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Below is my favorite shot of Denali from the trip (click image to see more of Denali, on page 2):



Below: map of our 2006 RV driving trip, about 2300 miles:
Below: map of Alaska.

Tips for visiting Alaska:

For a summary of my Alaska tips in PDF format, click here: Tom's Photo Tips Show #2: “Alaska via Air, Sea & RV”
Alaska time zone = Seattle (Pacific Time Zone) minus one hour.

Suggested Alaska Itinerary:

• 1 week: A great way to see Alaska in a short visit is to fly to Anchorage, rent a camper or RV, and drive for a week or more (about 600+ miles) to see everything on the Kenai Peninsula, which is a great microcosm of Alaska.
  
• I highly recommend the Phillips 26-Glacier College Fjord Cruise, which we booked one day in advance.
• If the weather is good, I highly recommend flightseeing over Denali from Talkeetna or Anchorage Airport.
  
• Instead of renting an RV, many people enjoy taking the Alaska Railroad train which connects Anchorage to Kenai Peninsula, Denali National Park, and Fairbanks.
• 2 to 3 weeks: Do the above, and add a ~1200+ mile driving loop seeing Valdez, Fairbanks, & Denali National Park (Denali fall colors at the end of August, ~350 miles one way from Anchorage). 
• I recommend booking a side trip (off the Richardson Highway) to visit McCarthy and Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark (use the Kennecott Shuttle to avoid 120 miles round trip on a rough potholed road; although the road has improved over the years).
• 3 to 4 weeks (same as above except spend more time for hiking, relaxing, and sidetrips).
  

Camper, Motorhome or RV Rental:

Traveling with a pickup camper or RV has distinct advantages over tenting or lodging, if your goal is to experience the great Alaskan outdoors:

• Car + Tenting is the cheapest way to see Alaska. However, Alaska is a bit too rainy & buggy to sleep in a tent regularly (unless you are young or hardy). Tenting subjects you to the whims of weather.
• Car + Lodging:
  
• Car plus lodging costs about as much as renting an RV.
  
• Disadvantages of staying in hotels/accommodation:
  
• Lodging often must be reserved well in advance in popular areas of Alaska.
  
• Lodging can be scarce in the beautiful areas where you may most want to experience nature, whereas RV camping or overnight parking areas are much more plentiful.
  
• Advantages of camping:
  
• Campground slots are very much easier to obtain spontaneously, versus finding lodging. The only campgrounds we needed to reserve (during our trip August 15-September 8) were Teklanika (RV) and Wonder Lake (tent) in Denali NP.
  
• Camping puts you in closer contact with nature than a hotel room. An RV is just as comfortable, and more convenient, than a hotel room.
  
• Once you unpack your luggage into an RV, you don't need to manually lug your belongings around for the rest of the trip.
• Pickup Camper or RV:
  
• A pickup mounted with a camper shell will take you over rougher roads to more places than a motorhome or RV.
  
• A pickup camper gets much better gas mileage than an RV, but its daily rental rate can be higher than a small RV. The net cost may end up about the same for pickup camper versus RV, even in the off season.
• Save 20 to 30% on your motorhome RV rental by renting before or after high season, which runs from about July 1 to August 15.
  
• When I priced pickup campers in 2006, they offered no off-season price savings.
  
• In 2006, we used the following excellent value RV rental company:  ClippershipMotorhomes.com
  
• Clippership Motorhomes: free airport pick up (907) 562-7051 or 800-421-3456. 8-5 pm every day.
• 20 or 22-foot Economy Class $2200 for 24 days August 15 – September 8, 2006 = $90/day plus gas (includes 8% MOA tax & 3% state tax), 2400 free miles then $.15/mile; housekeeping package $15 each. Reserve with deposit $250, then upon arrival pay $250 more deposit.  All gravel roads are prohibited, though you can of course drive into gravelled campgrounds or short access roads. It only gets 9 miles per gallon of gasoline or less. Ouch!
  
