Salmon, Birds, and Some Thoughts on Climate Change

Location: Whittier, Alaska
Population: 176

So much for a break in the weather! The rain continued to pour down today, pretty much non-stop. We had a fairly short drive from Seward to Whittier so we decided to sleep in a little bit and then make some stops along the way regardless of the weather. Our first stop wasn't too far outside of Seward at Bear Creek, where the sockeye salmon are running right now. It was the first time I've seen salmon swimming up river - very cool! They're a little hard to see in this photo, but click to see the larger version and you can make out more than a half dozen of them.

While the Alaska salmon are generally considered to be in better shape than their Washington, Oregon, and California counterparts, it's no surprise that salmon politics here are just as complex and controversial as they are further to the south. The salmon we saw today are actually all hatchery fish making their way up to Bear Lake. Nearby was a fish weir where we had an interesting conversation with one of the workers there about local salmon issues. 12,000 fish of the estimated run of 40,000 are allowed to make their way through before the run is open to fishermen. Apparently there is a petition circulating locally trying to close down the hatchery operation, but this is the only sockeye run accessible to sport and commercial fishing in the region. Without them, there would be a huge hit to the local economy both in terms of commercial export and local recreation. These issues get complicated in a hurry as you try to balance the interests of everyone from the eagles and the whales to the fishermen and the landowners, all while maintaining a viable and sustainable fishery.

We had read that Bear Creek was also home to some American dippers, and sure enough we saw a family of them nearby. This parent was feeding a chick that was sitting on a nearby log:

Dippers can actually walk on the bottom of flowing creeks and rivers as they forage, but this ones was perched on a rock and taking an underwater look before diving in:

Since we still had some extra time we decided to take the side trip off the highway towards Hope, a small community that formed during the Gold Rush and still has many of its historical buildings. On the way there my mom spotted a flash of red in the bushes, so we had to circle around to see what it was. They turned out to be two male pine grosbeaks (year bird 204)! This was a great find, a life bird for both my parents and only the second time seeing the species for me. They were right along the roadside eating dandelion seeds:

Pine grosbeaks are known for being fairly tame, and these two were no exception. At one point they were right next to the car, and one even perched on the tire of one of the bikes on the back! Couldn't quite contort myself out the window in time to get that photo.

Next stop was Portage Glacier, where we had planned to take the one mile hike to the glacier view point. By that time, however, the wind had picked up and it was raining sideways, so we aborted that plan and instead just stopped by the visitor center. Here is a photo I took from one of the picture windows at the visitor center, overlooking an iceberg in Portage Lake. I thought it captured the essence of the afternoon quite well:

From there it was only a few more miles to Whittier, but first we had to wait to cross through the longest highway tunnel in the United States - a 2.5 mile single lane tunnel that alternates allowing traffic through from either side and also shares the route with trains going in either direction. Here's a picture taken while driving through the tunnel:

Whittier is a small town with an interesting history. It was established by the US Army during World War II and was the secret site the president was going to be whisked away to if the White House was attacked. It was accessible only by air, boat, or rail until 2000 when the tunnel first opened to cars. It is now known as the gateway to Prince William Sound, and tomorrow night we will catch the once a month ferry that departs from here to cross the Gulf of Alaska and arrive in Juneau a day and a half later. Cross your fingers for calm seas!

I wrote a few brief comments yesterday about how the glaciers were receding before human-caused global climate change really started having major effects, since the Little Ice Age ended about 200 years ago. That said, human activities are a major contributing factor to the increase of global average temperatures, particularly in the last 50-100 years. Few places may be feeling the impacts of climate change quite as much as Alaska is already. Today I was pleased to find some more literature on the effects climate change in Alaska at the Chugach National Forest visitor center near Portage Glacier. Here's a little bit of what I learned.

One of the first things we think of when we think of the climate becoming warmer is less ice in the polar regions. Few climate issues have received as much publicity as the reduction of pack ice and its impact on polar bears, and less pack ice can also lead to more erosion of shorelines. Glaciers are of course affected as well, while the glaciers such as Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park have been receding for the last 200 years, the rate of recession has increased in recent years. The loss of glacier ice can contribute to rising sea levels as well as changes in salinity and currents that may affect fish.

