Friends came to Alaska for 7 full days, and we traveled together 6 of those days.  They had a good “highlights” adventure, with 3 days at Denali National Park, one night boondocking along the Parks Highway,  one night at Russian River, one night in Seward, and one night at Portage Glacier.

Their wishlist was wildlife viewing (including bears, moose and some northern birds), fishing for salmon, scenery including the hope of seeing Denali itself, and seeing some glaciers.  We saw Denali on the first full day, and wildlife throughout the trip.

We met N’s bird wish list by seeing Ptarmagin and Golden Eagles.  Bonus (my wish list), we also saw an American Dipper.

We saw at least 15 Dall Sheep.  Some were nice rams with their curling horns.  We also saw ewes and lambs.

Caribou were everywhere,  but weirdly, we didn’t see any moose in Denali until our last day as we were exiting the Park.

At Denali we saw 24 caribou and 3 moose.  We failed to find a pika, but did locate some Labrador Tea.

We also saw four Grizzlies at Denali National Park, all in the Cathedral and Sable Pass areas. 

After leaving Denali the young adults fished the Susitna drainage,  and then the Russian River.  J caught a salmon in each place!  We enjoyed eating his nice sockeye.

We also hiked up Russian River Falls Trail to watch the salmon jumping up the falls.  An American Dipper was hunting  aquatic insects and small fish.

Rushing water and waves didn’t phase the bird.  He effortlessly stuck to the slippery rocks even as waves completely covered him.

At Seward we visited the Alaska SeaLife Center and Exit Glacier Viewpoint.  We also saw sea otters, seals, and sea lions – some from directly in front of their RV at Resurrection Campground.   I saw a porpoise or dolphin (probably Dall’s Porpoise), but it didn’t hang around for anyone else to get a look.

On their last full day they went to Portage  Glacier,  Byron Glacier, and Whittier.   We stayed another day in Seward,  catching up on laundry and sleep.  If you rent an RV (or rent a car and sleep in a tent), you can recreate their adventure for yourself!