AKman2495

Trust me, you have nothing to worry about taking a train in the early morning darkness.

That's the good news. The bad news is that you won't leave Seward by rail until 6 pm.

Here is the train schedule:

http://alaskarailroad.com/Schedules/tabid/98/Default.aspx

Now, you will have all day to explore Seward or take some excursions like the Kenai Fjords tours......

Hello everyone, we leave for our cruise/DIY landtour in a week. On our landtour, we will be driving from Anchorage to Denali National Park (we have a whole day for this, not a rushed drive). We would like to see Hatchers Pass and Independence Mine, but don't know what route to take. As I understand it, there are three main roads- the Wasilla Fishhook, the Willow Fishhook, and then Hatcher Pass Road. Which one is the most scenic route? Which would we take up to the Mine and which would we take to get back on the highway to Denali.

 

Also, on our way home from Denali to Anchorage, any good attractions? I have heard of the Musk Ox and Reindeer Farms, the Iditarod HQ, anything else to fill a few hours that wouldn't be too expensive and time consuming?

 

Thank you guys so much for your help, I'm so excited to be headed to Alaska in one week!!!!! :)

OK, first of all, Hatcher Pass Road is not a separate route up to Hatcher Pass. It is the road to Hatcher pass that you access from Wasilla Fishhook Road.

Hatcher Pass Road runs from Palmer, where it starts at Wasilla fishhook road and goes over a mountain pass and ends up in Willow.

As BQ said, rental cars are not covered for this road as you will need a 4 wheel drive in the tougher parts of the pass.

That said, Hatcher Pass Road from Wasilla fishhook road is a nice road and is paved for quite a ways up to the Independence mine site.

The easiest way to get there from Anchorage is to take the Palmer cut-off and stay on it till you get to Wasilla Fishhook Road. Then you go straight for a few miles and you will see a sign for the Hatcher Pass Road. Take this road up to Independence mine.

When you are done there, you can take the same road back to Fishhook Road and when you get to Fishhook Road turn right and continue on Fiahhook road (don't go back to Palmer). Fish hook Road will then take you into Wasilla, where you can pick up the Parks Highway. Turn right and head to Denali...

A few years ago I had this dream of retiring aboard a sail boat and sailing around at our leisure. THen, one day it hit me as just how limiting that life would be. Even on a 40 foot sailboat, there is just not many places to go on board or things to do.

Now, a cruise ship is a whole lot Bigger than that so, one would be more apt to find things to do. But after a while, I can see it being limiting.

Buying into some type of retirement village may also seem limiting. but is does give the availability of mobility- driving to different cities and yes, even taking cruises are all possible from a modest shore based home.

While cruising is a great way to travel, in mind mind one of the reason it is so is because it is a vacation-a home away from home. Once it becomes your home, where do go for vacation from the ship.....?

Unlike Akman, I love spending time in Fairbanks in the summer. But if there aren't activities to excite you for that amount of time (probably 1 full day, perhaps 1 1/2 days, depending on when you fly in), then you should choose the other tour. Only you can weigh the activities vs. expense.

This site may be helpful: http://fairbanks-alaska.com/

For me there's a lot of stuff to do AROUND Fairbanks, just not IN Fairbanks...(at least not stuff I could't do as well in Anchorage)...That is why I asked about what the cruise tour was planing for Fairbanks for those 2 days......

Frankly, I can't think of spending 2 days in Fairbanks-even if it is the summer. BUt then I live in Anchorage.

I would depend on what you get with the cruise tour-as far as excursions around Fairbanks they might offer.

Of course, there are many on the board who would tell you to forget the cruise tour and go out on your own.

But, as for me, there is nothing wrong with a cruise tour-especially if it is your first time up here.

But I would go to Anchorage and save the money for excursions on the cruise.

I get a kick out of ... "there is NO chance to see the Northern Lights during this time frame" commentary. If there is darkness, if there is no cloud cover...there is a chance. Fairbanks has about 4+ hours of darkness in late May and the Northern Lights have done some dancing during that time of year. It's been an incredible year for Northern Lights, I say think positively and see what happens. :)

Well, no. There is not 4+ hours of "darkness" then. By the end of May, the best you can get is maybe 1.5 hours of dusky twilight. It just doesn't really ever get dark in the sense you have.