But what else changes, besides a reduction in ice? Permafrost in the interior can melt, destablizing roads and structures and altering habitats. Different species of plants and animals may start encroaching further to the north or to higher elevations based on the changing climate, and may also no longer be able to tolerate conditions in the south or at lower elevations that were previously prime habitat to them. The lack of snow can increase or decrease the die-off of certain species, throwing the ecosystem off-balance. The most noticeable example are the huge stands of dead spruce trees we have seen all throughout our trip, which are a result of the spruce beetle. Infestations have been worse because without harsh winters, the beetles aren't experiencing the die-offs that normally allow the spruce to recover. Also, with less precipitation, the fire risks increase.

Of course, these changes are by no means limited to Alaska. One brochure I picked up today shows some striking pictures of glaciers "then" and "now", over a span of about 60 years, along with the sobering fact that the glaciers in Montana's Glacier National Park may be completely gone by 2030. Alaska is a place where the changes in our climate are more apparent, and also where a lot of research is happening, which is great to see.

The question, of course, is: what can be done? The National Park Service brochure explains that "Many times in our nation's history, citizens have confronted difficult circumstances and found creative solutions....These stories now form a call to action in the stewardship of our resources for future generations. It is important that all of us participate in answering that call." So, with that, I encourage you all to keep taking actions towards a sustainable future. Recycle. Reduce your energy consumption. Use public transportation, or walk, or bike. Be a conscientious consumer. And, above all, continue to enjoy the beauty of the natural world, and foster that sense of awe in others, because surely that is the real key to ensuring the continued health of our planet and all the creatures that call it home.

Rain and Fog in Resurrection Bay

Location: Seward, Alaska
Population: 2830

They had forecast rain for yesterday, but by the evening the skies were completely clear. The view looking across the bay was spectacular as we neared sunset, with a few low-lying clouds hugging the peaks and valleys of the mountains:

This morning I had time to check out the Alaska Sea Life Center, which was far more than just an aquarium. It is a top marine research facility as well as a marine mammal and bird rehabilitation center. While they do have seals, sea lions, and birds on exhibit in addition to fishes, the focus is clearly on education and scientific research. From viewing windows you can overlook their rehabilitation facilities and one of their labs, and informative panels tell you everything from how salmon return to their native stream to spawn to an update on 15 species of concern after the Exxon-Valdez oil spill. Great stuff. The coolest part for me was the walk-in aviary where you can observe spectacular sea birds such as Steller eiders and long-tailed ducks from just feet away. Many of the birds were engaged in courtship and nesting behavior, and you could also view them diving down a couple dozen feet via an underwater viewing window.

I had hoped the forecast for rain today would be just as wrong, but it was not to be. The weather deteriorated as the day went on which did not bode well for our five hour wildlife cruise into Resurrection Bay and Kenai Fjords National Park. We were scheduled to see several glaciers including the large Bear Glacier, but in the end we only saw this smaller glacier in Thumb Cove near the beginning of the trip before the fog hid all the mountain tops completely and the glaciers with them:

The main sightings of the trip were in Eldorado Narrows where there were several Steller sea lion haul outs and active sea bird nesting colonies. It was cool to see some sea lions with sea birds swirling around above them, and the larger waves from the Gulf of Alaska crashing the shoreline:

We got one brief look at a mountain goat and her kid before they disappeared above us. It was, however, our closest mountain goat sighting of the trip and hence close enough to photograph, so that was good:

There were lots of both tufted and horned puffins, which was exciting to see after seeing just a few of each in Kachemak Bay. I tried taking some photos but the conditions were very dark which made for a lot of blurry photos! Here's one that turned out okay:

I've shared some photos from earlier in the trip of black-legged kittiwakes, but I thought this one was a little different since it is a view from a little further back, showing just how massive these nesting colonies are:

It may seem like we saw a lot of wildlife, but all of the above were seen right together over a span of about 20 minutes, which made the rest of the trip a bit underwhelming. Of course since I work as a naturalist myself I know the weather and wildlife are out of control of the tour company, but it was disappointing that we didn't stop to see the humpback whale my mom and I spotted (at least we were the only ones on the boat who saw a whale!) or any of the sea otters we passed closer to the harbor.

The seas towards the mouth of Resurrection Bay were pretty rough today, with big swells the likes of which we thankfully don't see in the San Juan Islands. Some trips ventured out further into the Gulf of Alaska, but with the weather and sea conditions I was thankful we stayed in the more protected waters of Resurrection Bay.