• Includes: Sheets, blankets, pillows, towels, pots and pans, knife, fork and spoon for each traveler, pancake turner, measuring cup, baking pan, scrubber, cooking spoons, can opener, grater, colander, paring knife, butcher knife, coffee pot, mixing bowls, pot holders, cutting board, potato peeler, broom, dust pan, water hose, level, trash can and instruction manual. Add the convenient HOUSEKEEPING PACKAGE: $15.00 per person: dishes, glasses, pitcher, kitchen towel, dish cloth, first aid kit, dish soap, paper towels, toilet paper, bath soap, toilet chemical, matches and hangers.
• Fly to Alaska + Rent a Vehicle:
  
• Flying to Anchorage and picking up your reserved vehicle saves at least 4000 miles of driving time & expense getting to Alaska from the Lower 48 States.
• We cashed in Northwest Airline miles for free flights to Anchorage, where we rented an RV for 24 days (August 15 to September 8), which plunged us directly into the big Alaskan scenery, while avoiding two weeks of extra driving round trip from Seattle.
• Seattle to Anchorage is 5000 miles round trip. Driving to the first Alaskan town of Tok would take 4000 miles round trip, which would have added two weeks of steady driving, campground & food expenses, plus wear and tear on our own vehicle.
  
• Although the Alaskan Highway is a famous journey, much of the drive is actually monotonous forest scenery. The time and expense saved (for not driving 4000 miles round trip to Tok) easily pays for renting an RV for a significant block of vacation time. The break even point may be 1 to 3 weeks RV rental, depending upon your situation. If you plan to stay more than a month, it may be worth driving your own vehicle from the Lower 48.
  
• Southeast Alaska travel tip: 
• On a future trip to Southeast Alaska, which is significantly closer to Seattle than Anchorage, we plan to drive our own camper to Prince Rupert, Canada, from where we will ride the ferries (without our vehicle) to Juneau and back to Prince Rupert. (Bringing a car on the ferry would cost $800+ and require reservations 4-6 months in advance.) With our savings from not bringing a car, we can flexibly rent cars or take public transportation along the ferry routes. We can board ferries more spontaneously as passengers without a car. Locals say April/May has the best weather and fewer tourists.
  
  
  Right: Female moose with two calves at Eagle Creek Campground, on the Glenn Highway, Milepost 11.6 from Anchorage.

Weather/When to visit:

• May 10 to September 15 is generally a good time to visit most parts of Alaska.
  
• Long daylight: June 21 is the longest day of the year, with 19 hours of daylight in Anchorage, 22 in Fairbanks, and 18 in Southeast Alaska. Any time between Spring and Fall equinoxes, the days are significantly longer in Alaska than at lower latitudes.
  
• Peak tourist season is mid-June to mid-August. Before and after that are "shoulder season" discounts 10 – 25% at some hotels and tour operators.
  
• Hiking season: Snow in high country or Arctic regions does not melt until about late June. June is "post-hole" season, so named for walking through melting patchy snow.
  
• Fall colors: Peak fall colors of the red tundra in Denali are late August to early September. On the Kenai Peninsula, aspen tree yellow & gold leaf fall colors usually peak September 15-18th, a few days after Denali National Park. The Glenn Highway (from Anchorage to Glennallen) has great gold aspens against rugged mountain background. Just a few days after Kenai comes the Anchorage area’s yellow color peak, which is the last turning of leaf colors in south-central Alaska.
• May is generally drier in Alaska, with about a 25% chance of measurable rain on the average day. Alaska gets rainier as the summer progresses. By August, the chance of rain increases to about 50% on a given day.
• Climate zones:
• The rainiest areas are on the ocean side of the mountain ranges.
• In south-central Alaska's summer (such as in Anchorage & Homer), expect rain one third of the time, cloudy one third, and sunny one third. Peak mosquito season is the end of June and the first part of July in marshy lowlands, but no problem on breezy alpine ridges. Bugs are no problem after late July. South-central Alaska has 70% of the state's population, the most roads and the most hiking trails. The varied climate transitions from the mild and wet southern coast, to the colder and drier interior to the north.
  
