Anchorage in early May
 

I'll be in Anchorage from Friday April 30 till May 8. During the week I have a conference to attend, but what kind of day trips can I take from Anchorage on May 1, 2, or 8? I'll be sightseeing with a few colleagues, and we're considering Cooper Landing on May 1, maybe to go horseback riding (which I have never done). We'll be based in Anchorage but we should be able to stay somewhere else on Friday April 30 or May 1.

I was really hoping to go for a cruise or an easy hike to see some glaciers. I'm not big on whale watching (I was just in Maui and could whale watch from the beach...) I found one fjord cruise that operates on May 8 though I am not sure they will have any availability since its the first operating day of the year:
http://www.majormarine.com/alaska-da...ldlife-cruise/

Absolutely any suggestions would be extremely helpful, since I've never been to Alaska before! Thanks so much! :)

I don't know what will be geared up for the dummer season by then.

Cooper Landing is scenic, but a bit of a hike.

If glacier cruises are running from Seward then, I'd do one of those.

Otherwise, Portage glacier is much closer to Anchorage. Also, the tram at Alyeska in Girdwood is pretty dramatic, and it is nearby, and the drive along Turnagin Arm is awesome. Make sure whoever drives watches the road an dnot the scenery.

Thanks jfhscott for the reply! There is one cruise from Seward which starts on May 8, so I am probably going to do that on May 8.

We were thinking of visiting Cooper Landing or Alyeska on Saturday May 1 but the forecasts aren't very good. It seems like it's going to be slushing in Cooper Landing, and raining in Girdwood till Sunday. My experience with skiing though is that if the forecast is for rain then that's not necessarily true on the mountain. I would love to go skiing/snowshoeing at Alyeska for the day on May 1 but not so much if it will rain! The report from the resort website is also forecasting rain...

Perhaps we will have to play it by ear. Most of these can be day trips from Anchorage, so maybe that's the way to go.

The day cruises from Seward are basically wildlife cruises with a relative short stop at a glacier (but only the 6+ hour cruises get to a glacier). For a glacier tour, you want the cruises from Whittier into Prince William Sound.

The half-day wildlife cruise you linked to won't get to a glacier. But you will see marine wildlife (sea otters, sea lions, eagles, maybe mountain goats, maybe bears, maybe a gray or humpback whale).

You might also check Sound Eco Adventures for glacier tours from Whittier. A small outfit and they only have 1 seat left on May 8th. But they have options open the weekend before that.

If you want a relative easy hike to *see* a glacier in the distance, also go to Whittier, and there is the Portage Pass Trail. You can hike about 1 hour to the top of the mountain and get a good look at the Portage Glacier in the distance. Note that access to Whittier is only through a tunnel that is only open 15 minutes in each direction every hour. Every hour on the half hour to Whittier and every hour on the hour returning.

You might consider going to Denali for May 1/2. The park is always open, but the shuttle buses don't operate until May 20th. However, you can drive your car the first 30 miles into the park (one of the very few times private vehicles are allowed past mile 14). Nice scenery and a decent chance to spot wildlife. I was there Apr 10-11 and drove that road 4 times. Saw a coyote, moose, caribou and an eagle. Others saw lynx more than once and I heard there are quite a few wolves and a couple of bears around now. If you really want to make it a nice day, take a couple of bicycles with you and bike past mile 30. No cars that far and a great chance to see wildlife and have more scenery. Note - there is no guarantee on wildlife sightings. If you do this, make a stop in one direction or the other in Talkeetna. Cute town, great food at the Roadhouse and the ranger station there will probably start to have mountain climbers (it would be fun to sit in on one of the orientations for the mountain climbers). You could also do a Denali flightseeing tour from here.

You might want to check with Mica or Nova guides (do a search for their websites) to see if they are operating glacier hikes that early. I kind of doubt it but if so, you can walk onto a glacier. Pretty neat experience. This would be on Matanuska Glacier, about an hour's drive north and east of Anchorage.

Don't let the weather stop you from doing something in Alaska. Bring rain gear with you in any case, and warm layers - it can still be quite cold that time of year in many places and you will encounter snow. And when they forecast "rain" it doesn't mean heavy rain nor does it mean all day. It might rain for 1 hour during the day then clear up and be fine the rest of the day.

And if you take a glacier cruise, be sure to dress really warmly and bring hat and gloves. Even in the summer when I am taking a glacier cruise I bring hat and gloves. It can get quite cold near the glaciers.

Personally, I don't see anything special in Cooper Landing.

John

Thanks for the heads up about the Seward cruises! I would have been seriously disappointed!

I checked out Sound Eco Tours, and it says on their website that they only take reservations for 4 people if reservations are made within a month of the tour date. Unfortunately there are only 3 of us, and while they may be willing to go if we pay for a 4th passenger, that makes it a bit steep at more than $200/person.

Mica and Nova guides don't seem to open until late May. Bummer. That would have been awesome.

Maybe we will try the hike on Portage Pass Trail. Or if anyone has other day hike suggestions (None of us are avid hikers so nothing crazy). How cold would it get on that hike this time of year? What should we wear? Unfortunately I only have waterproof gear for skiing... :(

I would bring layers. I was in AK in early May a couple of years ago. I would bring enough layers that you can shed or add layers as needed. Four or five layers?

Re: Sound Eco Adventures. I would contact him before writing him off. He seems very easy to deal with. Maybe ask him about his "photo tours" and if you could incorporate your 3-person group into a photo tour instead. That has a max of 3 people and would only cost $154/person for the 4-5 hour tour in that case (http://www.soundecoadventure.com/photography.html). Be creative!

You can always try Flattop Mountain near Anchorage, but it might not be snow-free at the top by then.