On the way back, for those who were willing to brave the cold and wet, you could see a couple of groups of Dall's porpoise riding off our bow. We see them in the San Juans as well, but the Alaska porpoises definitely seem to be much more playful. It was cool to be higher up above them than we are on the Western Prince. It's always hard to capture the thrill of bow-riding porpoises in photo stills, but here are a few of my favorites:

So, today's trip wasn't the best, but they can't all be great. Looking at the pictures I realize we did see more than I felt like we did at the time, but we all came back a little disappointed as we were hoping this would be a highlight of the trip. Ah well.

Here's to hoping the weather improves a bit for our upcoming ventures on the Alaska Marine Highway as we start to make our way back south on the ferries.

Halibut Cove and Exit Glacier

Location: Seward, Alaska
Population: 2830

Yesterday we had another boat ride out of Homer, this time a passenger ferry over to Halibut Cove, a small artist's community on the other side of Kachemak Bay. The weather report was for wind and showers, but we lucked out and were greeted with a beautiful day. On the ferry ride over we got to make a stop at Gull Island again, and I certainly didn't mind seeing it twice! The sun was shining and some different birds were about, so I got some completely different photos from the day before. Here's a pigeon guillemot taking flight:

Most of the murres that were floating in rafts the day before were perched on top of the rocks this time. Although it's a more common sight in Alaska, it's still bizarre to see mountains behind sea birds:

Most exciting of all, horned puffins (year bird 202)!! We didn't see any the day before, but we saw at least two or three yesterday, and we were even close enough for pictures:

Most of the people that take the few hour excursion to Halibut Cove eat at their locally famous restaurant, The Saltry. We decided to pack a picnic lunch and take more time to explore the quaint boardwalk community and the two art galleries featuring local artists. It was certainly a picturesque place!

We also hiked up the hill on the island where Halibut Cove is situated, which gave views towards the Kenai Mountains on one side and back towards Homer on the other. Here is a view overlooking the trail, the town, and the mountains beyond:

This morning as we packed the car the owner of the cabin where we were staying came to tell us there was a moose nearby. We went over to take a look, hoping it would be one of the moms with calves she had seen around recently. Sure enough, with a little patience, two young ones emerged from the trees and took a curious look at us before scampering deeper into the woods after mom:

Then it was time to hit the road and make our way towards Seward on the other side of the Kenai Peninsula. We stopped a few miles outside of Seward to take the hike up to Exit Glacier, the most accessible point of Kenai Fjords National Park and Preserve. As we hiked up the trail, we saw and heard a couple of hermit thrushes (year bird 203). It was amazing to see how much the glacier as receded, as marked by signs stating the years at sites that were formerly the ice front of the glacier. This photo was taken from where the ice stood in 1998:

It's easy to jump to the conclusion that global climate change is the sole reason for the recession of this and other glaciers. I'm sure it plays a role, but it's also interesting to think about the cyclical advance and retreat of ice ages that the earth goes through anyway. Exit Glacier, for instance, has been retreating since the end of the last "little ice age" around 1815. We passed signs showing where the glacier stood along what is now the highway, miles away from its present location. It lost a lot of ground before we humans were pouring greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, indicating that we're in the middle of a warming phase anyway, though human factors are accelerating it to never before seen levels.

The air temperature dropped considerably as we approached the glacier and we started feeling the katabatic winds, or a chilly breeze that runs off the glacier as the cold air rushes down its slopes. Basically, the air on top of the glacier is cooled, and as a result becomes more dense since the density of air is inversely proportional to its temperature. The denser air then sinks and is pulled down the slope by gravity, replacing the warmer, less dense air down at the face of the glacier, where we were standing. Luckily it was warm enough out that the cold air felt great!

Even though Exit Glacier is just a fraction of its former size, and in fact is one of the smallest glaciers that extend of the Harding Ice Field that makes up the bulk of Kenai Fjords National Park, when you are right at the face of the glacier it still seems pretty huge!

Birding Kachemak Bay

Limited internet - here's a post I prepared yesterday....

Location: Homer, Alaska
Population: 5454

Yesterday we made our way from Anchorage down to the Kenai Peninsula and the city of Homer. Not much of note happened along the way other than a 30 mile planned detour to the city of Kenai to look for beluga whales (we didn’t see any, though we did see some bank swallows – year bird 199) and an unplanned 30 mile detour due to misreading the signs about which roads were closed.

