Alaska weather in August

torbrex

I have my trip to Alaska booked for the end of August and wondered if anyone had been at around that time.

I have read various account about the weather but most are by Americans and they tend to be a bit soft and say that 60F is freezing cold :eek: and a half hour rain shower means it rained all day

Checking out the climate forecast, it looks to be just about the same as autumn in Scotland as far as temperature and rainfall goes so I should be well used to it

I will be travelling light and just wondered about how much warm clothing to take, I have my waterproofs and footwear sorted and will be layering my clothes as much as possible and it is an active holiday so there will be very little sitting around.

I will be starting in Anchorage and travelling to the interior first then heading to the south west before returning to Anchorage.


Any advice welcome :T

agrinnall

Have you read Guy Grieve's book "Call of the Wild"? He was a journalist for The Scotsman before heading off to live off the land in wilderness Alaska. I can't be sure that August is covered in his story and my copy is packed away in a box somewhere, but it's a good read anyway.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Call-Wild-Guy-Grieve/dp/0340898259

mcfisco

torbrex wrote: »

Any advice welcome :T

Buy shares in DEET

I don't think August is the worst time for the midges [they call them no-see-ums] but they're legendary in Alaska

Steviek_2

We went last year first week of September on cruise with Celebrity. Having read the reviews on the cruise website (mainly US contributors) had spent a fortune on thermal underwear, gloves arctic type anoraks etc. Well it was cracking the flags! We spent the last 3 days on the sun deck in swimwear, got burnt couldnt believe it. Dont know if that was totally uncommon type weather. You will love it anyway it is a fantastic place to visit

Bob_the_Saver

Mrs Bob the saver is having one of her days where she knows everything,
Alaska

torbrex

Steviek wrote: »

We went last year first week of September on cruise with Celebrity. Having read the reviews on the cruise website (mainly US contributors) had spent a fortune on thermal underwear, gloves arctic type anoraks etc. Well it was cracking the flags! We spent the last 3 days on the sun deck in swimwear, got burnt couldnt believe it. Dont know if that was totally uncommon type weather. You will love it anyway it is a fantastic place to visit

I will be doing a lot of outdoors stuff so sunburn is also a concern but I will stock up on plenty of cream and a suitable hat once I get there

jackieblack

Pleased to hear you've finally got your Alaska trip sorted, we're 30 states behind you but we'll catch you up one day

Steviek_2

Are you going on a cruise Torbrex? If so the ships are very well stocked and the shops in places like Juneau are really cheap

torbrex

jackieblack wrote: »

Pleased to hear you've finally got your Alaska trip sorted, we're 30 states behind you but we'll catch you up one day

Only 1 to go after this one but my current income wont let me get that for a few years so I will need to bide my time

Good luck in bagging the rest of them, I was lucky enough to get a few road trips in where I was knocking off 7 or 8 at a time not seeing the whole state but chalking it off my list just the same.

torbrex

Steviek wrote: »

Are you going on a cruise Torbrex? If so the ships are very well stocked and the shops in places like Juneau are really cheap

I am travelling alone (as always ) and the single supplement was crippling so I am doing a land tour with a company called 'Get Up and Go Tours', I will be doing a bit of hillwalking, sea kayaking, whitewater rafting, bear watching and possibly climbing a glacier.

jackieblack

torbrex wrote: »

Only 1 to go after this one but my current income wont let me get that for a few years so I will need to bide my time

I think you described it to me as 'your retirement present to yourself'

torbrex wrote: »

Good luck in bagging the rest of them, I was lucky enough to get a few road trips in where I was knocking off 7 or 8 at a time not seeing the whole state but chalking it off my list just the same.

Our problem is we keep going back to states we've already visited!
Following our trip at Easter we now feel the need to go back to Washington DC (yes, I know it's not a state) as we only had 3 days this trip. Arlington was a good base though, thanks for your advice on that, although the escalator at Rosslyn Metro still gives me nightmares!:D (We used the elevator after the first morning)

I can't offer any advice on Alaska, but hope you have a fantastic trip, I know you've been wanting to take this trip for a while so I hope it's worth the wait!