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Hello
to all of you that are looking to come to Alaska.
My wife Marnie and I first moved to Alaska in 1972 and
have lived in the state in various areas for a good portion of that
time... Wasilla, Homer, Palmer, Anchorage and, of course, Fairbanks.
We have traveled the state both in the winter and the summer
seasons, from one end to the other. Over the years we have developed
a good sense of what there is to see or not to see. Our Bed and
Breakfast has been in business for 17 years and I have approximated
that we see about 4,000 folks each year that stay with us. We've
heard the great stories and the horror stories, the woes and the
"yippy's!".
One of the mistakes
that I see a lot of folks do in planning their trip to Alaska is
they try to take in too large of an area in too short a
time. The wife wants to go to Barrow and the husband wants to go
deep sea fishing in Homer, not understanding that the distance,
mostly traveled on two lane roads, with the excption of Barrow where
you have to fly, lot of
time. Trying to do too much will leave you missing quite a
bit in between. If there is anything I can pass on to you it would
be how to see and do the most, without spending all of your time
traveling in a car! Slow down enough so you can let Alaska
come to you and have time enough to smell the Sitka roses.
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It might be taking an
extra half hour at the breakfast table chatting with guests, stopping
long enough to study or smell the abundant flowers, or take in the
beauty of a mountain or valley.
Here are some of the
problems that have faced travelers I've met:
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You do not have as
much time as you think. A 14 day trip usually comes down to an actual
11-12 days of actual days to do things in between arrival and departure.
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Most people start in
Anchorage because it's the largest city in Alaska, thinking it's the one
that is going to have the most activities. This is not necessarily true!
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Too many things to
choose from in a large geographic area.
-
Not having much
experience in traveling and how to go about it. Didn't spend enough time
in reading and research.
-
Getting caught up in
the "Tourist" venues and missing the wonderful gems in areas off the
beaten path.
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Not realizing how
much $$$$ things cost and having to cut corners.
What
I would like to do here is give you some suggestions that will help you
accomplish most of the things on your list in the time that you have
available. It might even be best to take an extra year to save and research
about where you want to go, then you will be able to do all the things that
you would like to do without having to say no to yourselves. For most this
is a "once-in-a-life-time" trip, so get to know yourself, what will make
you happy and then plan accordingly. Learn to
negotiate with your partner before you arrive in Alaska and that way you
will have thought it out and taken the time to discuss with each other the
things each is interested in. I know what you will say about this one,
fellows, how does it go... "YES HONEY, WHAT EVER YOU WANT!" Just kidding
ladies!!
So pull out your map and
follow along...Please take the time to click on the various web links, read
each one and at the end of our journey together I think you'll have a feel
for what I'm suggesting. So let's get started.
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- Fly into Fairbanks...
start your trip here!! Yes, we are
partial to our hometown, but we honestly believe that the
interior of the state is the best starting point when you have a
limited amount of time to see everything you're interested in.
Try to fly in early enough to do something on the day of your
arrival. If that can't be arranged, start the next day. We have
a list of local things to do on our Summer Activities page on
this web site. Plan on taking at least 3 days to see and
do everything in the interior area. Add a day to go to Barrow
and/or a day to fly or drive to the Arctic Circle if those are
some things you really want to do.
www.explorefairbanks.com
- After your time in
the Fairbanks / Interior area, travel down Highway #2
(Richardson Hwy.) The Richardson is the original road built into
the Interior of Alaska.
www.nps.gov/archive/wrst/valdeztrail Make sure you stop in
Delta and have a Buffalo Burger at the Buffalo Center Diner
Restaurant. At the south end of Delta Junction is the visitors
center and a "Y" in the road where the Richardson Hwy. turns
into Highway #4 and heads towards Valdez. Your destination is
Copper Center and you should give yourself a full day to travel
there.
www.nps.gov/archive/wrst/virtualtour/coppercenter This is
where the Klutina River is, where I caught a 64 pound King
Salmon! You can fish off the bank or get a charter. The charter
company I used was Groves Camp Grounds and Guide Service.
- The next day,
take a drive on Highway #10, or fly, into the St. Elias National
Park, the worlds largest protected sanctuary. This was one of
the largest copper mines in the world. After it was
abandoned the State eventually made it into a park. Tours are
available at the actual mine area. The road is gravel
(*see note about vehicle rentals and gravel roads)
and you are driving on an old rail bed. There is a wonderful
rustic hotel in the park that has good accommodations. The hotel
and park office overlook a large glacier that is breathtaking,
to say the least!
www.traveltoalaska.com/McCarthy-Kennicott
- The next day go to
Valdez and spend a couple of days there. (If you would
rather spend more time in Seward than Valdez that can work also
since they have similar activities available.) There are
some glacier cruises (Columbia and Meires Glaciers), kayaking
and hiking. Make sure you go to the Tsunami Center and learn the
history from the 1962 earthquake. Valdez is well known for it's
awesome halibut and salmon fishing.
