carsnoceans

Hello FTers - I come seeking wisdom of my favorite community once again!

Taking Mrs CnO on her debut AS trip. Based on our interests, I have chalked a few Points of Interest and major highlights. Looking to understand the feasibility of these destinations given the shoulder season and any possible surprises (weather, closure of major services, etc). Ofcourse, any suggestions on lodging, tour operators and car rentals (or travel insurance) will be very welcome.

Timelines - First week september (this year). Probably 9-10 day trip including travel time.

1. Katmai NP - Way too late for Brooks Lodge on availability. I could afford that price for couple of nights but they are sold out till end of 2023.
Any options here besides camping? Otherwise water taxi from King Salmon is the only option... on that note, are these day trips any good? If so, should i plan for a single trip or two day trips - so as to hike around the island on day 2.
Getting to King Salmon shouldn't be too bad given the alaska air companion fare.

2a. Seward/ Kenai Fjords NP - Aialik Glacier kayak (full day tour) seems like a must do! Would it be too late in the season for these kayak tours? Any recommendations on must-do maritime cruises (7-8hr variety)... recall doing one of these several years ago.
2b. Whittier - Or perhaps, I could skip the cruise in Seward and do one in Whittier. It will definitely be challenging to do full day cruises in both ports as we want to do hiking in Kenai Fjords NP.

3. Wrangell St Elias - Kind of in opposite direction from Seward and really far. But again... it's one of those dreamy destinations!!
Is it too late in the season for Wrangell St Elias? I wouldn't want to go in unfavorable weather conditions especially if that would interfere with driving into Mccarthy/ Kennecott or with tours. Looking to do couple of flightseeing tours and glacier hiking.
I am assuming trip to Wrangell St Elias from/ to Anchorage will be a full day drive + 2-3 day stay. Or should I pack in 2 days for driving each way....? On my last Alaska trip (several years ago), I realized the highways aren't quite like the lower 48 states and traffic slowdowns are commonplace from construction or being being a slower vehicle.
Also, any suggestions on lodging and car rentals for driving into Mccarthy?

4. Denali NP - I would like to avoid Denali NP given the road closures from landslide. However, if #3 is not doable, I would like to explore the option of driving into Talkeetna and doing aerial tours of Denali NP. Talkeetna Air Taxi seems to be the big operator here?

Given my choices above, which of these options seem to be the best picks (for the weather and given timeframe)? Also, if any additional travel insurance is recommended - I would much appreciate more info there too. Not sure if CSR coverage would be enough here.

Thanks for the suggestions in advance!

fti

I would avoid the water taxi to Brooks like the plague. Read the awful reviews from last year. Floatplane is the way to go.

The 6 hour Kenai Fjords Tours are great. You would have to check with operators to see if kayak tours are still operating.

Denali the first week of September will have incredible autumn colors. If you go to Denali definitely go there first. Flightseeing is great but doesn't take the place of the bus into the park. Our own Seat 2A is a driver of the green transit shuttle bus and I strongly suggest taking one of those one day.

You can't driven most rental cars on the McCarthy Road so either a shuttle or a flight are the best ways to get there. The hike on Root Glacier is probably one of the biggest draws there.

carsnoceans

I read the other way for water taxi vs float plane. Almost everyone recommended water taxi to avoid bear jams and crappy weather cancellations. Any others to opine?

There are some car rentals that allow getting to Mccarthy road. I considered shuttle buses (flights have baggage capacity issue) but mobility inside Mccarthy is a problem. We like to explore wherever allowed/ possible. Having a car is highly preferred.

I won't be doing Denali with the road closures. We are outdoorsy/ active and would like to spend 2-3 days inside the park ideally. If flightseeing of Denali NP is not a great idea, I can skip it too.

Gardyloo

Some thoughts...

I'd do any Denali flightseeing out of Anchorage rather than Talkeetna, the reason being that in case Denali is socked in, the operators (like Rust's at Lake Hood) have alternate routes/destinations available - over Prince William Sound and the ice fields, or over the Chugach mountains and Knik Glacier, or across Cook Inlet to volcano country. From Talkeetna, if Denali isn't visible, you're SOL.

Just as a thought experiment, what if you swapped Nome for King Salmon etc.? For less than the flights to King Salmon, you can fly nonstop from Anchorage on AS (and if you have any AS miles, often for as few as 5K miles one way.) There are vehicle rentals available in Nome, and there's a surprisingly large road system that radiates from the town out into the Seward Peninsula bush. There's a lot of wildlife in the area: muskoxen, caribou, moose, reindeer, bears, a bazillion birds (probably starting to leave) and the tundra will be stunningly beautiful (and probably no mosquitoes or very few.) There's also a lot of history, including a lot of gold mining still going on. You could even extend the trip to Kotzebue, an Inupiat community located on an arm of the Arctic Ocean and above the arctic circle. The Nome planes run a "triangle" route that includes OTZ before returning to ANC. There are comfortable hotels in both towns.