Today we set out early to go on a three-hour birding trip departing from the Homer Spit and touring Kachemak Bay. Right away we saw a long-tailed duck, two pairs of greater scaup, a few white-winged scoters, and yellow-billed loon (year bird 200!). The yellow-billed loon I’ve only seen once before – last time I was in Alaska, which, as my dad pointed out, was half my lifetime ago!

Next we headed over to check out an impressive bait ball made up of glaucous-winged gulls, black-legged kittiwakes, and common murres feeding on fish. Check out these guys diving in from above:

And look at that mouthful of fish!

Next we headed over to Sixty Foot Rock and Cohen Island, which are part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge that includes more than 2500 islands extending all the way to Aleutians. In addition to a bald eagle, some more kittiwakes, and a pair of black oystercatchers, we saw a boat load of harlequin ducks:

As we continued around the islands we saw several rafts of sea otters, and over the course of the trip we probably saw a couple hundred. This lone otter cruised alongside the boat for a while:

We also came across several nursery groups made up of females and their pups hanging out together. The young ones stay with mom for about a year, and in some cases they weren’t that much smaller than the adults. Nevertheless, they wanted to ride on mom’s tummy or hitch a piggback ride. This pair was curious about us, too:

The highlight of the tour was Gull Island, a rocky outcropping that hosts as many as 17,000 nesting sea birds. Remember how excited I was for that flock of several thousand Bonaparte’s gulls in the San Juan Islands a month or so ago? This was a total birder’s paradise!

The vast majority of the birds on the rocks were nesting black-legged kittiwakes:

In the water were a couple large rafts of common murres that easily totaled several thousand birds:

Mixed in were a few other species, including a pair of pigeon guillemots and what may have been an immature glaucous gull. Photos were taken, but some more time will have to be spent with the Gulls of the Americas reference book before I can reach any conclusion. Of course, you can show an immature gull to five different birders, and you may very well get five different IDs. Given that it’s a gull, we’ll probably never know for sure! I was sure, however, of the tufted puffins:

Most exciting of all, a life bird for me, was about a half-dozen red-faced cormorants (year bird 201, NA life bird 331)

I’m always excited to see a new life bird, but this one is especially awesome. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology describes it as follows: “The red-faced cormorant may be the least known of all North American species. It breeds in a narrow, latitudinally compressed band from the northern Sea of Japan, along the Kuril and Aleutian Island chain, and far east into the southeastern Gulf of Alaska. Possibly owing to its shy habits and inaccessibly colony sites, it is one of the least studied and least known birds of the North Pacific: little is known beyond distribution and rudiments of ecology.” Cool!!

After getting back from the boat trip we were excited and had a celebratory drink at The Salty Dawg Saloon, a locally famous bar with carved wooden tables and dollar bills plastered to all the walls and ceilings. Before going in we actually had to sign a release because the Discovery Channel was on scene filming for The Deadliest Catch. One of the boats featured in the show, the Time Bandit, is based out of Homer and they were filming the co-Captains at the local watering hole. While there we also got to meet some of the residents, including a man who was a crab fisherman for 30 years and had plenty of tall tales to tell.

Since there is a lot to drink but not much to eat at The Salty Dawg, we went over to the boardwalk to get some halibut fish and chips for lunch. Homer is the self-proclaimed halibut fishing capital of the world, so it was only appropriate to try some of the local fish. It was delicious.

When we mentioned to someone that we went out on the water this morning they asked, “Did you catch anything?” There are a lot of charter boats in Homer, but as you can imagine they specialize in fishing charters. It took a little looking around to find the guy who specializes in taking folks out to look for birds and wildlife! Tomorrow we will be back on the water again, not to fish, but to take a private ferry over to Halibut Cove, a small artist’s community across the bay. You can bet I’ll be birding on the ride over and back, though!

Urban Wildlife in Anchorage

Location: Anchorage, Alaska
Population: 279,243

Before leaving the Denali area yesterday we got to take a tour of the sled dog kennels at the place where were staying. The owner of the lodge is a dog musher who has been on some pretty extraordinary expeditions and now guides back country dog sled trips in the winter. (Another side note of interest: we were staying on Stampede Road, the site where Christopher McCandless headed into the wilderness and eventually died of starvation while living in an abandoned bus 20 miles from the nearest road. You're probably familiar with his story - it has been documented in the book and movie Into the Wild.)

