Final Thoughts

I very much enjoyed visiting Alaska. I think the best summertime visits are June-August. I would love to revisit in October or September to view the Northern Lights,  Aurora Borealis. And do flightseeing, whitewater rafting, and maybe try again with sea kayaking. 

I hope you enjoyed this blog. 

If you come, wear layers. I wore t-shirts some days, some combination of moisture wicking base layer, long sleeve shirt, pullover, and wind jacket on other days. Just a Craghoppers wind jacket was all I needed for a "coat." I brought 2 quarter zip light to medium weight pullovers (Land's End, Eddie Bauer), and 2 Ex Officio BugsAway long sleeve shirts.

The base layer was just basic Old Navy performance long sleeve shirts. Great to wear alone also. 

Water resistant hiking pants like Columbia Silver Ridge or whatever brand you like that are easy to wash and dry can be worn for more than a day. Sometimes I wore them 3 days in a row! Shhh. I had some convertible zip pants but never unzipped them to use as shorts. But it is a nice option. I just didn't like the Carhartt version I had - not enough pocket space. The Craghoppers pants were great because they had 3 secret Zip security pockets. Though I did tear the bottoms where my heels clipped them when I wore regular walking shoes instead of hiking shoes. 

I wore the hiking shoes on the plane, and packed slides and my Tom's slip on shoes for non hiking.  My hiking shoes are Merrell Moab. I love em. 

I did bring gloves and a moisture wicking  skullcap/beanie that came in handy on the boat. The skullcap was thin enough for basic sun protection as well. No special gloves, just whatever you already have. 

Do wear sunscreen daily. In summer you have daylight 21-24 hours per day.

Do bring insect repellent. The mosquitos are gigantic and plentiful in Denali.

Do wear a hat. I wore my Panama outback hat and packed a foldable water cooling bucket hat from Mission.

Do eat halibut.

Do drink local. There are tons of great craft breweries in Alaska. 

Do take the train in central Alaska.

Do rent a car in the Kenai peninsula. 

Do bring gloves for Kenai Fjords cruises.

Don't  miss Talkeetna.

Don't forget to tip your tour guides.

Don't spend much time in Anchorage.  Use it as a base or stopover to other places. Downtown restaurants are nice but not many of them.

Don't bring a super heavy coat unless going to glacier landing or going in winter.

Also, Don't go glacier landing and ruin its ecosystem.

Interestingly, Homer and Seward on the south coast is colder than the north, including Fairbanks.

Do stay near the airport in Fairbanks.

I'm already thinking about my next trip. Croatia? Scotland? Australia? 

Keep travelling, friends. Safely.

Peace.