Nome Scenic Drives | Driving The Nome Road System | ALASKA.ORG
Wildlife Viewing on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska Department of Fish and Game

carsnoceans

Gardyloo

Even if Denali is covered in clouds, would I still be able to get a good view of other mountains or basically I will get nothing? I was looking forward to a Glacier landing tour. Can you recommend some good operators from ANC? I am not looking for private charters but happy to little extra for smaller groups/ operators.

Yes, I am totally open to swapping out King Salmon for other destinations. Since I cannot stay overnite at Katmai NP, I am less inclined to visit if there are other (as scenic) options. Would 2 or 3 days be enough time for Nome?

Also, if I skip King Salmon/ Katmai, I could fly into Fairbanks towards end of the trip for an Aurora Borealis viewing tour. Would it be a good time (mid-sept)? And, how many nights should I keep in Fairbanks for decently high chances of good viewing?

Also, any thoughts Wrangell St Elias preserve? It feels like a bit much to cover Kenai Fjords NP and Wrangell St Elias preserve in same trip.

Gardyloo

It's possible, but sometimes the clouds are widespread enough, or other passengers unwilling to accept half a loaf, so the operators just cancel. The point being, it's a crapshoot either way, and an expensive one.

Not exactly what you're looking for, but there are glacier landings available using helicopters closer to Anchorage. I'm not sure how many operators there are, but you might check out the Knik River Lodge (which is, incidentally, not a bad place) for chopper tours that land on Knik Glacier. Here's a video I found that I assume is representative.


One thing I'll say is that I've driven up the Knik Valley a number of times (roughly an hour from Anchorage) and every time I was there I saw some critter or other on or next to the road - moose and bears. No guarantees, of course. The Knik Valley is easily included in a day outing from Anchorage that includes Hatcher Pass and Independence Mine above Palmer, and maybe a stop at the Eklutna Native cemetery, with its colorful "spirit houses" next to the old (and newer) Russian Orthodox churches. Map - https://goo.gl/maps/6rZzHPTEZm5kV7Y58

Edited to add: I also included the Eklutna dam tailrace (dam discharge stream) on the map, in case you're interested in some salmon fishing. The tailrace has good runs of silver salmon that should still be around when you're there. You'll need tackle and a license (several places in Anchorage where you can rent tackle) if interested. It's a popular place, but not an un-scenic one.



Lots to unpack. First, Nome. I'd probably want two nights minimum, depending on whether you want to explore all three roads out into the bush. If you were to include a stop in Kotzebue coming or going, then at least one night there would be desirable.

Second, Fairbanks and the aurora. I have to be honest; I'm not a huge fan of Fairbanks, so take that bias into account, but if you were to go to Nome or Kotzebue, the chances of seeing the aurora from there are just as good, CONDITIONS PERMITTING, as from Fairbanks. They're farther north and will offer less light pollution, but of course you need adequate solar activity and clear skies to see anything, be it in Fairbanks or anywhere else. I'd imagine that being on the ocean Nome and Kotzebue might be more prone to cloudy conditions, but who knows? I'd also mention, perhaps relevant on a website for frequent flyers, that the aurora are visible from many other places besides Alaska. Some of them are very enjoyable places to visit in the winter and might even be cheaper to access than northern Alaska. I've seen terrific displays of the aurora in northern Scotland, for example (where the Gaelic name for the lights translates as "the dancing men.) And the Finnish town of Rovaniemi makes a living selling aurora tours (as well as Christmas tours - reindeer etc.)

Regarding Wrangell-St. Elias, I haven't personally spent much time there, but have been to a number of Native villages in the region. I'd agree that logistics are problematic. The only highlight I'd think about is that the Richardson Hwy (which runs from Fairbanks down to Valdez) is breathtakingly scenic near Thompson Pass and Worthington Glacier, half an hour or so north of Valdez. Whether that's worth the trip on its own is a coin flip in my mind. If it's old mining towns that appeal, then certainly Nome would qualify (sort of the granddaddy of old mining towns) but you could also visit Independence Mine (mentioned above) or stop in the old mining town (and a scenic one at that) of Hope, the only town on the south shore of Turnagain Arm, as you travel to Seward. Map - https://goo.gl/maps/LJsNdvwbMJbhfgi19

I hope this doesn't add to any confusion. As you can see, the options are numerous and there's really no "best" plan. Google away and come back with more questions or consult the Alaska board on TripAdvisor.

DELee

A reminder how large the state of AK is and how long it takes to get around - whether by air, water or particularly car.

Getting from one place to another on your itinerary will consume a lot of your planned trip time.

David

jackal

A group of Alaska-based FTers just spent 3 nights at Brooks. (Truly one of the most epic experiences of my life--highly, highly recommended.)

We booked the water taxi and flew into AKN the day prior (to allow time to explore--not much worth going out of your way for there, but driving to the end of the road in Naknek, eating at D&D Pizza, and walking the beach was pleasant enough--and also for IRROPS recovery in case of flight delays, which thankfully didn't materialize). Late on the evening of our arrival into AKN, we got an email from the water taxi that the NPS had advised them to cancel due to winds causing rough waters on Naknek Lake.

