Alaska vacation planning

[AKDoc]

I just saw your post this morning, so I'm late to the suggestion table. You might already have your plans set, but if not...

For my wife and I we enjoy the drive as much as the destination up here. That said...consider Homer and Valdez.

The drive to Homer is beautiful with good road and many things to do along the way. Lodging in Homer might be challenging at this point to book, but check-out Lands End on the spit. My wife really enjoys shopping in Homer (get ready for that), and I enjoy getting out for the day on a fishing charter, visiting the Nomar store, the local brewery, and eating the best oysters in the world (Jackolof Bay oyster company is set-up for you to come and pick-up a dozen shucked on ice).

The drive to Valdez is equally beautiful yet quite different from the drive to Homer...good road and relatively more remote. You can take a side trip into McCarthy if you want, but that is a commitment of time on a rougher road. The views from Thompson Pass are especially impressive, and there are numerous waterfalls as you get closer to Valdez. Not sure about lodging options in Valdez, you'll have to research those....we are always in our truck/camper, so it's not an issue for us. Your timing in August will likely match well with the silvers running.

For dining in ANC, put Moose's Tooth and 49th State at the top of your list...Double Musky in Girdwood is also well worth the drive.

An advanced welcome to Alaska for you guys!

 

[Ocnandmtns]

Great info @AKDoc , that’s exactly the kind of pointers I was hoping for! Not too late, we are still planning the route and details. Thanks!

 

[Vpowell]

Be sure to go fishing! Went black bass fishing in Seward a few years ago, caught a bunch of fish and could see about 8 mountain goats on the mountain as we fished


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[Ocnandmtns]

Be sure to go fishing!

Yep, I def plan to!

Itinerary is shaping up nicely... 1 day in Anchorage then head to Valdez for 3 days, a couple days to make it to Homer(possibly staying at 1 or more of the spots some of you mentioned), 4 days in Homer, then a day to work our wayback to ANC.

If anyone recommends and specific fishing charters or shore fishing rivers on the route let me know. Looks like we may be able to fish along the Matanuska on the way to and from Valdez and someone here suggested Bird Creek in Girdwood.

 

[cod007]

Matanuska River heavily glacial and treacherous. A few smallish feeder streams but not great fishing along that stretch.
After u make the right hand turn out of Glennallen about 20 minutes u cross the Klutina R. It has some good shore fishing. (Check the run timing). There is a nice campgrd area at Blueberry lake in the mts just above the drop down into the town of Valdez. Can be fabulous grayling fishing on small panther Martin spinners or even on dry flies.
If u can obtain a canoe, small raft or even a float tube I can give u tips to a few good fishing lakes along your way.
I think u are really stretching it if you want to go from Homer to Valdez. Yes it can be done and the scenery is great. But if u are more into sitting at a lake for a day or two, a daylong fishing charter here or there, etc, you might consider the option of Anchorage south to see Homer, Hope, Seward, Portage area.
OR... Anch north to Glennallen, Copper Center, Chitina, Valdez way.
Bird Creek is at Indian, 20 miles between Anch and Girdwood, by the way. Seward, Homer, and Valdez all have great charter ocean fishing.

 

[Ocnandmtns]

Thanks @cod007 ! Good info. We have a pretty epic itinerary shaping up in the Kenai that includes a day on a halibut and salmon charter out of Homer and still allows a few days free to wander or chill etc. We could scrap the plan to go out to Valdez but seems pretty cool too and the ferry ride from Valdez to Whittier looks cool too.

 

[AKBorn]

Hope your accommodations in Alaska have not been altered by the fact that many of the large lodges are not opening this year, but will reopen in 2022.

 

[kwackkillncrew]

You can do the valdez to homer drive in about 10 hours if you are just straight shooting it with no stops (and other tourists dont slow you down looking at sheep and what not on the turnigan arm. valdez to anchorage is about 5 hours and from anchorage to homer its about 4.5 hours. Unless you are into hiking i dont think there is much worth stopping for between valdez and anchorage other then some looking at glaciers. If you want to get on some rainbows in the kenai it would be a great time of the year if you can find a guide. i didnt see what dates in august you will be here but if its early august you could shore fish the upper/middle kenai for reds. If you are going to homer 2nd i would suggest fishing out of there so you dont have to try to keep fish frozen for most of your trip after valdez. Also the valdez charters are much more expensive then the homer charters because of the amount of time it takes to get out to the good fishing grounds. In homer there are quite a few good charter options. I would look into brooks alaskan adventures, central charters on their boat the Irish Mist, drift wood charters or big dans charters in that order. My top pick would be brooks alaskan adventures, i believe they generally fish halibut in shallower water and use milk jugs for bobbers (something i have learned from his posts). check out their website. There is a lagoon on the spit that silvers run to every year as well. If you dont have a pole with you, there is a bait shop on the spit where you can rent poles for the day and cast spinners for them in the lagoon. If you do have a fly rod you could stop at quartz creek off the sterling highway (in between homer and anchorage and fish for dollies that are gorging them selves on sockeye eggs. Find the salmon in the creek and the dollies will be right behind them. peg a bead 2" up from a small hook and a sinker heavy enough to just skip off the bottom about 2' above the bead. 6mm or 8mm bead thats orange with a white swirl is what we use. I would pick up some bear spray or bring a gun if your going to be out on the rivers where you are not around other people. feel free to pm me if you have any questions we keep our boat in homer and have a lot of knowledge of the area between homer and anchorage.

check out turo for renting cars. Kind of like airbnb but with cars

 

[keller]

I fished halibut with j and j smart charters out if ninilchik good outfit.

 

[Ocnandmtns]

Now some of you are making me think we should skip the long drive to Valdez and spend more time around anchorage and down to Homer. Hmmmmm… might look into changing the plans a bit. Thanks y’all.

 

[kwackkillncrew]

You could do the scenic cruise or fishing charter in whittier and see the same type of scenery you would have seen in valdez and it's only about a hour from anchorage. Have to go through a 2.5 mile tunnel through the mountains to get there. The town isnt anything spectacular but the scenery is amazing.

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[cod007]

Now some of you are making me think we should skip the long drive to Valdez and spend more time around anchorage and down to Homer. Hmmmmm… might look into changing the plans a bit. Thanks y’all.

You should ask yourselves.... do I want to see a chunk of Alaska, or do we want take some time and really enjoy our time and experience here. There are pros for both. The Kenai peninsula is a great area and enjoyed by many all summer long. Plenty of easily accessible fishing all over the peninsula. Good scenery. Good wildlife viewing. But super busy.
The trip towards Valdez opens up big country, lots of open less crowded spaces along the way. The fishing opportunities are there, more scattered, much of it less pressured. (I think ‘lake fishing’ when I head that way.) A canoe, blow up boat or even a float tube would be hugely beneficial.
If u can get your hands on a publication called the Milepost, grab it. It’s invaluable for showing u your surrounding diners, campgrds, fishing, lodging, mapping, etc etc.

 

[Thunder]

Great suggestions! She’s going to love it!

 

[keller]

Fished salmon with reubin and Mindy Payne widespread fishing. Was a good experience would recommend them as well.

 

[shbush09]

I'm heading to AK for a Kotz caribou hunt at the end of August and my wife's schedule just opened up so that we can do a vacation up there before the hunt. We'll have 10-14 days available from approx Aug 14-28. I was up there with friends once 15 years ago before we were married and saw Seward to Denali area. I loved it and have been telling her I want to take her back, so it's finally happening.

We would like to see some different areas driving a rental vehicle, stay in cabins and airbnbs. Hike, fish from shore and maybe get out on a boat, etc. We like experiencing it all from wilderness, to dive bars in a tiny town to a good meal in a bigger city. Could go back to areas I've been but open to new too.

At the moment, have zero things planned. So I welcome any and all suggestions for cool towns, places to stay, routes to drive, places to eat/drink, things to see/do, etc.

One idea is to explore the Juneau area for the first half then fly up to Anchorage area for the second half- any thoughts on that or any preference over either area?

Thanks!

Hope you have a great time. Enjoying reading all of these suggestions as we are trying to map out a similar trip.