Going to Alaska in June

[Tapeman]

After looking into tours & cruises We are close to finalizing plans. At this point it looks like 8 or 9 days of land tours & 4 or 5 days on a small ship cruise.

We are primarily interested in scenery & wildlife. We will fly in and out of Ancorage. Where is a good place outside of Denali National Park to view McKinley? (Although we will spend some time in Denali, I would like to see it from the South.)

I plan on bringing all the gear I can carry.

Would appreciate any suggestions or tips.

Thanks

[Curt]

You are in for a great trip. I have been to DNP three times since '98 & have a few ideas.
Your only view of McKinley (if visible at all)  from the south to my knowledge is from the Parks Highway as you travel N. from Anchorage.
 Almostly directly east of this point is Denali STATE Park. In this state park, climb Kesugi Ridge Trail for some of the best views. This is where I will be backpacking in August.
Denali is great for wildlife. If time allows, get off the bus & walk the road sometimes. I spent a week at Wonder Lake & road the buses every day to new locations.

Katmai NP- when & if the salmon are running while you are there. This is the place to safely get frame filling photos of brown bears salmon fishing, etc.

On the Kenai-Kenai Fjords NP. Take a boat out of Seward for whales, otters, seals; & visit the Sea Life Center at the end of town. Visit Exit Glacier just before Seward & climb up the trail for Mountain Goats.

And look here-
http://www.us-national-parks.net/state/ak.htm

[Lisa Nikodym]

There can be low clouds for days at a time at Denali, so be patient and stay awhile if you really want to make sure to see it.  I don't know how common this is, but I was there once in early June for about three days and never saw the mountain, until the day we left, when it cleared up and our commercial jet flight out of Fairbanks did a circle around the mountain for us.  It was amazing.  Too bad we couldn't see it from the ground earlier.  

You've probably already figured this out, but take as long a lens as you have for photographing wildlife.  They can be rather far away.

And it might be a good idea to consider rain gear, for both you and the camera.  It drizzled a lot when we were there in June.

Lisa

[vciinc]

I must have been lucky. I spent about 3 hours in the park on my way from Fairbanks to Anchorage and I did get the following shot. This was taken in May 2004.

http://www.pbase.com/vciinc/image/55297739

Jerry

[Hank]

There's a direct relationship between time and distance here.  The less time you have, the less you want to travel.  Distances are huge, and you can use up all your time simply getting from A to B.  

I'd arrange at least 3 full days in Denali, if not 5, simply to allow for weather and animal movement.  There are lots of logistic/legal restrictions on your movement in the park.  Be aware of what you can and can't do around the animals, and what arrangements are needed to get you within reach of them in the first place.  Here is a good link to get you started on all that stuff.

[larkvi]

I must have been lucky. I spent about 3 hours in the park on my way from Fairbanks to Anchorage and I did get the following shot. This was taken in May 2004.

http://www.pbase.com/vciinc/image/55217243

You've got some really ugly clouds there--a skywriter flythrough earlier that day?

[akclimber]

Hi there,

I live in Juneau, Alaska.  Let me know if you need any info regarding Southeast Alaska.  I can also be of help with info regarding Nome, Kodiak and/or Dutch Harbor.  I can also recommed places to eat and drink in Anchorage :-)

CHeers!

After looking into tours & cruises We are close to finalizing plans. At this point it looks like 8 or 9 days of land tours & 4 or 5 days on a small ship cruise.

We are primarily interested in scenery & wildlife. We will fly in and out of Ancorage. Where is a good place outside of Denali National Park to view McKinley? (Although we will spend some time in Denali, I would like to see it from the South.)

I plan on bringing all the gear I can carry.

Would appreciate any suggestions or tips.

Thanks
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[Tapeman]

Thanks for the replies. We are hoping to book before the end of the month.

I think we will try for 3 days in Denali. Considering renting a car (or even an RV) some of the time, but the trains sound good too. I'm sure that 2 weeks will just wet our appetite. Maybe we can stretch it a couple of days.

Tapeman

[Lisa Nikodym]

Before you arrive at Denali, you should do a little research to figure out how they're handling park access these days.  When I was there (probably something like 10-15 years ago), you couldn't drive into the main part of the park but had to take a park bus.  The bus seats were in short supply, and you had to arrive early in the day to reserve a seat for later (if I remember the system correctly...).  I think there were also independent wildlife tours.  It may have changed in the meantime, but, whatever they're doing, it might save you time and aggravation to look into the options ahead of time.

Lisa

[Bill J]

After looking into tours & cruises We are close to finalizing plans. At this point it looks like 8 or 9 days of land tours & 4 or 5 days on a small ship cruise.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=56640\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Tapeman,

Which outfit gives you 8 or 9 days on land and 4 or 5 days on the ship? What I've seen so far is 8 or 9 days on the water and precious little time on land - certainly not enough time for much flexibility. I'd like to do Denali, but I also want to spend some quality time on the Kenai Penninsula.

Thanks,
Bill