jackal

I get where you're coming from. When sightseeing, I plan on driving about 4-500 miles per day. When I'm driving to get to a specific destination (i.e. Los Angeles to Branson, MO; I have family in both places), a thousand miles in a day is not unusual for me.

Some of my recent road trips have included:

• November 2006: Branson-Little Rock-Lake Village, AR (overnight)-Vicksburg-Natchez Trace Parkway-Natchez (overnight in a plantation house)-Natchitoches‎-Vicksburg-Jackson (overnight)-Natchez Trace Parkway-Tupelo, MS-Cherokee, AL-Savannah, TN-Memphis-Branson (1,500 miles in 4 days)
• August 2007: Charlotte (air arrival)-Columbia-Charleston (overnight)-Savannah-Saint Augustine-Daytona Beach-Orlando (overnight)-Charlotte (1,200 miles in 2.5 days)
• May 2008: Salt Lake City-Brigham City (overnight)-Promontory Point-Spiral Jetty-Kennecott Copper Mine (Salt Lake City)-Ely, NV (overnight)-Great Basin NP-Zion NP-Hatch, UT (Cafe Adobe--mmm!)-Bryce Canyon NP-Escalante (overnight)-Capitol Reef NP-Canyonlands NP-Arches NP-Moab, UT-Colorado NM (Grand Junction, CO)-Glenwood Springs, CO-Aspen-Red Rocks (Denver)-Colorado Springs (overnight)-Denver (2,200 miles in 4.5 days)
• October 2008: Cairns-Charters Towers, QLD (overnight)-Mount Isa, QLD (overnight)-Tennant Creek, NT (overnight)-Alice Springs-Ayers Rock/Uluru NP (overnight)-Kings Canyon NP-Eridunda, NT (overnight)-Coober Pedy, SA (overnight)-Port Augusta, SA-Laura, SA (overnight)-Adelaide-Victor Harbor, SA-Adelaide (multiple overnights)-Mount Gambier, SA-Grampians NP (overnight)-Great Ocean Road, VIC-Melbourne (multiple overnights)-Mansfield, VIC-Melbourne (overnight)-Canberra (overnight)-Bundanoon, NSW (overnight)-Michinbury, NSW (multiple overnights)-Sydney airport (5,000 miles in 14 days of driving)
• May 2010: Denver-Rocky Mountain National Park-Grand Lake, CO-Denver (overnight)-Colorado Springs-Florissant Fossil Beds NM (Florissant, CO)-Durango, CO (overnight)-Mesa Verde NP-Telluride, CO-Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP-Colorado Springs (dinner with Randy Petersen, the founder of FlyerTalk!)-DEN (1,200 miles in 3 days)
• September 2011: BOS-Manchester, NH-Concord, NH-Montpelier, VT-Stowe, VT (overnight)-Montreal, QC-Quebec City, QC (overnight)-Estcourt Station, ME (northernmost point in Maine)-Bangor, ME-Augusta, ME-Portland, ME-BOS (1,200 miles in 2.5 days)

So, as you can see, I'm no stranger to putting on the miles.

You might be ambitious, but such an ambitious itinerary also seems to infringe upon your second comment about being adventurous and loving the wilderness. I love the outdoors, too, but when I'm doing one of my mega-marathon road trips, I don't have a lot of time for experiencing the wilderness. I have to choose whether I want to take it slow and enjoy nature or pack as much as I can in. (When traveling, I usually choose the latter, as I have the outdoors at my beck and call in my backyard at home. No need to travel somewhere to experience wilderness that doesn't live up to what I have here. )

You are right that you'll go faster than a group of 10. We were intentionally taking a (relatively) leisurely pace, too. I think a day to drive to Valdez is plenty; it's the rushing back up to Kenny Lake that I thought was a touch excessive, but perhaps it's doable if you understand that it is a long day and are OK with that.

Admittedly, not much. Again, I was mostly trying to avoid you feeling rushed like you had to get back up to Kenny Lake that night. Valdez can be seen in 20 minutes. (I've never stopped to check out the old townsite, though--always forget that's there until it's too late. That may be worth another 10 minutes.)

Yes, especially if they provide you transportation on the other side of the footbridge up to the ruins.

I was underwhelmed with Kennecott, though. To be fair, my aunt had visited there the year before (1994; we went in 1995) and proclaimed it to be the greatest spot on earth (or something like that). She thought the hand-pulled tram across the river was neat, as was the way the mine buildings (which she said she got to walk all through) were just littered with all kinds of goods and supplies as if someone told them a tsunami were coming and they just dropped everything and ran. We got there just after they had pulled the hand-tram down and installed a footbridge, and all of the mine buildings we saw were locked up tight. The scenery is nice but vastly pales in comparison to what you'll see driving the Glenn and Richardson highways.

Fair enough. It's worth 20 minutes.

Despite the challenges of visiting Alaska in shoulder season, this is smart if you're not rich (I'm not, for sure). The cost of everything goes up substantially once the hordes of tourists show up as the weather improves and tourism operators swing into full gear.

Whatever you decide, you'll have an amazing trip. We can finagle a few things here and there (as we have already been doing, and definitely pay attention to Gardyloo's sage advice), but even if you just go with the plan you have now, you'll leave satisfied (and perhaps wanting to come back--which is the goal! ).

Sounds like the OP may have already committed to a car with a prepaid Hotwire reservation. Still, if the rate is cheap enough (which it likely is in May; the rental car prices don't start climbing until June 1 and don't start peaking until about June 10-15), it could be worth leaving the car parked or returning it early (knowing a refund won't be given) for this experience.