Hey all! I've been reading through this forum some in preparation for a possible September trip. I have a rough itinerary, but am still flexible and have some questions about some options. The trip will be from September 4 until September 13.
Upon arrival, I intend to rent a car and drive to Denali. At Denali,my main goals are 1) wildlife and 2) pictures of Mt. Denali. To that end, I'm considering two options. First, take the camper bus on Saturday morning spend three nights at Wonder Lake. While I'm pumped about Wonder Lake, I'm worried that I might feel quite isolated out there for three days, and I might miss wildlife opportunities in other places in the park. The other alternative is to car camp from the Tek Campground for 4-days, and in the middle, just spend a night or two Wonder Lake. Tek puts me more in the middle of the park, with access to the shuttle bus while I'm there, so I feel like I can explore more in addition to seeing Wonder Lake. Any preferences? Also, is it permissible to reserve a site at Tek for four days, leave the car and some of the gear there, then leave for day of camping at Wonder Lake without checking out of the Tek Campground?
When leaving Denali, I'm also considering a flightseeing tour. I'm a bit afraid of flying, so this one is uncertain. Based upon Mr. Taylor's video and website, I'm considering Talkeenta Air Taxi. But I'm also interested in ERA Helicopters. Has any taken a helicopter tour? Does the Helicopter really get in near McKinley? Are there any flight/helos that allow you to shoot through an open window, or is it all through plexi?
The latter half of the week (three days) will be spent in the Seward/Kenai area (possibly Whittier instead?). I will spend one day hiking Exit Glacier/Harding Ice Field. The next two days are up for debate. The number 1 priority is a cruise. I had been set for either the Captain's Choice Kenai Fjords small cruise. But then I just read that cruise out of Whittier into Prince William Sound are actually better than cruises into Kenai. Anyone have any feedback on Kenai versus Whittier for a glacier and wildlife cruise?
The next question is whether I will find a glacial kayaking expedition overkill after taking a cruise the day before? The glacial day kayaking trips are quite expensive (about $350 per person) and my funds are far from unlimited. The one I'm considering is to Bear Glacier with Kayak Adventures Worldwide out of Seward. I really want a pure glacial kayaking eperience, floating among bergs and finding cool blue compositions/abstracts. I hope the cruise the day before takes care of much of the wildlife. Any feedback on whether this is just too much overlap between the cruise and the kayak?
Given the choice between a flightseeing trip to Denali or a day glacial kayaking, which would you recommend?
Thanks in advance for your tips!
Posted by David Taylor on June 28, 2009 at 2:42 PM
Hi Brian-
Sounds like a fun trip. A few points though, Kenai Fjords Tours only offers the Captains Choice Tour through August 23rd, so that solves that "dilemma"
I have not traveled with ERA heli ops before, but I would think you would have a better chance of a window/door open shooting experience with them, rather than a plane. I don't know though, how the flight itself is or the proximity to the range/mountains. Helicopters have a lower ceiling when compared to fixed wing aircraft, and the Alaska Range is, well... up there Your best bet is to call the company directly and inquire. HOWEVER, a helicopter based flightseeing tour over Denali National Park (the lower & mid-elevations) would be extraordinary for aerial photography. Lots of amazing colors & patterns around that time of year - as you will be coinciding with peak fall colors on the tundra/taiga.
Jim Dewitt can likely offer better advice for Denali National Park.
The Kenai Peninsula/Prince William Sound (PWS) leg of your trip may be a bit more difficult, because you will be there on the shoulder season, and some of the tour operators will have closed their doors for the year. There are other tour operators that may be willing to work with you - I would check with Alaska Saltwater Lodge (in Seward) http://alaskasaltwaterlodge.com/alaska_photo_tours.htm
to see if he would be willing to take you out for a day on the boat for wildlife/landscape photography. It's a possibility, but he may need multiple passengers to make the trip $$ worthwhile $$.