Of course, they may be out, but seeing them is another matter entirely....

We booked both transfers and two nights in Vancouver. We will be booking independent air. Here is what Princess says in my personalizor about the transfer:

Customs regulations prohibit our staff from assisting you until the customs process is complete. As you depart the customs hall, the representatives, dressed in navy, will direct you to the motorcoach for your transfer. The transfer from the airport to the hotel is only applicable prior to your Princess booked hotel stay. If you booked additional nights on your own, the transfer does not apply and is nonrefundable. Check-in time is 4:00 p.m. Should you arrive prior to this time, every effort will be made to accommodate you.

Thanks for the info.

 

I think we will be arriving Sat am, then go pick up the car. maybe we will start the drive and stay over night in Alyeska. Then continue on the next day to PWS.

That's a great plan. Enjoy the trip!

AKman,

 

About how long would it take to do the route you mentioned?

 

I do want to stop and see everything. We will not be pressed for time that day we get to Anchorage. We will be on our way to PWS the next day for a tour.

 

Thanks

The drive straight from Anchorage to the staging area for Whittier (from Downtown Anchorage not at rush hour) is about 1.5 hours non stop.

So, if you leave say at 9am ( of course if you leave earlier, that gives more time), and you should be ready to enter the tunnel at the 6 pm time slot (at least I would) that will give you 7.5 hours with which to play (remember it takes 1.5 hours to drive). The boardwalk at potter marsh could take 1 hour. Lunch at Alyeska -say 3 hours to check out the sights and eat.

You could easily do the nature place in 1 hour and that will leave about 2 hours for portage.

Of course, you can change those around to your liking. It seems to me that the two limiting conditions are the 1.5 hour drive to get there and the 6:00 arrival at the tunnel-you will have to pay to go through and there may be a line. The tunnel will open at 6:30. It is 7 miles long and it takes less than 15 minutes to go through the tunnel and get into whittier proper.

Those are the two limits as I see them. You can fill in the rest as you choose.

Remember the sun will be up by 4 am, so you will not have any problems with morning darkness...

We are looking at the options for getting from Anchorage to Whittier. Our ship does not sail till 8:30 PM, so we could make an easy day of it, and do a one-way car rental, which would be quite reasonable for the six of us in our group.

 

If we do this, are there things to stop and see on our way down? The other options are the train or bus, so we know we will see scenery whichever choice we make, but are there other opportunities (things to stop and see) which we could enjoy in a rental car?

 

Thanks for your thoughts.....

Here is what I would suggest (I live in Anchorage and have made the drive many times). I would stop at potter marsh-it is 5 minutes out of town. Then, you could stop at Beluga Point. this is really just a punt out on the highway about 10 minutes from potter marsh. If you are lucky, you might see some Beluga whales.

THen keep driving. You will pass Indian and Bird creek. After bird creek, look for Bird Point. This is another turn off that has a parking lot and a small visitors pavilion and a great view. If you like, there is a paved bike/hike trail that you can walk for a while.

After you leave, the next stop will be Girdwood. At gird wood, I recommend you drive to the Alyeska lodge for lunch. It is a great spot to eat. You can also look around Girdwood for a while.

After that, head South until you reach the alaska wildlife conservation center http://www.alaskawildlife.org/

Here, you can drive/walk through the center and see wild animals in natural settings up close.

At this point, you are very close to the turnoff for Portage. Take the turn off and head down the road. Go to the visitors center and check it out. Ou can also take a short boat ride out to the glacier if you like.

From the visitor's center, you are a 5 minute drive to the staging parking lot for the drive through the tunnel to whittier. YOu have to be careful because the tunnel is open only at certain times for travel to whittier (it is a one-way tunnel and car traffic goes one direction first and the other direction second. It also closes to cars when trains go through. Here is the summer schedule http://dot.alaska.gov/creg/whittiertunnel/schedule.shtml

You want the bear valley to whittier times. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get through the tunnel, return the car and make it to the ship.

I would first plan the time to drive through the tunnel and work back from there.

Good luck with your trip!