Saturday August 25, 2007 This morning was a beautiful sunny morning. The temperature was in the low 40’s and it warmed up to the mid-sixties by afternoon. We caught the bus to Fish Creek at 9:10 am. Since we weren’t hiking I took my telephoto lens, hoping to get some good shots when we saw animals. The bus driver was good (willing to stop and take time) and we saw a fair amount of wildlife today; several bears, some sows with cubs, caribou, moose and a gyrfalcon, which is rare. We even saw some of Mt. McKinley today. We got back [View Full Entry]

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Friday August 24, 2007 Denali National Park, AK This morning the bus picked us up in front of the campground at about 9:15 am. Ten people had signed up for the Ranger led hike and only those people were on the bus. We stopped on the way to our destination to watch several elk in the distance and a bear that was way out there in the tundra. The day was sunny at the campground, but as we went further west it was gray and many of the mountains were in the clouds. We got off the bus about an hour [View Full Entry]

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Thursday August 23, 2007 This morning we traveled to Teklineka Campground to stay for 3 days. There was blue sky and there were clouds so we didn’t know if we would see Mt. McKinley or not. We took our time traveling the 30 miles on Denali Road to the campground. We looked for wildlife, but didn’t see any. The animals are around you just have to be at the right place at the right time. We stopped frequently along the road so I could take photos of the changing colors of the tundra and for Frank to watch birds. We had [View Full Entry]

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Wednesday August 22, 2007 Today we were out of bed before 5:00 am to get ready to catch the shuttle bus by 6:00 am. The day was cloudy but it wasn’t raining. The shuttle buses take visitors into the park to see the scenery and wildlife, since private vehicles aren’t allowed passed mile 15 unless you are staying at Teklineka Campground at mile 32. Limiting the number of vehicles keeps the area more “natural” for animals. They are habituated to the buses and often come close to them. I appreciate not having to worry about driving a gravel road while trying [View Full Entry]

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Saturday August 18, 2007 We got on the road by 7:45 am. It was decided I would drive today and Frank would read the geology guide. I’m good at the gravel roads because I drive slowly naturally. This gravel road isn’t as bad as others we’ve been on so the going’s not too rough. We took our time. I stopped for photo opportunities and Frank stopped for birds more than for geology. We saw loons, northern harrier, different types of sparrows and ducks. This is the best we’ve done in birding. The tundra terrain is expansive and you can see a [View Full Entry]

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Tuesday August 21, 2007 This morning we started down the Denali Highway about 8:00 am. We drove to Savage River which is 15 miles into the park. Our plan was to walk a loop trail recommended in a book I have on Denali Hikes. This was a marked trail into the Savage River Canyon. Before we started charting our own path we wanted to get a feel for the area. It was cloudy and rained alittle as we drove the paved road. Didn’t see any wildlife on the way. The temperature was in the high 50’s. Only one car was parked [View Full Entry]

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Monday August 20, 2007 Denali Highway to Denali National Park The last 30 miles of the Denali Highway had some very bad parts and some pretty good parts. The terrain was rolling tundra with white spruce. The day was cloudy so at the Mt. McKinley viewpoint we were out of luck. We didn’t make many geology stops today, but we did have to turn around and recover some miles because we missed some folded rock. Never did find it. We were on the main highway to Denali by 11:00 am. We planned to spend one night out of the park with [View Full Entry]

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Sunday August 19, 2007 It was cloudy in the morning, but not raining and as the day progressed the sun peaked through the clouds. We had to cover some miles today since the we had only covered 50 of the 133 miles Friday and Saturday. It really wasn’t a problem because there weren’t as many geology or photo stops today. The terrain changed as we moved along. We were up on a higher plateau and white spruce trees started to dot the landscape more frequently. There were still plenty of small lakes (left by glaciers years ago). The Alaska range came [View Full Entry]

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Thursday August 16, 2007 We left Seward this morning with Wasilla as our destination. It was a cloudy day with a little rain. The trip north was pretty with mist shrouding the mountains and the clouds breaking every once in awhile and showing blue sky. We stopped at Portage Valley Visitor Center which is about 45 minutes from Anchorage. The valley has multiple glaciers. We saw several near the center. Alaska has a lot of glaciers! Closer to Anchorage there’s a wetlands area that attracts birds and we stopped to see if any birds were around. We didn’t see birds or [View Full Entry]

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Wednesday August 15, 2007 We woke up to a rainy day, but we didn’t let it dampen our spirits. Today we were scheduled for the boat tour of Kenai Fjords National Park. There were only 8 people on the boat (it was a small one) and there was some question as to whether it would go out, but it did. The further we got from town, the better the weather. By the time we reached the Gulf of Alaska the sun was out! The highlight of the tour was the sea birds and mammals. The captain was a woman and she [View Full Entry]

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