Route Overview

For our trip, we spent a lot of time considering what exact paths we wanted to take, and where we wanted to stop. Originally, we were thinking about going up and back along the coast, stopping in Ketchikan, Juneau, and Anchorage. Eventually, we decided to skip Anchorage and also have the flight back go through the interior of Canada, along the Alcan Highway. Generally, the interior route is thought to be a little safer, as there are more landing options and a highway to land on. Also, there's less of a chance of poor weather on the "highway route".

Cities, Sites, and Activities

Ketchikan

We don't have a lot planned for Ketchikan, it's mostly a stop and sleep, but we're planning on making the most of it. The Airport in Ketchikan is actually on an island across the water from Ketchikan proper so our first task will be to get across the water. We're hoping to hire a water taxi which will be a bit of a fun little excursion right off the bat. Our accommodations for the night will be at Cape Fox Lodge, and we're planning on riding the Funicular to get there. Totem Poles and Creek Street seem to be the main attractions in Ketchikan. Our hotel even has some pretty cool totems. Creek Street is right at the base of the Funicular!

Juneau

Juneau is both a fun destination (and the Capitol of Alaska), and a bit of buffer in the schedule. We'll be staying at the gorgeous historic Jorgenson House Bed & Breakfast in downtown Juneau. We're planning on doing two tours of the Mendenhall Glacier, one is a canoe tour on Mendenhall Lake that goes near the face of the glacier and the other is a helicopter tour that lands on top of the glacier at a summer sled dog training camp. We expect the sled tour will be the highlight of the trip for our 5 year old as she'll get some mushing training and puppy snuggles.

Talkeetna

Talkeetna is the other true destination. While we're there, we're going to get a commercial tour of Denali from K2 Aviation.

Whitehorse

On our trip home, our first stop over for the night will be in Whitehorse, the capitol city of the Yukon. We're staying at the Coast High Country Inn, and we're going to try to visit the Yukon Wildlife Preserve

Prince George

Prince George is another night stop-over, like Ketchikan. Unlike Ketchikan, though, our hotel in Prince George has a killer indoor pool with a waterslide. This will likely be Emma's second-favorite thing about the whole trip. We're staying at the Pomeroy Inn and Suites.