fti

Correct about the points being used in Alaska. Anchorage is the main place for such hotels, Seward has a HI, Fairbanks has a Marriott property.

How about something like this?

Sat Sep 3 arrive Anchorage, pick up car rental (that is a decent price for booking relatively soon before arrival and for airport pick up, but if you can use your free day coupons and save $192, go for it), drive to hotel (check HH, HI or CP availability). I like the location of the CP and Homewood Suites - "midtown", near restaurants and supermarkets, free parking and easy escape north toward Denali.

Sun Sep 4 short stop at grocery store for supplies (no good grocery store north of Wasilla), drive to Talkeetna (2 hours) for lunch. It is a funky, unique town. If interested in a flightseeing tour, this is the place to do it. Four operators and all have good reputations. Continue to Denali. If the Mountain is out be sure to stop at the pullouts for viewing. Also, the Veterans Memorial at mile 147 is worth a stop (not to mention another view of the Mountain, a decent bookstore and toilets).

Upon arrival at Denali, pick up your bus tickets for Mon/Tue, see the exhibits and film at the visitor center, the film at the WAC (where you pick up your bus tickets), maybe the sleddog demo if of interest, drive the first 14 miles of the road this evening. Decent chance of seeing wildlife, especially moose. Can do the nice, flat 2-mile round trip hike at the turnaround point (Savage River). If you wanted a more strenuous hike today and skipped Talkeetna, the Mt. Healy Overlook hike is nice but has a pretty good elevation gain.

Mon Sep 5 take an early shuttle bus to Wonder Lake (booked in advance). Earliest bus today is 6.15am and I would try to take advantage of it in light of the change to the bus schedule as of Sep 6th. If the Mountain is not visible, get off at Eielson and have the bus dispatcher put you on a different bus back toward the entrance (feel free continuing to WL but the big draw there is the Mountain view when visible). Can get off lots of places for hikes. Here are links to two threads on Trip Advisor with great ideas. You can also ask your bus driver.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g1...e.A.Hike..html

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...in-Alaska.html

Tue Sep 6 similar to Monday but if you want a chance of reaching Wonder Lake and/or hiking, you should take the earliest shuttle which departs at 7.30pm. But this WL bus at 7.30am doesn't get back until 6.30pm so you don't have any time to hike. Try to do most of your hiking on Monday if at all possible. If you took the 7.30am bus to Eielson today, that gets back at 3.30pm. Figuring you want to leave Denali about 6.30-7pm, that gives you about 3 hours to hike somewhere in the park.

Depart Denali by 7pm, figure 5+ hours to Anchorage airport and you want to be at the airport 90-120 minutes before departure (90 minutes is fine if you have elite status and can use F check in and the F security line).

Definitely bring a camera. Bring a decent day pack. You need to bring all your own food/drink into the park. The only thing available past the main visitor center is tap water at the Eielson visitor center. Thus the reason to stop in Anchorage for groceries, snacks, etc. You can buy some lunch boxes and even sub sandwiches just outside the park entrance (Subway is open 24 hours) but I like to buy what I need in Anchorage and not have to worry about stopping in the morning, not to mention it is usually much cheaper in Anchorage at the supermarket.

What type of lodging would you be interested in near Denali? Certain amenities? Hotel? B&B? Cabin?

Not sure about the scuba diving. That is a tough one. If you headed to Seward rather than Denali I would think it is more possible there. And there is some hiking in that area too. I just think for the combination of hiking, wildlife sightings, scenery and the fall colors, Denali would be my overwhelming first choice for that weekend.

We will miss each other in Denali by a few days.

Let us know what you end up doing.

John