nineworldseries

Thanks for the advice; I appreciate it. However, every flight I am looking at between KTN and JNU takes between 2.5-3.5 hours each way. They either stop in Sitka or both Wrangell and Petersburg on the way to JNU and back. We're already taking 14 hour flights (total travel time) each way between CMH and KTN, so I'm not sure I want to get on more flights once we're there.

CBear

AS 69 in the evenings is direct, non stop.

4 days over easter is really stretching it. Non of the tour operators is operating yet. I don't even think the zipline is open yet and I know you won't find any Misty Fjords charters yet.

It's way too early for bear viewing.

Ketchikan is really not that big of a town. That time of the year, pretty much everything that can be see can be done in a day, maybe day and a half. Driving from one end of the road to the other end takes maybe an hour tops.

This is going to be a very expensive vacation to sit around with nothing to do. I really, strongly urge you to reconsider.
I wouldn't worry about not being able to land in Juneau in the slightest. Last week we were not able to land in KTN, but landed in Juneau just fine. And remember, the airports are SMALL. I can get on the ferry an hour before my flight leave and still sit and wait in the boarding area for 30 minutes before boarding. It's not a big hassle. The weather in April is usually pretty nice.

I also don't really know what you expect to see in Metlakatla?

nineworldseries

Well, partially due to your advice, I have reinstated our JNU flights and will be spending 2 nights in KTN and 2 nights in JNU. The only flights that remotely worked were the Friday night KTN-JNU and the Sunday morning return JNU-SIT-KTN.

I am excited to see Juneau (again) and to hit the Alaskan Brewing Company. We will be renting cars in both KTN and JNU. Unfortunately this means that we won't be seeing Metlakatla, and we won't be attending the Saturday night Monthly Grind in Saxman, both things I was looking forward to.

To answer your question about what I expect to see in Metlakatla, basically nothing. A scenic ferry ride, some mountains, and a small Native community. Part of the reason I am eschewing that trip, though, is that I discovered the ferry just to go to Annette Island for a few hours (taking the car) would be over $150. I'd like to go there, in fact, my goal is to see basically every community in Alaska, but can't swallow $150+ for a few hours there seeing very little.

You also bring up the overall cost of this trip - please remember it's Flyertalk . Our flights CMH-KTN-JNU-KTN-CMH are all on points, 12.5k Delta points each CMH-KTN, Alaska points covering the KTN-JNU-KTN round trip, and then Citi ThankYou points covering the KTN-CMH return on AA. The only costs will be the hotels there (as there are no Hyatts, IHG, or Marriotts in either city, alas) and the car rentals. I'm still well under $1k all in for this trip, though, which is completely worth it to me. This won't really be taking funds away from other trips next year, either, as we're already booked for Oahu and Maui in May and back to Alaska (ANC, BRW, and FAI) in August.

Also, I am not remotely the typical tourist, and I still think I'd be fine spending 4 days in KTN. We're going in April specifically to avoid the cruise ships and attendant rubes there. I would be perfectly happy spending my days hiking Deer Mountain and around Revilla island, and my nights eating seafood and drinking Alaskan beer at a local bar. I don't need "tourist" activities to keep me occupied, especially in Alaska. We're the same people that spent the day in Whittier just to be there on our last Alaska trip.

Thank you for the advice, though. Much appreciated.

Coly Hope

I spent a summer in Ketchikan a few years ago and I loved it but in April there wasn't much open. You may be able to drive to Ward Lake but the trail around the lake is still flooded. You can't get to Lake Harriet Hunt unless you have a 4 wheel drive and even then there is still too much snow to do much there.

CBear

Just came back here to say the same thing.

We're experiencing very heavy snow with another storm on its way tonight. Harriet Hunt and most of the trails on Revilla road (apart from Ward Lake) will be snowed in still. That road is completely inaccessible right now.

Snow is expected for the rest of the week into next and it's cold and sunny between storms, so there is no melting.

jackal

I assume your trip was last month? What did you end up doing, and how did you like it? Do you wish you had stayed a couple more days in KTN?

