Roll Call Alaska 2016

[GGeorge]

I have been planning this trip for 4+ years. It is now time to update my estimates and make my reservations.

Estimate Wash/BC border about 5 May 2016, north on route 97/1/2 to Tok, south to Valdez, make the hump to Anchorage, then to Homer and Seward, north to Denali, Fairbanks, back to TOK and off to Dawson, then south to Watson Lake, Smithers, then to CAN 16 east to Jasper,/Banff, on to Glacier in Montana, arriving early Sept so I can get thru the park then west to Kalispell. South thru the US to Houston area for the thanksgiving holiday and Florida for the Christmas holiday. Since I am sure it will be cold in Ohio I wont return home till April 2017.

Alaska here we come!!!!

G George

On edit, yup it's time to plan 2016. I edited your post to modify the title to be consistent with previous years; it will facilitate future searches for members.

... Eric (Moderator)

[dreamer]

rag-ftw wrote:

dreamer wrote:
The third whale watching cruise was a success for us. My wife booked a cruise with Lu Lu Belle (Valdez) yesterday and they saw whales and got much closer to the glacier to watch it calving. I didn't go. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.dreamer.

Did she see any puffins?!!!

Yes, she said she saw a few Puffins. 🙂

[rag-ftw]

dreamer wrote:
The third whale watching cruise was a success for us. My wife booked a cruise with Lu Lu Belle (Valdez) yesterday and they saw whales and got much closer to the glacier to watch it calving. I didn't go. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.dreamer.

Did she see any puffins?!!!

[dreamer]

The third whale watching cruise was a success for us. My wife booked a cruise with Lu Lu Belle (Valdez) yesterday and they saw whales and got much closer to the glacier to watch it calving. I didn't go. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.

dreamer.

[2gypsies1]

missnmountains wrote:
See our blog spot for many whales out of Seward.

Ken

Awesome photos!!!

http://missnmountains.blogspot.com/

[missnmountains]

See our blog spot for many whales out of Seward.

Ken

[Shirleyshusband]

Hi, still having fun! Met some nice locals in Dawson. Told her we were going to run up Dalton highway and were looking for a place in Fairbanks to leave the camper for a few days, intending to sleep in the cab. She said I live in Fairbanks, leave it in my place! Got to her place Sunday in the rain. She said fine to letting us hang around a few extra days till it dried up, even showever us around town. It rained on and off till Tuesday and we headed up Wednesday. Till around noon any gravel was pretty slick but then it started getting better. Mostly I went around 20. A motorcycle wiped out about a half mile behind me (you can see forever). By the time I had backed halfway to him he was up and rolling. Lots of motorcycles making the run, all going faster than me, and smiling. Got about 150 miles past the Artic Circle and called it a day. Locals said if you go past Atigun pass you've see the best of it so we took their advice and headed back on Thursday. Guess I don't need to say we didn't sleep real well in the cab when the sun never set. Still, an awesome experience.
Camped in North Pole, Chena lake campgrounds for a few days, then south to Denali.
Safe travels...

[rag-ftw]

dreamer wrote:
Well strike two for us on the whale watch, took the Stan Stephens Colombia tour and came up empty. Beautiful trip even with the rain, not disappointed but no whales. One whale in Haines. Going to call Lula-Belle's Captain Fred and get the low down. We plan on going to Homer, does anyone think that would be better? Are we too early?Thanks.dreamer.

Bummer! We saw an adolescent humpback yesterday on the 26 Glacier Cruise out of Whittier. Not sure about your timing. The last time we took the Stan Stephens out of Valdez was the first week in July and we saw 4 or 5. Ask when you talk to the lady at the Lula-Belle. You will probably be talking to Fred's wife and she will know if he has seen any lately. He makes that run just about every day during the summer!

[dreamer]

Well strike two for us on the whale watch, took the Stan Stephens Colombia tour and came up empty. Beautiful trip even with the rain, not disappointed but no whales. One whale in Haines. Going to call Lula-Belle's Captain Fred and get the low down. We plan on going to Homer, does anyone think that would be better? Are we too early?Thanks.

dreamer.

