Winterlake Lodge Within the Wild

This itinerary starts BEFORE the accompanying cruise itinerary.

Upon arrival at the Anchorage airport, you will be met and transferred to the Hotel Captain Cook. The rest of the day and evening are at your leisure. Just a reminder that you will only be allowed 50 lbs of luggage per person on your flight to the lodge tomorrow, so you may want to spend some of your time this evening re-packing. Excess luggage can be stored at the air carrier's office for pickup upon your return from the lodge. Overnight at the Hotel Captain Cook, Anchorage.

After an early breakfast at the hotel, you will be met at the 4th Avenue entrance to the hotel by Rust's Flying Service and transferred to the float plane basin for your private float plane charter from Anchorage to the Winterlake Lodge. Upon arrival at the lodge choose from a full day of activities. A daily activity sheet is posted in your cabin and a daily menu of meals is posted in the main lodge. Daily activities might include a guided one and one-half hour narrated walk, a cooking class, a tour of the lake by canoe, and special seasonal activities such as berry picking. After dinner at the main lodge, relax by the fire and view the lake through the large picture windows, adjourn to the bar area or stargaze from the hot tub. Overnight at Winterlake Lodge.

After breakfast at the lodge, plan your day and evening in the legendary land of the midnight sun. Long days provide enough time to explore and experience all of the wonderful activities. Make a detailed itinerary of your days at Winterlake with your guide. Be as physically rigorous as you like, or lay back and enjoy a lakeside glass of wine. For add-on excursions, the lodge offers fly-out fishing from Winterlake to Redoubt Bay Lodge, as well as to other excellent remote fishing areas, schedule and weather permitting. Lunch and dinner at the main lodge and the evening at your leisure. Choose one of the many diversions from the daily routine in the main lodge - games to play, an Alaskan library, and stacks of stationery and postcards to write home. Overnight at the Winterlake Lodge.

After breakfast at the lodge, fly back to Anchorage via float plane. Upon arrival in Anchorage you will begin a two and one-half hour private car scenic transfer along the shoreline between the Chugach Mountains and the waters of Turnagain Arm. A stop will be made at the Alyeska Prince resort in Girdwood for time to explore or have lunch on your own. A trip on the resort's aerial tram is included. You'll stop at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center whose mission is to provide care for injured and orphaned wildlife and to provide continued wildlife awareness and education to the public. Surrounded by mountains and hanging glaciers, the 140-acre Portage Valley preserve is a nonprofit operation that works to rehabilitate injured or sick animals. Besides bears, there are bison, moose, caribou, elk, eagles, owls, musk oxen, Sitka black-tailed deer and a variety of game birds. Visitors can drive through the area and see most of the animals from their vehicles, or walk the neatly cared-for driveway for a close-up tour. It's a great way to photograph wild animals in a setting as close to authentic as you can get. Then on to Seward and your waiting cruise ship.