Hello! This is WAY off the topic of AT - a couple thousand miles off!!! HA HA HA!!!
Anyway, I'm going to AK in a few weeks. I'm meeting up with my parents who are driving the Alcan in their 36 ft diesel RV. When I meet them I'm renting a little 22 footer and we are going RVing for 2 weeks. We will be traveling down the Kenai Peninsula to Homer and Seward (Kenai Fijords NP), then out the Glenn Highway to skirt Wrangell-St. Elias NP, then up the Richardson Highway to the Denali Highway (127 miles of gravel....out in the middle of nowhere....I'm calling it RV backpacking!) then into Denali NP, then back to Anchorage.
The number 1 thing on my to-do list up there is hiking. I want to hike as much as I can. However the bears are a concern. Has anyone here been to AK? Been hiking in AK? What is the deal with the bears - how much fear is reasonable? Should I plan to carry bear spray? What about bear bells?
I have hiked in bear county before - Glacier NP, Grand Teton NP - and found both of those items to be more nusiance than anything else. I plan to be with my dad at all times - or on a ranger led hike, and I'm only talking day hikes here, no overnights.
Also, anyone who has been to AK - what are some don't miss hikes? I'm already planning to hike to Portage Glacier in the Williawaw area of the Chugach Mts, and the Exit Glacier/Icefield (it's name after a president but I can't rememver who) hike in Kenai Fjiords. Also planning to go on a ranger lead hike in Denali and hike as many of the short trails around the visitor center as possible. Any suggestions for the Homer area would be especially welcome!
Thanks guys!