Alaska in September? YES!

[maltoose181]

Thanks for all the info on these boards. We had a great trip. DH kept adding things to do. Left Sept. 5, on Alaska Air from Anchorage to Fairbanks, pilot gave us a trip around Mt. McKinely. He gave us 15 minutes warning to get camera ready (batteries not with camera - oh well). What a view on a perfectly clear day.

Stayed at Grandview Bed and Breakfast 2 nights - in the forest on the hill overlooking Fairbanks. Visited Museum of the North, Pipeline lookout, Pioneer Park. Ate at Salmon Bake and Pump House. Got many great gifts from the large selection at Walmart! Hills covered with yellow leaves.

Drove to North pole andDelta Junction for the end of Alaska Highway. Drove to Tok and took the Tok Cutoff - fantastic views of Wrangell-ST. Elias National Park. Stayed at Copper River Princess 2 nights. Drove to Valdez and took Stan Stephens cruise to Columbia Glacier - 7 hours. Saw orcas, sea otters, eagles, sea lions, puffins, etc. Ate at Halibut House.

Drove Richardson Highway back to Fairbanks where joined Princess landtour.1 night Fairbanks Princess with Discovery Cruise then bus to Denali. Ate at Salmon Bake. Took TWT - lunch was enough without the Subway we also took. Saw 7 bears, caribou, dall sheep, artic ground squirrels, great scenery.

Train to Whittier - raining!

College Fjord - raining and cold. Glacier Bay beautiful clear day with bright blue skies. Wonderful. Skagway rented car to Emerald Lake and stopped at Cinnamon Cache - mmmm. Juneau - did ship whale watch and glacier because had shipboard credit to cover it. Saw 12 humpbacks at one time.

Ketchikan raining but walked to Creek St. took funicular to Cape Fox, saw totems, walked Married Man Trail, and to Salmon Ladder (yes salmon were there), walked to Totem Heritage and Hatchery. Took city bus to Totem Bight in the rain and had it all to ourselves. Rain didn't ruin any plans in Ketchikan or Juneau.Shopping deals were in Juneau and Skagway with very few in Ketchikan. I night in Vancouver and did IMAX, walked a LOT of Stanley Park, Granville Island Market, stayed at Pan Pacific. Sorry this is so long.

[PennyAgain]

I give you credit for planning a very successful and efficient trip! Glad it worked so well for you!

[Keith1010]

I am glad that you had a wonderful time in Alaska in September. You planned a very nice trip.

 

Keith

[tetleytea]

How was that driving? I thought of doing that, but it seemed like it was nothing but a lot of driving. Was it the leaves? Did you get any weather? The driving I did do (basically a couple hours out from Palmer to Matanuska) was fairly pleasant, but then we had perfect weather, too.

[maltoose181]

The driving was great - scenery was beautiful. It allowed us to stop whenever we wanted. The weather was perfect for the times we were driving. DH loves to drive and I love to look, so it works out well for us. The leaves had all changed and in Texas we only get about 2 days of fall so we loved seeing the changes. We also loved the mountains as we only see flat areas or small hills back home.

[themerle]

Glad you had a fantastic time. Alaska is awesome!