In Search of Wildlife in Alaska

During our train journey and stay in the Mount Denali area, we made every effort to see some real Alaska wildlife.  If I had my druthers, my preference would have been to see a brown or grizzly bear from a considerable distance away.  But I was up for seeing caribou,  Dall sheep or even moose at a closer distance.

On the train trip north and south, we pretty much saw nothing, except for a brief glimpse of a moose butt. While in the Denali National Park area, we even signed up for an expensive jeep excursion. We had a good time driving our jeeps up and down gravel roads, but we again caught only the glimpse of a distant moose before returning to the jeep parking lot.

However, on the afternoon after the jeep ride, Julia and I asked to get dropped off on our own at the Denali National Park Visitor’s Center. We decided to hike the Horseshoe Lake loop trail, which was one of our better decisions and totally free. We picked up our trail map and headed outside where we met a delightful older gentleman and his golden retriever. After some conversation, he offered to walk with us to the trailhead. He explained that he lived in the area full time, that he was retired and that his wife was director of operations at the national park. He offered some great advice and told several stories.

One of the stories is that he had been attacked numerous times by moose in the park. During the last attack, he ended up on the ground with the moose kicking and stomping on him. He survived without serious injuries but his dog sustained two skull fractures. He told us that if we ever encounter moose up close to seek cover between trees and the moose. The conventional wisdom to run away often doesn’t work.

With a new respect for moose, we parted ways and started down the trail. Immediately, people coming up the trail told us to watch out for a mama moose with a calf on the left side of the lake. We didn’t see that moose but we watched another feeding in the lake. The moose dipped its head under water for 20 to 30 seconds and emerged, chewing on underwater vegetation. The moose stayed in basically the same feeding position as we quietly looped around the lake.

We then ran into more people telling us that the mama and calf were just ahead before the next bridge. We didn’t find the moose at that location.but we did find their wet tracks.

Disappointed that we just missed the moose, we continued past the bridge to the river, where Julia started taking scenery shots and video. Meanwhile, I was bored and looked back up into the woods close the where the moose had left the trail. At that instant, I saw the mama moose and calf walking our way and directly toward where Julia was with her back to the moose.

I started calling Julia softly at first and then with more enthusiasm as she continued to ignore me and operate her camera.. “Mama moose, now, time to go!” I suggested.  We quietly but quickly moved away from their path before we could be cut off from the trail. It was very exciting, and we were able to take photos from behind the bushes once we were out of harm’s way.

We finished up our hike with our hearts racing at this close encounter with mama moose and baby moose.

Viewing Denali

Mount Denali is the tallest mountain in North America and has the largest vertical rise in the world. We did not hike the mountain. But we did join the 30 Percent Club: visitors who actually get to see the mountain as it is usually covered in clouds.

This was one our first views. We were excited to see the peak because we talked to visitors from the week before who saw nothing but rain and clouds.

We didn’t know that our first glimpse was just a tease of what was to come. The weather on the mountain changes constantly but rarely provides a full view.

 
We felt so fortunate to take in Denali’s immense beauty. Expeditions to climb the mountain take 3 weeks. Unfortunately, we only had two weeks. Actually, climbing season is over for the year, and I lack both the money and the skills to climb it. But it was fun to imagine doing so.

Northbound Train

After a couple of days to relax by ourselves, we rejoined two other couples from our group and boarded the Alaska Railroad for Talkeetna.  Train travel is one of our favorite modes.

Good views, good food and drink, and room to stretch and walk around, what isn’t to like, especially compared to air travel? Our favorite viewing spot on the train is at the back of the caboose where a person can stand outside the car and breathe fresh air, while taking in the expansive views of Alaska’s terrain.

We didn’t see much wildlife, but we saw a lot of mountains, lakes, and rivers. We also saw sled dogs.