• Fairbanks and the interior north of the Alaska Range have significantly sunnier weather than further south. The snow melts faster in the interior in Spring than in south-central Alaska. Early summer season has thunderstorms and forest fires. The interior of Alaska has more mosquitoes than south-central Alaska, starting in mid-June, but the bugs die away after the first frosts in late July. The best hiking is in the Alaska Range and the Yukon-Tanana uplands near Fairbanks.
  
• Southeast Alaska (Juneau to Ketchikan) is the rainiest area in Alaska (with local variability). Locals say April/May has the best weather with the least rain (and fewer tourists).
  
• Southwest Alaska (including Katmai National Park) is wet and windy, and stretches 1400 miles down the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands.
  
• Weather Radio: When traveling in Alaska, check weather forecasts frequently, such as by using an inexpensive NOAA weather radio, which is built into many 5-to-10-mile “walkie talkie” style radios. Or check weather on the internet. By checking the NOAA radio’s two-day weather forecast (which is surprisingly accurate if you check the latest update every 6 hours), we were able to book spectacular sunny days for our 26-Glacier College Fjord Cruise, and for our flightseeing trip over Denali starting at Talkeetna.
  
• Keep your schedule flexible: Near the end of August 2006 (the beginning of our trip), a steady downpour washed out a critical section of the Parks Highway from Anchorage to Denali for 2.5 days. By reversing our planned route, the road was fixed by the time we looped through.

Bring to Alaska:

• A NOAA weather radio (such as found in 8-mile walkie talkies) or internet connection for the latest 2-day weather forecast. The most recent forecast is critical for hikers and backpackers, and is surprisingly accurate for 1-2 days out. NOAA weather radio reception is available within about 10 or 15 miles of main cities.
  
• compass
• binoculars for wildlife viewing
  
• Sleep mask – even on September 1, skies are surprisingly light for 16 hours in Anchorage!
• If you are concerned about mosquitoes, come before mid-June, or visit the last week in July or later when the first night frosts eliminate most insect problems. If visiting during mosquito season (mid-June to mid-July), bring DEET, which is the only proven repellent.
• Motion sickness remedy (a prescription patch works best) for sea & air (we didn't need it).
  
• If camping overnight at Wonder Lake or elsewhere, bring camping gear: tent, stove, pots, sleeping bag, pad, backpack, safety matches, etc.
  
• Hiking books:
  
• 55 ways to the Wilderness in South Central Alaska, published 2002 by the Mountaineers Books. Excellent details on the best 55 hikes within about 4 hours drive of Anchorage.
  
• Hiking Alaska, by Dean Littlepage, A Falcon Guide published 1997 by The Globe Pequot Press. This book is a helpful overview of the best hikes throughout Alaska.

Anchorage & the Glenn Highway:

A great way to see Alaska is to fly to Anchorage, rent a camper or RV, and drive for a week or more (about 600+ miles) to see everything on the Kenai Peninsula, which is a great microcosm of Alaska. If you have at least two weeks, add a ~1500+ mile driving loop seeing Valdez, Fairbanks & Denali National Park. See the bottom of this page for more Alaska travel tips.

 Upon request, I can show you images of backpacking wilderness in the Anchorage area & Chugach State Park, including Winner Creek (Girdwood), Crow Pass, Raven Glacier, Monarch Mine ruins, old Iditarod Trail, Rabbit Lake, Flattop Mountain, Rendezvous Peak, & Eagle River.

Alaska Zoo, Anchorage:

Below left: polar bear in the Alaska Zoo, Anchorage. One of the easiest places to see polar bears in the wild is not in Alaska, but in Churchill, Hudson Bay, Manitoba, Canada.




Below: brown bear (called a grizzly in the Lower 48) in the Alaska Zoo, Anchorage. The easiest place to see brown bears in the wild is Denali National Park Road. The brown bear (Ursus arctos) is an omnivorous mammal of the order carnivora, found across northern Eurasia (including Russia and Scandinavia) and North America.





