Cruisetour Excursions

[Hate 2 W8t]

Has anyone done any of the excursions in Denali or Talkeetna? I am interested in any recommendations, including independents. We will be in in the interior 9/5 thru 9/9.

 

The ones that seem to be most interesting to me are:

 

Denali

Denali River Safari - jet boat on the Nenana River to a "remote" camp for snack or lunch...this sounds kind of dull, but thought I should ask

 

Nenana Gorge Whitewater - 11 miles on the Nenana River through class III and IV whiteater, no paddling required :) ...never been on whitewater, but up for an adventure. Will it be too cold?

 

 

Talkeetna

Argo Adventure Tour...too bumpy?

 

Talkeetna Canyon Tour - jet boat on whitewater...still not sure about these "jet boat" thing, like the idea of traveling through narrow canyons supposedly only 10 yards wide :rolleyes:

 

Chulitna River Rafting - 3 hours rafting through 20 miles, but no whitewater... is this really a ho-hum float trip?

 

Byers Lake Kayaking...too cold for this?

IF Mt McKinley decides to make an appearance, we will probably take a flight if one is available. That will take the place of one of these. We arrive in Talkeetna at 11:30 am, giving us most of the day for fun. In Denali, we arrive at 11:15 am and have until the next morning at 11 am to play.

 

As always, I really appreciate any and all input. There is such a wealth of knowledge here. I can't wait to be able to help others as I have been helped. :)

[Momj47]

We did a jetboat trip in Denali (may be the same one) and we enjoyed it, very good guides, these were real back country Alaskans. We also did the Husky Homestead - that was our favorite, especially the puppies, and learning about mushing. We did the Tundra Wilderness Tour, we really liked that too, I'd recommend it, the guides are great, very knowledgable and they clearly love Alaska. We wanted to take a flight, but the weather was so bad all flights were grounded.

 

There's nothing ho-hum about Alaska, even the most sedate trip will be full of interesting surprises. Enjoy your trip.

[SourDoughSteve]

If you guys are the adventurous types then you'll love the Canyon tour in Talkeetna... But if Denali is visible take the flight tour.

 

Nenana Gorge Whitewater - 11 miles on the Nenana River through class III and IV whiteater, no paddling required :) ...never been on whitewater, but up for an adventure. Will it be too cold?

 

In fact depending on the climate they may have closed by then but if not then GO! It's cold on the 4th of July much less the beginning of September.

[Yukon]

>>Nenana Gorge Whitewater - 11 miles on the Nenana River through class III and IV whiteater, no paddling required<<

 

The trip that has you paddle is far better - when the guide does all the paddling they take a very easy route through.

 

Murray

[alpal1993]

In Denali we did the river rafting it was our first time and we both enjoyed it.Very peaceful.

We also did the dinner theater which we enjoyed as well.

In Talkeetna we did Flightseeing and Glacier Landing with Talkeetna Aero Taxi.It was the most awsome thing we have ever done,BREATHTAKING experience.We were up on the Glacier in our shirt sleeves with Mt McKinley in the background.The plane itself was a littlescary and the group had to encourage me to get into it,but once I did it was fabulous!Highly recommend it no matter what company you use,

[JimF]

We just got back from our cruise/tour on dawn princess. Weather was beautiful- NO rain and nice temperatures. We attended the FREE Dog sled demonstration while at Denali Natl Park- it was great. Some of our friends opted for the $49 Dog Sled tour offered by Princess. The tours were essentially the same, ours being put on by the Natl Park Service, theirs by an independent outfit. Ours concentrated on the dogs being prepared for supporting the Rangers during the winter months, theirs concentrated on getting the dogs ready for the I. race