Upgrade to Tundra Wilderness Tour

[afiaccone]

I'm taking a Alaskan cruise/tour July 2022.it includes the History tour in Denali. I called to upgrade to the Tundra Wilderness (everyone online recommends it so highly) the difference in tours on the Princess site is $70/person. They said that there is also a $43/person transfer fee. Did anyone else encounter this? 

[dickinson]

I didn't in 2019.  Call again and see what someone else says.

[thinfool]

You can book this directly at https://www.reservedenali.com/tours-transits/the-denali-tour-experience/tour-information/  And let Princess die on the vine.

See if you can get a full credit for the absolutely worthless NHT.

 

We did this several years ago...ate the NHT cost and had a fabulous all day tour on the TWT.

 

Also, I would mention that the TWT was fully booked when I tried to get tickets, but I asked about cancellations...yes, but not available until 8 days before your desired tour date.  So, 8 days out, I think we were in Juneau that day, I called and they had 6 seats for our date.  Obviously we took 2 of them.

[math227]

We loved our Tundra tour! However, there was a rockslide and erosion this year and the road is currently closed. 

https://www.nps.gov/dena/learn/nature/pretty-rocks.htm?fbclid=IwAR2Pm2PqSV-e7FdgEsNeg8QaH-4weQnGQAoq623Wz2Vx1E7Q_DsqndFzKM4

[John99]

Planning our visit into Denali National Park will be interesting at best.  Rock slides and major road erosion from mile 43 to 45 (near Polychrome Pass) has made that section of the road increasingly unstable.  The Park road has dropped over 9 feet the last several years.  Now -- more rick slides. The road may or may not be open past mile 43 for the 2022 season.  This may affect the Tundra Wilderness Tour.  The National Park Service provides an in depth account on what the problems are and possible solutions on their web-site.   Engineers and geologists have been brought in to asses the situation.  The permafrost is melting both above and below the Park road do to very hot summers. The global warming is causing problems.  Any fix to this problem will require a very large outlay of funds which the park does not have.   Washington needs to help with additional funding.

 

Again, it’s very hard to plan for the Tundra Wilderness Tour.  In the past, we have travelled this route twice and really enjoy to majestic views, wild animals, mountains, etc.   Weather condition has been brutal the last several winters.  The temps have been running from:   -54 degrees to -30 degrees below zero.  The Park officials really need a brake in the weather before they proceed with work. 

Options consider:   

1) Northern road over the mountain

2) Southern road into the valley

3) Bring in crush rocks and gravel over 600+ truck loads

4) Build several bridges

5) Build tunnels

6) Use a turn around area near East Fork Bridge until road conditions are resolved.

 

The Governor of Alaska plus Lisa Mirkowski Alaska US Senator has requested help from the Dept of Interior.  They are looking for a long term solution and additional funding.

 

Zena Roberts from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (graduate student in geosciences) visited the park several times.  She presented her findings to the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union held in San Francisco in December.  Her conclusion:  By the summer of 2020, a landslide will bury a portion of the road (Pretty Rocks) from the Denali National Park entrance to Wonder Lake.  (In 2021 it’s happen at Pretty Rocks.) This is based on a ground survey of giant blobs of frozen hillside that sometimes ooze over the entire 92-mile road, which workers built from 1923 to 1938.  The steep, unstable section of road on Polychrome Pass consists of clay-rich soil on top of several feet of frozen ground. As temperatures rise and precipitation increases, the road portion has started moving downhill.  The word “Global Warming” comes to mind.

 

When will Denali Park officials believe they will open the road??  That’s the real question?    

 

PS  I apologize to the long response.  I’ve been following this situation for some time.

John

 

 

[geoherb]

There was not a fee to change it other than the increased cost when I did it on our cruise tour. But that was back in 2012. My travel agent made the arrangements for us.

[c-boy]

2 hours ago, John99 said:

Planning our visit into Denali National Park will be interesting at best.  Rock slides and major road erosion from mile 43 to 45 (near Polychrome Pass) has made that section of the road increasingly unstable.  The Park road has dropped over 9 feet the last several years.  Now -- more rick slides. The road may or may not be open past mile 43 for the 2022 season.  This may affect the Tundra Wilderness Tour.  The National Park Service provides an in depth account on what the problems are and possible solutions on their web-site.   Engineers and geologists have been brought in to asses the situation.  The permafrost is melting both above and below the Park road do to very hot summers. The global warming is causing problems.  Any fix to this problem will require a very large outlay of funds which the park does not have.   Washington needs to help with additional funding.