We stayed at a lodge outside if Talkeetna where we enjoyed almost unobstructed views of Mount Denali. Only 30 percent of visitors get to see Denali which is usually behind the clouds. We stayed up late for the sunset which finished up at about 11:30 pm

Eagle River, Day 2

We are staying in a studio VRBO in Eagle River for a couple of nights. Monday morning, we fixed breakfast in our small kitchen and then drove to the Mount Baldy trailhead for our morning hike.

The Mount Baldy trail is about 4 miles the way that we hiked it. The trailhead is not marked at the road at all. There are no trail maps or information desk. There is a gate at the end of the road and a bunch of footpaths leading around the mountain and up the mountain.  We weren’t too sure what was the right path so we ended up following 3 hikers who were climbing straight up the mountain on what felt like a goat path.

I didn’t take any photos of the goat path because the trail felt too steep to screw around with my camera. The photos below are before we started the ascent and from the summit.

Once we made it to the top of Mount Baldy, we could see that an alternative path led around the back side which was much easier with actual switchbacks. Before heading down, we lingered for awhile on top, enjoying a brief rainbow and hiking on along the ridge another half-mile or so before hiking back down.

Next, we drove to Wasilla for lunch at The Last Frontier Brewing Company. The beer was decent (Stout for me, Hefeweizen for Julia). The fried halibut sandwich and French fries proved to be a little too much fried food for my stomach, but Julia loved her seafood chowder.

After lunch we drove to Hatcher’s Pass Public Use Area along the Little Susitna River. We didn’t find any trails calling us to hike, but we found an excellent spot to enjoy the river rushing down the mountain from its glacier source.

On the way back from Eagle River, we decided to take a couple of short hikes at Thunderbird Falls. There were lots of families also enjoying this easy walk to view the falls.

That concludes our time in Eagle River, Alaska. On Tuesday, we have a train to catch. I’m not sure about the possibilities of the internet over the next couple of days so my short posting streak is likely to be broken.

Eagle River, Day 1

After checking out of the hotel in Anchorage, I stopped at Sixth Avenue Outfitters to pick up my bear spray. We then picked up our rental car at Avis and drove to the Eagle River Nature Center. Staff was very helpful, recommending appropriate trails, consistent with my paranoia about becoming brown bear food.  She told us to run away if we see aggressive moose but to never run from brown bears.

All of the bear mauling stories made me very nervous as I walked the trails. My bear bell was jingling away as if my life depended upon it. As it turned out, the mosquitoes were a bigger problem than the bears or moose. Still, it was a great hike with amazing mountain views.

We did have one small adventure involving my wife Julia above. After taking an amazing panoramic photo, she reached for her hiking poles and flipped her iPhone over the side of that railing and into the stream. Somehow the phone landed on a little grassy rise that was not under water. I jumped (awkwardly climbed) over the rail and managed to retrieve the phone.

We hiked the Rodak Nature Trail, a small portion of the Iditarod Trail and the Albert Loop Trail.

Afterwards, we celebrated our survival at Eagle River Alehouse with a Mediterranean Pizza and Glacial Cask IPA.

Anchorage, Day 3

Saturday was the last day of meetings and a non-hiking day. Having the morning to myself, I ate breakfast at the White Spot Cafe (eggs, reindeer sausage, fried potatoes, and toast with local jam). Definitely not an ambiance spot, but the food was delicious.


After breakfast, I wandered through the streets and alleys of downtown, which had some murals that made me stop and linger.

I made my way to a new coffee shop: Dark Horse Coffee. They only had one drip coffee available, but it was an excellent freshly brewed Ethiopian Sidamo. I appreciated the indoor space with comfortable small tables, last week’s Sunday New York Times, and good music, but this sign caught my eye on their deck.

Julia and I met up at noon and walked over to the Anchorage Farmers’ Market and then to the 49th Street Brewery for a bite to eat and a beer. I ordered a dunkelweisen while Julia ordered a Hop Juice IPA. Both beers were good but the dunkelweizen had a nice toffee caramel flavor, so Julia stole mine without asking.

We had a group dinner that night on top of the Hotel Captain Cook. The wine and food were delicious. Sunday, we will check out of our hotel and drive to Eagle River.