fotogk Loc: Tuftonboro, NH

Need input, planning a trip to Alaska this summer and will be in Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan. If any have visited these areas suggestions of place to see, tours thing not to miss. Thank you for any help.

UncleBuck Loc: Malvern, Arkansas

Don't miss Whale Watching & Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Skagway the White Pass and Yukon railroad trip, dress warm. You'll need a good zoom lens, the Tracy Arm Fijord trip is oustanding. Don't miss the sunrises and sunsets. You'll have an amazing trip.

fotogk Loc: Tuftonboro, NH

thank you for the reply, how difficult is the Mendenhall Glacier hikes looking at a tour

UncleBuck Loc: Malvern, Arkansas

We didn't do a hike on the glacier, but it's on my to do list for the next one. the tour I was referring to the bus lets you out and you walk about 1/2 mile down to the edge of the glacier. It's a beautiful sight

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

I don't remember what glacier, but we took an excursion that transported us to the glacier by helicopter. Great experience.
I would have liked to have the 14-24 wide angle back then.

DrWilk Loc: .

Definitely take the White Pass & Yukon Route train trip. It takes a couple of hours and runs from sea level and up and over the White Pass. Depending on the day of the year it may go on to either Bennett Lake,B.C., Carcross, Yukon or just turn around at the top of the pass at Frazer, B.C. Whichever one it goes to it will be the hi-lite of your entire trip. Make sure you grab a spot out on the left side of the rear deck of your train car and stay there all the way up for unbelievable photos.

fotogk Loc: Tuftonboro, NH

Thank you all for the tips

Newsbob Loc: SF Bay Area

I agree wholeheartedly with this advice. We've done five cruises to this part of Alaska and really love it. We generally don't do much in Ketchikan other than go shopping.

The train in Skagway is expensive but really photogenic.

Whalewatching in Juneau (and Sitka) is rewarding. The various charter boat operators cooperate. If one spots some whales, he radios everyone else, and they all converge. You're more or less guaranteed to see a bunch of them. We've never seen them breach, just lots of blow-holes and tails.

One time we were leaving Juneau in early July late in the evening, and happened to notice a strange light in the sky. Turned out to be the Northern Lights. Spectacular, and very unusual at such a low latitute (or is it longitude?) Amazing that I got anything from the deck of the moving ship. Each shot was about 3 seconds, handheld.

You'll love your trip.

Tracy Arms Fjord

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Whale

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Northern Lights

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nascar27 Loc: Kansas City, MO

We are doing this trip the last week of May. Here is the things I hope will make excellent photo opportunities: Vancouver B.C we are doing the hop on/hop off trolly to explore the city before our cruise begins. We will cruise among other places into Glacier Bay National Park & the College Fjord. In Juneau we are scheduled for whale watching, Mendenhall glacier, and a trip up to the summit on the Mt. Roberts Tram. Skagway we will helicopter up and land on a glacier for some hiking then go up to and past the White pass into Canada. Ketchikan we are doing some hiking trails and are not planning any organized activities....just winging it. Headed up into Denali National Park by train for a couple of days up close to Mt. Mckinley, then to Anchorage where we are going up into the surrounding mountains and driving the Seward highway. Hope this helps. We are eagerly anticipating our trip and hope yours is wonderful too!

fotogk Loc: Tuftonboro, NH

Thanks for info

JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore

It's Lattitude; the easy way to remember is the two parallel T's and the lattitude lines are parallel; Longitude, the north to south lines, are curved to end at the North and South Poles so are not parallel.

Indi Loc: L. I., NY, Palm Beach Cty when it's cold.

Sounds like you'll be on a cruise like the one I took with Princess. Great cruise.

I think it's Skagway that has the train trip with 2 options, up to the Canadian Yukon border and the other continues into the Yukon. We took the first one. It's a great ride and the scenery is fantastic, especially on a sunny day.
Ketchikan is a very cute town with lots to see and a tramway ride way up a mountain.
Oops, I see that it's Juneau for the tram and whale watching.
I think we went whale watching there or possibly one of the other towns.
NOTE: If you go on a whale watch, check the weather. Apparently, whales do not like the sun, at least that's what we were told, and they'll appear more easily in overcast weather. We had those conditions and encountered a pod of whales that were "bubble netting," and we must have followed them for well over an hour. Try to bring a monopod.
Also, there is Glacier Bay and College Fjord; fantastic views of glaciers, some of them calving, and Mendenhall Glacier. We went there and saw the glacier and loads of icebergs, but recently I heard something about Mendenhall Ice Caves which we missed.

richard-sports Loc: New York City

The whale watching in Seward is outstanding and well worth a trip.

Caribou Loc: St. Louis, MO

I highly recommend the trip to Misty Fjords. I think it leaves from Juneau but I can't recall for sure. There is also a trip available to Resurrection Bay. I think that left from Seward. We saw a good bit of wildlife on each of these excursions. Also, there are trips available to visit mushers and their sled dogs. That was fun.

I guess it's just me but I didn't get a big thrill from the glaciers. If you've seen one, you've seen them all (my opinion). You can't get too close because of the danger from large chunks of floating ice.

The towns were OK. Skagway was kind of quaint but touristy as you would expect. I liked Skagway and Ketchikan but each had lots of t-shirt shops, jewelry stores (who buys all that jewelry?), souvenir shops, etc. I understand during the height of the cruise season all the towns are packed. We were there early in the season and missed the big crowds.

Enjoy your trip.

scsdesphotography Loc: Southeastern Michigan

We went on the Holland Alaskan Cruise and Land Tour. Five days on the ship and five days on land, saw quite a bit and would like to go back and see more, for one thing I'm a better photographer now than I was then. We were there at the end of May and the beginning of June. Some days were relatively warm, but others were cold and rainy. Wear layers of clothing and keep a rain jacket handy. You'll want a rain sleeve for your camera too. I used my Sigma 18-200 for almost the entire time, landscapes in Alaska are vast and photo opportunities with animals happen quickly, you frequently won't have time to switch lenses, so a zoom is best. Have fun, there is so much to see.