Trip report

Trip Report - August 15th - 23rd

We have just returned from a wonderful trip in Alaska and like many visitors are planning a return trip. I used TripAdvisor extensively in planning our vacation. Thanks to all for your input. We were so happy that we planned our own trip and were not part of a tour.

It did rain everyday that we were in Alaska. However, three days did have considerable sunshine, three days were very rainy and three days had intermittent light rain. We also encountered floods, closed highways and snow in Denali Park. None of this stopped us from having a great time and loving Alaska. I have reviewed hotels and restaurants separately.

August 15th - Flew into Anchorage and picked up the rental car at the airport. Enterprise - $442 for 8 days. The drive to Girdwood was an easy scenic 60 minutes. We stayed at the Alyeska Prince Hotel using a Tour Saver coupon. This was a great choice for our first day in Alaska. The hotel is in a beautiful setting and we really felt like we were in Alaska. We had a very good dinner at Double Muskie and early to bed since we were still on Ohio time and had started our travel at 3:00 AM.

August 16th - Up early with breakfast at the Bake Shop And then a three hour hike on a trail right behind the hotel. Another scenic drive to Whittier for our glacier cruise with Prince William Sound Cruises. The tunnel to Whittier was an experience. Another good dinner at Jack Sprat鈥檚.

August 17th - We were going to take the tram to the top of the mountain however it was still rather foggy as it had been our entire stay. Guess we will try it on our next trip. We took our time on the drive to Seward and the sun came out!! After tiny sleepy Girdwood, our first impression of Seward was not very positive. One of the main streets was under major construction with lots of dump trucks, noise and dust. In addition, a big fishing tournament was taking place and the town was crowded with fisherman. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express which was right in the middle of all this. So we headed for Exit Glacier for an afternoon of hiking including a hike with the ranger. We found the more charming part of Seward and had a wonderful dinner at Yoly鈥檚 Bistro.

August 18th - This was one of our really rainy days. We had a very good breakfast at the Marina Restaurant (the friendliest place I have ever eaten) and then a visit to the Sealife Center. Drove to Homer in the rain. Stayed at the Lands End Resort and had a great dinner at the Homestead outside Homer. We found the Spit to be interesting but rather bizarre.

August 19th - Woke up to rain but then the sun came out again for most of our drive to Anchorage. We were able to enjoy the scenery that we had missed on the way to Homer due to the rain. We stopped often and took short hikes and even had a bald eagle fly about 20 feet over our heads. As the rain began again we saw a fantastic rainbow. We stayed at the Hotel Captain Cook, had a drink at the Crow鈥檚 Nest with a great view of the city (sun was out again), and an outstanding dinner at Sack鈥檚. This was where we first heard that the Parks Highway was closed due to a mudslide.

August 20th - It was raining again, the highway was closed, and we had a flightseeing tour out of Talkeetna. We called to see if we could get to Talkeetna and if the flight was still scheduled. Everything was a go so we headed to Talkeetna. This was a mistake as by the time we got there it was raining and the flight was canceled. Being from Ohio we figured there would be a detour around the mudslide. There was a detour but it involved driving back towards Anchorage and driving all the way to Fairbanks and then down to Denali. This was essentially a 450 mile detour and we drove over 13 hours in the rain all totaled that day. On the positive side we did see some beautiful scenery and parts of Alaska that we not in our original plan. We arrived at the Denali Lakeview Inn at midnight.

