information needed for Alaska trip in June (1 Viewer)

Hello,

in June i am going to visit Alaska, starting from an International Bear Conference in Anchorage. After that i will like to visit some more areas of Alaska to see mostly wildlife (especially mammals and birds) and the incredible landscapes.
This will be my first trip outside of Europe and i am really excited about that.

I would like to get some information from people who have visited Alaska and can recommend areas that will be interesting.
All mammals interest me but the most wanted are probably Polar and Grizzly Bears, Wolf, Arctic Fox and other big mammals.

Any information on low price accommodation and how much is in general the cheapest accommodation in Alaska, where i can find a camp van and how much will be the price for it would be very helpful.
I have started to look about the above as well, but i still have a lot of search to do and any guidelines and opinions will definitely help.

An other important information is what kind of telephotos will be the best to take with me. At the moment i have an 100-400 Canon but i am on a debate to get (buy) an other one too. I am between the 400 DO II and the 600 II f/4. Because i am really undecided at the moment the trip to Alaska can be very crucial on my decision.
A 600 lens is ideal for animals that are very far but on the other hand i will need an extra luggage just for it and also it might not be easy to use it on many occasions due to the weight and especially the volume of it.
The 400 DO II is ideal in size and i am thinking if the animals are not very shy then maybe with an extender 1,4x then it will be enough, or at least i am hoping for that.

Last information i should mention is that i would like to stay for 2 weeks the least if it's possible (money wise) up to 3 weeks in total.
I assume that will give me enough time to visit 2-3 more areas apart from Anchorage and i am hoping to see as much as possible.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

George

I am no expert on Alaska, George, having made only one visit a couple of years ago but I'll offer what information I can. On our trip (in early June), we focused on Nome and the Kenai Peninsula, saving Denali and other points north for a second trip.

You can find both black and brown (grizzly) bears in Anchorage. I suggest keeping a can of bear spray handy. The day after my wife and I walked a park in east Anchorage looking for White-winged Crossbills, a birding guide was attacked by a grizzly in the exact same location as we had been and exhausted his spray can to fend it off. We never used ours though we did a lot of back country hiking and saw several black bears. We also spent some time in Nome where the brown bear population is a little higher. Speaking of Nome, if you can afford a trip there, Musk Ox were easy to find near town and I have heard Arctic Foxes are possible in places. There is also incredible birding and photographic opportunities there.

Since it sounds like you are interested in bears, you might consider a ferry trip from Homer to Kodiak island where the Kodiak bear lives. There are opportunities to see Dall Sheep on the drive south.

For some of the mammals you have listed, you'll have to travel far north of Anchorage as in Barrow. Maybe someone else with experience in the Denali area can tell you what is possible there.

For accommodations throughout Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula, we used Airbnb and saved quite a bit over franchise motel prices. Sorry, no experience with camper vans.

I used a super zoom Canon which takes photos of acceptable standards for my own needs. No need to get within 30 feet to get a fine shot of the raised hackles of that brown bear!

Steve