Originally Posted by
pogopossum
Here's our plan: Arrive ANC late Day 0, overnight in Anchorage. Day 1 Take an easy ride to Girdwood and the Hotel Alyeska, Day 2 Girdwood in the morning and then the tunnel to Whittier and the M/V Glacier Quest, return to ANC, Day 3 Anchorage all day, return flight to MSP that night at 9:50.
That was easy! Now the rest of the trip, all before this, is 3 days on the Empire Builder then 7 days in Seattle and Washington state. What to do, what to do...
Cheers,
Pogopossum
Sounds like a good plan. As
fti mentioned, you can stop at Potter Marsh (just as you leave Anchorage) on the way down or the way back from Girdwood/Portage.
If the weather's good and the road beckons, you might overshoot Girdwood on the first day and continue down the Seward Highway to the cutoff for Hope. Hope is an old mining village with only a few buildings and residents, but it's quite scenic (only town on the south bank of Turnagain Arm) and there might still be some fish in the creek to look at. You could easily be back in Girdwood that afternoon. It's a chance to get something of a feel for village life in Alaska, albeit on the road system.
Along the same line, you could also visit the fascinating
Eklutna cemetery, in the native village of Eklutna, around half an hour north (by freeway) from Anchorage. The brightly painted "spirit houses" are quite photogenic.
Just before you get to Eklutna you'll pass a turnoff for Mirror Lake. In the autumn Mirror Lake is a smashing photo op, particularly if there's no wind and the lake can live up to its name, for example...
and
Well worth pulling off the road for a few minutes.
Let us know if you need ideas for the Seattle portion of the trip.