August 21st - Up at 5 AM for our 6:45 shuttle to Wonder Lake in the park. And guess what? The Denali Park Road was closed due to snow! We ended up taking the shuttle as far as Toklat. Denali was beautiful in the snow. We didn鈥檛 hike much because of the weather. We had dressed in layers as suggested but we didn鈥檛 have enough layers for 27 degrees, wind and snow. As we got back to the park entrance at about 2:00 PM, they opened the road to Wonder Lake but it was too late to go back in. The shuttle was much more enjoyable than I had anticipated and we will try to get to Wonder Lake on our next trip. We saw some wildlife but no bears. The sun came out while we were in the Visitors Center so we spent a couple hours hiking the trails around the park entrance. I was expecting Glitter Gulch to be worst than it actually was (I was thinking Pigeon Forge, Tn.) Although there were a lot of hotels, the setting was so beautiful that the area was still attractive. On our next trip we may stay in the Glitter Gulch area just to be closer to restaurants and the park. We had a sandwich at the Overlook Bar and Grill. The food was okay and the bar had a fun atmosphere with a nice view. We spent another night at the Lakeview Inn in Healy.

August 22nd. - Again the long way back to Anchorage in the rain. We used Milepost extensively on the trip. I highly recommend it if you are doing a lot of driving. We stayed at the Millennium Hotel by the airport. No float planes were active on Lake Hood as it was raining again. But the hotel bar was fun and the food was good.

August 23rd - up early for our flight home.

Overall, Alaska was beautiful and the people everywhere were very friendly and upbeat.

Even all the rain did not keep us from having a wonderful vacation. On our next trip we would like to flightsee around Mt. McKinley ( we never did see the mountain), take a float trip, do the glacier cruise out Seward, hike on a glacier and take the shuttle all the way to Wonder Lake. Things were not very crowded and advance reservations for activities were not necessary in mid August. On our next trip we will stay at each destination 2 or 3 days so that the weather is not such a factor. We will also probably stay over 10 days as this trip just seemed too short. When is a better time to visit Alaska if we do not want so much rain? Are crowds in July a problem? We found mid August to be just about the right number of people.

Sorry this is so long. I hope it helps my fellow travelers.

Trip report

I love reading the trip reports. I am glad to hear you had a good time despite the rain. I always tell people to be prepared for weather changes and don%26#39;t let it ruin your plans. August is our rainy month, and I usually discourage people coming until the end of the month. The busiest time is right around the 4th of July.

If I had to suggest a time frame, I would say June and late August to early September. I suggest June because it isn%26#39;t crazy busy and we have no darkness. In late August, the rain is subsiding and it isn%26#39;t crazy busy. Mid-June isn%26#39;t that good for salmon fishing, but Halibut fishing is good. I don%26#39;t know if that is an issue or not.

I was glad to hear you pass on the issue about the roads to other readers. Coming from the lower 48 myself, it took me awhile to realize ';I%26#39;m not in Kansas anymore';. There are not alot of roads, and if there is an avalanche or closing, oh well.

Thanks for your post, and I am glad to hear you will be back again.

Trip report

How bad is the snow in Denali? We are heading into Wonder Lake next week, hopefully the bus can get through....

Hi,

Thanks for your report. We returned mid August and I posted a review as well. Since we all planned together I think it is great fun to stay on the site and read all of the reviews. Sorry you had so much rain but glad you enjoyed yourself anyway.

callmolo, what a great report you posted. Was this your first trip to Alaska? We just returned this afternoon and had another very successful visit.

This is a wonderful report callmolo. I didn%26#39;t find it long at all. You still managed to enjoy your trip in spite of the rain.That makes for a good vacation.

I understand why the road in Denali Park is closed with snow. Having experienced those hairpin turns around 50 foot cliffs with no barrier...whew!

At least you know where to focus your travels next time.

I was just wondering why you did not use the Denali Highway instead of going all the way to Fairbanks?

I really enjoyed your trip report . . . I am sure some people are going to have a heart attack reading about your detour of over 400 miles. :) I just missed that . . . I was heading to Anchorage to catch a flight, driving through that torrential rain . . . guess they flooded out the next day?? Sounds like you made the best of all of your situations - good for you!

Later June is my favorite time up here, and then the Fall season . . . later June the weather is usually good, the flowers are usually incredible and you have baby animals to see as well. Thanks again for sharing with all of us! :)