My wife and I will have four days in Anchorage (after a cruise from Vancouver with a land tour option at the end) at the end of August. One bucket list item I have is to take a back country flight there. Any suggestions on companies/pilots who can take us back country flying? Also, any suggested things we should do? Tim
We flew all around Alaska in our own C206, but when we spent several days with friends in Anchorage we took the train to Seward and spent two days there. The train route goes through quite a bit of wilderness. The GoldStar Dome was worth the extra price. Pictures of several trips here - click on the 2017 trip for pics of the train trip to Seward. When you go there, it's likely you'll be planning your next trip before you leave.
We have the dome train going from Seaward to Anchorage. And yes, we plan to come back. Limited schedule this time. Tim
Out of Anchorage https://www.flyrusts.com/ Or Homer, on a bear viewing flight. It will be either in a float plane or landing on the beach. And you will get closer to grizzlies than you will ever want to be. Or in Talkeetna on a Mt McKinley, or Mt Denali, whatever they call it now sight see flight. Warbelows Air Ventures https://www.warbelows.com/bush-mail-flights does mail plane flights into the interior but that is out of Fairbanks. Might just try a quick search, bush flights Anchorage. I always wanted to do the train from Anchorage to Fairbanks, but haven't done that yet. And 4 days is not enough time to see much of Alaska. My opinion is anywhere in Alaska you can get to on a road is tourist Alaska. Juneau and the southeast being the exception. And yes, as dbahn states, you will be planning on going back.
We just went to Alaska our 1st time last September. I have a buddy who moved there and has houses in Anchorage and Chitina. He gave us suggestions and we had a tremendous time. In Anchorage if you like beer go to Matanuska brewing co. They make great beer and host live bands (that you will recognize) through the summer. I really liked their Magnitude 9.2 double. Take the road out of Anchorage (hwy 1) along the Turnigain arm towards Whittier. It's one of the most beautiful drives in the world. Pack a picnic. Homer is interesting but if you are short on time I would skip it. Seward is a pretty spot to stay a night with restaurants. Whittier is pretty but is too small to spend a day or night. Seward and Whittier both offer day cruises to glaciers. There is a ferry that you can put your car on out of Seward or Whittier that goes to Valdez. https://dot.alaska.gov/amhs/route.shtml We took it to go to Valdez. Valdez is very pretty and the fish hatchery was worth going to. It attracts bears during the Salmon run. The bears appeared to be quite tame at the time likely due to being well fed. https://www.valdezalaska.org/discover/around-town/fish-hatchery/ The road from Valdez back to Anchorage is also quite beautiful. Denali suffered a large rock slide which took out the road about 20 miles inside the park. It's my opinion the time to get up there is better spent in the locations I mentioned above unless you plan to do the flight over the park. There seemed to be a ton of flights out of the Talkeetna area.
My dad goes last week of August every year for salmon fishing in Seward. He and my sister did a helicopter tour a few years back and they enjoyed it. As far as what operation, ain't got a clue.
A clarifying question: are you looking for a flight OVER some beautiful backcountry (flightseeing), or a flight involving LANDING in the backcountry, or a backcountry-flying LESSON? There are lots of operators that will do the first. Some specialize in things like bear viewing, or National Parks (Kenai Fjords / Denali / etc.). Just about every town (Girdwood, Talkeetna, Homer, Seward, etc.) will have flightseeing tour operators of some sort -- some fixed wing, some helicopter. From Anchorage, I would look for something departing out of Lake Hood -- Rust's, Regal, Trail Ridge, etc. -- just so you can say that you've experienced the world's busiest seaplane base. Fewer operators will do the second, unless there is a reason to be landing in the backcountry, such as to get to a remote hunting or fishing site, or to drop you off for backpacking, or something like that. For instance, Wrangell Mountain Air dropped me and my family off in the middle of nowhere to go backpacking in Wrangell St. Elias for a few days. For hunting/fishing, the flight is often part of the package that you buy from the guiding operation. That being said, there are some "bush experience" tourism flights to be had, with a little bit of googling. The operators out of Talkeetna (K2 and Talkeetna Air Taxi are the two big operators there) have a "land on a glacier!" flight, which I've never done, but would scratch that "thrill-landing" itch. Alaska Air Service advertises a flight where they land on the Knik River. There are probably others. Even fewer places do backcountry instruction -- insurance is no doubt prohibitive. Blue River Aviation in Palmer might do it -- they've got some Super Cubs. Alaska Floats & Skis up in Talkeetna has a "bush pilots course" which I know nothing about. Another option might be to take a floatplane lesson at https://alaskafloatratings.com on Trail Lake (Kenai Peninsula), who can also package your flight with a cabin rental. Flight aside, if you've only got four days, I would spend it exploring the Kenai Peninsula. It's close enough to explore by car, and gorgeous in pretty much every corner of it. Yes, there are cars and tourists -- not "real Alaska" as the locals will snark -- but there are lots of trailheads into the mountains, and landscapes and wildlife to be seen, and it'll whet your appetite for coming back in a Serious Way. @FORANE is not kidding about that drive south along the Seward Highway (locals do not call it "Highway 1") -- it is one of the most beautiful drives in the US. Other places in the state (like Denali Park, etc.) are also awesome, but are more of a driving commitment. Remember that everything in Alaska is farther away from everything else than it looks on the map. In Anchorage: eat at: F Street Station: a pilot's bar downtown Spenard Roadhouse: bourbon enthusiasts with something called the "bacon of the month" 49th State Brewery: has sweeping views of the Cook Inlet Drop me a line, (I'll PM...)
Late August is also the time of the Alaska State Fair in Palmer: https://www.alaskastatefair.org/site/ ...which is not all that different from other state fairs, except that you'd get to see our famous "giant vegetables". Y'know, 900-pound pumpkins and 150-pound cabbages and stuff like that. A bit unique.
If you have a couple of days, rent a car and drive to Talkeetna. Then book your air tour of Denali with Sheldon Air Service. Yes, its That Sheldon Air Service. The daughter and Son-in-law of Don Sheldon (one of the most famous Alaskan pilots) operate a small company that provides really special air tours. Bring your skeeter repellant and sun glasses. And make your air tour and hotel reservations early! https://www.sheldonairservice.com/T...y-Flightseeing/Denali-Grand-Flightseeing-Tour
So if you want to do a flightsee trip you've got lots of options at Lake Hood. Rusts Flying Service, Trail Ridge Air, Regal Air, and Sportsmans Air Service will all do flightsee trips ranging from an hour just around Anchorage to a few hours up to Denali or around Knik Glacier or Prince William Sound, or all day out to do bear viewing trips. If you have the ability, traveling up to Talkeetna and doing a glacier landing trip with Talkeetna Air Taxi, K2 Aviation, or Sheldon Air is absolutely phenomenal. If you want to do some backcountry flying lessons, Acme Cub Training at Lake Hood has super cubs on big tires or floats or Blue River Aviation in Palmer (an hour north of Anchorage) has super cubs on big tires or floats.
