Denali

Nathan’s Alaska

/ marniesteve / Leave a comment

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.

The travelers
Goodbye Mom
We made it!

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.

At the Hatchery on Fish Creek
Obligatory Costco stop
Moose in Earthquake Park
On Cook Inlet

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.

Talkeetna River with Mt Denali in background
Ready to fly
Nate and the plane
Incredible views
Rivers of ice

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.

Nate on the glacier
Steve on the glacier
Standing on a glacier
Majestic views

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.

Steve and Nathan
Moose
Talking to the bear
Grizzly
Elk
Muskox
Reindeer
Serious conversations

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.

The fishermen
The boat’s haul
Morning coffee on Resurrection Bay
Ready to fish
Pulling in a big one
Good thing they had rain gear
One of two boxes of fish

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.

Bubble net feeding
Birds signal the event

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.

Holgate Glacier

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.

Co-pilot Marnie
So close you could touch the peaks
Landing on the beach

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.

We stayed for a few hours. Others camped on the beach with the bears.
National Park stamp station

Seeing bears in the wild is always a thrill and Chinitna Bay did not disappoint.

Bear watching

After a final dinner (and DQ) in Anchorage we returned to Omaha at about midnight for a final goodbye.

49th State Brewing
Finished with a blizzard
Goodbyes at the airport

Nate got to see and experience things most people only dream about and we were happy to be along for the ride.

Spectacular Denali National Park

/ marniesteve / 2 Comments

After our exploration of the Kenai Peninsula we traveled north with our sights set on Denali National Park. Home to North America’s tallest peak, Mt. Denali, this park is on every Alaska tourist’s checklist. Views, mountains, animals…Within our first 10 miles in the park we had to stop for a moose to cross the road.

On our way to Denali we stopped in the cute towns of Trapper Creek and Talkeetna for an overnight. Talkeetna is a common launch location for Denali climbs and flight seeing trips. We tried to get on one of those flight see planes to see the mountain up close, but unfortunately the weather didn’t cooperate. Instead we hit both sites of the local brewery and got some fun shots around town.

In Denali National Park we were lucky to score a three night stay at the Teklanika campground. This campground is as far into the park as we could get with our RV, at about 29 miles down the Park Road. Being here gave us an intimate look at the landscape and access to the “end of the road,” which is at mile 43.

Normally the Park Road goes on much further, but in 2021 a large portion of the road collapsed under a rock glacier. There is no time estimate on when the road will be repaired. So, we went as far as we could, first on a bus and then by foot, to see the rockslide and the magnificent valley below. Along our two mile walk we watched two grizzly bears traversing the riverbed below. It was quite a show. 

They say only about 30% of visitors ever see Mt. Denali. To increase our chances we stayed in the area for a longer time than most. We caught a glimpse of the majestic peak several times during our stay, between cloudy and rainy days. We considered ourselves very lucky!

After a three night stay in Teklanika Campground we ventured out of the park to empty our tanks and re-provision. A night in Healy, Alaska led us to the 49th State Brewery for dinner and a little tasting.

A big attraction here is a replica of the bus that is featured in the book/movie, “Into the Wild.” We both read the book, about a guy who enters the Denali wilderness with little preparation, only to perish. The story is outlined inside the bus with actual photos from the ordeal. If you know the story, this bus is very cool.

Properly refreshed we re-entered the park for another four night stay at the Savage River Campground. Situated along the Savage River, this area has been a tourist camp since the park’s founding. From here we could hike along the river, into the tundra, and up in the hills overlooking the valley.

Almost daily we had wildlife sightings…from caribou to moose to eagles, this area is rich with fauna. We had one rainy day but otherwise were able to get out and really enjoy.

Denali National Park is unique in that they have the only sled dog rangers in the national park system. Established 100 years ago, the Denali sled dogs help human rangers reach the backcountry during the winter. The large kennel is open to the public so we checked it out. Luckily we met the newest five members to the team…five week old puppies that are already in training! 

Denali is a special place and we only scratched the surface. One day, if the road is ever rebuilt, we’d love to venture deeper into the park to see even more of its wonders.