Alaska 2014

[Ford_6L_E350]

Dave,

I'm undecided. or flexible. I could go either way if someone wanted to convoy up. I'm probably going to drive either up or down and ferry the other way. Really want to go back to Hyder and the Salmon Glacier, and that means driving one way.

Current plan calls for Seattle on Jun 15th, visit the LeMay Museum and then head North.

Mike

[Bones_GSXR]

Would be Happy to join you on the trip but I am already here! I am traveling as much as possible in the Summer but might be able to meet up somewhere (schedule permitting) I Ride the Motorcycle into Canada mid June every year and use the Van as a Basecamp other times as well so move a lot. I used to be a tour guide so know a lot of Alaska history so might be able to help with planning if you tell what you are interested in seeing.

[REF]

We are also in planning stages for our 2014 Alaska journey, exciting!
I've gotten some great advice on what to do/see from an experienced Alaska traveler/fisherman that has a salmon co. and will try to fit in at least some of these stops/activities along the way. his recommendations in no particular order:
Anchorage-
hiking in the chugach
Middleway cafe
Kenai Penninsula-
Girdwood(ski town)-
Hikes-
crow creek mine(shorter)
bird ridge(longer) amazing view of turnagain arm, see the tide go out
Seward-
Exit glacier trail-hike to glacier face
sea kayaking with sunny cove sea kayaking-fox island tour-glaciers,whales,otters,puffins,seals...go when sunny for best viewing
Homer-
sea-side inn or rent a cabin(or stay in SMB)
Kachemak bay
mako's sea taxi/hire a guide to hike red mountain, broken knife, or poots peak(for the more adventurous)
fish salmon in china-plot or tutka bay
rent a cabin/yurt across the bay
finns pizza-order a blue-pear? and a poots porter, (for those that drink beer)
K-bay cafe-best coffee on the planet, grab some beans to go(so he says)
central charters-halibut fishing. june/july red/silver salmon
river fishing salmon-Anchor river
KGB(kachemak guide bureau) for guided fishing
Kenai peninsula-
great for fishing and camping
Denali national park via Talkeetna-
Talkeetna-camp by the river
Fairview inn-breakfast
Talkeetna air taxi-$200/per person for flight seeing tour of Denali, land on a glacier!
Denali national park-
most wildlife in Alaska
Denali state park-
hike kesugi ridge from boyd lake trailhead(long hike) can camp up top for views of Denali
Princess lodge for a beer(tequila for me)on the deck for views of Denali
Things to bring:
Rain gear
merino layers
dirty carhaarts and dirty old cotton hoody to blend in with the locals
bear spray
bug spray
hiking boots/lots of socks
fishing gear

Well, there it is! see you up there.....

[Ford_6L_E350]

Thinking more about it, I plan on ferry up and driving down. Mostly because June is too early to travel east from Hyder. Last time I was there in July the road was half covered in snow.

Mike

[Pschitt]

Thanks for all these good advices...

[tonyvoudy]

Make sure you hit the Mendenhall Glacier ice caves near Juneau! They are pretty awesome!

[REF]

Just trying to figure out where and when we should even try to meet up with anyone. We are now looking at leaving Seattle around the 16-17th to drive up to Prince Rupert, that is if we do a cruise in/out of Seattle. Ferry north leaves out of Prince Rupert June 21st, is that the date others are thinking? Has anyone done an inside passage cruise? Is it worth doing a roundtrip cruise if we are planning on taking the ferry up as well, do they cover the same ground, more or less?

EDIT:read further, but our plans have changed since this post, just to not confuse things any more, figured i'd edit this here as well. We are driving up to Prince Rupert and hopping on the ferry on June 9th with stops TBD, but looking at stops in either wrangell or petersburg, Juneau, Skagway and Haines, we have to leave Haines on the 25th to arrive in Anchorage on the 27th to meet up with family.

[Ford_6L_E350]

I've only taken the ferry north. My feeling is it is worth doing, at least once. After that, it is dollars vs. time/miles. I really like the drive up/down the Cassiar Highway. Going up to Prince Rupert kind of splits the difference.

Last time we were in BC at a campground and went on the internet and made a ferry reservation, then drove over to PR and caught the ferry.

Mike

[REF]

Anybody else thinking of taking the ferry up further from Juneau to Whittier (June 24th) they only run once every 2 weeks, or is everybody driving north from Haines. We are deciding between the 2 as we will be driving down and will get the chance to see or not see all there is on the Alcan highway then. We've got mother-in-law and uncle joining us for the ferry north from Bellingham to Juneau and are figuring out how to get them and us up to Anchorage and Denali at the same time if we drive and they take the ferry(cause I'm not stuffing them in the rig for 700 miles). Anybody else done the ferry from Juneau to Whittier? Glaciers? sights? worth it vs. driving?
Edit: we're taking ferry north from prince Rupert, fam is flying into Anchorage.

[Ford_6L_E350]

Whether it is worth it or not depends on what you want to see/do. With relatives along, it might be much better to ferry to Whittier. Without extras, I'd rather go up through Dawson, Top of the World and visit Eagle and then head towards Denali and then south.

Whittier puts you right into the Kenai/Anchorage area. Any of the coastal ferry routes are scenic in the daylight (~18-20 hours/day).

Mike