Tell me about renting an RV...
Renting an RV is like renting a car. Make your reservation, show up, and drive away. OK, so you do get about a 45-minute briefing on how everything works and how to drive one. And after the first 100 miles and first 3 backups you get pretty used to driving one.
When you need a place to stay you can either search for an RV park with hookups, search for a campsite without hookups, or pull off almost anywhere. We really only needed hookups every other day or so, and that was for electricity to charge our camera and laptop batteries.
When is the best time to go?
We went in late May through early June. This is pre-season, so everything is a little less expensive and a lot less crowded. At this time of year you will see baby animals, but there might not be a lot of green foliage.
If you go in July or August you will see a lot more wildflowers. You'll also get crowds, mosquitos, and rain.
In September the crowds, prices, and warm weather dies down, and you'll get fall colors. Even on the tundra.
What was the weather like?
The weather was quite nice for us in late May and early June. We didn't need a jacket during the day. Sometimes you did at night. The heater always kicked on in the RV at night. We got really lucky where most of our days were sunny with great visibility.
How much daylight did you experience?
Daylight was constant -- at midnight the sky was red with the setting sun. They say that the sunrise was usually at 4:00a, but we never saw it. It was difficult to sleep in an environment seeping with sunlight so late, but thanks to our active days we were tired enough.
How big is Alaska?
Alaska is the largest state. It is approximately 1/5 the size of the rest of the entire country. Denali National Park is 6 million acres, larger than New Hampshire. Take a look at the map and where we went. That was 1200 miles. Alaska has enough room for 3,000,000 lakes. Alaska is a big state.
Were the mosquitos bad?
In some areas they were horrible. One sign we saw said that there were 27 species of mosquitos. Don't ask me how they counted. We were there early enough in the season that we didn't have to suffer the wrath of those biting insects. We only got a few bites. Luckily they are so big that you can almost feel them land on you 8-).
How were the gas prices?
In Anchorage we paid the least at about $2.90/gallon, which at the time was cheaper than Phoenix. In the other towns such as Seward and Homer it was $3.14/gallon. Way up north outside of Denali National Park it was $3.45/gallon.
Our mileage was less than 10mpg. I was actually afraid to calculate it. Suffice to say that from Anchorage to the gas station outside of Denali depleted 3/4 of our tank and cost me $125. If you're going up to Denali make sure you stay there a couple of days to amortize the costs over a greater period.
Isn't it expensive?
Supermarket food was about the same price as the continental 48 states. Restaurants were expensive.
Guided activities all seemed to be $135 for 2 adults and 1 child. The Kenai Fjords tour was very expensive, but worth it.
RV rental was about $150/day pre-season. An RV is cost effective compared to hotels, rental cars, and restaurants if you drive somewhere and stay there for a few days. Don't just drive hundreds of miles every day like we almost did.
If you add up the cost of RV rental and activities, they may begin to dwarf the cost of airfare. So don't worry too much about saving $50 on a plane ticket because you'll spend a lot more than that in the state.
I know a few people that went to Alaska and they didn't see any wildlife compared to your experience. How did you do it?
We were trained by Chuck, the Denali bus driver on our first Alaska trip in 2000. He taught us how to spot wildlife. First and foremost you have to be actively looking for it. The animals are out there, you need to stay awake and always be scanning the scenery, the roads, the horizon, the air, the rivers, the trees.... Second, once you spot an animal it becomes easier to spot again later. Eagles were a lot easier to spot once we saw our first one.
How were the crowds?
Except for Denali National Park bus ride and the campgrounds over Memorial Day weekend, we encountered no crowds. I'm not sure if it was the earliness of the season, or if gas prices were constricting tourist season, but we had the run of the place wherever we went. RV rental shops start charging more starting June 14, perhaps some magic day that all the crowds come in. As a result of the lack of people, we didn't need reservations on anything except the Denali bus. And those we booked 2 days beforehand.
What kind of photographic equipment did you use?
On this trip I had a Canon 20D 8.2megapixel digital SLR. I used a 100-400mm IS lens for the wildlife and a 38-138mm IS lens for just about everything else. Occasionally I brought out the 12mm extension tube for extreme closeups. No tripod, no monopod, no filters.
Almost everything was taken in Aperture priority mode. For wildlife it was cranked wide open to get the fastest shutter speed. If necessary I increased the ISO to increase the shutter speed more. All panoramas were taken in Manual mode.
