Gardyloo

The early king salmon fishery in the Kenai River drainage has been miserable for years, and the ADFG may just close it altogether next year. This year they closed it after a tiny number of fish had been landed - something like 20 - between late May and early June. Combined with the long (and frankly boring) drive I'd just skip it altogether. However, there's a small King fishery in Seward; they are hatchery fish (as opposed to wild fish in the Kenai River) so that's a possibility. In June you could go fishing for halibut in Homer or Seward, and possibly some other species, including Kings, in Seward.

It's also very early in the season for Denali, and while the shuttle service to the Eielson visitor center technically begins on June 1, it's not unknown for it to be delayed, so at a minimum I'd plan to visit Denali last - give the weather and conditions time to improve.

With nine days Id head south first - down as far as Homer, possibly for some fishing or maybe a ferry across gorgeous Kachemak Bay to Seldovia or Halibut Cove. Then work your way back north to Seward for a Kenai Fjords cruise or also some fishing.

Then head back toward Anchorage, with a stop at the historic mining village of Hope and the Wildlife Conservation Center at Portage. If you haven't had your glacier sighting needs satisfied in Seward, drive through the Whittier tunnel to Whittier and do a "26 Glacier" cruise, or one of the competitors. This will take you to the face of umpteen tidewater glaciers in and around College Inlet - pretty amazing stuff. Spend the night in Girdwood.

Head north toward Denali. Spend two nights near Denali, and on the full day take the shuttle bus in as far as Eielson, and back. Then on the drive back to Anchorage, stop at the cemetery in the Native village of Eklutna right off the highway 30 miles or so north of Anchorage.

Spend your last day/night in Anchorage; visit the Native Heritage Center at a minimum. If you can, take a flightseeing trip on a float plane from Lake Hood; I'd recommend Rust's, the premier service there. Alaska Flightseeing Tours & Air Taxi Services | Rust's Flying Service

Possible timetable, overnight locations listed.

Sun 2-Jun Arr ANC
Mon 3-Jun Homer
Tue 4-Jun Homer
Wed 5-Jun Seward
Thu 6-Jun Seward
Fri 7-Jun Girdwood
Sat 8-Jun Denali
Sun 9-Jun Denali
Mon 10-Jun Anchorage
Tue 11-Jun Anchorage
Wed 12-Jun Dep ANC

You will need to book a car and also accommodation at Denali ASAP.

Map - https://goo.gl/maps/XsbgcN51k6z

Now I'm going to throw out a real curve ball, just for your consideration. Call it a "thought experiment."

WHAT IF you scrubbed Denali and used those days somewhere else? Here's my thinking, bear with me.

You're very early for Denali and, while of course nobody can say for sure, your odds of seeing a lot of wildlife are somewhat lessened as they're just emerging (bears.) Oh you'll see some, but it's not like the late summer when they've very active getting ready for winter. In addition, something like half the visitors never see the mountain due to clouds and rain, and - just to me, YMMV - it's a lengthy and rather pricey excursion if the main attractions are hidden or scarce.

So what if you limited your time in southcentral Alaska to Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula including Seward, but then jumped on one of numerous daily flights and went down to Juneau? You could see something of the glorious Inside Passage country, maybe take a ferry to one of the interesting old villages near Juneau like Tenakee Springs, or even rode the ferry to fabulous Sitka - the historic capital of Russian America - and flew to Seattle and onward from there?

This would give you an utterly different Alaska experience; you could fish or go whale watching, visit more glaciers, and just experience the fantastic mountains-and-sea environment of SE Alaska.

Anyway, just throwing out the thought.

Here are some pictures of some of the places mentioned.

Homer and Kachemak Bay -



Hope AK -



College Inlet (Whittier glacier cruise) -



Eklutna cemetery -



Tenakee Springs -



Sitka harbor and Mt. Edgecombe-