Kantishna--best time to go

[oaktreerb]

When is the best and worst times to spend a couple of nights at the Denali Backcountry Lodge? Days are longer in June than in August. Is there a web site that might show # of clear days we might encounter in June or August? What about wildlife sightings in early June or mid to late August? When are the mosquitoes less bothersome?

[PennyAgain]

That's a lot of questions, but to start with are you talking about 2012 or 2013? Prime dates may be sold out already.

 

Animal sightings would not vary between those two dates. Hours of daylight don't matter unless you want to sleep very little and be out doing things.

 

The general opinion of best ideas is to ride the bus one way and fly the other. It is a very long bus ride and not all that exciting past Wonder Lake.

 

Mosquitos are generally worse in August, but you should be prepared (head nets etc) for any time.

 

There is no predicting the weather and if and when Denali can be seen. In many trips to DNP, I have seen the Mountain once while in the park.

[oaktreerb]

Ok, let's narrow it down. Has anybody been to Kantishna on a 2 or 3 day stay at any lodge in JUNE? How was the weather and what was your wildlife viewing experience?

[oaktreerb]

Has anybody been to Kantisha in mid to late AUGUST for a two or three day stay? How was the weather and what were your wildlife viewing experiences?

[mapleleaves]

If you don't get any responses here, do a search on the Alaska forum of tripadvisor. Next to words 'Search In', type the word Kantishna and any post with that word will come up. Sort the results by date and you should easily spot threads written by people who visited Kantishna as opposed to the general questions.

[greatam]

When is the best and worst times to spend a couple of nights at the Denali Backcountry Lodge? Days are longer in June than in August. Is there a web site that might show # of clear days we might encounter in June or August? What about wildlife sightings in early June or mid to late August? When are the mosquitoes less bothersome?

 

Do you have any idea WHY you want to go to Kantishna? To hike?? Just to enjoy the scenery and serenity? Kantishna is NOT a heavy wildlife area. So have you REALLY thought about WHY you want to go to Kantishna???

 

As Penny Again posted, one of the most spectacular experiences I have ever had in Alaska is taking the bus INTO Kantishna and then FLYING OUT. Direct into the North Face-looks like you are going to crash right into the mountain but you are actually a mile away. IT is NOT the same experience flying INTO Kantishna.

 

Of course, this is only on a clear day. And since only about 30% of tourists every see the mountain, you may have 2-3 days of overcast and never see the mountain. NO GUARANTEES.

 

If you are interested in the bus/flightseeing combo, Grey LaHaie does a fantastic job. You can even stay at his lodge. Considerably cheaper than the others in Kantishna but not a place where tourists are taken on "tours" or provided with "activities". http://www.katair.com/index.html

[greatam]

In case you missed the reports on Trip Advisor or are looking at the hyperbole on the cruise line brochures, here is a direct quote from Kantishna Air's website about wildlife:

 

'Is there much wildlife in Kantishna?

The highest probability of wildlife viewing is by traveling the park road by bus. Wildlife sightings in Kantishna are a special treat. The more you hike and adventure, the most likely you are to see wildlife. Although Kantishna wildlife sightings are infrequent, you always need to be prepared for wildlife encounters and we can inform you of these procedures once you’re in Kantishna. Generally, bears are rarely seen on hikes in the Kantishna area."

 

Again, as my first post states, WHY do you want to go to Kantishna??? If for wildlife viewing, you are wasting your money.

[PennyAgain]

Thanks GreatAm and great to see a post from you.

 

As you point out, the key word in the above is 'infrequent' referring to animals sightings.

[Budget Queen]

I agree, you do not go to Kantishna for the wildlife, there was an excellent review in the Alaska Magazine on the various lodges and their programs. This would be a significant "perk" of being there. The bugs can be active here, until about mid August.

[oaktreerb]

Why? because we haven't been there. After reading your responses and a few other sources we have planned to do the Gray Line tour in June. Since they are connected to HAL we feel comfortable with the arrangements. I really didn't want to do the Kantishna tour as a one day tour up and back so this way we will have two nights at BCL, one at the Chalets, and two nights in Anchorage and we can plan the rest of our trip around that. We'll have the bus to Denali and the HAL dome cars back to Anchorage. Hopefully we can arrange a cruise and maybe a couple of days in Alyeska to complete the trip.

[frugaltravel]

I have to disagree about the mosquitoes. I find them MUCH worse in June than in August in the Wonder Lake and Kantishna area, after multiple trips and multiple nights in that area.

 

Why? because we haven't been there. After reading your responses and a few other sources we have planned to do the Gray Line tour in June. Since they are connected to HAL we feel comfortable with the arrangements. I really didn't want to do the Kantishna tour as a one day tour up and back so this way we will have two nights at BCL, one at the Chalets, and two nights in Anchorage and we can plan the rest of our trip around that. We'll have the bus to Denali and the HAL dome cars back to Anchorage. Hopefully we can arrange a cruise and maybe a couple of days in Alyeska to complete the trip.

 

If you stay in Kantishna, two nights minimum is a must. Otherwise two day trips will allow you to see much more. So I am glad you are planning on two nights. Check out the programs of the lodge - some have more active programs than others. I find the programs key to staying in this area.

 

Staying in Kantishna is nothing exciting, but it does give you the benefit of traveling east into the main part of the park road when almost everyone else is traveling west. Quieter, more time for hiking, etc. Also, staying there gives you a better chance to see the Mountain (often visible very early in the morning or late at night), though you would probably need a place that lends out bicycles since the buses don't operate at those hours.

[oaktreerb]

Ok bug repellant and bicycles.....It's good to know that Denali is not visible from BCL so we won't be disappointed. We should have three days, two evenings and two mornings to see the mountain. We were able to see it pretty clearly from the train a couple of years ago in July. Even the workers were getting their cameras out! This will be an adventure as is everything else in Alaska. That's why people keep going back!