Alaska Things to Do Tips by AKtravelers

Take a Cruise of Prince William Sound

Even though we had already taken a cruise in Seward, some locals ensured us that we saw nothing until we saw Prince William Sound. They were right!
We took a ride on the "Lulu Belle" as recommended by our friendly restaurant owners and, even though it was over $100 a person, it was the best bargain of the trip. We were supposed to be out for seven ours, but the trip lasted ten as the enthusiastic captain never tired of showing us his favorite corners of the sound. We stopped by the house of an oysterman for his fresh catch of the day and had a lunch of seafood. We saw puffins, otters, seals and a variety of bird life as we went in and out of the coves. We passed glaciers and icebergs and beautiful mountains. The opening picture of our Alaska page was taken on this cruise.
The captain also provided a running commentary, laced with humor and opinion, that really added to the journey.

Wrangell-St.Elias National Park and Chitna

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park is the largest in the United States, so our small day hike along the park's margins hardly makes us an expert. And the low-hanging clouds prevented us from having much of a view of the famous mountains. Still, it was a nice little jaunt.
Amazingly, the most memorable thing about our visit to Wrangell-St. Elias was the town of Chitna, which is at the gateway to the park and the ocation of the park's visitor's center. There is almost nothing noice about the town. When we wandered around it's streets, there was one house that was partially burned down, overgrown lawns everywhere and heaps of garbage and rusted car shells everywhere. It was almost as if every property-owner in town took a turn hosting the town dump!

See Santa Claus at North Pole Alaska

During the 1960's, a the leaders of a small town east of Fairbanks decided to change their village's name to improve its image and possibly increase tourism ( I should look this up but I believe the previous name of the town referred to its abundance of misquitoes). They chose North Pole, reasoning that nothing raided money like Christmas. Soon, a Santa's Village was built complete with the "real" Santa Claus, whom you can see year 'round. Accompanying this tip is a picture of me with Santa. The picture I wish I had was of Santa pulling down Mr. Monnie's pants -- I just wasn't quick enough!

Go Hiking and Camping in Denali National Park

Denali National Park (also known as Mt. McKinley NP) is one of Alaska's jewels, encompassing an entire ecosystem the size of some of the lower 48 states. Within the bounds of this park, we saw 31 grizzly bears, moosem caribou, a wolf and lots lots more. The scenary is spectacular even if you don't see the famous mountain (we caught a fleeting glimpse of it, that's all). We spent three nights at a back country campground, using the shuttle bus (the only transportation allowed) to ferry us back and forth between starting points. If you have a backcountry camping permit, the bus is required to stop and pick you up when you flag it down. If the bus is full, backcountry passholders get preference, so this worked well for us.
There are no hiking trails in the park, but with most of it above treeline, dead reckoning and stream-following works for short hikes. A contour map, compass and/or GPS is essential for longer hikes. Because the tundra is squishy, the going is slow outside of hiking along stream beds.

Tour Kenai Fjords National Park by Boat

The best way to see Kenai Fjords National Park quickly is to take a boat tour from Seward. There are several that operate from the docks in what passes for downtown in this small seaside village. The boat tours may seem expensive, but ours came with a salmon lunch as well as 8 hours on the water looking at glaciers, orcas, puffins, seals, eagles and beautiful mnountain scenary.