- From Valdez take
the ferry
www.akferry.org
to Whittier, an 6.5 hour trip. For the 2006 season the only day
the ferry did not run was Tuesday. The ferry is called the
Aurora and the cost of this for a car under 21 feet and two
adults is about $325.00.
- Drive out of
Whittier to Portage Glacier. After you view the glacier, go to
the Big Game Wildlife Center
www.farthernorth.com/biggamealaska/index , which is fairly
close. Then drive to Girdwood, the home of the Alyeska Resort,
and stay a couple of nights. The next morning, take the
spectacular train ride to Seward, which leaves from the Girdwood
station at about 8:00 a.m. You can leave your car there at the
station. If you didn't spend time in Valdez stay for a couple
of days in Seward
www.alaska.org/seward/seward
. You can take a day long glacier trip or hang around town and
go to the Sea-Life Center
www.alaskasealife.org
Every year on the 4th of July the city of approximately 4000
people increases to about 25,000 for the Mt. Marathon Marathon,
the second oldest footrace in America. Fishing is also great
here with numerous charters available
- The return train
leaves Seward at about 6:00 p.m. and arrives back to the station
about 9:00 p.m., so staying another night at Girdwood would be
my choice. The next day travel along the Turnagain Arm (Hwy.
#1). If you see cars stopped along the road it is probably a
good place for viewing the Dahl Sheep that make their home on
the cliffs above the road.
- Make your first
stop in the Anchorage area at the Native Heritage Center
www.alaskanative.net
. Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska, has an area population
of over 300,000. The entire State of Alaska only has 600,000
people! For the rest of your day, go to the Anchorage Museum.
Also in the down town area is the IMAX Theater
www.alaskaexperiencetheatre.com
and the museum
www.anchoragemuseum.org
. For a larger list of activities in the Anchorage area, go to
this site:
www.alaskajourney.com/anchorage
. Spend the night in Anchorage with some fine dining and night
life.
- From there
continue your travel on Hwy #1. The Matanuska Valley is
populated by the cities of Palmer and Wasilla. At the Wasilla
exit you will be turning on Hwy. #3 and from there make your way
on to Talkeetna
www.alaska.org/talkeetna
to spend the night. You can do some of the best fishing on a
river-run trip that you've ever done, the scenery is incredible,
and the history of the town...fascinating!! Travel time from
Anchorage to Talkeetna is about 2.5 hours, so depending on what
you want to do to fill your day, there will be a lot of
different choices at this point of your trip. If you
e-mail me with your questions on what to do I will be more
than happy to help you out.
- Next, on towards
Denali Park. Plan on spending 2 nights there in order to take a
tour into the park. Because of how large the mountain is, it
seems to have its own weather patterns, so do not be
disappointed if you don't see the mountain. This is where your
patience comes into practice. The viewing of wildlife, such as
grizzly bears, dahl sheep, fox, wolves, caribou and much more,
is exciting. But be reminded...the day to day activities of
these animals are not on your schedule! Denali Park
www.nps.gov/dena/index.htm
can be one of the most special trips you take, but if you go
with too high of an expectation you may leave a little
disappointed. This is very true for all of Alaska, the greatness
is so spectacular, but she only reveals herself when ever she
wants to, not when you want her to! So patience needs to become
a great friend while you travel this land. If you get too
anxious there is a good chance you'll miss the moment that was
designed just for you.
- Now backtrack a
half hour to Cantwell and take the Denali Hwy (#8), which is
also a gravel road (*see note). This is one of the
most spectacular and scenic roads in Alaska, and the majority of
people don't take the opportunity to go on it. This highway
comes out at Paxton on the Richardson Hwy. For a great guide,
you can purchase one through the BLM site listed -
www.blm.gov/ak/gdo/publication.htm So then head back north
through Delta Junction again to Fairbanks. Once you leave Paxton
coming north, this will be the only part of road that you will
have been on before.
* Most auto
rental companies do not want their cars to be driven on gravel
roads, only paved, and will not allow you to rent from them if
they know you will be traveling to the Kennecott Mine, on the
Denali Highway or the Elliot Highway (going to Arctic Circle,
Coldfoot and Prudhoe Bay).
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I hope this has been a
helpful tool in your planning and please feel free to pick and choose
according to your own interests. You can e-mail me at
lambert@minniestreetbandb.com
and tell me how your trip went, especially the do's and the don'ts so I can
pass this information on to others. I have in the back of my mind that
if there was enough interest Marnie and I would be willing to host a trip
like the one that I have laid out. If you think that you would be
interested, you can e-mail me and we can discuss it. Have a wonderful
trip. If you're traveling up here for the winter, March is the time I would
suggest. Fairbanks starts coming out of hibernation then!! For a list of
links of activities in March, check out our Activities page.
Lambert |
