Do you think border guards check rental policies? I would love to take a 'side diversion' down the Alaska Highway so we could say we were in the Yukon!! (I know crazy...) It looks like the border is actually before the customs station so we might be good there? Is there anything interesting to do near the Canadian border on the Alaskan highway?

I don't think the border guards specifically check the rental terms and conditions. Canadian border patrol guards will NOT let a Canadian citizen into Canada in an American rental car, though (they don't want Canadians crossing the border to take advantage of low[er]-tax American rental cars, I guess). But if you're not Canadian, you should probably be fine.

At the very least (if they do give you grief), if all you want to do is say you've been to the Yukon, you can leave the car behind and just walk across, take a picture, and then walk back.

Do you think it is enough to cover Denali NP in one day? I have heard some say because it is hard to get to do much because of the restricted access, without going into back country (which we are not equipped to do). Trying to fit everything into a schedule such as this

Aug 11-12 Soldotna (salmon fishing)
Aug 13 Sheep Mountain Lodge
Aug 14-15 Tangle River / Denali Hwy
Aug 16 Fairbanks
Aug 17-18 Denali Area
Aug 19-20 (for Aug 20 boat trip Homer)
Aug 21-23 Seward
Aug 24 to ANC to fly home 10pm

As you can see that is quite a drive from Denali to Homer. We have the fishing booked early but the trip is currently arranged to have the Kenai stuff at the end. I could 1. Try and rearrange the whole trip, or if starting on 17th we could spend all day at Denali there, then the AM 18th, before cutting thiat trip in half, and staying somewhere around Anchorage on the 18th or just north, that could cut the longish drive in half. What does everyone think, is that enough time to experience Denali?

In a word: 'no'. You are not figuring the sort of roads you have in Alaska. They are not interstate highways with controlled access and plenty of room for passing slower traffic. Often you are on a 2 lane road and stuck with the average speeds. A wreck, a moose in the road or just bad luck.....you wait.

I have sat on the road to Homer stopped by fog. I mean stopped. Road closed! As in officially closed due to the danger. I have sat on the road to and from Denali in stopped traffic or extremely slow traffic when a bunch of RV's got into convoys (not legal by the way) and decided to amble. If the state fair is on.........

jackal loves to drive and to do a lot fast. I'll leave it to him to study your schedule.

Hehe, oldpenny16 knows me too well.

I'd have to take another look at your schedule when I'm a little more awake (I've been up for 33 hours but am the proud owner of a new black 16GB iPhone 3G), but I'm not sure it's completely unmanageable. Ambitious yes, but not impossible. Maybe.

That's a lot in "back and forth" and lost time on the highway. I would suggest doing the southern end at one time, and the northern the other.

Anchorage, Soldotna, Seward & Homer early, then head up to Denali and Fairbanks. I would prefer to have at least two days in Denali, especially if the one day you're there it's crummy weather. I'd keep my plans re: Fairbanks flexible and punt if another day in Denali is desired.

I'd tend to agree. Also, your plans near the end - don't forget that Homer to Seward is not an insubstantial drive. And personally, I'd bag Fairbanks unless you have some real burning desire to go, or special thing/person to see, as it adds a lot of travel time taken from Denali.

Regarding Denali NP, what is your plan to see and experience it? They have shuttles and tours which really are pretty much full days. The restricted access people talk about is that you cannot drive your personal auto into Denali beyond something like the 15 mile marker on the road INSIDE the park. Beyond that point, you must take one of the ARAMARK tours or the Wonder Lake Shuttle. It is well worth it to go deeper inside the park as there is very little to generally see that first 15 miles or so. The wildlife we saw was much deeper in, but also very viewable from the road/bus.

So you really don't need to be equipped to go into the back country, only willing to pony up the money for one of the tours. BTW, do not buy from any vendor other than the ARAMARK folks. They have a web site where you can buy online . . . waiting until you're there may result in sold-out conditions.

If you want more info on the tours offered, we did the Wildnerness Tour (DO NOT RECOMMEND) and the Wonder Lake Shuttle (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED). When we do Denali again, we'll probably do the shuttle on two consecutive days. I have written about our experiences on both of these options over at www.igougo.com. You can access my journals through the link in my sig here.

Have a great time!
Von

Thanks for the link to your write ups on IgoUgo.

I second that! Will have to take a deeper look sometime, but it looks like an extensive collection!

