beckoa

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Very strong Northern Lights this morning!

Why I'm up so early? ;yawn:

GrjApp

That's the middle of the night still

Off to work here, heading that direction tomorrow afternoon. Upgrades cleared, yay!

CDKing

Sure wont be seeing those in Denali. I almost ruined my trip last night. Wine glass broke in my hand and took me a few hours to get the bleeding to stop but looks good this morning. Superficial but damn fingers like to bleed.

Is 3 coats enough? I will definitely have layers

If anyone wants to get drinks on the evening of the 31st let me know. Should be getting back from Denali by 8PM. Of course will have to avoid Obama land. My hotel does have a Bar. Inlet Tower so that could work depending on how much is blocked off.

beckoa

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Damn glad you're ok, but didn't realize how dangerous those are.

jackal

The official word on what is getting blocked off is that it's basically a one-block radius around the Captain Cook and another one-block radius around the Denaina Convention Center from Monday at 7am through Wednesday at noon.

Traffic will likely be bad at rush hour due to the main artery of 5th being shut down at I St, but it won't be impossible to move around Downtown. You won't even see anything at the Inlet Tower.

ETA: here is a map, courtesy of KTUU.

beckoa

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I'm still thinking we'll have *some* extra security for our KS flight as there is not any TSA screening normally. But no idea what it would consist of. Private aircraft are being screened by the TSA.

CDKing

I would not be surpised if there was extra security at airport due to Obama

Quokka

More notes from Dutch Harbor / Unalaska:

There are two options for renting vehicles: B.C or Northport. While the cars / pickups / vans you get from either do run, they are usually pretty beat up. It's amusing one of them hands you paperwork with a damage slip usually devoid of any indications of damage. I seriously doubt any of their vehicles are scratch or damage free. I haven't had any issues with rentals there, but I video my walkaround of the vehicles just in case.

The speed limit on most of the roads is 30 mph. It's even less on a couple sections of the main road in Unalaska as they're school zones. Don't speed. I've heard from the rental car people and other locals that a bored cop has been writing lots of tickets.

The Grand Aleutian is a fairly nice hotel, especially considering where it is. I've enjoyed all of my stays there. One tip I'd pass along is to ask for a room on the back / Margaret Bay side of the hotel. The rooms on that side look out over a pretty bay with jumping salmon and eagles while rooms on the front side of the hotel look over a boring parking lot.

Left, out of the front door of The Grand Aleutian it's a short walk across a street to a plaza with an Alaska Ship Supply (grocery, general goods, ship stuff), a Key Bank and gas station. The Dutch Harbor Post Office is a little ways beyond that. That P.O. is noted for having signs warning about nesting eagles that attack staff and customers.

Directly across Airport Beach Road from the Grand Aleutian is the Norwegian Rat Saloon. It's a "sports bar" and just celebrated its 1 year anniversary. It's notable for being one of the 2 bars on the island (and one of the few eating establishments) that's not owned by UniSea. UniSea is the seafood processing company that owns the Grand Aleutian, its bar and restaurants, as well as the Harbor View Inn, the Harbor View Bar and Harbor Sushi. The Rat has a minimal, 2 page menu with pizza being the main component.

Head right from the front door of the G.A. to get to the plaza with the Safeway. Its deli is fairly popular, but that's not surprising considering the limited choice of eating establishments on the island.

Just beyond the plaza with the Safeway is Amelia's restaurant (also not owned by UniSea). It's popular and has an ecletic menu that goes on for a dozen+ pages. Hearty breakfast items, Mexican food and other varied items. It's a small, usually busy place and the ambiance is best described as Alaska bush quirky. Trippy even. Someone has a fetish for wind chimes / hanging mobiles -- they're everywhere. And every wall surface is covered with either random art or patriotic items (appears a family member is in the armed forces). This place could send some OCD types into convulsions as 80% of the pictures and "art" on the wall are crooked. You'll also quickly learn to hate the door chime. But the food is usually decent.

Cell service:

TelAlaska and GCI are the cellular carriers. While your cellphone will work for emergency calls, it's unlikely your calling plan will work there. While many T-mobile plans roam nicely (and free) on GCI in Alaska, even in places like Nome, I have yet to see it work on Unalaska. There's a GCI store next to the Safeway if you really need to set something up.

WiFi:

The rates at the Grand Aleutian don't include WiFi. While WiFi is available there, it's through TelAlaska and the Grand Aleutian staff don't want to have anything to do with it, even though there are some SSIDs and landing pages with the hotel's name on them. The TelAlaska WiFi service at the G.A. is about $13 a day and is absolutely horrible. Very slow, high latency and accessing even simple pages (like FlyerTalk) timeout a lot. If you really, really need to check email or something it will probably work eventually, but it won't be pleasant.

Another option is the Norwegian Rat offers all-day wifi access for $5. I've never tried it so I can't comment on how well it works. You'd also have to stay near the bar to use it .. which might (or might not) be a bad thing.

Another option that works reasonably well (and is free) is wifi access at the Unalaska Public Library.

