I'm actually going on a boat
 

On Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:21:57 -0500, wrote:

This is a glacier in that park you can call your own for a while.
http://gfretwell.com/ftp/alaska/Glacier%20lake.jpg

Nice. How far did you have to hike back in? Were you able to rent a
4WD in Alaska or did you drive your own?

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/4...hallglacie.jpg

I'm actually going on a boat
 

On Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:39:58 -0500, John H
wrote:

On Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:13:32 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:



I have heard so much about Alaskan cruises that I want to take one. Know
people who are jaded world travelers, and to a person they rave about the
Alaska trip.

We did that last June and it was great. I recommend flying into
Fairbanks and doing the land tours first as you work your way south to
catch the boat in Whittier. We used Princess Line for both the land
tours and the cruise. They did a great job with both.

The Disney one starts and stops in Vancouver. I'll check on the
Princess Line. Thanks

Ours stopped in Vancouver also with a bus ride back to Seattle. I
spoke with Chuck Gould a couple of times and he gave us some great
advice on where to stay in the San Juan Islands.

I'm actually going on a boat
 

On Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:48:39 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:39:58 -0500, John H
wrote:

On Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:13:32 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:



I have heard so much about Alaskan cruises that I want to take one. Know
people who are jaded world travelers, and to a person they rave about the
Alaska trip.

We did that last June and it was great. I recommend flying into
Fairbanks and doing the land tours first as you work your way south to
catch the boat in Whittier. We used Princess Line for both the land
tours and the cruise. They did a great job with both.

The Disney one starts and stops in Vancouver. I'll check on the
Princess Line. Thanks

Ours stopped in Vancouver also with a bus ride back to Seattle. I
spoke with Chuck Gould a couple of times and he gave us some great
advice on where to stay in the San Juan Islands.

I've got a couple brothers in the Seattle area, so a place to stay is
no problem. We'd probably spend a few days visiting anyway.

I'm actually going on a boat
 

"John H" wrote:
Hope you have a great time, Steve. I'm thinking of surprising my wife
with a Disney Cruise this fall. I'm hoping Disney will have an Alaska
cruise soon.
I have heard so much about Alaskan cruises that I want to take one. Know
people who are jaded world travelers, and to a person they rave about
the Alaska trip. I think that only the hard core cruisers would go,
therefore, the company (people) would be of a better class. I am not a
fan of cold, but I think I could tough it out. I had a chance to go on a
gold mining project in 1974 in Alaska, to the Alaska pipeline, or to
diving school, and I chose commercial diving school. Sometimes I rue my
decision to go South. My brother was a crab fisherman like on TV in the
early 90's when no one knew they existed. I think I'd like everything
but the potentially rough water. BTDT. May check it out after this
little experimental puddle jumper cruise to Meheeeeeco.
Steve
Taking a cruise to Alaska and expecting to actually see Alaska is like
going to Epcot and seeing Germany.
It is an OK way to watch whales and Princess will load you up on a bus
to go see Denali but you pretty much see what you can from the window of
the bus.
If you really want to see Alaska take several weeks and rent a 4WD. You
might even want to get in a float plane and really get back in the
boonies.
If you just want a nice "cruise" Alaska isn't a bad destination but it
will just be a cruise,

Yeah, I know you're right about that. Personally, I'd like to go by
motorcycle, but SWMBO doesn't think much of that idea.
It might be a good way to put some serious miles on the 4Runner with a
trailer though. I'll have to think about that.

Take the 4runner and trailer, You won't regret it, Make reservations on
the Alaska ferry, catch it down in Haines on the way back, drive the rig
on, and get a cabin, You then have a 4 day cruise down the inside
passage back to Bellingham, and you can drive from there to Seattle to
visit your brothers, If you do the trip in September you get a hefty
discount on the ferry.
Or... Take the bike and ride with me back up this July, I'm doing the
Dempster first then over to the haul road and up to Prudhoe Bay.
BTW I've really got the riding bug bad now, I have another stablemate
for my BMW, a new (to me 03) Kawi Super Sherpa and am heading down to SD
with it in the back of my truck, Parking the truck in La Jolla at the
Aunt and Uncle's and riding down the Baja peninsula to La Paz on as much
dirt/sand as possible. UD

I'm actually going on a boat
 

On Wed, 6 Jan 2010 10:10:53 -0800, (UglyDan®©™)
wrote:


"John H" wrote:
Hope you have a great time, Steve. I'm thinking of surprising my wife
with a Disney Cruise this fall. I'm hoping Disney will have an Alaska
cruise soon.
I have heard so much about Alaskan cruises that I want to take one. Know
people who are jaded world travelers, and to a person they rave about
the Alaska trip. I think that only the hard core cruisers would go,
therefore, the company (people) would be of a better class. I am not a
fan of cold, but I think I could tough it out. I had a chance to go on a
gold mining project in 1974 in Alaska, to the Alaska pipeline, or to
diving school, and I chose commercial diving school. Sometimes I rue my
decision to go South. My brother was a crab fisherman like on TV in the
early 90's when no one knew they existed. I think I'd like everything
but the potentially rough water. BTDT. May check it out after this
little experimental puddle jumper cruise to Meheeeeeco.
Steve
Taking a cruise to Alaska and expecting to actually see Alaska is like
going to Epcot and seeing Germany.
It is an OK way to watch whales and Princess will load you up on a bus
to go see Denali but you pretty much see what you can from the window of
the bus.
If you really want to see Alaska take several weeks and rent a 4WD. You
might even want to get in a float plane and really get back in the
boonies.
If you just want a nice "cruise" Alaska isn't a bad destination but it
will just be a cruise,

