Alaska activities

[Ghoulish Delight]

We stayed in Anchorage, so everything we did was within about 1-2 hours drive from there. The only thing we did that required a reservation was rafting on the Kenai river. It's about as tame as it gets rapids-wise, but absolutely beautiful.

Portage glacier's worth a trip. You get about an hour's boat ride on the glacial lake, getting a good view of the glacier's face and a decent chance of witnessing some calving.

Right near Portage is the Big Game park. It's no San Diego Zoo, but you get some real up close views of Alaska's native large animals.

Matanuska Glacier, north of the city, is one where you can get down and walk right on the glacier.

We've got plenty of visual aids of what we did.

[wendybeth]

We did the cruise thing, so I only have info on the ports we visited. Moon had a great webpage up for his trip there- I would ask him!

[MouseWife]

The only thing I can add~

I am trying to get something planned up towards the mountains the weekend of August 12th for the meteor showers.

I'd reckon up there you might be able to get some great views.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/august...JEKqgN4Ias0NUE

{Sorry if this doesn't pertain to your area...never bothered to read exactly the best places...mostly I want to get up to the mountains and this is a great reason...}

[DreadPirateRoberts]

I spent some time doing killer whale research up in Whittier Alaska, it's on the Prince William sound. To get there, you traverse a 2.5 mile tunnel that alternates between cars and trains. When we did it, about 15 years ago, we drove the car onto a flatbed railcar and rode the train in, not sure how they do it now. Prince William Sound is beautiful, I didn't do this tour, but it looks pretty interesting.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by DreadPirateRoberts

I spent some time doing killer whale research up in Whittier Alaska, it's on the Prince William sound. To get there, you traverse a 2.5 mile tunnel that alternates between cars and trains. When we did it, about 15 years ago, we drove the car onto a flatbed railcar and rode the train in, not sure how they do it now.

It's been converted, so trains can run, and cars can drive over the tracks as well. It's too narrow to accommodate two lanes, so every half hour they switch the direction. It's an interesting process, and the drive is not for anyone with claustrophobia. Most of it is a rough hewn tunnel with bare, jagged rock staring at you. Whittier itself was a simple port town, but the journey to get there was a kick.

I looked it up, it's the second longest highway tunnel in North America. Worth a visit.

[DreadPirateRoberts]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

It's been converted, so trains can run, and cars can drive over the tracks as well. It's too narrow to accommodate two lanes, so every half hour they switch the direction. It's an interesting process, and the drive is not for anyone with claustrophobia. Most of it is a rough hewn tunnel with bare, jagged rock staring at you. Whittier itself was a simple port town, but the journey to get there was a kick.

I looked it up, it's the second longest highway tunnel in North America. Worth a visit.

Thanks for the updated info. I always thought it was interesting that everyone in the town of Whittier lived in one building. From what I heard, it was a real soap opera, living there. Certainly not a tourist spot in itself, but a jumping off point for Prince William Sound adventures.