I'm going to Alaska!

[firecracker22]

Finally! I have always wanted to go there! My boyfriend grew up there and we are flying up for a long weekend visit. Hurray.

We will be in Fairbanks for about 5 days. We will probably take the float plane up fishing to one of the lakes, and maybe go camping in Denali, and maybe fly into Anchorage too (his parents have a plane).

Any suggestions on really cool stuff to do?

Unfortunately, there will be no bikes. :(

 

[Okiewan]

Fairbanks? Go in Jan :) Did cold weather training there (Fort Wainwright). It gets kinda chilly.

Have fun.

 

[firecracker22]

Keith says it gets down to 70 below sometimes. I want to go for Christmas (because the other option is Phoenix with my brother, yuck) but he's trying to talk me out of it.

 

[soquel]

Go fishing! My uncle is the head of a major air frieght company and is a bush pilot in the fairbanks area, and he is always telling me about the crazy fishing up there. All you gotta do is reach in the water and grab a fat salmon! I hear the snowmobiling is sic up there too. but I don't know if there is snow this time of year?

 

[GETMETOCA]

I stayed in Anchorage for three days and my main excursion was deep sea fishing for Halibut out of Homer. I had to fly to Homer (2 hours?) then I fished ALL DAY LONG and ended up catching the biggest halibut on the boat, which was a piddly 32 lbs. A guy on the boat had fished the day before and had caught a 200 pounder. There's a place that will filet and package your catch and freeze it then ship it out to your house.

There was also this big Glacier thing to go look at in Portage, AK. I'm sure there's lots to do that I did not find in a mere 3 days! Have fun!

 

[Casper250]

I was up in Alaska for a wedding about 2 years ago. One word: mosquitos! They are the second state bird of Alaska. I was up there in the spring so they weren't hatched yet but every one kept telling me about them.

About this time of year, it's not going to get dark there, if at all. I remeber the sun was still out at 10:30 pm and it didn't get dark till 11:30 when I was up there. Like everyone else was saying, try to do some fishing. I was Halibut fishing and cought an 80# halibut and we all caught our limit in about 2 hours.

 

[firecracker22]

We are going fishing when Keith's dad flies us up to one of the lakes or rivers. I haven't fished since I was about 8 so we'll see how that goes. I don't think we're going to the ocean though. It's 6-8 hours of driving to get to Anchorage or Valdez from Fairbanks, so if we go, we're taking the plane. I can't wait to fly in a plane either--I've been up in a small plane once and LOVED it!

Keith says the sun goes down around 11 and then we'll have several hours of twilight. In Fairbanks, their longest day gets 21 hours of sunlight and that was about a month ago, so it will get dark, but not for very long.

 

[XRpredator]

Have fun, watch out for skeeters.

Denali should be cool.

 

[blackhawk468]

Sounds FUN! Hope you have a good time!

 

[Rooster]

North! To Alaska!
Going North, the rush is on!

Have fun, sounds like a great time.

 

[Camstyn]

Sounds like fun! When are you guys going? Driving or flying?

 

[firecracker22]

Flying out 7/28, back 8/3. Red eye flights both times. Oh well.

 

[Tahuya Rat]

Sounds like an awsome trip!
Sorry to hear about the no bike thing, BUT.....should you happen to strike it rich on halibut and/or salmon up there and not know what to do with it all ( it really does takes up valuable freezer space), we'd be happy to help you cook some of it up at Fishead's spodefest when you get back :yeehaw:

 

[firecracker22]

I am definitely going to attempt to bring home some fish. Even if I have to buy it or steal Keith's. His mom sends us halibut and smoked salmon from up there . . . yum . . .

 

[Jeff Gilbert]

Say hello to Balto :)

 

[gospeedracer]

Soooooooooo.........how was it?! I've always wanted to go to Alaska too.
I'm not around on the boards much these days so I hope I didn't miss a post about it somewhere else.

 

[LoriKTM]

I just saw some pictures at the top of the forums-- looks very nice, Sharla!! Alaska has always intrigued me, as well. I want to go north to Barrow in the summer, and see the sunrise/sunset at midnight! ;)

 

[firecracker22]

Ok, here you go. I was being lazy in writing up a report.

On Thursday, we went to Denali. Went whitewater rafting (in full drysuits) in the 37-degree Nenana river.Rapids were kinda tame though. I liked it and want to go somewhere with more rapids.

On Friday, we got up at 5 a.m. to go on a tour in Denali. We turned around 50 miles in; Wonder Lake is the farthest point at 90 miles in. We saw 9 grizzlies. The coolest one was watching a big guy dig up his buried kill, eat it, play with it and roll in it. There were 2 moms with cubs and a few singles and young bears. Caribou and Dahl sheep.

There was an IRRITATING, smelly granola family behind us. The mom said something about "now I feel like we're really part of the animal neighborhood" and I wanted to tell her that her husband accomplished that all on his own. Phew.

We got back, saw a sled dog demonstration (kinda lame, geared toward kids--I just wanted to see the dogs) and then headed back up to Fairbanks.

After dinner Keith's dad took us up in one of his 2 planes, a late 1970s Maule on floats. We just flew around the Tanana river flats near Fairbanks. We saw a couple of moose, buzzed them in the plane.

The next day we got up and flew to their lake cabin. We took a detour through the Alaska range. Mounts Hess, Hayes and Debra were right there, at 13,000, 14,000 and 13,000 feet. Truly spectacular. Spent the rest of the day boating, eating and sitting around. Got back, and spend the rest of the time sightseeing and shopping. We went to the museum at University of Alaska Fairbanks and the aviation museum. We toured "Alaskaland," a weird little fake town with the boat the settlers came in on, and a bunch of the original cabins from downtown set up.