Yeah, I know you're right about that. Personally, I'd like to go by
motorcycle, but SWMBO doesn't think much of that idea.
It might be a good way to put some serious miles on the 4Runner with a
trailer though. I'll have to think about that.

Take the 4runner and trailer, You won't regret it, Make reservations on
the Alaska ferry, catch it down in Haines on the way back, drive the rig
on, and get a cabin, You then have a 4 day cruise down the inside
passage back to Bellingham, and you can drive from there to Seattle to
visit your brothers, If you do the trip in September you get a hefty
discount on the ferry.
Or... Take the bike and ride with me back up this July, I'm doing the
Dempster first then over to the haul road and up to Prudhoe Bay.
BTW I've really got the riding bug bad now, I have another stablemate
for my BMW, a new (to me 03) Kawi Super Sherpa and am heading down to SD
with it in the back of my truck, Parking the truck in La Jolla at the
Aunt and Uncle's and riding down the Baja peninsula to La Paz on as much
dirt/sand as possible. UD



Where's Dempster and 'haul road'? Alaska?

Baja ride sounds like fun.

I'll save your post for when the time comes. Thanks for the tips.

I'm actually going on a boat
 

John, The Dempster hwy runs from Dawson city to Inuvik in Canada
crossing over the Arctic circle, The haul road is the Dalton hwy it
starts just north of Fairbanks and runs to Deadhorse up by Prudhoe bay,
You would have to leave the trailer behind if you take either hwy all
the way up. The 4runner is a good rig for driving up though. UD

I'm actually going on a boat
 

On Wed, 6 Jan 2010 12:47:26 -0800, (UglyDan®©™)
wrote:

John, The Dempster hwy runs from Dawson city to Inuvik in Canada
crossing over the Arctic circle, The haul road is the Dalton hwy it
starts just north of Fairbanks and runs to Deadhorse up by Prudhoe bay,
You would have to leave the trailer behind if you take either hwy all
the way up. The 4runner is a good rig for driving up though. UD




Gotcha, thanks.

I'm actually going on a boat
 

On Wed, 6 Jan 2010 12:47:26 -0800, (UglyDan®©™)
wrote:

John, The Dempster hwy runs from Dawson city to Inuvik in Canada
crossing over the Arctic circle, The haul road is the Dalton hwy it
starts just north of Fairbanks and runs to Deadhorse up by Prudhoe bay,
You would have to leave the trailer behind if you take either hwy all
the way up. The 4runner is a good rig for driving up though. UD




Now that I've Googled it, I don't think I'll be heading up to Inuvik
anytime soon.

Let me know how it goes when you do it.

I'm actually going on a boat
 

"John H" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 6 Jan 2010 12:47:26 -0800, (UglyDan®©T)
wrote:

John, The Dempster hwy runs from Dawson city to Inuvik in Canada
crossing over the Arctic circle, The haul road is the Dalton hwy it
starts just north of Fairbanks and runs to Deadhorse up by Prudhoe bay,
You would have to leave the trailer behind if you take either hwy all
the way up. The 4runner is a good rig for driving up though. UD




Now that I've Googled it, I don't think I'll be heading up to Inuvik
anytime soon.

Let me know how it goes when you do it.

Good decision...it's no country for girliemen!

I'm actually going on a boat
 

wrote in message
...
On Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:31:50 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:21:57 -0500, wrote:

This is a glacier in that park you can call your own for a while.
http://gfretwell.com/ftp/alaska/Glacier%20lake.jpg

Nice. How far did you have to hike back in? Were you able to rent a
4WD in Alaska or did you drive your own?

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/4...hallglacie.jpg


I think that lake was about 3 miles in but it is over a pretty good
sized hill (1000' or so I guess) I was dead reckoning with a compass
and we finally found the trail.
It was a good 6 hour hike with sight seeing along the way. We walked
around that lake for at least an hour and got lost coming back, pretty
scary actually. There really isn't much of a trail and my GPS was
virtually useless up there for some reason.

We ended up in a Hertz Windstar van, not 4wd but we still got around
OK. Flew into Fair banks, out of Anchorage.
About 99% of the "roads" in Alaska are dirt paths. There are a few
main roads but vast areas without any vehicle access at all except
snow machines and dog sleds.

My truck is 4x4. And I only used the 4x4 a couple times. More for safety,
than anything else. Top of the World Highway in a rainstorm. We did not
see that big of a percentage of dirt roads. A few gravel but mostly paved.
You can rent 4x4 truck campers.