This article comes from a long time reader and friend of the site. It sure has me wishing I could get out to Alaska soon!  Hope you enjoy it. . .

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We started planning our trip to Alaska last summer. It took about that long to set everything up. We started by looking on the web for ideas, and then we headed to the book store to look through Alaska travel books. With the exception of the airline and the rental car, which were through the travel agency, we did most of the booking ourselves.

The lodge we stayed at was Lake Clark Lodge And Farm, in Port Alsworth Alaska. It is run by Glen Alsworth Sr, his son Glen Alsworth Jr, and their family. Leon “Babe” Alsworth, Glen Sr.’s father, was the man who brought Dick Proenneke into Twin Lake. You can find a short video about Dick Proenneke here, and there is also a book about him called One Man’s Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey, which is the true story of his time at Twin Lake.

The lodge was a very nice place and they did what they could to make our stay an enjoyable one. They look at it this way, you’re paying the money for the trip so you should have something to say in it. So they offer package deals and will tell you to look them over and pick what you want. Then if there is something that you don’t want to do, you can take it out and put something else in its place. They will work with the price and will help you to stay within your budget.

This was the package we settled on after taking some stuff out and adding other stuff in.

Day 1

Flew from Merrill Field in Anchorage to The Farm Lodge (You can’t drive into Port Alsworth or into Lake Clark National Park, the only way into there is by plane). The flight to the lodge takes you through the scenic Lake Clark Pass, where you will see glaciers and glacial streams in one of Alaska’s most beautiful mountain settings.

We checked into The Farm Lodge which included two rooms with private bath, home-cooked Alaskan meals, and daily maid service.

Day 2

Took a guided float plane wildlife exploratory tour in the Lake Clark and Katmai area. The flexibility of this tour let us search for various wildlife wherever it might be found. With no set location, this took us in search of caribou, Dall Sheep, moose, eagles, tundra swans, and countless other species of birds, fish, and mammals.

Day 3

We took a float plane into a glacial and volcanic formed tundra landscape that holds some of the best fishing the area has to offer – including Rainbow Trout, Dolly Varden and Lake Trout.

Day 4

Guided day trip to Twin Lakes. The float plane dropped us and our guide at Twin Lakes where we spent a day exploring the Hope Creek area. Sights include Dick’s and Spike’s cabins, Hope Creek, and Teetering Rock. (the previously mentioned book, One Man’s Wilderness, will give you some great background of the area.)

Day 5

We checked out of the lodge and returned to Anchorage. 

This part of our trip was very nice… even with the mosquitoes, which could be pretty bad at times. We saw what we wanted to see and even more – and the fishing is something that you have to experience for yourself.

In addition to the above package, we did the following:

Aerial Tour

There are two outfitters that are really good; they work out of Anchorage Alaska. They are Rusts and K-2. K-2 is owned by Rusts.

Glacier Hike

We went on a guided hike on the Mantanuska Glacier with Mica Guides.

Glacier Tour by Boat

We took a 7 hr tour out of Seward Alaska with Kenai Fjords Tours. This tour wasn’t specifically seeking out whales, but we were lucky enough to encounter one on the way to the glaciers.

Fairbanks

We also went up to Fairbanks and stopped to do some panning for gold at El Dorado Gold Mine (what you pan is yours to keep).  Then we stopped in at the Alaska Salmon Bake, an all you can eat buffet.

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Additional Photos
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Lake Clark Pass

Dick Proenneke's Cabin

Bear Track

Bears in Katmai National Park

Mount McKinley Basecamp, Denali