Day1. Arrive Anchorage，stay at Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge
Taking window seat on a flight has become one of my favorite parts of a trip. When weather is good, you'll be amazed by what you could see 30,000 ft above the ground. I usually check the map before picking the seats. Since I'm flying from San Jose to Anchorage, taking window seats on the right side of the plane would allow to see a lot of snow mountains, rivers and coast lines.
After picking up our rental car, we headed north to the lodge we are staying. There are a lot of wildflowers roadside, the drive itself was quite enjoyable.
We are going to spent the next two days in Denali National Park and Talkeetna, so we picked Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge, which is closer to both places. Of course, another reason is that Alaska TourSaver coupon book provides two for one deal for it. You can see Mt McKinley directly from this lodge when it's not cloudy.
Denali National Park is famous for the highest mountain in North America, Mt Mckinley. Most part of the park is accessible by bus only. It's always a good idea to reserve ahead of time on the national park website. Most of my friends recommended the route to Eielson Visitor Center, 8 hours round trip. One thing to note is that there is no restaurant or any food provider during the entire tour, you need to bring enough food for the day. There is a Subway in the little town near park entrance that you can stop by and get a sand-width for lunch.
Day3. Flight-seeing tour from Talkeetna in the morning, drive to Kenai in the afternoon, stay at Kenai River Lodge
Mt McKinley flight-seeing with glacier landing is one of the top rated activities on Tripadvisor. Flight-seeing tours from Talkeetna is usually cheaper than from Anchorage since it is closer to the Mountain. We booked with Talkeetna Air Taxi, and it was super awesome!
We went our way to Kenai after lunch. Some recommended places to stop along the way include Cooper landing, Russian River, Kenai River Viewing Platform. We stayed at Kenai River Lodge since we are going to fly to Lake Clark National Park from Soldotna airport next morning for a bear viewing tour.
Day4. Fly to Lake Clark National Park for bear viewing，stay at Bear Mountain Lodge
Our bear viewing tour is definitely the highlight of the entire trip! Two national parks near Anchorage, Lake Clark National Park and Katmai National Park, are both famous for bear viewing. Katmai is most well known for watching bears catching salmons, and the best time is from late July to August. It's mostly male bears and usually less than 15 though due to fierce competition for limited fishing spots. Since we were traveling in late June, we picked Lake Clark National Park instead (we are concerned the salmon run at Katmai has not started). In Chinitna bay at Lake Clark National Park, there are a lot of bears in June and July, you can easily find more than 20 bears, from little cubs to adults. Some bear viewing options near Anchorage could be found at www.alaska.org.
There are about 5 lodge options available at Lake Clark National Park, listed on TripAdvisor. We booked with Bear Mountain Lodge and decided to stay overnight. Turned out that was one of the best decisions that I ever made! We saw so many bears, especially in the morning and evening! We saw bears from a very close distance, eating grass in the marsh, digging for clams along the beach, stretching their legs, and mother playing with their cubs!
Marti, the owners of the lodge, did such a great job making us feel so welcomed, comfortable and special! She is also a good chef. She made very delicious chicken wings and butternut squash for lunch on our arrival! And she is very hilarious, it was a lot of fun talking to her! I was joking to her that I would like to quit my job and stay working at the lodge!
Our guide, Eberhard, is so amazing! He is a professional photographer himself, and has been to Africa for over 30 times. He shared with us his stories and photos from his trips. Some of his photos can be found on his website at http://www.eberhardbrunner.com/. He is very knowledgable about the bear's habits and behaviors, and took us to a lot of great spots to see bears, fox, eagles up close, and made us feel really safe and exciting!
Btw, it is highly recommended to stay overnight because the best time to view the bears are mornings and evenings, when the tide is gone, you can watch them walking from marsh to coast for clams!
Mt McKinley flight-seeing with glacier landing is one of the top rated activities on Tripadvisor. Flight-seeing tours from Talkeetna is usually cheaper than from Anchorage since it is closer to the Mountain. We booked with Talkeetna Air Taxi, and it was super awesome!
With additional charge, the flight can take you to land on glaciers. Trust me, it is definitely worth the money! The view was spectacular! Highly recommended!
We went our way to Kenai after lunch. Some recommended places to stop along the way include Cooper landing, Russian River, Kenai River Viewing Platform. We stayed at Kenai River Lodge since we are going to fly to Lake Clark National Park from Soldotna airport next morning for a bear viewing tour.
