As we’ve done with nieces and nephews in the past, we offered 16 year old Nathan a trip of his choosing. He chose Alaska. In just a week we hit three National Parks, caught our limit of halibut, and had incredible wildlife encounters.
We met Nate in Omaha, where the boys got in a round of golf before flying to Anchorage. In Anchorage Steve and Nate got in another round. We explored a bit of Anchorage including Costco, Ship Creek and Earthquake Park, where we saw a moose and explored the beach.
Our visit to Denali National Park was via plane. We drove to Talkeetna and enjoyed a spectacular flight into the park where we landed on the Ruth Glacier.
We were also able to see the climber’s base camp and Mt. McKinley’s (Denali’s) neighboring peaks, Mt Foraker and Mt Hunter. There’s really no way to describe the majesty of these mountains but hopefully you get a sense from the photos.
Next we headed southwest towards Seward with a brief stop at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. There we got a quick introduction to some of the animals we’d see later in the trip, including the brown bear.
In Seward we spent our time on the water. Our little cabin was steps from Resurrection Bay, which made it easy for the guys to catch their early morning fishing boat. They both caught their limit of halibut and rockfish and Nate caught five cod to Steve’s four. So, Nate won the fishing contest.
Four years ago when we RVed to Alaska, we really enjoyed the Major Marine cruise into Kenai Fjords National Park. As we experienced before, we were able to see a pod of Humpback whales bubble net feeding. This rare cooperative feeding behavior is exclusive to certain Humpbacks and researchers are still exploring how the whales communicate in order to fish together. It’s really quite a site.
On the cruise we also approached the foot of the tidewater Holgate Glacier. These were the highlights though we did see Dall’s Porpoise, Sea Otters, Mountain Goats, Stellar Sea Lions, Harbor Seals, Eagles, and various other birds.
Our final big adventure was a trip to the little-visited Lake Clark National Park and Chinitna Bay. We flew from Anchorage past active volcanoes Mt Redoubt and Mt Iliana to land on the beach of the bay.
After a brief introduction we headed to a large marsh area where more than a dozen coastal brown bears were seen grazing. We watched a mother with triplets guard from attacks from male bears and enjoyed seeing others running and playing.
Seeing bears in the wild is always a thrill and Chinitna Bay did not disappoint.
After a final dinner (and DQ) in Anchorage we returned to Omaha at about midnight for a final goodbye.
Nate got to see and experience things most people only dream about and we were happy to be along for the ride.
Marnie and Steve Travel 