June 22, 2025: Denali National Park

We spent the second week of our Alaska excursion in Talkeetna and Denali National Park, where at a latitude of 63 degrees it never gets dark this time of year. The sun set for just three hours; this is as dark as it got:

2:00 am in the middle of a five hour long sunset behind Mt. Denali

We signed up for a morning wilderness tour into the park and at first weren't happy to be assigned a 5:00 am tour, but we quickly changed our minds when we saw so much wildlife.  Just a short way into the park we came up on a huge female moose grazing on willow trees right beside the road.

The apparent wound on her side is where she was scraping her fur on a tree.  We didn't get a clear reason why.

She wasn't fazed at all by our presence and just walked along the road stripping tender new leaves off the small trees growing beside the road. 

We have moose in New Hampshire, but not this big!

Farther along there was a red fox - another New Hampshire native - that also trotted right along the road with us on its morning hunting trip. One of its possible prey is Ptarmigan, of which we soon saw several, all males.

Male Ptarmigan

These bright colorful birds were out being decoys to attract fox and other predators away from their nest where their mate was incubating eggs. A couple of days later we found mother ptarmigan as she was she ushering a dozen little chicks across a road.

We kept our distance, but she was not about to leave until every last chick crossed the road - she stood her ground in the middle of the road, clucking away to encourage them to follow. 

We saw one grizzly bear - a mom with a cub - just where you want to see them: far away on a hill, too far for a picture.  We certainly don't have grizzlies in New Hampshire, nor do we have Dall Sheep or Caribou which we also saw, not quite as far away. 

Dall Sheep

Caribou

Caribou we're once present in New England but we managed to kill them all.  We spoke with people who were on trips later in the day and they didn't see any wildlife at all - good to know if you visit Denali. 

I saw or heard several birds I'd never seen before, though the very first bird I heard was one I hear most every summer day in Meredith, the Hermit Thrush.  New birds for me included the White-crowned Sparrow which was singing loudly everywhere, Northern Shrike, Orange-crowned Warbler, and Short-billed Gull.

Northern Shrike

White-crowned Sparrow

Orange-crowned Warbler

The short-billed gulls had also just hatched out their chicks.

Short-billed Gull with three chicks on an Island in the Savage River.

I took a couple of nice hikes along the Savage River and atop the Savage Ravine. The sights were beautiful but there was too much smoke in the atmosphere from fires burning in the Yukon to see Mt. Denali.  Some of the terrain looks much like the White Mountains above timberline in the Presidential and Franconia Ranges. 

Parts of the ravine resemble the Alpine Gardens in New Hampshire. 

It was approaching peak wildflower season.  Some, like Lupine, Bunchberry, and Wild Strawberry were familiar.  I'll show a few of the new ones I learned about.

Pale-yellow Vetch

Bluebell

Bistort

Moss Campion

By the time we left Denali National Park to head south to Talkeetna the smoke had cleared and
we had fantastic views of The Great One.    

20,310' Denali

While we were there, 255 people were on the mountain attempting to summit the tallest peak in North America.  About half of those who make the two-week on-mountain trek are successful.

The town of Talkeetna, population just over 1000, is the only town on the 313 mile long Sustina River. Many homesteaders live miles from town in homes that have no electricity, water, or roads. Their only access is by ATV, snowmobile, or flagging down the train that runs between Fairbanks and Anchorage at designated flag stops.

The last remaining Flag Stop Train in America.

This was a trip that live in my memory forever, along with all I learned about nature, wildlife, and the people that have lived in Alaska for ten thousand years.  It's truly a unique place on our fragile planet. 

This week I'll catch up on what's been happening back here at Lake Wicwas for the past two weeks!