Anyone spend time in Alaska?

[Shamoan]

I’ve recently decided I want to spend some time in Alaska if I can. Anyone with Alaska experience? I’ve been all over the lower 48, but Alaska is on my hit list.

 

[MarkDallas]

I've been to Seward, the Kenai Peninsula and up to Denali. Really amazing country up there.

 

[Shamoan]

How long did you stay and what did you do?

 

[Moe Cabelle]

I would highly recommend an Alaskan cruise from Seattle up to inner passage. Pay for balcony view to soak up view. My first cruise ever and thought I would have preferred something more tropical. I couldn’t have been more wrong. It’s a great way to get a lay of the land and visit true frontier towns. Beautiful experience.

 

[wasabaka]

Alaska is the best trip I've ever been on. PM for details.

 

[III.sixpack]

I’ve recently decided I want to spend some time in Alaska if I can. Anyone with Alaska experience? I’ve been all over the lower 48, but Alaska is on my hit list.

A week on the Kenai Peninsula for Silver and Sockeye salmon and halibut fishing and then an inner passage cruise would be perfect. Soldotna is centrally located and very nice. Try the Trophy lodge, owned by Tim Berg, who also has the fish processing and shipment business. They have the best guides and boats and a great place to Sockeye fish behind the lodge. August is the best time. Highlights are a couple of fly out trips to an uninhabited peninsula, float fishing trips down the Kasilof river and upper Kenai river and halibut fishing out of Homer and Seward.

 

[Nunya.sixpack]

No, but I did stay at a holiday inn express.

 

[FISHDAWG]

A week on the Kenai Peninsula for Silver and Sockeye salmon and halibut fishing and then an inner passage cruise would be perfect. Soldotna is centrally located and very nice. Try the Trophy lodge, owned by Tim Berg, who also has the fish processing and shipment business. They have the best guides and boats and a great place to Sockeye fish behind the lodge. August is the best time. Highlights are a couple of fly out trips to an uninhabited peninsula, float fishing trips down the Kasilof river and upper Kenai river and halibut fishing out of Homer and Seward.

I've been to a lot of places but this one is one of my favorite trips ... Just outside Soldotna there is a bed and breakfast with a lodge or small individual cabins (Denise Lake Lodge) .... very nice and affordable. Even if you're not into fishing the Kenai Peninsula offers so much to see. Whittier is pretty cool just for killing time - just another easy drive from Soldotna as are so many other places

 

[FAFlood]

I flew into Anchorage and then took the train through Denali to Fairbanks and spent a week. Went dog sledding, trip to see Northern Lights, etc.

 

[maroonmadman]

Beautiful country. Back in my service days I got to Baranof, Pelican, Sitka and Adak. Been back since to Kodiak. Would love to go back as a tourist and explore the interior country more. Gorgeous, unspoiled country.

 

[maddawg00]

I spent a week on the Kenai pen. in Aug 2005. It had a very dated feel all over, almost like you're in 1950. Like nowhere else I've been.
Drove from Anchorage to Homer and in between. Fished at Soldotna as well. The experience I had fishing wasn't the greatest... fish were tired from the migration and limit was only 2 ea. then; but I'm sure there's a better experience.
Whittier.... an odd ghost town feel. Go through a mountain tunnel to get there and it is closed during certain hours so dont get stuck.
Homer combat fishing at the Spit was interesting to see and do. Our halibut trip got cancelled because of rough seas.
Driving the coastline near Ninilchik was great scenery. A road leads out onto the beach, just don't get your car stuck in the sand (doh).
Definitely have a beer at the Lakefront lodge on Lake Hood and watch the floatplanes come in with their props howling. Hell take a trip on one of them to backcountry for the real experience.
Anchorage was cool and Palmer had a nice feel if I remember right. We did not go to Denali, but I wish we had.
Overall, highly recommended.

 

[Mjoelner]

Did a 10-day trip back the last week of May/1st week of June back in 2017. I heard people say we picked the perfect time because it was before all of the bugs came out and some of the places we went had only re-opened from winter the week before we arrived. All travel plus room and board for $2500 a piece. The ship was most of the cost. $1338 for a balcony room. Food on shore and excursion prices weren't figured in.

1. Flew to Vancouver, took guided driving tour the morning of the cruise then boarded the cruise ship late afternoon.
2. Stopped in Ketchikan (no excursion, just went hiking in the mountian above the town)
3. Stopped in Icy Strait/Hoonah (whale watching excursion) Saw a 6pack of Coke in 8oz glass bottles in the general store there for $11. Better like water and whale meat if you live there!
4. Stopped in Juneau (rented a car drove to Mendenhall Glacier, St. Terese and the northern end of the highway)
5. Stopped in Skagway (took walking tour of the town in the morning, rode the White Pass and Yukon Route RR to Fraser, BC then bussed back to town) This is where the tour bus driver reconized my MSU cap from across the street and yelled "Go dogs! Class of '93 baby!" Skagway was my favorite stop. Was told the median income there was $42k/year. Sounded real good until they pointed to a little purple plywood shack and said that it costs $350k.
6. Docked at Seward, caught bus to Anchorage Museum (ate and toured museum for a couple of hours)
7. Bussed from Anchorage Museum to area just north of the entrance to Denali NP and rented a cabin for 2 nights at Crow's Nest
8. Took a bus trip to Eielson Visitor Center in Denali (the longest day-trip in the park)
9. Shuttled from cabin to park and explored on foot the next morning, took Alaska Railroad from Denail depot back to Anchorage
10. Flew back home

AWESOME TRIP!

 

[aspendawg]

Lived there for 4 years and was lucky enough to go to some really remote spots because of work. It depends on what your end goal is but I tend to disagree with the cruise method. You wanna fly fish, deep sea fish, hunt, ski, camp, bear watch drink beer...(some of the best breweries in the US are up there)

What do you enjoy?

 

[Shamoan]

Beer sounds good, but I’m a scenic views and camping kinda guy, but not opposed to sportsman activities. Gotta see a few bears as well

 

[houstonutsack]

We did the same thing in September and it was great. It was when Katrina hit the coast and I had accidentally taken my cell phone. Kept getting calls from friends asking if everything was OK and being told that Alaska was a long way to go to get away from a hurricane.

 

[Hugh's Burner Phone]

I've been to a lot of places but this one is one of my favorite trips ... Just outside Soldotna there is a bed and breakfast with a lodge or small individual cabins (Denise Lake Lodge) .... very nice and affordable. Even if you're not into fishing the Kenai Peninsula offers so much to see. Whittier is pretty cool just for killing time - just another easy drive from Soldotna as are so many other places

Couldn't have been any better than my week panning for mosquito larvae outside New Iberia, LA.