I have always found dog sledding intriguing but have never learned that much about it, so it was awesome to be able to learn a bit from someone so passionate about it. He raises his own dogs and currently has 22. They aren't Siberian huskies or malamutes, but northern sled dogs - a breed he says you cannot really call purebred or mixed, but rather "neither". They are direct descendants of the dogs brought over by people on the Bering land bridge. There is a lot of variation within them, and overall they tend to be much healthier than the ultra purebred dog speices.

He had a little of puppies in the yard which were almost five months old. I was immediately attracted to the playful female pictured below, and he said he has keyed in on her as a potential future lead dog. As any dog owner knows, dogs have varying personalities and that was very clear in the half hour we spent in the yard. He explained that the qualities he looks for in a lead dog are the same as the qualities you'd look for in a human leader, and that those qualities are just a rare. Most dogs are content to be followers, but some are willing to be out in front, make decisions, and take responsibility for the team. If I ever make it to Alaska in the winter I will have to try dog sledding for sure - I don't think I'd like the darkness of the northern winter, but the lure of dog sledding and seeing the aurora borealis might just be enough to lure me back.

Yesterday and today we've spent in Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska and home to nearly half the state's population. The setting for this city is a pleasant one as it is right at the end of Cook Inlet and surrounded by mountains. Even though it is a fairly metropolitan area, the wildlife of Alaska still make a home here. We went to Potter Marsh, part of the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge and just yards from a highway, to see some of the urban wildlife for ourselves.

Right away we saw this tree swallow that was amazingly accommodating and gave us the closest views you are ever likely to get of a wild bird:

While the marsh is an important stopover for many migrating species, some breed there as well. There were many mew gulls sitting on nests all over the wetlands, and several families of Canada geese as well:

Multiple fish species spawn in the marsh or transit through to higher streams, and off the boardwalks we did see some fish. I don't know a lot about fish, but after looking up some photos these don't look to me like the salmon, char, grayling, trout, stickleback, or scuplin listed as being native to the marsh. Unfortunately they look most like the northern pike, a species that was illegally introduced 10 years ago. Does anyone know for sure if that's what this is?

All the fish provide food for many of the birds, including the Arctic terns that dive-bomb the water from above. This tern caught (by the tip of the tail!) what looks to me like a stickleback:

Speaking of dive-bombing some tree swallows that must have had a nest in the area harassed this black-billed magpie until it took off looking for a quieter place to perch:

Some other birds seen and heard while strolling the boardwalks include the alder flycatcher and Lincoln's sparrow (two species that were life birds for me this trip), black-capped chickadees, orange-crowned warblers, northern shoveler, northern pintail, green-winged teal, and savannah sparrows.

Being Alaska, big animals make a home in this urban area as well. I read that an estimated 30 brown bears and 60 black bears make their home within the city limits, living in the greenbelts and taking advantage of the numerous lakes and streams. At Potter Marsh we saw a moose grazing in the wetlands:

There were dragonflies and damselflies making their home in the marsh as well, and this dragonfly settled down long enough for some photos that allowed me to tentatively identify it as a black meadowhawk (Sympetrum danae). This species is found in Europe and Asia as well, and in Britain it is known as the black darter. Are any of my British friends able to confirm this ID? You guys know more about dragonflies than I do!

After leaving Potter Marsh we headed a little further south of the city to Beluga Point which overlooks Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet. As the name suggests this is a good spot to look for the Cook Inlet beluga whales, probably our shot of seeing them this trip. Unfortunately this population has declined dramatically and was recently listed as an endangered population, a fact that is very controversial locally even though the population has plummeted from several thousand to several hundred in a relatively short period of time. The reason for the decline is heavily debated as well, with reasons spanning over-hunting by local natives to pollution, disease, prey decline, over-predation by orcas, noise disturbance, etc., etc. With all the political attention surrounding these whales it was surprising to me how hard it was to find information about where and when to see them. We spent a couple of hours at Beluga Point on the incoming tide when they apparently follow the fish into the inlet, but no luck today. There were some Dall's sheep up on the cliffs above the overlook, another large mammal making a home within a fairly large city.

