on that last point- its a good one. I've been planning and waiting only two years for a trip that covers end of aug- sept. as a trail hiker I don't spend anything on hotels in the vicinity, but I've still got $800 begging to be let loose on kahtmandu curry, mac'n'cheese, apples, eggs, gas, postcards, maps, one-way glacier point tour, grapes, garden burgers, farm-to-feet woollen socks that I will never wear, replacement sun glasses, just-one-more-map, firewood (not exactly appropriate) ice cream, 3/4 size bottles of Newcastle brown, key rings, a no. 6 (dry) from the café, yet another water bottle, cute baby socks for when the next one comes along: family or friends, not mine; over priced sun hats, spare shirt for the journey home, soap for the journey home, deodorant for the journey home, razor for etc. etc. ( yes, I am the hiker you pass that just SMELLS), indian jewellery, jigsaws, trail mix that never- ever- makes it to the second day on the trail, replacement bath towel that I left drying on a rock, mozzy spray and giant plums. and last but not least, trendy decaff tea bags that need four bags to make a brew that looks remotely like the colour of tea but tastes like gnat p**s.
but look on the bright side, if the valley is still smoked out I can always take a chance on south lake Tahoe, if it isn't already booked out. and if it is I don't have to save as much for next year, or the year after or...

I totally can relate to people really wanting to see Yosemite and this might be their only chance and they can't go. We just returned from Alaska and the end of our trip was to be three nights at Brooks Lodge at Katmai NP. Twice in the past, trips had fallen through and now they are on a lottery system. In Jan 2017, I won the lottery and had spent since that time, planning our Alaska trip around those dates. The day before we were supposed to fly in, my son was so sick that we spent almost 7 hours in the emergency room. Thankfully, he is recovering but we had to cancel the trip to Brooks and then had to spend 5 nights in a hotel in Anchorage until he was well enough to fly home. Yes Brooks will be there but we will ever win the lottery for the lodging again? Who knows. So my heart goes out to those whose dream vacations to Yosemite didn't go as planned. Bright point was that the beginning of our trip was incredible staying inside of Denali NP for two nights and seeing the "high one" from base to summit for three days and the last two before we left Anchorage.

considered Denali myself this year, but didn't fancy the 'plan-a-trip-when-you-get-here' so decided on Yosemite, as in two years time my knackered knees would be just too knackered for anything ambitious ( glen aulin/ snow lake/ smedberg/ glen aulin). but must admit, there aren't many worse things than getting sick on your hols. but as the saying goes, it never rains but it pours... now wouldn't that be nice

I have tried multiple times to get to Katmai, the first being over 30 years ago, and each time something happened. I have been planning this trip for over 1 1/2 years. Not only did my son get sick, but one of the days we could get cell signal we got a panicked call from our dog sitter that one of our dogs became unexpectantly ill and that she was in an emergency hospital. She died 36 hours after we got that call. Then we came home to find a close family friend is gravely ill and in the ICU. Son still is not completely well and just left for college an hour ago. So it our case, the rain was more like a hurricane.

I will say that if anyone is planning on going to Denali, if they have the money, stay at one of the lodges at the end of the road. If not take the bus tour that goes the furthest that you can get. This way you can see a lot of animals and also you have several places where you can see, if the weather is clear, the mountain from base to summit. Or if you can hike, then go as far as you can until you can get a good view. I felt really bad for the people that took the bus that only goes to the end of the paved road since the view of the mountain is limited to only the top. Saw 11 grizzlies on the way in with one having three spring cubs.

Rain would be nice, I wish we could have brought back the rain that we got the last part of our trip. We didn't mind the rain most of the time but the storms made the boat trip to Kenai Fjords really rough and you could not see much. This is the time that I am sure that my son caught something. Even with rain gear from head to toe, it was raining so hard we got wet. There were also a lot of people coughing and the flu was also going around in Alaska.

We also liked Telkeetna and Homer. Seward is off our list for any return trips. Next time we would like to do more of the national parks. Also do some fishing on the Kenai Peninsula since we only fished a few hours in Denali. Since this was our first trip to Alaska, and we hope to go back - this was a bit of a scouting trip.

Businesses in areas where they were shut down due to the wildfire threats and thus have loss of income should look into their commercial business insurance that most businesses in these areas have/ or should have. There is insurance available under these policies that covers civil authority shutdown of their businesses due to among other things, "If you are forced to close your business due to an evacuation or disaster from a wildfire or hurricane."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/12/2018 04:34PM by mtn man.