[Yeti_plus]

Well we are in Juneau now, so I guess we are definitely in Alaska! We are doing the Inside passage first to get the ferry got to be somewhere at a certain day and time done first, so when we get off the Alaska Marine Highway,there is no set schedule. I retired May 27 and we started travelling May 28. We are planning to be home mid October.
Visited son and his lady in Edmonton, camped in the mountains for 2 days with them, then off to Prince Rupert to start the AMHS ferry excursion. Stopped in Ketchican, Wrangell, Petersburg, in Juneau now, leave for Haines early tomorrow, then to Skagway.
Will be in Whitehorse for Canada Day and Valdez for July 4th, so we get the best of both holidays.
Haven't read some of the later pages due to internet access, but I see everyone is having a great time.
The campground here in Juneau has 5 Truck campers tonight, last night it was 6, 3 of which were Bigfoot.

[Tarheel_2]

If you are in Valdez stay at the Bayside RV Park. According to them, they are the only place in the US that is permitted to feed the eagles. So, every evening at 5 PM one of their employees brings out a buckey of cut up fish and begins throwing it in the air as the eagles circle. Close to 5 PM they start circling the park and in the end, there were 30 or so fighting for the fish. As he would throw it to one who may have landed close on the ground, another would swoop down and take it. The feeding lasted close to an hour. Great site and good pictures. I'm sure if you're not staying there, you can still walk into the park to watch.

[rag-ftw]

If going to Valdez take the Stan Stephens glacier cruise and you'll see whales. Hope you have your TourSaver 2/1 book. It'll save a lot of money...

You will save $130 on the Stan Stephens Columbia Glacier Cruise if two people go! That's the only Valdez cruise listed in the 2016 Tour Saver. We have had excellent experiences on the Lula-Belle out of Valdez. Capt Fred will put you right next to the glacier!
We have seen more whales on the Stan Stephens whale watching cruise but again Capt Fred on the Lula-Belle has always gotten us closer to the whales. He has a sixth sense of knowing where they are going to surface!

If you have the time I would suggest taking both the Lula-Belle and Stan Stephens cruises. They are both well worth the money and are different enough to keep you interested!

[snowedin]

Now in Valdez but came through Whitehorse, Skagway, Haines, and Tok. Found the highways between Haines Junction-Tok-Glennallen to be a little rough so plan on some extra time as you just have to slow down. Don't believe the rough roads are that unusual considering the terrain and base they are built on. The pavement rolls in places so you porpoise and cannot drive fast and there is also some construction which can be expected. Did the drive from Chitnia to McCarthy yesterday and it was well worth the time-It is a 60 mile narrow dirt/gravel road that takes about 2 1/2 hours but the Kennecot mine tour and air tour over Wrangell-St Elias National Park were both mind blowing, just awesome.

[2gypsies1]

dreamer wrote:
We were in Haines for a week at Oceanside RV Park. Nice, relaxing stay. Took the boat to Juneau in hopes of seeing whales, saw one. Heading to Homer now, my wife's bucket list includes seeing the whales. Hoping to see some there? We left Tok yesterday.

dreamer.

If going to Valdez take the Stan Stephens glacier cruise and you'll see whales. Hope you have your TourSaver 2/1 book. It'll save a lot of money.

There's also a glacier cruise out of Seward. Good luck!

[dreamer]

We were in Haines for a week at Oceanside RV Park. Nice, relaxing stay. Took the boat to Juneau in hopes of seeing whales, saw one. Heading to Homer now, my wife's bucket list includes seeing the whales. Hoping to see some there? We left Tok yesterday.

dreamer.

[missnmountains]

Don8ch wrote:

missnmountains wrote:
In homer today. We plan 4 or 5 nights. Right now the wind is howling. We plan on fishing Monday assuming the weather forcast is correct and the winds settle down. The road down was fine but windy down the turnagain arm.

Ken

Aren't you glad that you have Comfort Drive?
Don

Oh yes! It make a side wind bearable.

Ken