The incoming tide is a sight to see in itself, however, as this is the site of one of the world's 60 or so bore tides. A bore tide occurs when a huge tidal exchange is funneled into a relatively narrow inlet or bay, resulting in the leading edge of the incoming tide forming a standing wave. We didn't get to see the bore tide today, but with up to a 30 foot (!!) tidal exchange in six hours watching the tide come in is impressive. In a matter of minutes we watched the mudflats get covered in water as the rise rose several feet in front of our eyes. Pretty cool.

Into Denali

Wilderness is a spiritual necessity, an antidote to the high pressure of modern life, a means of regaining serenity and equilibrium ~ Sigurd Olson, conservationist

Denali. The word is Athabascan for "High One" and was given to North America's tallest peak, also known as Mt. McKinley. Yet it has come to mean so much more than that. Say the word aloud. Denali. It evokes pure wilderness.

Today we traveled 66 miles into Denali National Park. Before I go further, I have to say I am extremely impressed with how this park is managed. The National Park Service is succeeding in both preserving wilderness and managing human access to experience it while sending a strong environmental and conservation message. It's really reassuring in a time of so many environmental issues to see something done so right.

As part of the plan to reduce human impacts on park wildlife vehicle access to the park is limited. While anyone can drive the first 15 miles of the only road that eventually leads deep into the park, after that vehicle access is mainly restricted to shuttle and tour buses. We rode one of the shuttle buses which pauses to see wildlife and also makes stops at set points where you are allowed to get out.

Now on to the animals! First of all, grizzly bears. Also known more popularly as brown bears in Alaska, as I had hoped we got to see our first grizzlies of the trip today in Denali. We saw two adults together, and our guide hypothesized that it was a male following a female. The picture above is of the bear that was being followed, presumably the female. The photo below is of the other bear who was lighter colored and potentially the male:

We got amazingly close looks at them and it was cool to see how little heed they paid to us. They just came out of the bushes, tromped along for a little ways, and then disappeared again without giving us so much as a glance.

From one of the largest animals of the day to one of the smallest, we also saw lots of Arctic ground squirrels. These little mammals were abundant, and as cute as they are they are also an important food source for most all of the larger animals that live in the Arctic tundra.

I was very thankful that our driver was also a bird-watcher himself and thus was also looking for birds and, even better, stopping the bus to look at birds! We got a closer look at some willow ptarmigans, a bird I saw for the first time earlier in the trip. Unlike the other ones we saw that were still partially white, the ptarmigans in Denali were already in their full brown summer plumage. Notice how the legs are feathered all the way down to the feet.

In addition to the ptarmigans, we spotted several golden eagles (year bird 197) including a great look at a juvenile perched on the hillside below us. The most exciting bird sighting of the day was a gray morph gyrfalcon (year bird 198, NA life bird 330), another bird I had really hoped to see on this trip. For those of you who aren't familiar with this bird, think peregrine falcon but much larger! This was my tenth lifer of the trip, and we are only halfway through!

Another fantastic sighting was a good look at a mother moose and her two calves. Having two offspring at a time is typical for moose, and as our driver explained, more than half of moose calves are predated upon so for the mama moose it is a good insurance policy in terms of successfully passing on her genes.

Dall's sheep were a common sighting today. We saw several groups including one nursery band of nearly 30 moms and young. This adult male was grazing just below another group of five males that were lounging on the hill above:

Another new mammal for me was the barren ground caribou. Going through the BC Rockies we spotted two woodland caribou, but these are their tundra counterparts. In BC we saw a female and a young male, so I was really hoping to see some adult males with their impressive antlers. My wish was granted as we saw two separate groups of males, including this big guy:

Another cool mammal sighting was a brief look at a hoary marmot! No photos of that one, but if you saw my post featuring yellow-bellied marmots from earlier in the trip they look similar but are blue-gray in color. We also saw a red fox carrying a lemming back to its den. I learned that if a fox is carrying its prey, it probably has kits and is carrying them back food, otherwise it will likely eat right on the spot. The only big mammal we didn't see were the wolves, which are a rare sighting though 70-80 of them are living in the park this year.

The wildlife was of course the highlight for me, but the scenery wasn't too shabby either. It was too cloudy to see Mt. McKinley today, as it is two-thirds of the time, but the painted hills of the Alaska Range were a beautiful landscape to take in all the same. Here are a couple photos to give you the feel of it: