Back from 3 week RV camping trip/Long

Just got back from a wonderful 3 week adventure through Alaska and am already thinking ahead to next year!

Flew into Anchorage at 1 AM and spent night at Great Alaskan Holiday in our RV. Checked out early morning and drove to Denali. Lots of rain but we didn%26#39;t care! Spent 4 nights at Denali, 3 of which were at Tek. Could have stayed there for longer and will next time. Great quiet place and easy access to shuttle bus. One day we went to Kantishna, saw lots of wildlife and picked blue berries in the snow at Wonder Lake. Next day took shuttle to Wonder Lake and there was only 5 of us on the bus as the bridge was out and few people could get to Denali-great for us. We saw lots of bear, moose and more.

Off for four days to Fairbanks where we went to Creamer%26#39;s Field for the Sand Cranes, drive/fly to Arctic Circle (glad I did but wouldn%26#39;t do again) Riverboat Discovery, LARS, Chena Hot Springs and UAF Museum-wonderful. Stayed at two campsites, Tanana (was just so so) and Chena Marina-really nice.

Headed down Richardson Hwy to Valdez, stopped at Worthington Glacier. Worth the side trip. Valdez was foggy and rainy and so we only stayed one night.

Back to Eagle River and camped in the Fred Meyer parking lot. Free and convenient!

Off to Hope stopping at Potter%26#39;s Marsh, few birds, saw the Beluga Whales in Turnagin Arm, and had a good time at Conservation Center. Nice campground, Porcipine NFS, in Hope where you can hike along the Arm from the opposite side of your drive.

Down to Seward for the Sealife Center, take the behind the scenes tour as you learn alot about the animals, and took the Kenai Fjords 9.5 hr Northwestern Glacier Tour. Awesome! We had a great captain and saw lots of humpbacks, seals, puffins, otters, eagles and more. There was an avalanche at the top of the glacier that we watched close up which created calving. Someone in another posting complained about the lunch but it was ok and I didn%26#39;t go to eat.

Had reservations at Miller%26#39;s for three nights but only stayed one as it was muddy and facilities were lacking. Bridge to the campsite was so riddled with pot holes we both thought it could collapse. We camped in town and was very happy.

Off to Homer, beautiful drive along blue rivers. Nice to be able to see the volcanoes off in the distance. Camped on the spit in the city campgrounds, no hookups but they do have a dump station and water fill up for $2. Good bargin. Good birding at Bishop Beach and even had a moose stroll by.

Headed back up towards Anchorage and slept at a pullout along the arm and once again saw the Belugas.

Spent next day in Anchorage hiking in Kincaid park, Ulu factory etc. Stayed at the GREAT Anchorage RV park only to find out this is the last season as the company is going to bulldoze the property and put in a mall. What a shame!!

Next day we drove back along the arm to Portage Glacier. Great hour cruise and visitor center. Drove back to Eagle River and stayed again in the Fred Meyer parking lot. Ate great crab from their seafood market.

Final full day went out to Eagle River Nature Center and hiked. The trail we wanted was closed for bear activity. On the way back to Anchorage we were just getting on the highway when I looked to the north and could see Denali so clear. We turned around and drove to Talketna and took a flyover. Beautiful and want to do that again.

Last night back at Anchorage RV Park and then back home next day.

This was the best adventure of my 55 years. Can%26#39;t wait to explore more!

Would use the Toursaver book again. We did almost all our meals in the RV so no real suggestions there, except in Soldotna we ate at the Bears Den and had wonderful 9'; burgers and in Nenana where we stopped for lunch at the Monderosa, really good!

Great Alaskan Holidays was great for the RV rental. We had a 29%26#39; that I was glad to have the room for three full weeks. I would go with a 25%26#39; for two people if just for a week or so.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. If anyone wants suggestion please let me know!

Back from 3 week RV camping trip/Long

Sounds like you had a great time - I really enjoy reading trip reports like yours. I have also picked berries at Wonder Lake - what an area, and you didn%26#39;t let the weather slow you down one bit - I think that is just great! So sorry to hear that RV park in Anchorage is going to be a parking lot - that is one of favorite places to stay when heading south - that is a real bummer. Hey, one quick question - how did your clothes work out for you? I see you are from a somewhat hot summer climate - did you have what you needed for the temps here? Always wonder how that works out for travelers.