PWS & Kenai Fjords are completely different experiences. Kenai Fjords is known (at least during the summer time) for the amazing array of wildlife: whales, orca, porpoise, steller sea lions, puffins, otters etc. & great seascapes. Typically, in the PWS, you will experience less large wildlife (whales & orca), but there will be steller sea lions, otters, seals & great glaciers to photograph.
I hope this helps get you started, please feel free to contact me with any questions. I hope your trip is very successful. If I may offer 1 last piece of advice... I understand the need for visitors to cram as much in as possible when visiting Alaska. However, Alaska is huge & you may be better served by devoting your time to one location, rather than spreading yourself too thin and not getting enough quality time in one location. Just my 2 cents.
Thank you for your response! I'm certainly dissappointed that I will not be able to take that Kenai Fjords. That may lead me to rethink the trip, and do as you suggest, just stay around Denali for the week (though my wife and I simply cannot camp there for an entire week, and the lodging options seem prohibitively expensive).
Though I was also going to check on the Salt Water Lodge Tour anyway, so I'll call them and see.
Not to add complication, but I just got an itch for some compelling grizzly bear photography. Am I likely to get enough at Denali, or should I consider replacing the Kenai Fjords portion of the trip with a bear viewing trip somewhere?
Era Helicopters probably offers the best tours of Denali, has a good safety record and takes care of its equipment. Expect to pay $350 or so per person. The hour-long tour is probably the best. Note that you will be flying with the doors open or off, so dress like it will be winter, because it will certainly feel like it. Remember you are absolutely at the mercy of the weather as to whether you will lift off and where you will go. Have a "Plan B."
Everyone has their own preferences, but I'd camp out of Wonder Lake for several reasons. First, the further you are from the Parks Highway the fewer people are underfoot, and the more big game is around. Second, as you probably know most travel inside the park is by shuttle bus. There's a morning shuttle that originates at Kantishna Lodge and stops at Wonder Lake CG at about 6:15 AM, giving the you the ability to travel east early when critters are still out. By contrast, I don't know of any shuttle buses that get to Teklanika CG before about 10 AM, and those may not have room.
You'll probably see bears, but probably not very close to the road. For bear photography, you really need to head to the salmon streams when the salmon are still running. Brooks Falls and McNeil River are two prime spots. There's a good place on Admiralty Island in Southeast Alaska, but I've never been there. There are recent threads on those sites on this forum, I believe.
One other thought: the charismatic megafauna - brown bear, caribou, moose and sheep (also called the "easy four) - get all the press and most of the photographs. But Denali has a lot more to offer that isn't well-photographed. Arctic Ground Squirrels, Hoary Marmots, Collared Pika, Snowshoe Hares; all are pretty easy to find but less commonly photographed. The "hard four" - wolf, lynx, wolverine and river otter - are better still. Most visitors to the park never get 100 meters from the road. My experience in Denali is that the further you can hoof it from the road the better your odds of finding great photos.
A last thing: the weather. Denali - the mountain - is big and cold and makes its own weather. I have camped at Wonder Lake in the fall for ten days and never seen any part of the mountain. The late, great Michio Hoshino famously winter camped there for two months to get late winter/early spring shots of the Mountain, and only saw it twice for a couple of hours. August and early September are the rainy season in Interior Alaska. That doesn't mean it is cloudy all the time, but if there is significant moisture in the air, Denali sucks it out and hides behind it. You have to have Plan B and Plan C or you'll be spending tedious amounts of time in a tent or on a shuttle bus cursing the rain and gray.
All this sounds pretty negative, and I don't mean to. If you wake camped at Wonder Lake at 4:30 AM and see the alpenglow on the Wickersham Wall of Denali, you'll never forget it. But you just can't count on it.
I always heard that September presented perhaps the best chance of seeing Denali. I guess I stand corrected. So many decisions to make...
