Alaska 2023
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Alaska 2023
Joan and I visited Alaska in August 2023. We stayed one night in Anchorage, then up to Denali for a few days; then up to Fairbanks to see sandhill cranes and the University of Alaska's wonderful museum. Then we drove back through Anchorage and on to the Kenai Peninsula, where we spent time in Kenai and Ninilchik visiting friends, and down to Homer for great food and a lovely boat tour of the Kachemak Bay. Finally over to Seward, our port of call for a day-long tour of the fjords. On way back to Anchorage, we visited a rescue center and saw some wildlife (like wolves) that we hadn't seen live yet. All in all, one of our most wonderful trips. -
Alaska Airlines
Jet landing at Anchorage Airport. -
Welcome to Alaska
In the airport. -
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Historic Anchorage
Charming hotel in the heart of things. -
Forty-ninth state flag
In the restaurant near our hotel where we had lunch after arriving from the airport. -
Hilton Anchorage
We stayed here later in our time in Alaska, but this was taken on our first evening, when we stayed at the Historic Anchorage Hotel next door to the Hilton. -
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Denali
We had two days for Denali National Park. Not enough but we covered a lot of ground nonetheless. We started by visiting the sled dog kennels and seeing the demonstration. We also took two bus tours into the park. These busses are the only way to get past the 15-mile mark on the park road. We saw grizzlies, caribou, ptarmigans, moose, Dahl's Sheep (at a distance), a lone bald eagle, and more. We also caught some decent links of Denali itself. It's almost always shrouded in clouds so most people do not get to see it. Were we lucky? Yes, we were.
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Denali Bluffs
Our hotel just outside the entrance to Denali National Park. -
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Wolf sculpture
In a theater at the visitors center at Denali. -
Denali's working sled dogs
Denali N.P. is the only park in the national park system that has a working sled dog team and kennels. We visited the kennels and saw a fun presentation showing what the dogs do. They're actually useful all winder long. -
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Mama and cubs
We took two bus tours into the park. Both were excellent and we saw grizzlies on both trips, close up. -
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Fairbanks
After Denali, we headed up to Fairbanks. Our main goal was to see Sandhill Cranes at the Creamers Farm which is now a wildlife preserve and is home to sandhill cranes every summer. (We saw many more sandhills two years ago when we went up to the Platte River Valley, but it was nice to see them again.) We also visited the campus of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, which has an absolutely wonderful "museum of the North", covering natural history and culture of the region. The University also has the famous bus from Into the Wild, which we listened to as we drove around Alaska. -
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Kenai (west)
After Fairbanks, we headed south again, past Denali and through Anchorage, and on to the Kenai Peninsula. Our first couple days were spent fishing on the Kenai River, visiting a friend in Ninilchik, and finally visiting Homer. -
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Fishing Kenai River
Our friend Ron took us out on the river. He's had good luck catching salmon almost every day but perhaps we brought some bad luck. I caught a gull snatching up a salmon fillet that was floating in the river. -
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On the Kenai River
Bald eagles were numerous and busy on the Kenai River, and more successful fishing than we were. -
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Seward and the Fjords
Our trip started out wonderful, and seemed to get better every day. Our last big stop was in Seward, on the east side of the Kenai Peninsula. We took a full-day boat tour that explored the Kenai Fjords. Magnificent brilliant magical day! We saw sea otters, orcas (LOTS of orcas including a "super pod"), humpbacks (no pictures), lots of puffins, sealions and harbor seals, bald eagles, and I can't think of what else. But we also saw the fjords, and one of the highlights was getting close to the Northwestern Glacier to HEAR it moving. Very eerie sound. -
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Touring the Fjords
Annotated map of our tour of the fjords. The annotations record what we saw. -
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Exit Glacier
Just north of Seward. -
Benny Benson Memorial
Benny Benson was a teenage in Seward in the 1920s when he designed the Alaskan flag (as an entry in a contest). It's a brilliant design, perfect for Alaska, and I like my souvenir hate. -
Farewell to Alaska
From Seward we drove back up to Anchorage. Spent one last night there and enjoyed knocking about the following day, visiting the wonderful museum of art (and seeing a fantastic exhibit devoted to Bradford Washington the great, great photographer and geographer). Flew out late on our last day. -
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