Overall:
I love Alaska!
I LOVE flying!
I want to move there
There were NO mosquitoes, they must be a myth
Hip waders and a fishing vest are the official Alaska date-wear.
Keith's mom is an AMAZING cook.
I WILL learn how to fly as soon as humanly possible.

Here are some pics that haven't made it into my gallery yet:
1. A scenery shot of Denali
2. Keith's dad's OTHER plane, a Cessna Skymaster. They are really different looking--an engine in front of and behind the cab, with two long booms coming from the wings and tied together behind the second engine.
3. A brand new Supercub, which you hardly ever see. The cub is the typical bush plane used up there but a new one is $250,000 and a used one can be found for as low as $50,000 or so. Also, the amphibious floats--with the wheels inside--are rarely used as they are heavy, expensive and impractical.

 

[CaNaDiAn,Eh?]

The mosquitos are not a myth..lol. Up in northern Canada and Alaska would be the same...the mosquitos and black flies get terrible, but I think that may be more in the early spring and summer I don't really know for sure. But I do know that people have actually gone crazy from the constant biting that they get from them.......they actually look like black clouds...yuck.

Anyway I'm glad you enjoyed your trip, it sounded like a blast. When I'm out of school I want to go up to Northern Canada then through Alaska down to the coast and so on. Did you catch any fish?

 

[firecracker22]

I think the rainy-ish/clear-ish weather just happened to be the right combo to keep them down. We were lucky. This is the right time of year for them.

We didn't fish. The lake isn't a very good spot, and both of the rivers we spent a lot of time near were too silty from glaciers for fish to live in. Gotta be down by the coast for good fishing.

 

[WaltCMoto]

Sounds like a great trip Sharla. I too hope to make it there someday.I havent heard anyone come back from there dissapointed. Hope you get to spend more time there next time.

 

[BadgerMan]

I'm going to Alaska!

What a great place! Sounds like you had a great time and will be visiting again?

Funny thing, I just got home (to Michigan) yesterday. I am surprised we did not run into each other.......I was the guy wearing the orange "Alaskan Summer Ale" hat. LOL!

Actually, I spent 7/29 through 8/6 down in Cooper Landing on the Kenai River. It was my third fishing trip to the Kenai peninsula. Here's some highlights:

-fishing the Russian River for sockeyes
-halibut fishing from Homer
-clam digging in Ninilchik
-pink fishing in Resurrection Creek (Hope)
-fishing for dollies in Ptarmigan Creek
-fishing for dollies and sockeyes in Quartz Creek
-fishing for pinks off the beach in Kenai

Oh, and did I mention that we went fishing.

Brought home sixty five pounds of a combination of sockeye and halibut!

I love Alaska!

I love it too and it gets harder to leave each time I visit. I will be depressed for the next few weeks now after returning home. The people are so nice and their life style is so laid back. They seem to have a different set of priorities than we do. Life is much more basic and focused purely on survival to a certain extent. As a result, I feel pretty humbled when I go there. Many of my worries are pretty trivial by comparison.

I want to move there

Man have I wrestled with that one! I nearly cried when I had to leave Friday night. However, as nice as the summers are, I am told the winters can be tough. Even though the weather is relatively moderate on the peninsula (compared to Michigan), the lack daylight would get to me. They are having about nineteen hours of daylight now but in December it is roughly the opposite. The wife and I have considered (lightly) moving as we could probably find work there. But, I think I would have to visit in January first, as I think it is a different place at that time of year.

When you go back :laugh: I can point you in the right direction if you want to do some fishing. The peninsula is a wonderful place, especially Seward. The fishing is great and the Kenai Fjords NP's scenery will take your breath away.

 

[MXDAD65]

I went there last July with my girlfriend.She was born and raised there.She took me there for her high school reunion in Valdez.That was the most beautiful place I think in the whole state.We where there for two weeks and visited alot of her family.We went "around the block".The fishing is awsome.We were also in Faibanks,she went to college there.Flew in and out of Anchorage.We stayed at her aunts house in North Pole,just outside Fairbanks.She let do a dream of mine there.Her uncle let me ride his Harley.Now when I'm riding cruisers here at home in 'ole Tennessee,I can say I rode in Alaska.Hope you have fun.I am so jealous.

 

[Alaskan_h230_gurl]

Badgerman

The winters up north are pretty bad, but the last couple of years, due to global warming, the winters are hardly anything to cry about. Last year in anchorage, they hardly ever had snow, when they did, it was a couple feet, but it melted so quickly. The summers are so nice, and I too want to move back! Im from juneau and have stayed in anchorage every summer. I traveled a lot of alaska as a child.. and it has changed a lot these past couple of years. I think it is the best place in america. :nod:

 

[BadgerMan]

Alaskan,

I am feeling pretty bad this week as we had been taking a trip to Cooper Landing for the past three years during the first week of August. This year, we elected not to go for one reason or another. Unfortunately, I think the lifestyle up there kinda gets into your blood. I think they understand their priorities a little better than we do in the lower 48. You are right though, it is changing, especially Anchorage.

I envision spending summers on the Kenai some day (retirement?) and winters here in Michigan. The weather in the southern reaches of the state is not too much different from Michigan. However, I don’t think I would ever get used to the short days in the winter.

Oh, and the whole darn place looks like dual sport heaven to me too! :cool: