What to consider before you plan your trip to Alaska

I recently came back from a trip to Alaska and I spoke to a number of people along the way and heard different stories of how they came to take their "trip of a lifetime".

The first thing you need to do is decide what kind of vacation do you want? Do you want it to be relaxing? active? native style? How long do you want to go for?  When do you want to go?  How is your health? Most people going to Alaska are older. The current average age of someone going to a National Park is 53 years old. I'm going to guess on my experience that it was even older on my tour.

ALERT: Alaska is cold and often rainy: pack appropriately! Just because it's July does not mean it will be warm there. I went in July. I packed a long underwear shirt, and yes, I used it, and was glad I had it!

If you really want to see a lot of glaciers, you need to take a cruise, or a cruise tour. Yes it's expensive. Anything in Alaska is expensive.  You have to tip everybody, too! And everyone says that "Princess owns Alaska". Meaning they have their own resorts on land, the best itineraries, and they have arrangements for the best tours. No, I do not work for the company, but that's what I heard from other travelers, travel agents, the locals, and the tour people. I am basing this blog post on a cruise tour from Princess. In the future, I am considering also taking a camping trip up through Alaska, there are a number of campgrounds along the way. I saw a really nice one on the edge of Talkeetna, for example.

The most important thing I learned from someone else who had gone before me was:

If you are taking an excursion, go through Princess for your excursion, because if you're excursion is late, they will leave without you if it's not a Princess sponsored excursion.  Then you have to find out how to get back to your group which is realllllly expensive: which may even require hiring a private airplane.  I got back late and Princess had to get me to my group. No extra expense on my part, and they even got me there in time for my next excursion. Thank you for that advice Mr. Schram!

I went the same time as a friend of mine, but we went with two totally different goals and itineraries.

For me: I also took a friend with me. I knew this may be the only chance I get to go to Alaska, and I've always wanted to go. I am a naturalist. I like doing the outside stuff, I want to see the plants, the animals, and learn as much as I can. I crammed my schedule so full that the Princess staff thought I had made a mistake because I didn't leave myself enough time for meals. No mistake, I packed extra food from the coffee shops or gift shops like fruit and granola bars to hold me over while I traveled back and forth between excursions. I ran us hard. We had no time for down time except on the busses transporting us place to place. But everything is far apart in Alaska, you spend a lot of time on busses. My friend is in better physical shape than I am, but she is older than I am by about 10 years. The trip was difficult for her with the constant running and sleeping at a different place every few nights. She would have liked a little more down time.

For my friend: She went with her 2 adult sisters and her parents. Her parents are 80ish?  They wanted a relaxing, not vigorous, trip. They wanted to see Alaska, but not have to do strenuous activity. They chose to do a cruise only with land excursions. They chose excursions that were not physically demanding.

So basically, you can do and see whatever you would like. Make a list of things you wish you could do. What is important for you to see? Do you want to see Moose in their natural habitat? Do you want to see bald eagles?  What about sea lions or sea otters? glaciers? sea ice? snowshoe hare? mountain goats? caribou? plants? dogs training for the Iditarod? the trail people took to find Yukon gold? native people? totem poles? the mountains? Denali? rivers of glacier melt? rock formations? do you want to fish for salmon? take plane rides around the mountains? pan for gold like the miners? I could go on, but you get the idea. Figure out what you want and physically can do.

Before you call a travel agent, or a cruise line, or your time share company, take time to investigate what there is to see and do and what your health will allow. Then make a list of your priorities. That way you will be better able to get the trip you want when you actually make your reservations. Don't forget to check timing of animal migration or spawning. If you want to fish, make sure you go when you possibly can catch something!

I have put pictures on my blog of the different places I stopped at and activities I did. Feel free to browse through and see if any help you to decide what you want to do.

I did the: 13 day Princess "Off the Beaten Path" cruise-tour.  My excursions beyond the standard trip included:

• Byer's lake paddle
• Chulitna Scenic River Rafting
• Denali Natural History Tour
• Nenana Gorge Whitewater Rafting
• Black Diamond ATV Adventure
• Husky Homestead Tour
• Prince William Sound Glacier Cruise
• Experience the Yukon & Suspension Bridge
• Best of Juneau: Mendynhall glacier, Whale Watch, and Salmon Bake
• Native Village and Totem Poles

Good luck planning your trip. It was one of the best trips I've been on and I would love to go again.

5 best places to visit in Old Forge, New York

Welcome to Old Forge, New York 

Ok, I lied, I couldn't break it down to 5, so I have listed the top 7 must do things if you are to go to Old Forge 

1) go to Mountain Man Outdoor Supply Company and rent a kayak and tour the Moose River. ( or go on your own if you have your own kayak).

2) Stop by Old Forge Hardware Store. An old-fashioned hardware store that truly has it all.

3) Stop by the Candy Cottage for old-fashioned goodies. I love the haystacks!

4) Support the little local theater that has first run movies. It is a great thing to have when camping on those rainy days.

5) Enchanted Forest Water Safari. It has rides and water activities for young and old.

6) Take the McCauley Mountain Scenic Chair Lift Ride especially in September to see the fall colors.

7) Go take a yoga class or just see the art at The View, a museum on Rt. 28 as you head north out of town.

There are a lot of other things to see and do in Old Forge, but the best part of Old Forge is that it hasn't overgrown itself. It is still a place for people to come for the day, or as a day away from the campground. There are so many more things to do in the area, that Old Forge is a "landing site" for people heading out to camp, hike, climb, boat, snowshoe, ski, kayak, snowmobile, or whatever nature activity brings them to the Adirondacks.

Husky Homestead Tour Review

While we were traveling through Alaska, we went to a few different tours of Iditarod husky homes and training camps. The best one I would recommend is the Husky Homestead Tour of Jeff King.

 It starts outside with the visitors lined up facing the dogs kennels and they get to take turns holding a puppy. If you go to a husky tour, chances are you probably like puppies. You can see the puppy kennels and their exercise wheel.

Then the staff explained to us about how the dogs are picked for exercise and for the actual race. They choose a few to show us an example of the practice on dry land. They harness the dogs up. They tell how the different positions have different jobs and they pick the dog specifically for the position they are best suited. They then had the dogs run through the woods with an ATV as the sled. When they came back around, they showed a husky training treadmill they use as well. It's a large belt the dogs can run on and the ATV powers it.

Then we went inside and had a gentleman tell us about the care and training of the dogs and how the food and supplies are set up for the animals at checkpoints along the way. He was an excellent speaker. When I had agreed to take this tour I had felt sorry for the dogs. After seeing their care and hearing about how the musher has to care for them along the trail and the veterinary care available along the way, I felt much better about the dogs performing in this way.

The Sea Otters of Valdez, Alaska

Tell me it doesn't look like the one in the front doesn't look like it's waving!

you looking at me?

 just out for a float

nap time already?

Denali Natural History Tour review

We took the Denali Natural History tour from the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge, we saw a variety of things, such as a ranger cabin, a variety of plants, moose, snowshoe hare, caribou ( way off in the distance).  A number of people took a longer trip and saw many more animals than we did. I was trying to fit in so many more activities, that I took the shorter trip, the one that came free with my package. If you aren't running from event to event, I would recommend trying to see the other tour that was longer and went further into the park. Actually, I would have liked a few days to just experience the park. I never even got to the park museum. Everybody told me before I went, that a day or two in Denali was almost too much time: They were soooo wrong!

My best Moose picture!  I took a lot. This cow had a calf behind her in the woods, but I never got a good shot of the calf

 the caribo were pretty far away and it was drizzling, but I saw a few. I have a 40x lens but this is as good as I could get in order to get multiple caribou in one shot.

A single, but to enlarge it this much it's really grainy.

 A snowshoe hare blends in with it's surroundings for summer. By winter, the hair of the hare will be white.

A family of Ptarmigan, the state bird of Alaska

belladonna, a sedative also known as deadly nigh shade, for obvious reasons.

Fireweed. This plant is the first to grow in the area after a fire, hence its name. It also is said to be able to predict the first snow by the number of flowers left at the top. Each layer of flower represents how many more weeks before the snow flies. Also a great source of vitamin C.

Traditional Things to do in Old Forge, New York

 There's McCauley Mountain: I recommend going in the fall to see the changing leaves

There are a variety of camping options nearby. Nick's Lake has more family options than most of the state parks in the Adirondack region. It's extremely close to the town of Old Forge, which makes it very convenient for families to take part in the natural setting activities as well as the amusement parks, art museums, restaurants, and shops. To be honest, I don't stay there. It's too "family oriented". I like the quieter, more natural campgrounds; however, this location is best for families and Old Forge visitors.

There's an area on Old Forge pond which has a nice walkway and there is a lot of area to park your boat, if you have one. The local marina rents boats as well. The best time I had on my party barge, many years ago now, was to take the party barge in at Inlet, travel down to Old Forge on July 4th, and sit in the pond and listen to the band and watch the fireworks from the boat. We brought the gas grill and cooked on the boat as well.

Just another view of the pond

It's just too big to get a good picture all al once, but every trip to Old Forge requires a stop at the famous Old Forge Hardware Store. They truly have the most interesting things there. It you can't find it anywhere else, they will have it. You can even buy plastic table cloth material cut to size. They have gourmet foods, specialty yarns, tourist items, household, camping equipment, clothes, and as a hardware store,  they have nuts and bolts. They have it all!

 There's the Strand Theater.
Always good to see a current show, but a life saver on those weeks when you're camping and it seems to rain every night.

An old time Favorite is Walt's Diner.  Old-fashioned home-made diner fare. It's just a classic. There are a number of other restaurants in town, pizza, burgers, even chains, but Walt's says "Old Forge".

     

 

Just a basic road view. This is the end of August and it's not that busy. Granted it's a weekday and not a weekend, but it still doesn't have that annoying traffic of bigger vacation towns like Lake George.

If you've ever wanted to try Kayaking, or trying to purchase the right one, you definitely need to go to Mountain Man Outdoor Supply Company. They have rentals, boats to purchase, and all the associated supplies. I purchased two of my kayaks from Mountain Man during their Rendezvous Sale in the fall.

 just a small amount of their inventory.

 Of course, no trip to Old Forge is complete without a stop at the Candy Cottage. Get me a quarter pound of haystacks and I'll be your best friend, at least until they're gone.

There's a nice sandy swimming beach which still has a dock to swim to with a diving board.

And the self-proclaimed " Largest Water Theme Park in the North-East"! 

Enchanted Forest, Water Safari.

And for those with more refined tastes, there is "The View" an art museum which also offers classes and activities.

I really like Old Forge as an alternative to a major vacation town. It has a nice mix of everything you need, things to keep you busy in bad weather, restaurants, and it's still not sooo crowded most of the time.