Thankfully, since we were already in King Salmon and were able to act quickly, we were able to book a last-minute trip on Katmai Air and managed to get there just about the same time the water taxi would have arrived. It probably helped that our group was large enough that we basically effectively chartered one of their Otters.

We ended up booking the air taxi as a round-trip, but we were delayed a few hours departing Brooks after our three days due to low clouds/fog. The water taxi was operating that morning without issue.

We talked with numerous workers at Brooks (NPS rangers, shuttle drivers, etc., aware of the fact that the lodge/shuttle staff were likely biased due to working for the same parent company as the air taxi) and the overall consensus seemed to be that the water taxi was more reliable than the air taxi. The only thing that keeps the water taxi from sailing is relatively rare easterly winds (which whip up the waves on Naknek Lake), and in those instances, the air taxi is able to still fly by landing on Brooks Lake (above the falls), which is largely sheltered from easterly winds by thick forest. The air taxi tends to encounter issues with morning fog and low clouds, though in most cases, that does tend to burn off throughout the day, so multi-day strandings are not too common. One point in favor of the air taxi is that they have a decent fleet of aircraft and pilots and can simply add extra segments to get through a backlog of passengers and baggage once the weather clears, whereas the water taxi only has a single boat that doesn't have a lot of slack between its scheduled sailings, so it's harder for them to recover from delays. (We did hear some murmerings that the water taxi sometimes tends to cancel services when loads are light and blames the NPS or weather just to avoid looking bad, but I don't know how much truth there is to those rumors.

It's also worth noting that the water taxi staff--especially Kat, who seems to be the most active person on their social media--tends to come off a little on the acerbic side (or at least brutally honest--emphasis on the brutal). Granted, it's frustrating dealing with a clueless public who is completely oblivious to the frequent travails of traveling in rural Alaska, but when you decide to open a business in the hospitality industry, you kind of just have to accept that as part and parcel of the whole gig...and I'm not sure Kat's and Rob's personalities are the best suited for this business. If you can get past that, though, it becomes a lot easier to read Kat's responses to guest complaints on TripAdvisor with an understanding eye. (That said, one of the water taxi's downfalls is poor communication; in multiple instances, the staff were not clear in their communications about the circumstances or the reasons for them, and much stress would have been alleviated had the emails been written even a little more carefully and clearly.)

Other than reliability, I don't think there's really much to comment on regarding the boat vs. plane. We didn't do the boat ourselves, but just from seeing the terrain from the air, I wouldn't guess it's a particularly scenic ride unless the weather were crystal clear (which we were fortunate enough to encounter for the first half of our trip!) and views of the Aleutian Range to the east were out. Similarly, the plane ride itself is only modestly scenic--you're not flying through steep mountain passes or anything, though a bird's-eye view of any kind of land is nice. When we first booked early this year, the difference in price between the water taxi and the air taxi was quite small (I think only a $25 difference?) but by the time we had to pivot and change to the air taxi on the day of departure, the delta had increased to $75 (rates are apparently negotiated with and set by the NPS).

If I were to do it again, I'd probably just go for the air taxi as it seems they have better IRROPS recovery ability (they've been doing this a long time, too), but I certainly wouldn't rule out the water taxi entirely. I don't think either one could be considered as a "wrong" choice.

fti

Jackal, did the water taxi refund your money? That was a big issue in the past - absolutely no refunds, just a future credit.

GrjApp

Some points to ponder: if you are going to be in rural AK such as King Salmon, ATT definitely didn�t work there and from other comments elsewhere, neither did any other carrier other than GCI. It is immensely helpful to have cell access in the event of travel troubles (one person in our party had GCI and it was huge in getting us rebooked and in fact seeing those emails/texts from the WaterTaxi in the first place). You may want to look into a sim/mifi for GCI if you are going to be in poor cell areas. Fwiw, ATT works fine in the towns along the way to Denali and most other places I�ve been to, including Seward etc. (Note there is zero cell service of any kind in Brooks for visitors.)

As for your time frame, early Sept, you should start seeing fall colors, which can be spectacular. From what I remember, Denali around Sept ~21 or so, was slightly past peak but the Kenai on the way to Homer was peak and it was gorgeous. Think that was a couple years ago. For that reason, I love to visit in Sept.

As for the kayak tours or cruises, the cruise operators should have end dates on their calendars since you can book tours in advance. I googled and one operator�s kayak tour to that glacier looks to ends Sept 7. Any others will likely be similar.

jackal

They weren't quite that strict with us, but we definitely did see that in their policy. It's possible they may put that in their policy to deter fickle people from trying to demand refunds for small delays but are less strict in practice, or maybe Kat was feeling unusually generous that day since it was a full lost day.

In any case, a good travel insurance policy (or making sure you have a card with good travel interruption coverage) is something that should be on any rural Alaska traveler's docket.