Best Trip for Brown Bear Viewing (and other recommendations)

We are planning a June 2007 trip to Alaska (wife, 11 y/o daughter, and myself) and I%26#39;m considering one of the trips to Katmai or another place to view the brown bears. I have a few questions:

Is this type of trip appropriate for an 11 year old? Is Katmai the best place to go for this type of adventure? Which flying service would you recommend?

We are also considering doing both the Kenai Fjords and Prince William Sound boat tours. Do you see basically the same on both of these tours or is there enough differentiation that we should go ahead and do both of them?

How about a train ride from Anchorage to Whittier to do the PWS trip. Worth it as far as nice scenery with possible wildlife sightings?

What do you recommend to do on the Kenai Peninsula? Hiking?

Thanks in advance for all of the insights.

Best Trip for Brown Bear Viewing (and other recommendations)

Yes, bear watching trip is a cool way to introduce 11 year old to the life of Alaskan bears. Katmai National Park and Preserve is an ideal place to see bears. if you want to see more wildlife then include at least three days in Denali National Park. As to bear watching trips I always recommend Emerald Air from Homer. We use them every year for the last few years. I written many times right here on this forum about our personal experiences so if you are interested in reading details try to find these posts. Try to do search here on the Alaska forum under bear watching and Emerald Air. Some posters used Bald Mountain in Homer and were very happy with their trips. However, you need to make your reservation for your bear watching trip very soon especially if you have three people. The plane Emerald Air has is able to accommodate only 9 people plus your guide and the pilot/guide. Keep in mind that Emerald Air is the excellent company and as result very popular. It has already some days in June, July and August fully booked.

A couple days ago I answered very similar questions about Kenai Fjords and Prince William Sound cruises. These are completely different places and cruises focus on different things. If your time permits do them both. Both places are beautiful and worthy to include them in your itinerary. Kenai Fjords National Park cruises mostly focus on marine wildlife whereas PWS is the best way to see many amazing glaciers.

A train ride from Anchorage to Whittier is not going to give you opportunity to see wildlife. Even if you spot something you won%26#39;t have any time to even figure out what you just saw. If you sit on the left side of the train you%26#39;ll be mostly watching Seward Highway. If you want to have the best scenic train ride in that area then I recommend the section between Girdwood and Seward.

There are endless things to do and places to see on Kenai Peninsula. I suggest you read posts here regarding Seward and Homer. You can spend a month on Kenai Peninsula and still won%26#39;t be able to do everything that%26#39;s available around Kenai Peninsula. Yes, lots of hiking.

Best Trip for Brown Bear Viewing (and other recommendations)

Absolutely, without a doubt, Emerald Air out of Homer! Ken and Chris are fabulous guides. I have photos of our bear trip with them in my trip report...

www.shellistravel.com/TravelogueViewer.aspx鈥?/a>

I also recommend driving to the northeast side of the Kenai Peninsula, up to Captain Cook State Park. You%26#39;ll see a lot of moose with their babies in June. Enjoy! My kids are begging for us to take them to Alaska. We%26#39;re going back in 2008.

Definite fly to the bears in Katmai. Very appropriate for an eleven year old.

Emerald Air or Bald Mtn, both are rated excellent...maybe slight nod to Emerald. I flew with Bald Mtn last Aug...can%26#39;t say enough nice things about the trip.

Check out my video of it at:

鈥ebshots.com/video/3070348030099960379

(high speed connection and decent computer required on this site)

for slower connections and/or slower pc%26#39;s, lower res video is also on my YouTube channel.

www.youtube.com/profile?user=clay2young

On the Kenai Penisula, go to Cooper Landing. Hike the Russian River (easy and/or longer harder trail). Take a scenic float on the Kenai River, or the longer with mild white water raft trip all the way to Skilak Lake.

alaskarivertrips.com/kenai-canyon-raft-trip.鈥?/a>

We went with Bald Mountain Air in 2001 and had an awsome experience. It was the highlight of our trip. I have reservations again for this July with Bald Mountain Air. I can%26#39;t wait.