Many thanks for the report! :)

Back from 3 week RV camping trip/Long

Coalminer-Thanks for reply. I used your advice about Tek, thanks!

I read about weather and clothing before we came up so we were well prepared. Only brought one pair of shorts which I wore one day in Fairbanks. We dressed in layers and never had an issue with clothing. Our only problem is we overpacked and luckily United didn%26#39;t charge for our three overweight bags going home!

geokas, what a wonderful report. Thank you for posting. May I come with you next time? You are a great traveler who is not discouraged by rain, pot holes, not so great places to stay and you are so flexible. All these things guarantee successful trips. Next time i hope you are going to stay longer in Valdez and Homer. Bishop Beach in Homer is a really nice place in a low tide but there is so much more to explore in Homer and beyond. Too bad hiking trails were closed in Eagle River Nature Center. We hiked only a couple of them but they are very scenic with plenty of wildlife. I would like to find out more details about your visit to Fairbanks. Not interested in fly/drive tour to Arctic Circle but everything else especially any hiking you did. We are soft-core (no bird list) bird watchers so any information on places you saw birds please share. Thanks

Places-Thanks for the reply!

In all my travels I have learned the flexibility has to be a top priority as days tend not to go as scheduled. Why ruin a trip by complaining on what should have been!

Fairbanks-Mostly the birding/hiking was done around Creamers Field. We would get there early morning and have breakfast, even saw school busses pull in to see what the birds were up to, and then stay through early morning. Back again early evening. Wished we could have camped right there.

LARS (UAF Large Animal Research Station)was very interesting and the tour informational.

On our way to Chena Hot Springs we saw lots of wildlife in the marshy areas. We would just pull off on the side of the road or down to a picnic area. Most of this was past 22 miles (???) on up to Chena.

Unfortunately in Homer I had the flu so most of my wildlife viewing was from inside of the RV. My partner did get out and hike for 3 hours towards the spit from Bishop Beach. I am sure we will go back and so that we can get across the bay for some hikes and explore Homer more.

Same for Valdez. When we got there the news said 5 more days of rain and fog so that is why we left. We were going to go out on the LuLu Belle but weather was not favorable. We may take the ferry over from Whittier next time.

Not much luck at Potter%26#39;s Marsh for birds-two swans and a few ducks in the three times we were there.

Of course on our 9.5 hour cruise out of Seward we saw more birds than I can remember. That was a highlite of the trip.

My partner is a biologist who is studying shore birds so I learned alot through osmosis!

I really want to go back to Eagle River Nature Center-would have loved to see the bears catching fish but completely understood that we should not venture there more for their safety than ours.

Anythings else please ask!

If you plan on returning to ERNC, Albert loop trail is closed every year from mid-august to hibernation for the bear%26#39;s sake. I was just out there yesterday and it was beautiful, blue skies, gold trees and snow cap mountains. The salmon were everywhere. We hiked the nature trail and Crow Pass trail out to Rapids Camp it was just wonderful.

spacefry, I%26#39;m just curious, do you know whether the trailhead in Girdwood for Crow Pass is open? We were planning to hike it from there in the end of August but a couple days before our arrival there was a mud slide that cut off an access to the trial.

geokas, thanks for all details. After you wrote about LARS i checked their website and it looks somewhat like a zoo. Am I wrong? I would like to go there but don%26#39;t want to see any animals caged and fenced in after seeing them in wilderness.

Places-

LARS is a research center so the animals are in a fenced area. What I liked was learning indepth info about the animals and what different areas they are studying. When I was there they had new musk babies that were very cute. It%26#39;s just a half hour or an hour tour for less than $10. I would go back again.

We were on UAF campus anyway, so stopped at LARS. It is a research facility, not a zoo. It%26#39;s basically a huge field separated by fences into huge areas for the different animals. You can see the first area free, but need to do the tour for the rest. We saw 2 musk ox in that first area. It was a hot sunny day, so they were cooling off in the shade of the woods in the back of the fenced area. We talked to one of the students that does the tours. She said that basically we would see more musk ox and caribou, but they might all be at the back of their fenced areas. They don%26#39;t force the animals to come closer. We decide that the tour is not worth taking and left. I would say just drive over and decide there whether you want to do the tour or not. Note that the tours are only once an hour or so, so if you miss one you will need to wait for a while or go elsewhere on campus and come back.