Visiting Alaska, June 09. Need input, please! (Anchorage, Fairbanks: rent, how much, hotels)

[southeasttexas]

Family of 5, kids 17, 12,10. We are now planning for two weeks in Alaska, second half of June 09. Plan is to fly to Anchorage, rent car, drive up 3 to Fairbanks, fly to Barrow and back, drive back to Anchorage on 2,4,1.

We will visit Denali. Is attempting a climb (just for dad) advisable? Is driving on 8 recommended? How far in advance should I book reservations? Any and all advice, recommendations and commentary is appreciated!

[zedzul]

Hello Southeasttexas

O how I envy you I cant wait to go back to Alaska.

On the drive up to Fairbanks there are some nice stops (nice really being an understatement on just about everything in Alaska)

Independent Mine: A little detour off of route 3, if the road is opened up all the way you can make a nice loop otherwise you will have to backtrack but it's a great drive up into the mountains to an old mine
Independence Mine State Historical Park

Talkeetna: Nice little town, great place to have dinner before stopping for the night. you can also get scenic air tours to MT Denali from here i think

Denali Of course. you cant drive past the 15 mile mark into the park so you will need to use ether the Shuttle services or a tour bus. the Difference in the two is a tour bus is a little more comfortable and will pack you a box lunch but wont let you off exempt at predetermined spots and douse not do as far in as the Shuttles do. O and the tours are about 5 time as much.

the Shuttles are old school buses with all the comfort that that means but you can get out almost anywhere you want and any out going bus will pick you up to bring you back out. My advice would be to take a Shuttle bus in and park your own lunch(there is a subway in town that will park you a lunch) ride the bus till it turns to go back and then find a spot to get out and walk for a little. I found personally that going in as far as fish creak was good thats about a 8-9 hours round trip any longer and i just wanted out of the *&^% bus

You wanted to know about hiking, did you mean hiking MT Denali? Hiking Mt Denali is like hike everest NOT for the day hiker a handful of people died every year trying to summit the mountain. There are however some nice hikes in the park one up a mountain and another down to a pound with a good chance of seeing moose. most of the park is wilderness though with no marked trails so you can just get off of one of the Shuttle buses and start walking. just don't get lost
Denali National Park and Preserve - Denali National Park & Preserve (U.S. National Park Service)


cant say much about Fairbanks I did little more then driver through
never been up the barrow hopefully next time though

Valdez
on your way back you will be going close to Valdez. The drive down to Valdez has to be my favorite drive in Alaska. there are a couple of glaciers you can stop and walk right up to and huge water falls right on ether side of the road. you will be Guarantied to see eagles along the way as well.
Worthington Glacier State Recreation Site | Alaska Geographic

[zedzul]

O on the reservation note, I never had any reservations but I did a lot of camping. the only place I had trouble getting a hotel was in Valdez just not that many there. also Denali's hotels fill up or so I hear.

[southeasttexas]

Zedzul, thats some awesome info! Thanks! Just to clarify, I (just me, not family) would like to ascend Denali to the highest point possible. That may or may not mean the peak, but I want to see how far up I could go. Is my self navigated state tour workable? Or should I hook up with one of the tour packages? Thanks again!

[MissingAll4Seasons]

As far as I know there are no general use hiking trails on the mountain itself, and you have to pay a special fee per climber for "mountaineering" and you have to pre-register a couple/few months in advance so the rangers 1) can assess your skills, 2) suggest appropriate routes, and 3) are aware you're there and where you *should* be in case you don't make it back on time.

More info on hiking, regs, and mountaineering in Denali -- Denali National Park Hiking Guide

[Metlakatla]

Thanks! Just to clarify, I (just me, not family) would like to ascend Denali to the highest point possible. That may or may not mean the peak, but I want to see how far up I could go

That's an admirable goal, but you don't say what your skill level is as far as mountain climbing. It isn't a walk in the park; it's over 28,000 feet...you don't say how much time you have...

Whoops, actually you did say two weeks and it looks like you'll only have a few days in the park at the most with the other areas you have planned.

Is my self navigated state tour workable? Or should I hook up with one of the tour packages?

I think you can do fine on your own; tour companies tend to herd people around a lot.

[southeasttexas]

Met, I believe its just over 20,000 feet:

Mount McKinley or Denali in Alaska is the highest mountain peak in North America, at a height of approximately 20,320 feet (6,194 m).[1] It is the centerpiece of Denali National Park.

Everest is 29029. Anyhow, I was not bothered by the 14270 foot Mt Evans in Colorado, so, I want to give it a go (once in a lifetime chance!).

Thanks all of y'all for the great info! I appreciate any and all of it!

[Xa'at]

Floyd is gonna get mad at me for saying this, but... Barrow seems kind of random? I mean, if you were interested in bush Alaska, rural/subsistence living, tundra, etc there aren't much better places... but a family with young-ish kids may not find much to do in the area. Plus, I can only imagine it would be rather expensive to get up there.
Of course, I always recommend people see Southeast because it's the best, but for an introductory trip to Alaska (trust me, you'll be back) spending time in "Dank"-orage, driving to Fbks, and then spending time there is an excellent vacation.
I haven't climbed Denali, but I would doubt you could expect to do it in a few days. You ain't in the rocky "mountains" anymore- this is serious bid'ness. I would dedicate an entire two week vacation to base prep, climbing, etc, if I was you.
Did you read the rest of the article?

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Denali has a larger bulk and rise than Mount Everest. Even though the summit of Everest is about 9,000 feet (2,700 m) higher as measured from sea level, its base sits on the Tibetan Plateau at about 17,000 feet (5,200 m), giving it a real vertical rise of little more than 12,000 feet (3,700 m). The base of Denali is roughly a 2,000-foot plateau, giving it an actual rise of 18,000 feet (5,500 m).
The mountain is also characterized by extremely cold weather. A thermometer left exposed at an elevation of 15,000 feet on Denali over 19 years recorded a temperature of −100°F (−73.3°C) at some point during its exposure. There is also an unusually severe risk of altitude illness for climbers, due to not only its high elevation but also its high latitude. At the equator, a mountain as high as Denali would have 47% as much oxygen available on its summit as there is at sea level,but because of its latitude, the pressure on the summit of Denali is even lower.

[Metlakatla]

Mount McKinley or Denali in Alaska is the highest mountain peak in North America, at a height of approximately 20,320 feet (6,194 m).[1] It is the centerpiece of Denali National Park.

Everest is 29029. Anyhow, I was not bothered by the 14270 foot Mt Evans in Colorado, so, I want to give it a go (once in a lifetime chance!).

Yeah, you're right; I keep thinking of Mt McKinley as being taller than Everest for whatever reason.

Well, you could try it. You might not have enough time, though. I think you have to register with the Talkeetna Rangers office 60 days or so in advance you might check on that. Be sure to take pictures if you do so.

[dyscti]

OP, you will not be able to proceed up Denali from its base camp unless you are experienced in glacier travel (crevasse rescue) and high-altitude (20,000+) expedition style climbing. You should understand that the difference between this mountain and a Colorado 14er is night and day.