Is the Wilderness Tour the one that uses the green old school buses?

The ARAMARK park shuttles use the old brown buses and are literally shuttles (you can get on or get off at will). There are some very similar green buses, though, that I thought were run by the same operator but were different (and more expensive). Any idea what those are? (It's been more than 10 years since I did the Denali bus ride...)

http://www.igougo.com/images/p220136...huttle_Bus.jpg

Here is a photo of the Wonder Lake Shuttle we did with ARAMARK in July 06.

I can't remember if the Tundra Wilderness bus was green or brown (I seem to recall brown however) . . . it was also a school bus type vehicle but had a set up for hot and cold drinking water out of the back of the bus. Someone recently posted somewhere that they now have viewing screens to see wildlife, but I don't know about that personally.

I think all of the tour vehicles operating in Denali NP are operated by ARAMARK, although some of the other tour companies do sell tickets for a marked up price. Princess Cruises was the biggest one back in 2006 with tickets marked up some 20% as I recall.

As for my Alaska/Denali travel journals, you will find them at the bottom of the list there.

Hmm. Maybe the shuttles are green and the wilderness buses are brown. (Maybe I had them backwards.) I think they're both old converted school buses, though.

What happens on the Tundra Wilderness bus?

The Tundra Wildnerness bus tour was more a tour with guided narration than the Wonder Lake Shuttle, although our shuttle driver was very informative and was as much a guide as the woman we had the next day on the Wilderness Tour.

Back in 2006 the buses did not have the screens that they are now promoting on the ARAMARK site about this tour. Apparently the buses have been equipped to shoot shoot video which is viewable on these screens. After the tour, you can buy the video which has some footage from your tour too. (Sounds to me like just another way to make money off the tourists!)

The hot/cold water equipment at the rear of the bus is pretty spiffy as you can fix something to warm to drink (hot cocoa, cider, tea, etc).

One of the things we disliked most about the Wilderness Tour is that it's cut short by about two hours if the mountain (Denali) isn't in view. Many of our animal sightings the day before on the Wonder Lake Shuttle was beyond the point where the Wilderness Tour bus turn around.

Considering the steep price difference, we just didn't think it was worth the money.

Von: Thanks for your link to igougo.com. That is a cool site, and your posts were great to read!

Here is an update - the bird guide in Homer can take us the 22nd, so now we can take that 2nd day in Denali after all..... We'll stay around Denali 8/17 and 8/18, drive halfway on 8/19, and then to Homer on 8/20. Our boat tour there (these tours are supposed to be great: http://www.xyz.net/~bay/Birding%20Trips.html)
will be on 8/21, with 8/22 as a backup. The Mariah Kenai Fjord boat tour in Seward would be 8/23. Hopefully we won't need a backup as 8/24 is the drive back to ANC to go home.

Fairbanks: The reason we're going is to see bird banding at the Alaska Bird Observatory at Creamer's Field (this looks like a cool place to visit also). It is kind of risky cause this is a ways out of the way, and if the weather is wrong it will be a dud. Maybe at that point we could cancel and head south, I hope not though, cause we're hoping to see that!

Denali: Glad we are spending the two days now. I was picturing more regular buses where we could get on and off easily on a regular basis ,like Zion NP in Utah. There are some nice tundra areas a ways into the park that are good for birding (Gyrfalcon is our target!). We'll do the bus that Von suggested I gues and then spend time there also the second day. We also got a tip that the road into Petersville (sp?) south of the park can offer even better views of Mt. McKinley - if it is clear, of course, if we have time on our way to ANC. Looking for lodging for the two days, around Healy now.

I have to be careful about wanting to drive long distances, I am an "extra miler" and have visited every county in the 48 states of the US (some of us geographers are crazy that way). Never been to AK or HI so these will be new counties (boroughs) for me. (http://www.extramilerclub.org/). luckily this time my wife and in-laws are with me to prevent me from being even more crazy and driving over the Yukon border to get that province under my belt!

The road to Petersville is interesting. Many years ago lots of land were given out in the Alaska land lottery. There are some good views of Denali (in fine weather) but there is a point where the road ends in a ruined bridge. The MILEPOST should have that information. Beyond the ruined bridge is where the land was given away. Hiked in there once and won't do it again.

Have you got Potter Marsh south of Anchorage on your list? It can be very good for birds and other wild life.

Do have a great time!