Alaska DIY Land and SB Princess Star 9/8-9/15 Review - Destination Focus

[Tippyton]

We saw the Big 5 on our trip - didn't get any good photos of moose and caribou due to where our seats were, but we got lots of photos of Dall sheep and bears.  The sheep show up as dots though. 

[Tippyton]

More bears and a wolf.

[Tippyton]

[Tippyton]

Denali to Anchorage....

[Tippyton]

Denali to Anchorage continued...…..

[Tippyton]

No real pictures of Anchorage that would be of interest to the masses.  Here are some of the wildlife sanctuary on our way to Whittier, and some scenery along the way.

[Tippyton]

Hubbard Glacier.  in the 4th picture you could see s boat with some folk that actually jumped onto an iceberg.

[Tippyton]

Marjory Glacier - GBNP

[Tippyton]

John Hopkins Glacier.  This area had just opened up - was normally closed due to seal calving.  Unfortunately the sun was going behind the mountain so the pictures are not ideal with the lighting.  I think I said in my writeup that clouds add an element of drama and contrast I wish we had

[Tippyton]

Ferry to Haines, Haines Area, Chilkoot Lake

[Tippyton]

Bears. 

 

The 1st picture is of a weir structure used for taking a salmon census.  Bears use it as an ambush point, although we found them further down stream a bit.  One bear we saw right next to the road was under some trees and it was really dark.  She stood and rubbed her back on one of the trees.

 

On our last AKL cruise, in Skagway we rented a car and drove to Emerald Lake.  Lots of bears, scenic stops, and on our own schedule.

[Tippyton]

Couple more of Haines and on the Haines Highway.

[Tippyton]

Juneau - Mt. Roberts Tram.  One pic of the state House chamber at the capitol.

[Tippyton]

Zodiak excursion and a couple randoms.  No DSLR on the excursion.....should have 

 

I'll look through the videos and see about posting those if I can figure that out.

[Tippyton]

ok - looks like videos work.  I think. 

 

I'll cull through those and see what is of interest.  This is from our Ketchikan Zodiak excursion.

[Marylandteachergirl]

On 10/25/2018 at 11:10 PM, Tippyton said:

My goof!. The 4th we were in Fairbanks, took the train the 5th to Denali.  6th in Denali, 7th Denali to Anchorage, 8th to the boat.

 

We booked the train and the Princess Denali Lodge through AT&T.   Would have booked both independent but the Gold Star service and the lodge showed no availability.  AT&T has or gets access to the "hidden" blocks of rooms and seats.  When I first contacted them they said they would need to confirm availability and we were plenty early.  A couple of days later all was good.  They had a good cancellation policy also.  We didn't like the lodging options they had on either end.  They acknowledged they were working on boosting that part of their offerings.

 

Train was about 4 or so hours on the 5th and almost 8 on the 7th.  

 

On the 8th in the morning we had breakfast and messed around, got picked up at 1230 pm headed to Whittier via the 2 hr stop at the wildlife center, arriving around 430 pm at the boat.

 

Hope that helps fellow Texan!!!  (We're in DFW area!)

Hi!  I am not a fellow Texas (but I did live just north of San Antonio for three wonderful years!).  When you say you booked through AT&T, do you mean the cell phone provider?  If yes, I did not realize they had a travel department.  I would assume this is if you have a contract with them?  Or, is it a different AT&T agency?  Thank you so much!  We will be there in August, and can't wait.

[Tippyton]

Alaska Tour and Travel. www.alaskatravel.com

 

 

[Tippyton]

Video time!

 

Fairbanks to Denali.  You can see why I spent my time on the deck soaking it all in.

[Tippyton]

It seems that CC does not like the format, so I am going to reformat the videos. 

 

Denali Bus Ride into the park.

[Tippyton]

More bus ride into the park...

[Tippyton]

Stop at one of the overlooks.  Granted it was overcast, one can see the contrast of the white snow, the grey skies, and the colorful tundra.

[Tippyton]

Mama grizzly and her cub.  At one point mama got up and scratched her back on a tree.  Pic is far away so sorry for the quality.

[Tippyton]

And the train ride to Anchorage with Denali showing up....

[Tippyton]

Mendenhall Glacier.  Two things to note here.  At :03 you can hear one of those distinct cracks I referenced in my writeup.  Also, at :15 I am zoomed into a channel that runs out of sight to the right.  The tide was going out, and the current was probably 20-30 mph.  It doesn't look very fast but the ice face is like 350 feet tall.

[Tippyton]

Bear at the wildlife sanctuary.