November 20, 2020
Yes, not everyone chooses to explore Alaska by cruise ship. Some people want to touch and feel, and smell—you get the picture.
If you are one of those, trip planning is a little more difficult. It is not one stop shopping. Here are some top tips for anyone planning a drive/train trip to Alaska next year.
- When you drive in Alaska during the summer, eventually you will experience a construction/maintenance road delay up to 45 minutes. The roads are generally a single lane both directions throughout the state. The construction/maintenance season is anytime it is nice enough to work outside. It means that the day alternates between the construction crew having 45-minute work periods and drivers limited to 22.5-minute drive periods each way. So, if you are going very far, chances are good that you will experience one, maybe two and perhaps as many as three 45-minute delays and extend your trip accordingly. Plan on it.
- The exception is going from Anchorage to Whittier, a very interesting port city and the best place to catch a ferry to Valdez which it shares in Prince William Sound. Here you are limited to a single lane road through a 2.5-mile long mountain tunnel. The single lane road is shared with the Alaska Railroad which carries a lot of cargo out of Whittier.
Interesting fact about Whittier is that whoever of the 220 residents you plan to see, you’ll find them in the only building in town. It is a fourteen story former Army barracks from WWII. So, if you cannot find them there, they are not in Whittier.
Anyway, back to the tunnel, your Anchorage hotel will tell you the train schedule that day and the best time to make the 58-mile trip to Whittier. If you need a place to stay, we highly recommend the one building in town. Population 221. There are several hotels in Valdez. - And speaking of the Alaska Railroad, the trip from Anchorage to Denali National Park and Mount McKinley is fabulous, You sit on the second floor with the “Vista-dome” windows above you, all set for a 360° view of the world, Alaska style. You travel through interesting cities (Palmer) and remote villages (Talkeetna) and across creeks, rivers and bridges while breathtaking mountain views surround you. Along the way are flag stops where the “locals” who live “off track” in the woods, stop the train by dropping a flag mounted on a pole. And it’s off to the doctor, grocery store or some other form of “barbarian living” before returning to “civilization.”
The train leaves Anchorage at 8 a.m. and arrives at Denali at 3:30 and during that time, you’ll have a wide variety of breakfast and luncheon offerings, all well prepared, available to you along with adult beverages, in good supply and well accepted. It is a fun trip to Denali. - We mentioned Palmer, home of the Alaska State Fair (August 26 to September 6, 2021). We have been here twice (PGG 2216 & 2217) and thoroughly enjoyed both times. At one extreme is the product of those loooooooong days and short nights which produce 40# cucumbers and 1200 # pumpkins moved only by forklift. And you will never see more beautiful flowers, the magic result of those sunny days.
Remember the flag stop? Often those who live in the woods make their annual visit to the big city at the fair and that makes for some very interesting people watching. Our guarantee. You will not be bored, and you will remember it for a very long time. - When planning your trip, Anchorage and Fairbanks have hotels affiliated with all the major chains in addition to a lot if independents. But in the hinterland, it is a different story. The best hotels out there are operated by the cruise ship companies and in Alaska, it is Celebrity/Royal Caribbean, Holland America and Princess. They save rooms at peak times for their cruise customers and sell the excess to non-cruise travelers who must schedule early in the year to secure their space. Schedule by the end of January to guarantee a room for the summer. Rooms are comfortable and dining and other services are very nice and it absolutely beats staying at a mom and pop
The M&P is generally clean, fair priced and will certainly get by but the major problem we have experienced with them is lack of good window covering. You are not wise to book a room for mid-July that will not stay dark after the 2:30 a.m. sunrise and continues to sunset which occurs about midnight. With such long days, we have not figured out why this is a mystery to the independent innkeepers. My first criteria for judging any hotel is based on sleep quality. A lot of boutique hotels may think it is cute or charming to have flimsy window coverings, but that sure messes with a good night’s sleep. - Look at the map before you leave on a long trip. Get the lay of the land. We once needed a medical clinic and found one in the boon docks that served a population of 2,500 people in an area the size of Ohio. Know where every important facility is located including gas stations, restaurants and medical facilities.
It might even be wise to plan medical evacuation insurance for the trip. In the incident in the previous paragraph, I was a bit surprised when the nurse was on the phone checking for helicopter availability to Anchorage. - If you are interested in the pipeline (TAPS), plan a few extra days for travel from Valdez, the terminal for shipping the oil. It is easy to get there by ferry from Whittier, an 85-mile, 5 hour and 45-minute mini-cruise. We use the term specifically since Prince William Sound is so beautiful. You’ll see many glaciers and watch some calf into the water you are travelling on. The price is $35-75 depending on the ferry you book.
The pipeline appears above ground close to Valdez as permafrost starts quite far south in that part of Alaska. Because of the high temperature of the oil in the pipeline, it cannot be buried in frost as the frost will melt causing the pipeline to drop and rupture in the ground.
TAPS then moves above and below ground all the way to Prudhoe Bay. We went as far as Fairbanks and then left he rest of the trip to those who must go. (Actually, individuals cannot drive all the way but can book a tour). Our “sissy trip” was 370- miles long with an overnight at the delightful Copper River Princess Wilderness Lodge. It is in the middle of nowhere, but super convenient for anyone repeating our trip or visiting Wrangell-Elias National Park. - If you plan special activities, investigate and book early. For example, a visit to Katmai National Park (PGG 0080) where you see the bears feast on salmon jumping out of the river is only accessible by seaplane or boat. Plan and budget way in advance and remember that weather plays a big part in the success of your Alaska vacation. Stay flexible.
- Travelers determined to see Northern Lights should plan a fall or winter visit, and plan to stay up after midnight. Unfortunately, most other travel experiences in Alaska are best during spring and summer and before the bewitching hour. As an example, we took one trip to Denali over Labor Day which was a delightful fall day. The next morning, we awoke to snow.
- Anyone wanting a good dose of Alaska—the culture, the people, the food (and drink), but not wanting to go all the way to Anchorage or Fairbanks should investigate closer destinations along the Pacific coast. From the south, start with Ketchikan, Wrangle, Petersburg, Sitka, Juneau, the state capitol, Yakutat and Cordova. All are accessible via Alaska Airlines originating in Seattle and all will come through loud and clear that you are truly in the 49th state of the U.S.
And by the way, # 11 should be to enjoy the wonderful halibut that is served throughout Alaska, If you make it to Homer, you’ll see it being brought in for processing and immediately recognize that it isn’t the best looking fish in the sea but it sure tastes great.
Bon voyage!