Posted by David Taylor on June 29, 2009 at 2:03 AM
My pleasure-
If you can afford a trip to Katmai, I always suggest it. I've only worked with Emerald Air Service, out of Homer. Ken and Chris Day are fantastic. I've also heard good things about Bald Mountain Air (also in Homer) as well, but have no experience with them. Keep in mind, the same wet conditions up north in Denali are present as well on the Kenai Peninsula and across the Inlet in Katmai. Flights to Katmai are weather dependent, so you may end up traveling down to Homer in the hopes of a flight across the Inlet to Katmai - only to be canceled by weather. Typically, that time of year, bear viewing moves further inland, beyond the coastal mountain ranges and onto the vibrant red tundra. In order to get over the passes though, the pilots need good visibility - hence the dependence on weather. Rest assured though, with Emerald Air - if it's not safe, they won't take you and you'll get your money back.
As for the best chance of seeing Denali... I had an amazing winter this past year. I live about 1 hour south of Talkeetna, and made weekend trips up to a few choice locations (near Talkeetna) sometimes 2 or 3 times a weekend for several months. We had amazing early morning views of the entire Alaska Range. It was cold, to be sure, but so worth it. My best luck for seeing the mountain has so far been January through March/April. I'm lucky though, when I have a free couple of hours or a weekend coming up, I just check the mountain report & Denali NP forecast and make plans accordingly. Most people don't have that kind of access. I love summers up here, but now I'm really looking forward to winter months again for Denali photography & another glacier landing in the Great Gorge. One of these years, I'm going to get ballsy and pull a Norio Matsumoto and charter a plane to land me on a glacier and do a couple days up there during the winter. His photos are stunning.
Jim has given the best advice for anyone photographing in Alaska - local or visitor. Have back up plans.
I agree you have a better chance of seeing Denali in the Winter, but I would stick with your September dates - that is an awesome time of year! You have fall colors, the mammals looks beautiful, no bugs and much warmer.
That $350 open window or open door deal on ERA that Jim writes about is a no brainer - that would be top of my list. I have done a lot of aerial helicopter photography and it is a rush, but imperative to have an open window or door. In the past ERA wouldn't allow for this, so I paid some $800 per hour at Alpine Air. I'll be booking that tour myself!
As far as Kenai Fjords goes, all services are available well past your dates in September. It tends to be rougher that time of year, so they don't send out the smaller Captains Choice boats, but Kenai Fjords, Renown and Major Marine are all still running then. I wouldn't do the Captains Choice tour that time of year even if it was available. The advantage to that tour is that it is far less crowed. In September the big boats will be fairly empty anyway, and much more stable, and far faster - there isn't an advantage to the Captains Choice at that time of year in my opinion which is why they probably part of the reason they don't offer it. Personally, I would much rather be on one of the 3 tour vessels I mention then on a smaller vessel like the Saltwater Safari Lodge, especially in September.
I have spent lots of time in Kenai Fjords and PWS. I think they are both equally beautiful, but in PWS you will have to be lucky to see whales, in Kenai Fjords, you will always see whales. Especially that time of year when the Orca super pods form - you may see hundreds. Depending on the tour, you will see more seals, otters and sea lions in Kenai Fjords as well. It is unlikely you will see puffin in either location.
Harding Icefield is an absolutely amazing hike - probably my favorite anywhere! Bear Glacier is a wonderful destination. I haven't been into Bear Glacier that time of year, but the water taxi operator was just telling me last weekend that September is the best time of year there. The Kenai Fjords boat tour and Bear Glacier kayaking are two completely unique experiences, you won't be over-lapping.
When it comes to Denali - you can't beat Wonder Lake if the mountain is out. Like Jim said, there is an early bus (maybe 2) that run east every morning, this is a great option. If the mountain isn't out, I would rather be at Tek. Unless something changed, in the pat there has always been an early bus leaving Tek west bound that you can reserve as part of your Tek Campground reservation - Jim may know something I don't, I haven't been to Denali since last September. I know the schedule does change based upon the time of year so you better double check.
You hit on exactly what I would suggest - book Tek and Wonder Lake simultaneously and play the weather game. You will probably need to book under two separate names, that isn't a problem if you are traveling with someone. I would feel funny doing that in the summer when the campgrounds are full - but in September, Tek usually isn't full.
