Alaska 2001 Vacation

Page Contents



Daily Itinerary

Day
Destinations/Plans
Travel Plan
Total Miles
Friday, 20 July
  • Arrive in Anchorage (ANC)
  • Pick up rental van
  • Check into Days Inn Downtown (DID)
  • Get dinner/ See movie
  • Stay the night in DID
  • Airport to DID (< 20 mi)
  • DID to dinner/ movie/ etc (< 20 mi)
< 40
Saturday, 21 July
  • 8am: breakfast
  • 9am: drive to Denali National Park (DNP)
  • 12pm: arrive at DNP
  • 12pm: check into Denali Park Hotel (DPH), have lunch
  • 1:30pm: Begin Mt. Healy (MH) Overlook hike
  • 4pm: Arrive at MH summit, take pictures, etc.
  • 5pm: Begin hike down MH
  • 6:30pm: Arrive back at DPH
  • 7pm: Have dinner
  • late night: cards, view aurora borealis
  • spend night at DNP
  • NE on AK 1 for 35 mi
  • N on AK 3 for 235 mi
270
Sunday, 22 July
  • 7am: Breakfast
  • 8am: Arrive at Denali Outdoor Center for Canyon run paddle rafting
  • 11am: End of rafting
  • 12pm: Have lunch
  • 2pm: Take Toklat River (TR) shuttle into park
  • 5pm: Arrive at TR and explore
  • 6pm: Take shuttle back to Visitor Access Center (VAC)
  • 8pm: arrive at VAC, have dinner
  • late night: cards, view aurora borealis
  • spend night at DNP
< 50
Monday, 23 July
  • 9am breakfast in DNP
  • 10am depart DNP for ANC
  • 12pm stop for lunch
  • 2pm Arrive in ANC
  • 2pm still under consideration
  • S on AK 3 for 235 mi
  • SW on AK 1 for 35 mi
270
Tuesday, 24 July
  • 8am: depart for Kenai Fjords National Park (KFNP)
  • 10:30: arrive at KFNP
  • 11am: 6 hour cruise
  • 5pm: Go to Exit Glacier (EG)
  • explore EG
  • 8pm: drive back to ANC
  • 10:30pm: arrive in ANC
  • S on AK 1 for 4 mi
  • S on AK 9 (Seward Hwy) for 123 mi
  • N on AK 9 (Seward Hwy) for 123 mi
  • N on AK 1 for 4 mi
254
Wednesday, 25 July
  • Final breakfast
  • Return rental van
  • Flight departures (those leaving in morning)
  • Morning activity (museum in Anchorage) and lunch
  • Flight departures (those leaving in afternoon)
  • DID to Airport (< 20 mi)
< 20


Individual Plane Itineraries

Dave

Eric

Marc

Sooketoo



Confirmation Numbers

Budget Rent-a-Car 55804031US4
Days Inn Downtown Anchorage (first night) 37126276
Denali Park Hotel 799892807
Denali Raft Adventures ??
Denali National Park Shuttle 799885534
National Park Cruise #691299


Possible cruises in KFNP

See the map below for detailed cruise routes

National Park Cruises:

Title:
KFNP Cruise
Duration:
6 hours
Departs:
3 times daily, at 8:00am, 11:30am, and 3:00pm
Length:
Appx. 110 miles round trip
Price:
$109 adults, $54 children under 12
Highlights:
Alaska's most popular wildlife and glacier cruise
Includes:
Deli style lunch (8,11:30) or dinner at the face of a tidewater glacier (3)

Title:
KFNP Cruise with Fox Island
Duration:
8.5 hours
Departs:
10:00am
Length:
Appx. 110 miles round trip
Price:
$119 adults, $59 children under 12
Highlights:
Alaska's most popular wildlife and glacier cruise plus lunch on Fox Island
Includes:
Grilled salmon lunch on Fox Island

Northwestern Fjord Cruise:

