After arriving at noon on the cruise train from Seward we first went to Flattop Mountain on the shuttle bus from Downtown Bicycle Rental on 4th Ave. See my review of the Flattop Mountain Trail for details. Make sure you make a reservation, call again on the day of your reservation, and also get back on time on the return trip so they do not leave without you. The owner, who operates the shuttle, is quite a character and his included tour of Anchorage is informative and sprinkled with a good portion of humor and opinion. Everyone was extremely helpful and polite. the even let us use a backpack for free. They give you a discount if you rent bicycles on the same day, so I also rode the Coastal Trail on a rental bike and thoroughly enjoyed it. They take great care to fit you with the appropriate bike and gave us detailed instructions regarding all the trails with free detailed maps.

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Excellent service provided by the owner who also runs the Anchorage downtown bicycle rental business. He is very kind, knowledgeable, helpful and patient! The hike to the submit of Flattop Mountain can be challenging to some people but it's totally worth it. The shuttle owner/driver is very informative and gives great advice. I was deeply impressed by his honesty, integrity, professionalism and expertise! Highly recommend him!

The tour was organised smoothly and delivered exactly what it claimed. The driver gave a complimentary narration on the way to Flattop, but we were at the back of the van and missed most of it as there was no speaker system - can't really complain as it was not part of the deal. The hike is unguided, as was clearly stated in their web site. They gave you clear written instructions to follow. In reality, it was quite hard to get lost as there were so many hikers on the trail. If you want, you can download a trail map from Alaska Department of Natural Resources. For the last part of the hike, we were literally on our fours and it did take an effort to get over the edge.

You do not have to summit if you are not up to it - it is the same way back to the parking lot. The scenery up there was rewarding. Make sure you get to the other side of the top for the breathtaking views. Wear shoes/boots that have good grip - the trail was quite slippery even though it was a sunny day. A walking pole could be very helpful - they had a few to borrow.

We reserved a couple of spots on their website well in advance. Got a confirmation within few hours. We showed up at the Downtown Bicycle store for our check in. Since we had 5 members for the hike instead of 7, we had pay $26 each instead of $23. We hopped into our van and Pete, our driver, did not miss any chance to show us the important places en route. We reached the base of the Flattop peak and it was extremely foggy. We were given a paper with instructions on how to reach the peak.

On the way up, we stopped multiple times to take some photos and lost some time. The trail was wet due to constant mist. We reached the 1/3rd mark pretty easily. Reaching 2/3rd mark took a toll on us. As the trail was wet, we had to extremely careful as one misstep will send us tumbling down. By the time, we reached the 2/3rd mark, we were exhausted. The final 1/3rd was even more difficult as the trail was steep and wet. We went up around 75% of the final 1/3rd and it was 3 PM – our time to return. Per the instructions, we had to turn back at 3 PM so that we could reach the base by 4 PM for our departure.

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Peter convinced my wife and I to do a split service - renting bikes one day and taking the shuttle the next. Excellent advice as being 60 years old this year, these activities spread across two days was the best advise my slow to recover body appreciated.

Pleasant tour given on the short 40 min ride to the Flattop Mt trail head. Return trip, Peter offered to drop patrons of at the zoo (no takers) and then the local museum which we took up this offer. I will note that the hike is not an ultra easy hike -involves perhaps 200 railroad ties in a steep ascent area as well as about 200 yards of scrambling over a step rock strewn incline. The strenuous effort was well worth it though when we got to the top and took in the views. The Glen Alps area is BEAUTIFUL!

What a great way to start our Alaska experience. I was not feeling 100% on the day so we only made it about a third of the way up. Still enjoyed the snow, the hike and the whole experience. Pete the driver was excellent even lending his jacket to somebody on the shuttle that came in a tee shirt on a really cold day. Highly recommend!