Thank you all again. The three of you really have extraordinary knowledge, images, and a willingness to share. I'm getting close to pulling the trigger on all my plans... unfortunately, every day the budget creeps up and up... I got make some hard choices to keep the trip manageable. I guess if I'm just doing the major tours in Kenai (and the ERA trip), the toursaver book might come in handy and cut those costs in half for 2 people...
I know this might be hard to do, but you might hold off on making reservations for things like the Kenai Fjords boat tour - they won't fill that time of year, and chances are high that there will be some great deals being offered then on what is called the shoulder season. This past May for example, Renown Tours was doing a package of boat tour, room at the Holiday Inn Express and pass to the Sealife Center for $150 per person double occupancy. Worse case, you'll pay for price like you would if you make reservations today.
Posted by David Taylor on July 1, 2009 at 12:15 AM
I agree with Ron - wait till you get into/near Seward and watch the weather a week out. Then choose the best day (weather wise) and reserve the day before. Renown haaaaas been offering some great packages lately on shoulder seasons. I think it was them that offered a train ride from ANC to Seward and back + a Kenai Fjords NP boat tour (4 hours I think) + a salmon dinner. All for $150
Discussion
10 repliesUpon arrival, I intend to rent a car and drive to Denali. At Denali,my main goals are 1) wildlife and 2) pictures of Mt. Denali. To that end, I'm considering two options. First, take the camper bus on Saturday morning spend three nights at Wonder Lake. While I'm pumped about Wonder Lake, I'm worried that I might feel quite isolated out there for three days, and I might miss wildlife opportunities in other places in the park. The other alternative is to car camp from the Tek Campground for 4-days, and in the middle, just spend a night or two Wonder Lake. Tek puts me more in the middle of the park, with access to the shuttle bus while I'm there, so I feel like I can explore more in addition to seeing Wonder Lake. Any preferences? Also, is it permissible to reserve a site at Tek for four days, leave the car and some of the gear there, then leave for day of camping at Wonder Lake without checking out of the Tek Campground?
When leaving Denali, I'm also considering a flightseeing tour. I'm a bit afraid of flying, so this one is uncertain. Based upon Mr. Taylor's video and website, I'm considering Talkeenta Air Taxi. But I'm also interested in ERA Helicopters. Has any taken a helicopter tour? Does the Helicopter really get in near McKinley? Are there any flight/helos that allow you to shoot through an open window, or is it all through plexi?
The latter half of the week (three days) will be spent in the Seward/Kenai area (possibly Whittier instead?). I will spend one day hiking Exit Glacier/Harding Ice Field. The next two days are up for debate. The number 1 priority is a cruise. I had been set for either the Captain's Choice Kenai Fjords small cruise. But then I just read that cruise out of Whittier into Prince William Sound are actually better than cruises into Kenai. Anyone have any feedback on Kenai versus Whittier for a glacier and wildlife cruise?
The next question is whether I will find a glacial kayaking expedition overkill after taking a cruise the day before? The glacial day kayaking trips are quite expensive (about $350 per person) and my funds are far from unlimited. The one I'm considering is to Bear Glacier with Kayak Adventures Worldwide out of Seward. I really want a pure glacial kayaking eperience, floating among bergs and finding cool blue compositions/abstracts. I hope the cruise the day before takes care of much of the wildlife. Any feedback on whether this is just too much overlap between the cruise and the kayak?
Given the choice between a flightseeing trip to Denali or a day glacial kayaking, which would you recommend?
Thanks in advance for your tips!
Sounds like a fun trip. A few points though, Kenai Fjords Tours only offers the Captains Choice Tour through August 23rd, so that solves that "dilemma"
I have not traveled with ERA heli ops before, but I would think you would have a better chance of a window/door open shooting experience with them, rather than a plane. I don't know though, how the flight itself is or the proximity to the range/mountains. Helicopters have a lower ceiling when compared to fixed wing aircraft, and the Alaska Range is, well... up there
Jim Dewitt can likely offer better advice for Denali National Park.
