. The museum and a few other places are good for the evening before you fly back, but there is nothing in the city to keep you here. PWS out of Whittier is a great day trip out of Anchorage, definitely glaciers, and a good chance for Humpback whales at the end of June.

Talkeetna is a quaint little town and a good chance to see Denali. Definitely do the flight seeing. You'll have better views of the mountain from there than Glitter Gulch at the entrance to he Natl Park. The Park takes a week to do it right, anyway. There are kings in the Talkeetna River, but it's more a study in beating the water, for most. Still fun, and you can switch up to lighter gear for some of the other freshwater offerings.

For an unforgettable trip, take a flight over to Katmai to see the brown bears.

PM me if you're interested in saltwater fishing.


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[VernAK]

As said above "get out of Los Anchorage quickly".........,....going to Alaska to see a city is beyond my grasp!

 

[stratofisher]

Most guys hit on the timing. I would aim for around the 15th to 25th of June to hit the red salmon runs that are road accessible. Might as well do some fishing. The flightseeing up to Denali is worth the money. If you have a chance to do the Kenai Fjords boat tour that is worthwhile. As most have mentioned stay away from the tourist areas. The cruise industry is great for the economy, but they tend to funnel through the same bad spots. Due to size you probably need to focus on one area. If you want fishing the Kenai is good. If you want to see the Denali park area then drive the Denali highway and take the long way to the park and then hit Talkeetna. The other area that is really nice is to drive over to Valdez as the drive over Thompson pass is incredible and there are some great places to explore. Just hard to hit it all due to distance. Although a stop in by Girdwood and the double musky restuarant is hard to pass. Also would check out indian valley meats for some good smoked _____. Easy to kill a week in the summer- just don't sleep and you can make it a two weeks worth of fun.

 

[monkey d luffy]

try bow fishing, my wife loves it and she is quite good,