Me and my wife have been talking about making a trip and I thought alaska would be a intresting place to visit.
For those who live there and who have visited.
Where are the best places to go?
How to commute?
Where to STay?
Where to EAt?
Do the locals bite?
How is the weather during August?
Where is a cheap place to visit?
I live in South MS. So i belive it would be a 4,000mile drive. If I were really going hunting in Alaska and decide to fly, how do you get your rifle to where you are hunting??? That is puzzling me horribly.
I got my map down and was looking at Alaska. It is hard to beleive that it is part of the United States. It's like a whole country in itself.
We would probably be leaving out tomorrow but My family is having a big get-together next weekend so that may post-pone things till next summer.
We may just save up all this coming winter and head out next summer and spend a month or so up there. If we did decide to make the un godly long drive. What kind of border stops are there between Canada and the US??? Can you have a gun in the vehicle?
Wife and I cruised there in July about eight years ago. Took the Inside Passage cruise package...stopping at Jueno, Sitka, Skagway Ketchikan, and Glacier Bay. Temps were shirtsleeve weather. Enjoyed every stop along the way as we docked and toured local sites. The Red Dog Saloon was especially unique.
Especially enjoyed visiting Mendenhall Glacier. Took a rubber raft float across the freezing water bay leading to a fast moving ride. We sat in the front seat, meaning we took on lots of freezing water. There were lots of salmon heading upstream.
Also enjoyed riding a helicopter over inland mountains and landing on a live glacier, where we stayed for about an hour talking to a glacier guide who told us all about glaciers.
Next trip to Alaska I want to head more inland and up north to the northern areas.
depends on what you want. if you're driving up you'll probably have enough scenery and could skip the interior unless you're making it a long trip. you will pop up about halfway between fairbanks and Valdez at Tok if you drive, and our paved highway system is basically a loop that gets you to fairbanks/anchorage/valdez and another loop on the kenai peninsula that goes places like seward or homer, which are supposed to be great fishing spots
Where are the best places to go?
the riverboat discovery and el dorado gold mine are worth doing once, we have a museum at the university, we have chena hot springs, but i've heard some people find it too hot in the summer, and the winter is their peak season, but it's still popular in the summer. the arctic circle is a waste of time, you get all the way up there(if you're lucky you wont have any flat tires) and all they have is a sign that says a bunch of stuff about the arctic circle. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, as I haven't done the tourist thing alot, there's a tourist trap in ester that may be worth a couple hours(counting a meal)
driving is fine since you said you're driving, traffic is not too bad around here, otherwise we have several tour companies that run tours, or cabs, or a public bus system with 1 year old buses that is $1.50 one way
where to stay?
all i know is avoid Captain Bartlett's inn like your life depends on it, I stayed there the first night I was up here and the bed was broken, everything was run down, just stay away. the hotel i stayed at til we found a house has gone out of business
where to eat
if you're not prepared to spend $15 a head we have McDonalds, Carl's Jr, Subway, and the only decent places for less than that are Food Factory, or Brewster's, for $15-20 a head Gambardella's is nice, we have a Chili's and a Boston's, if you're prepard to spend uber bucks we have the pump house, or there's one in Fox that I forget the name.
Do the locals bite? only the mosquitos, but it got cold enough that they aren't too bad right now
weather in august-50s-60s, and this year we're getting lots of rain, which is not normal
cheap place to visit? a scenic drive is the cheapest thing you'll get around here, and gas is $4.45/gal. I guess you could find a place to hike, but most of those are too far out if you don't have your own transportation
Wife and I cruised there in July about eight years ago. Took the Inside Passage cruise package...stopping at Jueno, Sitka, Skagway Ketchikan, and Glacier Bay. Temps were shirtsleeve weather. Enjoyed every stop along the way as we docked and toured local sites. The Red Dog Saloon was especially unique.
Especially enjoyed visiting Mendenhall Glacier. Took a rubber raft float across the freezing water bay leading to a fast moving ride. We sat in the front seat, meaning we took on lots of freezing water. There were lots of salmon heading upstream.
Also enjoyed riding a helicopter over inland mountains and landing on a live glacier, where we stayed for about an hour talking to a glacier guide who told us all about glaciers.
Next trip to Alaska I want to head more inland and up north to the northern areas.
I did just about the same trip a few years ago as a 25 wedding anniverary trip. Cruise up the inside passage and road/rail trip back to Vancouver, had a great time. Up til then my wife was not in favour of cruising, now she's got the cruising bug & wants to go cruising every year.
Weather in august normaly is wet and rainy and rainy, sometimes we get lucky and get some really nice weather. June is almost (except for this year) a sure bet for the best weather, usualy very nice.
As to a hunting rifle/firearm, if you don't want to deal with taking it through canada should you drive here, you will have to ship it to a FFL here and then pick it up upon arrival. Having it with you on your travels in state is uncomplicated. If flying up, talk to the airline about traveling with your firearm. Typicaly, firearm in a hard lockable (TSA approved locks) case, unloaded ( I always remove the bolt from the action and place it beside the rifle in the case), ammo in it's own container in a separate checked bag.
Anchorage would be the most central location for touring. You can rent a car should you fly here and drive to more places then you can visit in a couple weeks. There is TONS of exceptional scenery, wildlife is normaly easy to find.
If your primary goal is to hunt, september would be the ideal month to visit. This link will provide you all the info you need on license, tag and regulations Alaska Department of Fish and Game Home Page .
Locals tend to be very friendly here and are happy to share info and recommend places to see, stay or eat at.
Taking a firearm through canada requires some burdensome paper work I think these days. Best advice regarding that is to call the RCMP for all the requirements.
Hope you and your wife make the trip, it is an amazing place. Shoot me a message if you I can be of anymore help.
My first two trips to AK were for hunting. When I brought the wife up for a vacation and to decide if we wanted to move up here we rented a car and went from bed-and-breakfast to firiends and back for two weeks. You really need more than two weeks to even start to see this place. Even though the roads are limited, there are alot of miles between the places you want to visit. Look at an overlay of AK on the lower 48 and will see what I mean.
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An armed society is not always polite, but it is a FREE AND SAFE SOCIETY!
DON"T COME !! It is a tremendously horrible trip !! Go to Arizona instead !! You will not survive !! No one ever travels here !! Stay away !!
PS: If you really do want to come, PM me !! And know that ALL G&G members stay the first night free, and then some !!
__________________ I keep tellin ya Doc, I'm in pretty good shape considerin the shape I'm in !!
Last edited by SwedeSteve; 08-03-2008 at 02:52 AM.
Swede, I know exactly what you mean, Us Scots did such a good job of selling Scotland that every bluidy house that comes on the market in my village gets bought up by English white settlers getting away from the crime & hassles down south! Biggest hassle is they come here because of the lifestyle then try & change it to their ways!
If I were really going hunting in Alaska and decide to fly, how do you get your rifle to where you are hunting??? That is puzzling me horribly.
a scenic drive is the cheapest thing you'll get around here, and gas is $4.45/gal. I guess you could find a place to hike, but most of those are too far out if you don't have your own transportation