The Kenai Peninsula/Prince William Sound (PWS) leg of your trip may be a bit more difficult, because you will be there on the shoulder season, and some of the tour operators will have closed their doors for the year. There are other tour operators that may be willing to work with you - I would check with Alaska Saltwater Lodge (in Seward) http://alaskasaltwaterlodge.com/alaska_photo_tours.htm
to see if he would be willing to take you out for a day on the boat for wildlife/landscape photography. It's a possibility, but he may need multiple passengers to make the trip $$ worthwhile $$.
PWS & Kenai Fjords are completely different experiences. Kenai Fjords is known (at least during the summer time) for the amazing array of wildlife: whales, orca, porpoise, steller sea lions, puffins, otters etc. & great seascapes. Typically, in the PWS, you will experience less large wildlife (whales & orca), but there will be steller sea lions, otters, seals & great glaciers to photograph.
I hope this helps get you started, please feel free to contact me with any questions. I hope your trip is very successful. If I may offer 1 last piece of advice... I understand the need for visitors to cram as much in as possible when visiting Alaska. However, Alaska is huge & you may be better served by devoting your time to one location, rather than spreading yourself too thin and not getting enough quality time in one location. Just my 2 cents.
Though I was also going to check on the Salt Water Lodge Tour anyway, so I'll call them and see.
Not to add complication, but I just got an itch for some compelling grizzly bear photography. Am I likely to get enough at Denali, or should I consider replacing the Kenai Fjords portion of the trip with a bear viewing trip somewhere?
Era Helicopters probably offers the best tours of Denali, has a good safety record and takes care of its equipment. Expect to pay $350 or so per person. The hour-long tour is probably the best. Note that you will be flying with the doors open or off, so dress like it will be winter, because it will certainly feel like it. Remember you are absolutely at the mercy of the weather as to whether you will lift off and where you will go. Have a "Plan B."
Everyone has their own preferences, but I'd camp out of Wonder Lake for several reasons. First, the further you are from the Parks Highway the fewer people are underfoot, and the more big game is around. Second, as you probably know most travel inside the park is by shuttle bus. There's a morning shuttle that originates at Kantishna Lodge and stops at Wonder Lake CG at about 6:15 AM, giving the you the ability to travel east early when critters are still out. By contrast, I don't know of any shuttle buses that get to Teklanika CG before about 10 AM, and those may not have room.
You'll probably see bears, but probably not very close to the road. For bear photography, you really need to head to the salmon streams when the salmon are still running. Brooks Falls and McNeil River are two prime spots. There's a good place on Admiralty Island in Southeast Alaska, but I've never been there. There are recent threads on those sites on this forum, I believe.
One other thought: the charismatic megafauna - brown bear, caribou, moose and sheep (also called the "easy four) - get all the press and most of the photographs. But Denali has a lot more to offer that isn't well-photographed. Arctic Ground Squirrels, Hoary Marmots, Collared Pika, Snowshoe Hares; all are pretty easy to find but less commonly photographed. The "hard four" - wolf, lynx, wolverine and river otter - are better still. Most visitors to the park never get 100 meters from the road. My experience in Denali is that the further you can hoof it from the road the better your odds of finding great photos.
A last thing: the weather. Denali - the mountain - is big and cold and makes its own weather. I have camped at Wonder Lake in the fall for ten days and never seen any part of the mountain. The late, great Michio Hoshino famously winter camped there for two months to get late winter/early spring shots of the Mountain, and only saw it twice for a couple of hours. August and early September are the rainy season in Interior Alaska. That doesn't mean it is cloudy all the time, but if there is significant moisture in the air, Denali sucks it out and hides behind it. You have to have Plan B and Plan C or you'll be spending tedious amounts of time in a tent or on a shuttle bus cursing the rain and gray.
All this sounds pretty negative, and I don't mean to. If you wake camped at Wonder Lake at 4:30 AM and see the alpenglow on the Wickersham Wall of Denali, you'll never forget it. But you just can't count on it.
Hope this helps.
I always heard that September presented perhaps the best chance of seeing Denali. I guess I stand corrected. So many decisions to make...