Above: The Snowy Owl (Nyctea scandiaca) is a powerful arctic predator (shown here captive in the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage), active during the daytime, from dawn to dusk. It is a large, white owl with a rounded head, yellow eyes and black bill, and heavily feathered feet.
    According to www.owlpages.com: "A distinctive white Owl, their overall plumage is variably barred or speckled with thin, black, horizontal bars or spots. Females and juveniles are more heavily marked than males - adult males may be almost pure white, although they have up to three tail bands. Adult females are distinctly barred throughout, and have from four to six tail bands. Immatures are very heavily barred throughout, and dark spotting may codominate or dominate the overall plumage. Intensity of dark spotting varies with the sex of the immatures, females being the darkest. Juveniles are uniformly brown with scattered white tips of down.
    "The Snowy Owl was first classified in 1758 by Carolus Linnaeus, the Swedish Swedish naturalist who developed binomial nomenclature to classify and organise plants and animals. The name "scandiacas" is a Latinised word referring to Scandinavia, as the Owl was first observed in the northern parts of Europe. Some other names for the Snowy Owl are Snow Owl, Arctic Owl, Great White Owl, Ghost Owl, Ermine Owl, Tundra Ghost, Ookpik, Scandinavian Nightbird, White Terror of the North, and Highland Tundra Owl. It is the official bird of Quebec. Distribution is circumpolar - Arctic regions of the old and new worlds."

Click here to see more Alaskan animals: Brown Bear (Grizzly) , Polar Bear , Moose , Musk Ox , Mountain Goat , Dall Sheep , Caribou vs Reindeer , Snowy Owl , Sandhill Crane , Kittiwake Rookery , Steller Sea Lion , Anenomes

Left: a poisonous amanita mushroom in the Alaska Zoo.

Palmer:

Knik Glacier & Pioneer Ridge Trail:

Below: We hiked 2200 feet up to the first picnic table on the Pioneer Ridge trail, a fairly steep 4 miles round trip, which gave us a good view of the Knik Glacier and River.



Above: View of the Knik Glacier at about 2000 vertical feet up the Pioneer Ridge trail, near Palmer.

Musk Ox Farm, Palmer:

Left: The Musk Ox Farm near Palmer is fun to visit (at Glenn Highway milepost 50, open in the summer from 10-6pm). A musk ox (ovibos moschatus), is not an ox, and has no musk glands. Instead, it is a relative of sheep and goats. 3000 musk ox live in Alaska and 100,000 more live worldwide in the far north. Due to their habit of huddling together in a circle (with calves in the center) when threatened, they nearly went extinct after the invention of guns.


Below: a young musk ox.



Above: three young musk oxen grazing at the Musk Ox Farm, Palmer.

Wild Moose:

Above: Wild bull moose in Riley Creek Campground, near the entrance of Denali National Park.

Left: Wild female moose with calf, in Eagle River Campground, on the Glenn Highway, Milepost 11.6 from Anchorage.

Left: Female moose with two calves at Eagle Creek Campground, on the Glenn Highway, Milepost 11.6 from Anchorage. (I have cropped out the trailers in the campground.)

Above right: Moose calf on the run, on the Glenn Highway, Milepost 11.6 from Anchorage.

Matanuska Glacier:

Above: The Matanuska Glacier and the Chugatch Mountains, as viewed from a pullout on the Glenn Highway.

Kenai Peninsula:

Above: A good view of the Kenai Mountains from a pullout on the Seward Highway. Turnagain Arm, (a branch of Cook Inlet), experiences 37-foot tides, which are second in height only to tides in the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Travel tips for the Seward Highway to the Kenai Peninsula:

• Girdwood:
• Visit the fun town of Girdwood (40 minute drive from Anchorage), which has a good a ski resort, nice hiking & historic mining ruins.
• Sunday Craft Market.
• The Bake Shop: Great pizza, fresh bread, cinnamon rolls, healthy breakfast, lunch & dinner near Alyeska Resort. See www.thebakeshop.com

• Seward:
• ** Alaska Sealife Center is worth visiting.
• *** Hike Exit Glacier: 1-8 miles/0-3000 feet. Alaskan classic experience. Watch for bears.
• Camping: camp on Seward’s waterfront (fee), or pull over for free on the road to Exit Glacier.
• ** Kenai Fjords National Park: has an attractive cruise to Northwestern Fjord & Glacier. Tom cruised to the impressive Aialik Glacier in 2002, seeing whales, steller seals & bird life.

