Here's a summary of our Alaska trip.

Alaska is huge and intimidating.  I've avoided it because of the difficulty in 
planning and the expense until now.  In two dimensions it's twice as big as 
Texas.  Denali National Park is the size of Massachusetts; Wrangall-St. Elias 
National park is twice the size of Denali.  In three dimensions, it's even 
bigger.  Mt. McKinley is the highest peak in North America.  Alaska has 16 
of the 20 highest peaks on the continent.

But in one dimension, Alaska is quite tractable.  It has few roads; only Hawaii
has less road miles.  And the road system is disconnected.  So once you get 
there, there's limits on where you can go.

We followed our itinerary: Flew to Ankorage via MLT charter. Hertz didn't have 
a compact car as we had reserved.  The gal behind the desk inquired if we would
fit into a Mustang instead.  I said "Well, ... o.k."  Then we went to Kenai 
pennisula.  We visited Exit Glacier first, which seems backwards. Next was 
Seward, but their new $35 million museum (paid for by oil spill reparations) 
was closed.  The guidebooks said they closed at 9:30 p.m.; we got there at 
8:00; they closed at 8:00.   Next we went to Homer; their museum was open.  
Read Tom Bodett's "End of the Road" (if you haven't) for insights into Homer's 
more interesting characters.  Then Hope and the Portage Clacier.  We took an 
eight-hour train/boat ferry from Portage/Whittier to Valdez passing by whales, 
sea otters and the Columbia Glacier.  We spent a morning in Valdez and took 
two days to get to Denali, where we spent two days, and then returned to 
Ankorage.  We had reservations for the ferry and for camping and touring in 
Denali.

We camped at the near end of the 90-mile road into Denali.  You can only drive 
in 15 miles.  After that you must take a bus.  There may be some campsites a 
little farther that you can drive to and back once - but that's all the driving
you can do.  Some portion of some of the campsites and the bus trips can be 
reserved; some portion of both become available two days in advance.  If we 
were there longer we might have had more of a selection.  We took an 11-hour 
bus ride almost as far into the park as the road goes  - to Wonder Lake.  Only 
from the last 20 miles would Mt. McKinley be visible - if it wasn't obscurred 
by clouds.  One can also see it from several spots on the Ankorage-Fairbanks 
highway if it were out.  We never saw it.  The driver/guide was very good at 
stopping at places where animals were likely; we saw moose, elk, beaver, 
eagles, etc. - but no grizzlies.  The bus stops for animal viewing and rest 
stops - but won't stop long for photgraphing.  One can miss your bus and pick 
up a later one - if it's available.  There are some stretches frequented by 
bears where they would not drop you off.  The first bus leaves about 5:30 a.m.;
ours left at 10:15; there was only one later one.  Ours was the earliest that 
we could get reservations for.  

Compared to the weather here recently, the weather was great.  Highs around 
70, lows around 40, mostly cloudy, about half drizzly or rainy.  The sun set 
after 11; there was always enough light all night long to read by.

We had no trouble camping; we took a tent, self-inflating air mattresses, one 
sleeping bag, a sheet, and two wool blankets - we needed them all.   There 
were RV's all over the place - except on gravel roads.  They pull over and 
park (camp?) at any wide spot in the road as well as at RV parks and Wal-Mart 
parking lots, etc.  Some of them run their generators a little late at night 
for someone coming from the Central Time Zone.  The last night we spent in an 
AAA motel in Ankorage.

We ate camp food about half the time and we ate out half the time - salmon, 
halibut, king crab, snow crab, etc. - all fresh and very good and not terribly 
pricey.

Our costs were small - airfare: just $370 for the two of us;  car rental: $213;
gas: $40; ferry: $260; bus: $70; motel: $94; camping: $0 to $12/night; food: 
say $50/day.