If you go to Whittier, make a day of it. Stop at Potter Marsh with a great viewing boardwalk (swans, birds, maybe moose). Stop in Girdwood (Bake Shop) and maybe head up the Crow Creek Mine road on the "other" side of Girdwood and hike from that side of the Winner Creek Trail to the 'hand tram.' It is very unique and only takes well under an hour to get there and flat, easy path. Go a short ways beyond the tram on the other side and you will see some nice streams and scenery. Also stop at the Wildlife Conservation Center.

Thanks so much for the tips John. I called Sound Eco Adventures but had to leave a message. Perhaps there are other people inquiring about a tour on May 1 or we can find someone else who has come to the conference early who would like to come with us. Or maybe he would be willing to help a bunch of grad students who would like to make the most of the trip and could recommend the tour to their friends/colleagues who are staying in town after the conference...

Any thoughts on hiking around Exit Glacier at Kenai Fjords Nat'l Park?

Unfortunately Exit Glacier will be "closed." Not technically closed - if you have snowshoes, skis or a snowmobile you could get there. But the road will be closed about 2-3 miles from the turnoff from the Seward Highway. When I was in Seward on Apr 12 I didn't even go look at how much snow they had. But two years ago about May 15th there was still a ton of snow. This link gives the current conditions:

http://www.nps.gov/kefj/planyourvisi...conditions.htm

It says there is still about 38" of snow on the ground!

I would stick to Wasilla (Iditarod headquarters - good film), Talkeetna, maybe the Muskox Farm near Palmer (probably not open but you can see the animals in the distance). There are several dogsled operations between Anchorage and Talkeetna that are run by Iditarod racers. Maybe you could visit one of them and/or get a dogsled ride.

I think May 9th (Mother's Day) is the free entrance day at the Native Heritage Center in Anchorage - well worth a visit. I think it is the first day they open for the season but you can check.

I suppose when I read that the park was open I should have wondered "how open?" I guess it was too good to be true (I did have that feeling as I was looking into it). We have such limited time, and it seems like all the easy and fantastic options are not open yet! I can also blame my totally last minute planning...

Ok I'll have to run your ideas by my friends. Maybe the hotel (Hilton) will also have some knowledge on what is open this time of year.

At least as part of the conference we get to have a banquet on the train, so some touristy stuff is taken care of!

Don't be discouraged. I really enjoyed both my visits to Alaska in April/May. Virtually no tourists and a different perspective than most people get.

Perosnally, I think going to Denali for a night is an excellent idea because you can combine that with Talkeetna. The 30 mile drive, hopefully seeing Mt. McKinley, stopping in Talkeetna for lunch and maybe shopping at what store(s) might be open (the women will appreciate this more than us men!), etc.

Or the drive along Turnagain Arm south of Anchorage is beautiful too (on the way to Seward or Whittier). You can easily make a day of the Turnagain Arm, Potter Marsh, Girdwood, the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, and the Portage Pass Trail. It is one of my favorite drives. And you can even go further on the Seward Highway south but not all the way to Seward. The first mountain pass is nice (I think it is called Turnagain Pass but don't quote me). And the area that is the intersection of the Seward and Sterling Highways is beautiful - Tern Lake, mountains, water, reflections.

If you go to Seward, the Sealife Center is worth visiting and the Resurrection Bay cruises/gray whale cruises really are much nicer than I thought it would be (I took it earlier this month).

You really have a lot of options even though it is very early in the season.

John

Unfortunately i was just "volunteered" to help set up some things for the conference on Sunday morning. Graduate students are always easy targets...

I arrive Friday around 4pm, so we probably could just get right into a car and drive up to Denali, then spend Saturday morning there and drive back in the afternoon. But I'm not sure about driving in snow (none of us are very experienced at that). It does seem like a great experience just to drive through the park (not sure about biking though, since it will probably be ridiculously cold!).

Phillips Cruises and Tours start running their trips from Whittier on May 7. These go into Prince William Sound and include Esther Passage and the glaciers of Barry Arm. Their website is www.26glaciers.com

Unfortunately the one day I can do this cruise they are booked! But I will definitely tell my friends who are staying later than I am. Thanks!

As for May 1, we decided to drive up to Denali on Apr 30, and stay the night, then drive into the park Saturday and drive leisurely back in the afternoon. I'm looking forward to it!

I like the 26 Glacier tour suggestion for May 7th.

I doubt you would have to worry about snow. The road into Denali is only open if it is snow-free. In fact, the week after I drove to mile 30, the closed the road back to mile 3 due to snow. But they got that cleared pretty quickly and it opened again a few days later.

You might run into a rain/light snow precipitation on the road but it won't stick.

It is a good 5 hours from Anchorage to Denali so if you rented a car and drove that evening, you could either stay at Denali or maybe in Talkeetna. You really need at least some food that you can only buy in Anchorage or Wasilla (nothing but convenience stores or small and expensive grocery stores 11 miles north of Denali in Healy). And lodging in Talkeetna will be cheaper since most lodging near Denali is not open yet.

The Talkeetna Roadhouse is great if you don't mind shared bathrooms. The bunk room would cost $84 if you rent all four beds to make it "private." I am doing that with three of us this coming August. Otherwise they have rooms for 2 or 3 people as well.

Good luck. Let us know what you ended up doing.

John

We were posting at the same time. That is a good plan. Be sure to stop at the Murie Science Center to see the Heartbeats of Denali film (excellent) and ask the rangers there for any recent wildlife sightings. Stop at the Park Headquarters to see the sleddogs (no demos yet but still fun to see). And if the weather is nice, you might be able to hike the Savage River Loop hike (2 miles round trip).

Have fun.

John