I was in KTN for a full day (arrived on the M/V Columbia early in the morning and left on a different ship late that night, as I recall) and was satisfied with my time there, though I think another day would have been easy to fill with activities. Four days, though, may have been too much.

I always like to see follow-up reports to the advice we give here in the Alaska forum!

nineworldseries

Thank you for asking! We actually had a phenomenal time. I decided (flip-flopped again) against going to JNU, and we did 3 nights and 4 days in Ketchikan and one night in Seattle coming back to break up the trip. I am so glad that I decided to ignore CBear's advice (although it was much appreciated) and do 3.5 days in KTN.

All of our flights were on time CMH-LAX-SEA-KTN and we got there in the afternoon on Thursday. Rented a rather beat-up looking SUV at the airport and took the ferry, which despite protests to the contrary, seemed to take forever. I estimate 20-30 minutes from the time we got in line to get to the other side.

Stayed at the Cape Fox Lodge the entire time, which was nice, but a bit... rustic. I'm spoiled by FT, points, and miles, and kinda used to the Grand Hyatts and Hyatt Regencies. It was totally fine, though. We had a nice mountain view room and kept the windows open pretty much the entire time. The funicular tram was indeed working fine, and I had fun taking Married Man's Trail down to Creek St. and riding the tram back up.

Alaska Fish House was not open at all when we were there, somewhat disappointingly, despite "winter hours" signs supposedly good through April 30th. We actually ended up eating every night at Fat Stan's Pizzeria, which was fantastic, but really one of the only things open besides Annabelle's. Decent selection of draft beer (drank Elysian DayGlow IPA pretty much the whole time) and great food. Did Annabelle's once for lunch and was not particularly impressed. It was just ok and overpriced, whereas Fat Stan's was great and overpriced, so much better.

We did the Deer Mountain trail up to the snow line on Friday morning - hit pretty deep snow about 1200 feet and had to turn around, but still a really amazing hike.

Went to Tongass Trading Company for some outdoor gear shopping (impressive) and to the S.E. Alaska Discovery Center which was free and actually pretty entertaining for an hour or two.

Also took the car to the other end of the island to Totem Bight park (really impressive) and Settler's Cove to explore the beaches and do the Lunch Creek trail and Lunch Creek falls, which was an equally exciting hike.

On Saturday we took the road out to Harriet Hunt Lake and back and then took the SUV to Annette Island and Metlakatla on the MV Lituya, which was seriously one of the best excursions I've done in my life. Yes, there was basically little there on the island, but Metlakatla was really cool to drive around and explore. Stopping along the 14-mile "road to nowhere" on Annette was fun as well. And the ferry ride was quite scenic both ways.

Did the "Monthly Grind" and the totem park in Saxman on Saturday night, which was a unique time. I got the feeling we were probably the only tourists there in April, so being part of the local culture was a great experience. Ate some homemade desserts and listened to some marginally-talented poets and musicians.

So glad we were there before cruise ship season; I can only imagine the carnage and mob scene downtown KTN is in June or July. Being there in April was amazing - weather was nearly perfect, around 50 the entire time, and it briefly drizzled like 3 times in 3.5 days, so I would call that near-ideal.

The bartender at the Asylum (where they had a good selection of craft beer, but I couldn't deal with everyone smoking) asked us, basically, why the hell we decided to vacation to Ketchikan and Metlakatla; she asked if we spun a globe and threw a dart at it. Our answer, why the hell not, and Alaska is awesome.

On the way back to KTN airport, of course did the official "Road to Nowhere" on Gravina Island, so overall, we drove on like 95% of the accessible roads on Annette, Revillagigedo, and Gravina Islands.

Overall, one of the best trips of my life, and I probably could have done a few more days in Ketchikan. Would really like to do the same thing in Juneau next spring before the cruise ships hit.

jackal

Awesome! Glad for the report and that confirmation of 4 days in KTN wasn't too much to bear. Sounds like you're falling in love with places off the beaten path in Alaska (not that KTN is particularly off the beaten wake of cruise ships, but you did hit it when it was!). IMO, that's where most of the nuggets of amazing experiences and people tend to be found. ^