Gifts / souvenir shopping:

The gift shop at the Grand Aleutian is somewhat lame. More interesting items can be found at Alaska Ship Supply or the Safeway. The LFS Marine Supply shop (about halfway between the airport and the Grand Aleutian) is the source of a great "Bering Sea Fisherman 2015" line of t-shirts and sweatshirts you'll see locals wearing around town, but they are often out of stock of many sizes. Pro tip: stop by the Unalaska Public Safety building (Police / Fire / EMS) on Safety Way across from the clinic and ask what they have. Their t-shirts have been pretty cool and the money goes to a good cause.

jackal

I typed the following up to someone who requested information on what to see in Denali. I'll post it here as I believe some others are on their way to Denali this weekend as well.

#1 most important: http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisi...ing-denali.htm -- take the bus into the park. Experts (including me) say skip the fancy "Natural History" or "Wildlife" tours and just do the "Shuttle Bus" -- it's the cheapest option, gets you the farthest into the park, and maximizes chances of seeing the mountain (weather permitting) and wildlife (almost guaranteed). I suggest going at least as far as Eielson Visitor Center; I've always wanted to go further all the way to the end at Wonder Lake but haven't managed to do that yet. PM Seat 2A who is a Denali bus driver and see if you can sync up with him--he's pretty senior so he usually bids to the good runs, and if you can manage to get on his bus, you're in for a treat. Most of the info you need is on that page, and you can buy tickets through links from that page. If you're into hiking, you can access tons of backcountry hikes from the shuttle bus, but it's a great ride out and back even if you don't get off.

#2: The sled dog kennel demonstration at http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisi...nstrations.htm is definitely worth dropping by.

#3: There are lots of flightseeing options around Denali (see http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/flightseeing.htm). Great way to see the mountain, land on a glacier, etc. Very weather dependent but worth looking into if you have the time (and money). Note that many of these leave from Talkeetna, which is a good couple hours south of the park on the way north from Anchorage.

#4: Speaking of that, a stop in Talkeetna is worth doing. Rumored to be the inspiration for the weird 90s sit-com Northern Exposure, it maintains a funky, artsy, adventure-sportsy atmosphere. Some good food options there.

#5: If weather is clear and the mountain is out, there are some great vantage points on the drive up. Your first major glimpse will likely be as you come down the hill into the little town of Willow on the highway. If you take the turnoff into Talkeetna, just before you come down the hill into the town itself, there's a parking lot on the left that overlooks a bluff. Amazing views of the mountain from there if it's clear (see photo in this post). There are also three turnouts from the George Parks highway as you go north past the Talkeetna turn-off, known as Denali Viewpoint South, Denali Viewpoint North, and the Veterans Memorial (between the two, IIRC). There's also a great view from the deck of the McKinley Princess Lodge just north of Talkeetna. Once you get much past Denali Viewpoint North, you start to get into the mountains and won't see the mountain itself until you get on the aforementioned bus and get quite a ways into the park. More info here.

#6: Food recs in Denali: For one, make sure to bring your own packed lunch on the bus into the park. There is no food service along the entire route. For other lunches/dinners, there are some options (including a Subway) in what's known as "Glitter Gulch" near the park entrance (near the Denali Princess Lodge and the other big resorts). Other options are 229 Parks, which is very good and a bit upscale and Prospector's Pizza, though those are a little ways away from the park entrance. I've also heard good things about the burgers at the Overlook. There are also some good options up in Healy, a little bit north (10 minutes or so), including Rose's Cafe.

As well, the Great Alaska TourSaver book has some discounts for Denali-area attractions. One that comes particularly highly recommended is the Era Helicopters heli-hiking trip--they fly you up to alpine tundra at about 4,000 feet elevation and you spend about 3.5 hours hiking around (not strenuous) with an awesomely passionate local naturalist who knows everything about everything in the area, down to each flower's petal, blade of grass, and hair on an animal. It's spendy, but the TourSaver book has a two-for-one coupon, cutting the price in half. Please PM me if you need me to drop a book off at your hotel.

Quokka

Travel between the Glitter Gulch / Miracle Mile area and Healy this month has been a time consuming pain in the rear. There's major road work going on around the Park Road turnoff and from north of Glitter Gulch to a ways south of Healy. There were 3 flag stops operating between Healy and the Carlo Creek area last week.

Drives that usually take 10 to 30 minutes can take an hour+ now. Each way.

jackal

Yuck.

Thanks for all your help and feedback. It has been interesting and helpful.

BOB W

WhIteSidE

Do tell? I looked at the approaches, and other than being circling approaches, they don't seem bad.

http://airnav.com/airport/PADU

WhIteSidE

Just to confirm, is there a plan for transportation to/from the airport in DUT? Or do we just plan to grab Taxis? Also, is DUT a cash sort of place? Or will regular US credit cards be readily accepted?

jackal

If you arrive before me, plan on a taxi to the hotel. If you arrive with or after me (I'm on the 12:45pm arrival on Tuesday), I will be picking up a rental car and transportation from then on will be provided.

I need to check with those staying one day after I leave Thursday evening (last flight) and see if they want to keep the rental van (or something smaller) or just cab it for that last day.

AFAIK, credit cards are accepted pretty much normally, though some smaller restaurants/fast food shops/etc. may not. Perhaps Quokka or others who have been recently can provide some updates.