We're coming back across from Kodiak to Homer on Sunday, Sept. 13th and we have until Thursday, Sept. 24th to board our ship in Haines to continue on to Prince Rupert.
During those 11 days, I've planned on 3 nights in Seward, 3 nights in Valdez and 2 nights in Haines....
For those of you that have been to all these places, and are much more familiar with what's there......would you change these time frames around if it were you? IF so, what would you change?
We're travelling in our T/C and are fully self-contained...
...presume you're driving from Seward to Valdez? That will take a bit of time, but is a beautiful drive. If you want to spend less time in either Seward or Valdez, on the drive to Valdez, you might consider:
- Spending some time on the road between Anchorage & Seward: Alyeska resort, Portage Glacier, train to Whittier, etc.
- Instead of going Seward-Anchorage-Palmer-Glenallen-Valdez, go Seward-Anchorage-Wasilla- Talkeetna-Fairbanks-Glenallen-Valdez...much longer drive, but you'd see a bit (albeit quickly) more of Alaska.
- On the way to Valdez, take a day or so and go to McCarthy/Kennicott. If so inclined, take a flightseeing cruise over the Wrangell/St. Elias mountain range.
- Spend a day/night in the Eureka area on the Glenn highway....no particular "things" to do, but that is a spectacular area in the early fall
Hope this helps
CRL
Temporarily (6! years & counting)displaced Alaskan
My Other RV is a 1946 PA-12
At Seward take the ship out to Misty Fjords N.P. Very nice trip even though I got seasick. If you are prone to it carry Dramamine.
I also recommend the McCarthy/Kennicott side trip. However, I would not drive it again as the only really scenic part of the drive was going over that narrow bridge way above the gorge! It has guardrails now but didn't used to. There are flights out and it would be nice to have more time at the site and glacier instead of driving. It took us way over three hours each way at 15 mph max. Our Jeep has leaf springs so when I tried to get up speed it was so bad the dash was a blur. Since our Jeep belonged to us and was not a rental I didn't try to just push ahead fast. We had no flats but there were a couple of vehicles in the parking area that had flats.
In Haines we took a flightseeing trip up to Glacier Bay. The weather was clear and it was unbelievable. If you can work it in go to Skagway and take the train up the mountain. But if you have done the Durango-Silverton trip in Colorado you could be excused from this if you don't have enough time. Don't be in a hurry on the Haines Junction-Haines hwy. In three Alaska trips we have seen more bears there than anywhere else except a 9 day river rafting trip.
In Valdez there is a good boat trip out into Prince William Sound and to some glaciers. That was a fantastic trip. I took Dramamine on that one and probably wouldn't have been bothered. (I am very prone to seasickness. If it were a sport I would be on the Wheaties box.)
From Haines, if you won't already be "boated-out", take the Fjiordland catamaran to Juneau - GREAT little tour - LOTS of whales/wildlife up close! Seward, go to the Sealife Center (discount ticket in TourSaver book). It is Kenai Fjords NP, not Misty Fjords... - worth the boatride, too. In Valdez we just enjoyed the area for 2 days - no big adventures there! ST
2003 Roadtrek 190P Chevy 3500, and a pair of Limmers...
Offline
years & counting)displaced Alaskan
