Hi Janice,

Thanks for your reply. Normally I am not the kind of person that goes
on an organized trip, I like my independence too much, but I would be
all alone going to Alaska, so it would be nice to meet new friends on
an organized trip (read: adventure trip, not the run-of-the-mill
package tours). but adventure = camping, hence my dilemma since I like
to be warm in my bed ;-). In any case, if I find anyone who wants to
come with me (none of my friends want to come to Alaska), I would rent
a car and travel around l ike that, and then I will definitely contact
you again for those addresses. Although the likelihood of someone
coming along is very low...
I guess the weather in Alaska is as varied as it is in Belgium in the
summer: you never know what you will get !

Marianne (Maddie)

schreef:

Maddie wrote:
Hi Craig,

Thank you so much for your advice, it really helps a lot ! I plan to
participate in an organised tour since I would be going alone. Most of
these tours go to Kenai, Denali, Fairbanks, Wrangell, so to the major
attractions in Alaska. Although it is a shame that none of these add
the Inside Passage to their programme.

Maddie,

I cannot imagine doing AK on an organized trip. I have been to Alaska
17 times over the past 9 years, going in almost every single month just
to experience it at different times. I do have friends there, so that
helps.

I don't know what the cost of the organized tour is, but Alaska is
expensive to rent a car or travel by trains but may be worth the
trade-off. Depending on your age and interests, there are many things
that I would recommend on doing this unorganized. This last year we
spent five days at Valdez, fishing, camping and sea kayaking and it was
one of my best trips. I have never been to Wrangell, but on looking it
up, many of the same things are available there as in Valdez. If you
want to be on the water, I wouldn't go as late as September because I
have seen snow in August in Denali and it is much more fun to be out
kayaking, camping, and fishing in the 70s than when it is 30. I try to
spend several weeks in Denali/Healy every summer because that is my
home base.

Good luck on your trip and if you decide not to go organized I will
provide names of some boat owners and hotels that may give you more
bang for your buck than just looking on the internet.

Janice

PS: Everyone talks about the mosquitos, and they can be bad, but in
all my summers there, they never stopped me from doing anything. You
are less likely to find them so pesky from late July through August.