 

Again, it’s very hard to plan for the Tundra Wilderness Tour.  In the past, we have travelled this route twice and really enjoy to majestic views, wild animals, mountains, etc.   Weather condition has been brutal the last several winters.  The temps have been running from:   -54 degrees to -30 degrees below zero.  The Park officials really need a brake in the weather before they proceed with work. 

Options consider:   

1) Northern road over the mountain

2) Southern road into the valley

3) Bring in crush rocks and gravel over 600+ truck loads

4) Build several bridges

5) Build tunnels

6) Use a turn around area near East Fork Bridge until road conditions are resolved.

 

The Governor of Alaska plus Lisa Mirkowski Alaska US Senator has requested help from the Dept of Interior.  They are looking for a long term solution and additional funding.

 

Zena Roberts from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (graduate student in geosciences) visited the park several times.  She presented her findings to the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union held in San Francisco in December.  Her conclusion:  By the summer of 2020, a landslide will bury a portion of the road (Pretty Rocks) from the Denali National Park entrance to Wonder Lake.  (In 2021 it’s happen at Pretty Rocks.) This is based on a ground survey of giant blobs of frozen hillside that sometimes ooze over the entire 92-mile road, which workers built from 1923 to 1938.  The steep, unstable section of road on Polychrome Pass consists of clay-rich soil on top of several feet of frozen ground. As temperatures rise and precipitation increases, the road portion has started moving downhill.  The word “Global Warming” comes to mind.

 

When will Denali Park officials believe they will open the road??  That’s the real question?    

 

PS  I apologize to the long response.  I’ve been following this situation for some time.

John

 

 

  🤔     and here I thought you had retired  

[afiaccone]

Turns out the transfer fee was already on my original reservation. Had nothing to do with Denali, don't know why the Princess agent brought it up. She was pretty clueless, put me on hold several times. Thanks everyone. Really hope we won't be wearing masks next year. 

[Travlin grrl]

19 hours ago, afiaccone said:

Turns out the transfer fee was already on my original reservation. Had nothing to do with Denali, don't know why the Princess agent brought it up. She was pretty clueless, put me on hold several times. Thanks everyone. Really hope we won't be wearing masks next year. 

Yeah I was wondering what the transfer was. Maybe that was a transfer from airport or something.

[txjim09]

My wife and I took this tour in early August this year and were lucky enough to have the full-length trip.  The road at Polychrome Pass was closed until 2-3 weeks before our visit and suffered the rockslide 2 weeks afterwards.  Enjoyed the tour greatly but please note that you are spending the whole time on the bus with a 10 minute stop every 90 minutes or so.  Very spectacular, regardless.

 

On our trip, most of the wildlife was seen on the outward portion and a drivers-side seat would have been preferred.  One tip:  pick a row where the window can slide open and offer an unobstructed view.  

 

The trip came with a snack bag with chips, water and a couple other snacks.  We also picked up a couple box lunches from our lodge for the trip but ended up splitting one and giving the other to another couple.  The lunches are pretty large.

 

 

[Thrak]

Our first time on the Tundra Wilderness Tour we say a grizzly guarding a kill. On the way back out we saw a wolf (extremely rare sighting) trying to sneak a bit of the kill but the grizzly wasn't having any of that nonsense so the wolf moved away. He moved away to maybe 20 or 30 yards from the bus. He then trotted along right past the bus and then hopped up onto the road. We were on a slight slope so the driver just let the bus roll backward along the road. The folks in the back were in a wonderful spot to watch it closely. The rest of us did the best we could and there were also monitors.

 

The second time we took the tour we took the right hand front seat. Folks bypassed that spot because it looks a bit "squishy" due to a fire extinguisher being mounted there. I was really happy we had that seat. Aside from another really great viewing of a grizzly (pretty dang close) we were driving along when the driver yelled, "LYNX!!!" and stomped on the brakes. A lynx (super rare sighting that had the driver really excited) ran across in front of us from left to right. It was right in front of the bus and we saw it up close. When it got across the road it "hid" in the brush next to the road. It was maybe 15 feet from our window and clearly visible. Most folks got to "see" it on the monitors but we had a bird's eye view. If we ever take the TWD again we will be sure to snag that "unwanted" seat.

 

We never would have had these sightings if we had taken the Natural History Tour.