Preparation
Prepurchases
Preparation for this trip was pretty simple. Since we were going before the real tourist season started (apparently it starts June 14), the only things we prepurchased were our airline tickets, our RV rental, and seats on the Denali shuttle bus. All of these things were absolutely required.We also prepurchased a sea kayaking expedition in Valdez, but it turned out that it was unnecessary. We were the only ones there and could have just done it on a walk-in. Indeed, if we hadn't paid for the sea kayaking adventure up front, we may not have gone to Valdez.
Prepurchasing other tours is probably required during the height of tourist season. If you are unsure, make reservations ahead of time.
Clothing
We packed about 4 days worth of clothes and made sure we had layers. We tried out some convertible pants (the legs zip off to make shorts) and they worked quite well. Rain gear and cold-weather gear are essential in June. You can kill 2 birds with one stone here by getting a Gortex jacket.Food
We heard that food was quite expensive in Alaska, so we brought up a lot of our own. This turned out to be quite unnecessary since the supermarkets really aren't any more expensive there than anywhere else. Except for perishables, milk, and soda (for some weird reason).Equipment
Mosquito repellant is required. Make sure you bring all of your camera equipment and about twice as much film as you think you'll need. Get a big zoom lens for wildlife shots -- you'll never capture anything through a basic point-and-shoot. Forget about disposables and buy a real camera.