Winging it in June.

I have been reading tons of stuff about our June 07 trip and was wondering if we could %26#39;Wing it%26#39; ? You know... Drive when and where we want and find a motel along the way? We plan to fly into Anchorage in early June and visit Denali to Sweard with a side trip to Sheep Mountain Lodge.

Any comments?

Thanks.

BTW... I have made other requests and am very thankful with the quantity/quality of responses.

Jim.

Winging it in June.

Well, that might work for some areas . . . but like in our area, you might end up sleeping in your car, as you would find everything booked or might have to stay in some questionable places. Depends on how much of an adventure you want, I guess! Often our local chamber helps people find a place . . . so you could try. The really heavily touristed areas book up months in advance. Just so you know what may happen - but I like to travel like that as well, so I do understand what you want to do. . . drive and see where you get, but it doesn%26#39;t really work for some areas up here. Just my comment. :)

Winging it in June.

Hi Coalminer....

It was suggested here that we stay in Healey for our trip to Denali. We would like to do a B%26amp;B for the local flavor. Can you suggest some good ones? OR the ones to avoid?? We don%26#39;t mind a little drive to the park. Some of the places advertised a 20 minute or so drive to the park, that would do fine.

I have looked at B%26amp;B%26#39;s thru the forum but only a %26#39;Local Expert%26#39; can truly say whats good since all the B%26amp;B%26#39;s advertise they are the best.

The same thing with places in Anchorage. It was reported here that a certain %26#39;cheap%26#39; hotel was in a bad part of town... Something we want to avoid.

I see what you mean about %26#39;winging it%26#39;. Around here, the more %26#39;Touristy%26#39; it is, the more roadside motels you run into.

Also, if we take advantage of various tours and things to do in Seward, do we need to go to Juno or would that be duplicating? We want to take a day cruise and see some wildlife, glaciers and scenery and mabey some driving.

Also, Somewhere we want to take an air tour. We would be open to where and what.

Thanks a lot for responding, I have been reading TONS of posts here and, frankly, I%26#39;m getting a little lost.

Jim.

Hi Jim - yes, it%26#39;s easy to understand getting a bit lost on the forum - so much to take in and it%26#39;s a big state.

Air tours: I would try Talkeetna first, as you drive up the Parks Hwy - they are the main spot for climbers and tourists alike to see the Mtn. If it%26#39;s cloudy, you can try again for an air flight at Denali or Healy - both have airstrips.

I would do my boat tours from Seward - incredible. I usually recommend Major Marine tour - go with the boat with the NPS ranger.

B%26amp;B%26#39;s/cabins in Healy: for a traditional B%26amp;B (living in a home/hot breakfast) I would stay at the Dome Home.

There are many that have separate entrance as well as kitchen facilities . . . .several are cabins, too. I would recommend Valley Vista, Aspen Haus, Earthsong lodge, Touch of Wilderness Inn, Denali Lakeside lodging, Ridgetop Cabins. Check them out and if you want specifics I would be happy to help with more details. Our local chamber website lists many of the ones I have mentioned as well as others: www.denalichamber.com

Hope this helps you a bit - good luck! :)

Well, we solved the motel thing by renting a small motorhome, and we thoroughly enjoyed the freedom it gave us, but we had a three week trip.

Alaska has many state parks which are free to park in, and if you are not near one they also have private RV parks which are very nice...and usually have hot showers and a laundromat and a convenience store. We liked being able to eat breakfast without going out and many times after a hard day we just ';cooked in';. It seemed as if *everybody* was doing it. Since we made this decision early in our planning, i didn%26#39;t really check to see where the ';lodgings'; are, but it looked to me as if we would be constrained in our wanderings by needing to take the availability into consideration. Seward has a city park right on the beach which cost, as I remember, $8/night. Hot showers too.

Our flight over McKinley was made from Talkeetna, on our way to Denali the next day, which seems to be the most common. We flew with ';Three Babes and a Bird';...a female run business, and we thoroughly enjoyed that, also.

If you are going to drive you must have a copy of the ';Milepost';, but you probably already know that.

Have fun planning.

I am a liitle confused about your Juneau question. That requires a ferry to the Inside :Passage. We saw that as a separate trip and did a cruise of the Inside Passage this summer.

I agree, don%26#39;t do it or, as suggested, rent RV.

I think your chances are better in early June than in late, but I would question why you would want to do it. Basically, you said you want to visit Denali to Seward with a side trip to Sheep Mountain Lodge. I am guessing you will be going for 7 to 9 days. Right? Will you be flying to/from Anchorage or Fairbanks? You basically have two choices - arrive in Anchorage or Fairbanks, go to Denali, then Sheep Mountain, then Seward, and back to Anchorage or arrive in Anchorage, go to Seward, then Sheep Mountain, then Denali, and fly out of Anchorage or Fairbanks. You don%26#39;t have that many days to play with or different routes to be flexible about. Why do you want to %26#39;wing it%26#39;? Is it because you don%26#39;t know how many days you want to spend in each location? Or you don%26#39;t know where you want to stop between these locations or for how long? Or you want to figure out your itinerary but want to not choose the accomodations in each place in advance? How picky are you going to be about your accomodations? How much would you care about price or quality? You have to realize that you can be driving 50 or 100 miles without seeing a motel. And when you get there there might be very limited choices or no availability. If you want to drive an RV or drive a car but bring a tent you will have the flexibily to just pull off the road and spend the night basically anywhere. If you want actual accomodations your choices will be limited. If you were going for 3 weeks and wanted to have a flexible itinerary I could see the benefit of %26#39;winging it%26#39;, but going for a week and visiting such a limitied number of places, I think you would be better off figuring out your itinerary in advance and making your reservations in advance, unless you want to camp.