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TOPIC: Re:Alaska Suggestions?
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gitt (User)
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Re:Alaska Suggestions? 17 Years, 11 Months ago  
And to add to Bob's comments-

Add some site seeing experience to the trip. Seward is about 45 minutes away from Cooper Landing. From there you could do a day long boat ride out to a number of glaciers- Holgate and Northwestern both come to mind. Northwestern is the more dramatic of the two. Dress warmly, including hats and gloves as it does get cooler closer to the glaciers. Take the smaller boat operation if you can. I think the larger concession, Kenai Fjords Tours, bought out Mariah Tours, the smaller boat company. When you call to make reservations tell them that you are interested in the smaller single decked boat for the tour, if they still have it. The boat ride affords a good selection of wildlife opportunities and glacier viewing along the way. If your mother is ambulatory and good hiking condition, you could walk up to the Exit Glacier, located just outside the city limits of Seward or at least the turn off is. The road use to be a gravel wash board mess, but I recall that it is paved all the way out to the Glacier viewing parking lot the last time we there. It is under the National Park Service, but there is no longer an entrance fee to get in. The walk in is a little over a mile on level asphalt until it turns into gravel closer to the base of the glacier. This glacier has been in retreat for some time. All of the glaciers mentioned originate from or are arms of the Harding Icefield.

If you are not fishing every day, run up to Denali and stay outside the park entrance in any of the cabins that have sprouted up. Expect the drive to be around 6 hours from Seward or Cooper Landing. Be sure to buy any food stuffs and drinks in Anchorage as there becomes a scarcity issue past Wasilla. There is no sales tax in Anchorage either. Once at the park, you soon discover that the Visitor Center is about it as far as walk up information or anything else for that matter. Consider the park primitive at best compared to any other National Park in the lower 48. But there is a bus ride into the park that offers a variety of wildlife viewing opportunities as well as transitioning landscape. You can prebuy your bus tickets (maybe over the internet) into the park for Wonder Lake round trip unless you wish to camp there at a walkin campground with spectacular views of Mt. McKinley (about 30-35 miles away), Muldrow Glacier which originates on Mt McKinley and swings back cross the valley between the campground along with most of the Alaska Range. The last bus leaves Wonder Lake around 4 PM. The campground is bowl shaped and provides unobstructed views of Mt. McKinley. We had a number of moose feeding just below us in the kettle ponds in the evenings while we were there. If I recall correctly, the road is about a 100 miles into the park. I would heartedly endorse this as part of your trip, if you have never been there before for both you and your mother. Get an early morning reservation for the bus as the prime time fills up prior to the day of the trip- meaning that you might have to wait a couple of hours or more prior to boarding.

If you need more information, you can contact me. Planning for this trip should begin in ernest before February at least with the reservations, airline, etc. Even sooner if you plan on camping at Wonder Lake.

Hope this helps
 
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Last Edit: 2007/11/05 15:30 By gitt. Reason: left words out and syntax/ so much for proof reading, eh?
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 Alaska Suggestions?  - R.B.  11/05/07 7:10 am
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thread linkthread link  Re:Alaska Suggestions?  - NorcalBob  11/05/07 7:49 am
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thread linkthread link  Re:Alaska Suggestions?  - Arizona Bruce  11/05/07 8:51 am
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thread linkthread linkthread link  Re:Alaska Suggestions?  - R.B.  11/05/07 10:48 am
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thread linkthread link  Tsiu River Lodge  - bonish  11/05/07 9:28 am
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thread linkthread link  Re:Alaska Suggestions?  - gitt  11/05/07 9:41 am
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thread linkthread link  Re:Alaska Suggestions?  - Brett  11/05/07 11:23 am
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