Title:
Northwestern Fjord Cruise
Duration:
9.5 hours
Departs:
9:00am
Length:
Appx. 150 miles round trip
Price:
$139 adults, $69 children under 12
Highlights:
Alaska's premium full-day cruise into the heart of KFNP
Includes:
Continental breakfast and Deli style lunch

Resurrection Bay Cruises:

Title:
Resurrection Bay Wildlife Cruise
Duration:
3 hours
Departs:
twice daily at 8:00am and 2:30pm
Length:
Appx. 50 miles round trip
Price:
$54 adults, $27 children under 12
Highlights:
Wildlife and natural history cruise for those with limited time/budget
Includes:
light snack

Title:
Resurrection Bay Wildlife Cruise with Fox Island
Duration:
5 hours
Departs:
12:00pm
Length:
Appx. 50 miles round trip
Price:
$74 adults, $37 children under 12
Highlights:
Wildlife and natural history cruise plus lunch on Fox Island
Includes:
Grilled salmon lunch on Fox Island

Title:
Resurrection Bay Dinner Cruise with Fox Island
Duration:
4 hours
Departs:
5:30pm
Length:
Appx. 50 miles round trip
Price:
$59 adults, $29 children under 12
Highlights:
An evening Resurrection Bay cruise with dinner on Fox Island
Includes:
Grilled salmon dinner on Fox Island at KF Wilderness Lodge


Recommended Gear List

Highly recommended items: Optional (very useful) items:


Sightseeing Summary

Denali National Park and Preserve

Cost: $5/person/week, $10/family/week
Address: 
          Superintendent's Office
          P.O. Box 9
          Denali Park, AK 99755

          -or-

          Talkeetna Ranger Station
          Box 588
          Talkeetna, AK 99676

          Phone: (907) 683-2294
          Fax: (907) 683-9617
          Email: denali_info@nps.gov
Links

It's more than a mountain. Denali National Park & Preserve features North America's highest mountain, 20,320-foot tall Mount McKinley. (In fact, the natives call the mountain Denali.) The Alaska Range also includes countless other spectacular mountains and many large glaciers. Denali's more than 6 million acres also encompass a complete sub-arctic eco-system with large mammals such as grizzly bears, wolves, Dall sheep, and moose.

The park was established as Mt. McKinley National Park on Feb. 26, 1917. The original park was designated a wilderness area and incorporated into Denali National Park and Preserve in 1980. The Park was designated an international biosphere reserve in 1976.

Today the park accommodates a wide variety of visitor use including wildlife viewing, mountaineering, and backpacking. It continues to provide a laboratory for research in the natural sciences.


Kenai Fjords National Park

Cost: $5/car/week
Address: 
          National Park Service
          PO Box 1727
          Seward, AK 99664

          Phone: (907) 224-2132
          Phone: (907) 224-3175
          Fax: (907) 224-2144
          Email: kefj_superintendent@nps.gov
Links

The Kenai Fjords reflect scenic icebound landscapes in which salt spray mixes with mountain mist. Located on the southeastern Kenai Peninsula, the national park is a pristine and rugged land supporting many unaltered natural environments and ecosystems.

The fjords are long, steep-sided, glacier-carved valleys that are now filled with ocean waters. A mountain platform, one mile high, rises above this dramatic coastline. The mountains are mantled by the 300-square mile Harding Icefield, 35 miles long and 20 miles wide. Only isolated mountain peaks interrupt its nearly flat, snowclad surface. Exit Glacier spills off the massive Harding icefield and is accessible by road.

The park's wildlife includes mountain goats, moose, bears, wolverines, marmots and other land mammals who have established themselves on a thin life zone between marine waters and the icefield's frozen edges. Bald eagles nest in the tops of spruce and hemlock trees. Thousands of seabirds, including puffins, kittiwakes, and murres seasonally inhabit the steep cliffs and rocky shores. Kayakers, fishermen, and visitors on tour boats share the park's waters with stellar sea lions, harbor seals, Dall porpoises, sea otters, humpback, killer and minke whales.




Maps


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Alaska 2001 Vacation/UIUC/ sulfridg@uiuc.edu/revised April 01