Kenai Fjords National Park:

Exit Glacier hike, Kenai Fjords National Park:

Left: Hikers are dwarfed by the ice of the Exit Glacier, in Kenai Fjords National Park.

    Below right: Fireweed foliage turns bright colors of red, orange, magenta and purple in the fall.






Above: A winged insect on a blossom of dwarf fireweed.


Above: a marmot (a large rodent) grazes on lush vegetation.   

Below: A male mountain goat, seen on the Exit Glacier hike in Kenai Fjords National Park. Marmots are members of the genus Marmota, in the rodent family Sciuridae (squirrels).


Below: Harding Icefield, seen on the Exit Glacier hike in Kenai Fjords National Park.



Above: Harding Icefield, seen on the Exit Glacier hike in Kenai Fjords National Park (vertical).
Below: Tom hikes against a backdrop of the Exit Glacier, flowing from the Harding Icefield in Kenai Fjords National Park.



Above: Tom & Carol hike alongside the Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park.
Below: The Exit Glacier and berries in Kenai Fjords National Park.


Above: Harding Icefield is the source of the Exit Glacier, a spectacular day hike in Kenai Fjords National Park near Seward. After I encountered a bear cub on the descent (in 2002), I made lots of noise on the way down in order to avoid the mother bear!
Below: Tom admires red foliage above the Harding Icefield, Kenai Fjords National Park.

Seward: Alaska Sealife Center:

Above & below: A steller sea lion plays with a firehose at the Alaska Sealife Center, Seward.

Above:  A woman reaches out to touch the glass while a Steller Sea Lion plays with a firehose at the Alaska Sealife Center, Seward. See also my image of wild Steller Sea Lions in Kenai Fjords National Park.

Tufted Puffins (Fratercula cirrhata) in captivity at the Alaska Sealife Center, Seward:

Resurrection Bay hosts colorful creatures such as this Christmas anemone, on display in an aquarium at the Alaska Sealife Center, Seward:


Below: the arms of an anenome reach out for food in an aquarium at the Alaska Sealife Center, Seward:

Day Cruise to the Aialik Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park:

Below left: A haystack rock in Kenai Fjords National Park.

Below right: Three Hole Point, Kenai Fjords National Park.

Left: A tour boat cruises to the tide-level Aialik Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park.

Below right: Tourists admire the groaning and cracking Aialik Glacier.

Left: Aialik Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park.

Below right: Wild Steller Sea Lions rest on an island in Kenai Fjords National Park. See also my images of a huge bull Steller Sea Lion in captivity at the Alaska Sealife Center, Seward.

Whittier:

Whittier is a major cruise ship and train gateway to Anchorage.
Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel to Whittier:

• $12 lets you take your car through the longest highway tunnel in North America (2.5 miles). The one-lane roadbed is shared with a train!
• Open daily 5:30 am - 11:15 pm.
  
• Reversible single lane:
• Go Bear Valley to Whittier on the half hour x:30 - x:45.
• Go Whittier to Bear Valley on the hour x:00 - x:15.

Above: The Kittiwake Rookery can be seen via kayak or boat a few miles across the fjord from Whittier.

Portage Glacier Hike from Whittier:

Above image: From Whittier:
*** Hike Portage Pass & Glacier, icebergs in lake: 2 - 4 miles / 700 feet gain. Spectacular walk with little effort; take a right on a national forest road just a few hundred yards east of the tunnel. Free parking at the trailhead. But if you drive the couple of miles further into Whittier, parking costs at least $5 for the day.

Prince William Sound: College & Harriman Fjords, a cruise out of Whittier:

*** I highly recommend the Phillips 26-Glacier Cruise to College & Harriman Fjords (images below):

• Cruise from 1:00-5:30pm and see whales, seals, sea otters, bird rookeries, plus dozens of spectacular glaciers, many flowing into Prince William Sound.
  
• “Catamaran with no seasickness, money back guarantee.” $150 (-$20 less in September), includes a good hot meal.

(An alternative is the Columbia Glacier tour from Valdez, with Stan Stephens, but that glacier is receding and doesn't look as good as in the past.)




Above: Cascade & Barry Glaciers meet on Harriman Fjord, Barry Arm, Prince William Sound, Alaska.

Below: Cascade, Barry & Coxe Glaciers, on Harriman Fjord, Barry Arm, Prince William Sound, Alaska.




Below: Serpentine Glacier, on Harriman Fjord, Barry Arm, Prince William Sound, Alaska.


Below: Harriman Glacier, on Harriman Fjord, Barry Arm, Prince William Sound, Alaska.


Below: Carol aboard the Phillips 26-Glacier Cruise catamaran sporting a wind-whipped USA flag. Behind her is the Serpentine Glacier, on Harriman Fjord, Barry Arm, Prince William Sound, Alaska.

Towns of Ninilchik & Kenai: Russian Orthodox Churches:

Above:  The Russian Orthodox "Holy Transfiguration of our Lord Church" in Ninilchik was established in 1900. This is the westward side, facing Mount Redoubt and Mount Iliamna volcanoes across Cook Inlet.

Below:  The east side of the same Russian Orthodox Church in Ninilchik.


Below: This Russian Orthodox Church, "Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary", in Kenai dates from 1896, and is now a National Historic Landmark.


Below: Sunset at Ninilchik, on Cook Inlet, off of the Gulf of Alaska:

Homer:

Above: Homer's Small Boat Harbor.

Travel Tips for Homer:

• 5 hours one-way drive from Anchorage.
• * Beach walk, tide pools, from Homer or Homer Spit.
• ** Artsy town at the “end of the road”.
• Pratt Museum of Sealife, $6. 10-6pm. Art, natural history, native cultures, homesteading, fishing, marine ecology, and info on Exxon Valdez oil spill.
• *** Kachemak Bay State Park
  
• Requires a water taxi ride:  www.makoswatertaxi.com: $50 per person round trip across Kachemak Bay to Glacier Spit.
• Water taxi transportation & kayak rental package: $160 two-person/double kayak, $95 oneperson kayak.
• ** Hike Grewinkgk Glacier & Lake: Hike 5 miles/500 feet from Glacier Spit to Saddle pick-up; or 6.5 miles/150 feet RT from Glacier Spit.
• *** Hike Alpine Ridge Trail: views into deep glacial valleys. Day hike 5-14 miles / 2000-4000 feet. Can optionally tent near start.
• Overnight Lodging for Kachemak Bay State Park:
• Can camp overnight at Rusty's Lagoon.
  
• Hike a short way with a backpack to camp on the beach at Glacier Lake.
• Rental cabins on Halibut Cove Lagoon and Tutka Bay. The cabin rental fee per night is $65 peak and $50 non-peak; reservable. Bring your own pads, sleeping bags, stove, toilet paper, lights. No electricity. Wood stove for heat. Water is available when the Ranger Station generator is operating and should be treated before drinking. Anchorage: 907-269-8400 www.dnr.state.ak.us/parks/cabins/halibutcove.pdf

Below: The Kenai Mountains (seen across Kachemak Bay) loom behind RV campers on Homer Spit.


Below: fileting and cleaning freshly caught halibut in Homer.


Below: freshly caught halibut in Homer.



Above: A fishing vessel with net in Homer's Small Boat Harbor, which has a spectacular view of the Kenai Mountains across Kachemak Bay.

Left: Located on Homer Spit, the Salty Dawg Saloon has an interior plstered with currency and paper. Its lighthouse tower is an official NOAA marker on marine charts, and was once a water tower. Part of the building may have formerly been a schoolhouse.

Below right: This anonymous rock sculpture reminds me of the naturalistic works of British artist Andy Goldsworthy, featured in the movie "Rivers and Tides". (See his biography on wikipedia.com.)

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