Day4. Fly to Lake Clark National Park for bear viewing，stay at Bear Mountain Lodge
Our bear viewing tour is definitely the highlight of the entire trip! Two national parks near Anchorage, Lake Clark National Park and Katmai National Park, are both famous for bear viewing. Katmai is most well known for watching bears catching salmons, and the best time is from late July to August. It's mostly male bears and usually less than 15 though due to fierce competition for limited fishing spots. Since we were traveling in late June, we picked Lake Clark National Park instead (we are concerned the salmon run at Katmai has not started). In Chinitna bay at Lake Clark National Park, there are a lot of bears in June and July, you can easily find more than 20 bears, from little cubs to adults. Some bear viewing options near Anchorage could be found at www.alaska.org.
There are about 5 lodge options available at Lake Clark National Park, listed on TripAdvisor. We booked with Bear Mountain Lodge and decided to stay overnight. Turned out that was one of the best decisions that I ever made! We saw so many bears, especially in the morning and evening! We saw bears from a very close distance, eating grass in the marsh, digging for clams along the beach, stretching their legs, and mother playing with their cubs!
Marti, the owners of the lodge, did such a great job making us feel so welcomed, comfortable and special! She is also a good chef. She made very delicious chicken wings and butternut squash for lunch on our arrival! And she is very hilarious, it was a lot of fun talking to her! I was joking to her that I would like to quit my job and stay working at the lodge!
Our guide, Eberhard, is so amazing! He is a professional photographer himself, and has been to Africa for over 30 times. He shared with us his stories and photos from his trips. Some of his photos can be found on his website at http://www.eberhardbrunner.com/. He is very knowledgable about the bear's habits and behaviors, and took us to a lot of great spots to see bears, fox, eagles up close, and made us feel really safe and exciting!
Btw, it is highly recommended to stay overnight because the best time to view the bears are mornings and evenings, when the tide is gone, you can watch them walking from marsh to coast for clams!
The scenery at Chinitna bay is also breathtaking! When the bay is calm, you can see a perfect reflection of the snow mountains and sky.
Day5. Continue bear and wildlife viewing in the morning, fly back to Kenai around noon，drive to Seward in the afternoon, stay at Bell in the woods
We got up early around 7am. After getting breakfast, Eberhard took us out to see bears and look for other wildlife in the morning. We saw a fox trying to get food along the beach.
And an eagle taking off very close to us!
And a sea otter sitting on the beach enjoying the sunshine!
We drove to Seward in the afternoon, and went directly for the Exit glacier trail at Kenai Fjords National Park. It was an easy walk, and only took less than 2 hours, must-visit!
I would also recommend our B&B, Bell in the woods, if you are visiting Seward. It is about 5min drive from the Seward downtown, and in a very nice neighborhood surrounded by beautiful sceneries. Nick and Brooke, the owners, have great taste in remodeling and decorating their rooms. They did everything to make us feel at home. Brooke is such a a great chef, she made us three-course breakfast every day! It's almost like having breakfast at a Michelin star restaurant! I told her that she should go to one of the cooking competition on food network :) We very much enjoyed our stay there, highly recommended!
Day6. Day cruise with Kenai Fjords Tours, still stay at Bell in the woods
We booked the day cruise from Kenai Fjords Tours departing in the morning. It is a different view seeing glaciers from a cruise in the ocean. We saw large blocks of ice dropping into the ocean!
Besides glaciers, we also saw a lot of sea life, another sea otter encounter, swimming in the ocean this time...
I was a little disappointed that I didn't see a humpback whale jumping out of the ocean, but this one got really close to our cruise, and I took a clear shot of the tail!
And a lot of birds, my favorite is undoubtedly Puffy!
After getting back from our cruise, we visited the Alaska Sealife Center in the evening. It was fun watching the puffy from a even closer distance. Watching them jumping around reminded me of the Sven in the movie Happy Feet 2 :)
Day7. Drive from Seward to Anchorage, stop by Girdwood, take Alyeska Tram, and visit Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
In case you don't get to see enough wildlife on the road, you can find caribous, bears, moose, bison and a lot of other wildlife at Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
The view from Alyeska Tram is spectacular!
After dinner at downtown anchorage, we took a walk at Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. The sunset was surreal if you are willing to wait until 11pm.
Day8. Flight back home