If you can afford a trip to Katmai, I always suggest it. I've only worked with Emerald Air Service, out of Homer. Ken and Chris Day are fantastic. I've also heard good things about Bald Mountain Air (also in Homer) as well, but have no experience with them. Keep in mind, the same wet conditions up north in Denali are present as well on the Kenai Peninsula and across the Inlet in Katmai. Flights to Katmai are weather dependent, so you may end up traveling down to Homer in the hopes of a flight across the Inlet to Katmai - only to be canceled by weather. Typically, that time of year, bear viewing moves further inland, beyond the coastal mountain ranges and onto the vibrant red tundra. In order to get over the passes though, the pilots need good visibility - hence the dependence on weather. Rest assured though, with Emerald Air - if it's not safe, they won't take you and you'll get your money back.
As for the best chance of seeing Denali... I had an amazing winter this past year. I live about 1 hour south of Talkeetna, and made weekend trips up to a few choice locations (near Talkeetna) sometimes 2 or 3 times a weekend for several months. We had amazing early morning views of the entire Alaska Range. It was cold, to be sure, but so worth it. My best luck for seeing the mountain has so far been January through March/April. I'm lucky though, when I have a free couple of hours or a weekend coming up, I just check the mountain report & Denali NP forecast and make plans accordingly. Most people don't have that kind of access. I love summers up here, but now I'm really looking forward to winter months again for Denali photography & another glacier landing in the Great Gorge. One of these years, I'm going to get ballsy and pull a Norio Matsumoto and charter a plane to land me on a glacier and do a couple days up there during the winter. His photos are stunning.
Jim has given the best advice for anyone photographing in Alaska - local or visitor. Have back up plans.
That $350 open window or open door deal on ERA that Jim writes about is a no brainer - that would be top of my list. I have done a lot of aerial helicopter photography and it is a rush, but imperative to have an open window or door. In the past ERA wouldn't allow for this, so I paid some $800 per hour at Alpine Air. I'll be booking that tour myself!
As far as Kenai Fjords goes, all services are available well past your dates in September. It tends to be rougher that time of year, so they don't send out the smaller Captains Choice boats, but Kenai Fjords, Renown and Major Marine are all still running then. I wouldn't do the Captains Choice tour that time of year even if it was available. The advantage to that tour is that it is far less crowed. In September the big boats will be fairly empty anyway, and much more stable, and far faster - there isn't an advantage to the Captains Choice at that time of year in my opinion which is why they probably part of the reason they don't offer it. Personally, I would much rather be on one of the 3 tour vessels I mention then on a smaller vessel like the Saltwater Safari Lodge, especially in September.
I have spent lots of time in Kenai Fjords and PWS. I think they are both equally beautiful, but in PWS you will have to be lucky to see whales, in Kenai Fjords, you will always see whales. Especially that time of year when the Orca super pods form - you may see hundreds. Depending on the tour, you will see more seals, otters and sea lions in Kenai Fjords as well. It is unlikely you will see puffin in either location.
Harding Icefield is an absolutely amazing hike - probably my favorite anywhere! Bear Glacier is a wonderful destination. I haven't been into Bear Glacier that time of year, but the water taxi operator was just telling me last weekend that September is the best time of year there. The Kenai Fjords boat tour and Bear Glacier kayaking are two completely unique experiences, you won't be over-lapping.
When it comes to Denali - you can't beat Wonder Lake if the mountain is out. Like Jim said, there is an early bus (maybe 2) that run east every morning, this is a great option. If the mountain isn't out, I would rather be at Tek. Unless something changed, in the pat there has always been an early bus leaving Tek west bound that you can reserve as part of your Tek Campground reservation - Jim may know something I don't, I haven't been to Denali since last September. I know the schedule does change based upon the time of year so you better double check.
You hit on exactly what I would suggest - book Tek and Wonder Lake simultaneously and play the weather game. You will probably need to book under two separate names, that isn't a problem if you are traveling with someone. I would feel funny doing that in the summer when the campgrounds are full - but in September, Tek usually isn't full.
You are going to have a great trip!
Ron