Category: Alaska Wildlife

• Aurora 2025

  

  After days of snow and clouds the weather finally cleared.  Even though the Aurora Forecast wasn’t great, I suggested we set an alarm to look out the windows just in case. We saw so much magenta this time.  The northern lights were everywhere all at once, in all directions, as well as directly overhead. We…

  Melissa Rudacille

  April 21, 2025

  Alaska Activities, Alaska Wildlife, Life in Alaska

  astronomical twilight, aurora borealis, moose photos, Northern lights, northern lights in all directions, Otto Lake

• Tracks in the Snow

  

  We have a new friend this year.  It’s nice to watch a snowshoe hare hop about first thing in the morning while one relieves oneself in the privy. This morning it was snowing when I got up and the dusting of fresh snow added interest to the tracks on my walk. Notice the fresh snow…

  Melissa Rudacille

  April 18, 2025

  Alaska Activities, Alaska Wildlife, Birds, dry cabin, Life in Alaska, Wildlife

  Alaska weather, Alaska Wildlife, Bird Watching, Denali National Park, Ptarmigan, raised footprints in snow

• Day 15 Travel to Alaska Spring 2025

  

  We drove over 300 miles and saw lots of beautiful scenery,  but I didn’t take photos.  So except for the eagles below,  the pictures on this post are from previous years along the same stretch of road Destruction Bay to Delta Junction. We slept in this morning then enjoyed a full breakfast at Talbot Arm…

  Melissa Rudacille

  April 15, 2025

  Alaska Wildlife, travel, Travel to and from Alaska, Wildlife

  alaska, Alcan Highway, Bird Watching, Grizzly Bear, spring road trip, travel

• Day 14 Travel to Alaska Spring 2025

  

  We started the day on the Alaska  Marine Highway,  then drove the Haines Highway until it intersected with the Alaska (Alcan) Highway, continuing from Haines Junction to Kluane Lake.   We drove just over 200 miles after getting off the ferry, staying at one of our favorite places, Talbot Arm Motel in Destruction Bay,  Yukon. We…

  Melissa Rudacille

  April 14, 2025

  Alaska Activities, Alaska Wildlife, Birds, travel, Travel to and from Alaska, Wildlife

  alaska, Alaska Ferry, Alaska Marine Highway, Alaska weather, Alcan Highway, Bird Watching, Haines Highway, Ptarmigan, spring road trip, travel

• Day Twelve Travel to Alaska Spring 2025

  

  We enjoyed our first full day on the ferry, starting with breakfast in the dining room.  The beautiful views made up for slow service as far as I was concerned.  (C was hungry and wished he had his food sooner.) Random notes on the ferry follow: One significant change is that WiFi is available.   On…

  Melissa Rudacille

  April 12, 2025

  Alaska Wildlife, travel, Travel to and from Alaska

  Alaska Ferry, Alaska Marine Highway, Porpoises, spring road trip, travel

• Alaska Travel

  

  As we are packing to return to Alaska, I am also planning our 2025 budget.  It is much easier to anticipate what we might spend now that we are on our fourth season!  Last year, I tracked the cost of all our mini-vacations, from 3 to 10 days. It cost us $2630 to drive our…

  Melissa Rudacille

  March 29, 2025

  Alaska Activities, Alaska Wildlife, Camping in Alaska, Fishing in Alaska, travel, Travel to and from Alaska

  alaska, Alaska Wildlife, Arctic, aurora borealis, Copper River Highway, Cordova, cost per day, Dalton Highway, Denali Highway, Denali National Park, fishing, Grizzly Bear, Hatcher Pass, Russian River, Tangle Lakes, travel

• Whittier, Alaska

  

  We stayed in Whittier September 10 and 11, 2024.  While the tiny city gets mixed reviews, we thoroughly enjoyed it and would like to stay there again.  It IS different. In order to get to or from the city by road or train, you travel through a narrow,  one-way tunnel.  There is only room for…

  Melissa Rudacille

  December 15, 2024

  Alaska Activities, Alaska Wildlife, Fishing in Alaska

  alaska, Alaska Ferry, Alaska Marine Highway, Alaska weather, coho salmon, fishing, Whittier

• Healy, AK to Destruction Bay, YT

  

  Day One of our 4400 mile trip to VA.  We started the day seeing a wolf and ended the drive seeing a grizzly bear.   In between, there were many pretty snow-capped mountains with fresh snow. It was snowing as we packed yesterday,  then turned to rain, then dropped to 21 degrees overnight.   Two of the…

  Melissa Rudacille

  September 22, 2024

  Alaska Activities, Alaska Wildlife, Birds, Travel to and from Alaska, Wildlife

  Alcan Highway, Bird Watching, fall road trip, Grizzly Bear, Wolf

• Whittier and Cordova, a few highlights

  

  This ten day trip deserves several posts.  We loved both Alaskan towns and definitely want to go back.  However,  packing isn’t leaving me much time to write. With snow arriving in Healy, we want to head south soon!  On day three, we left Whittier on the M/V Aurora (Alaska Ferry), for a 12 hour boat…

  Melissa Rudacille

  September 20, 2024

  Alaska Activities, Alaska Wildlife, Camping in Alaska, Fishing in Alaska, Garden/Plants

  Alaska Ferry, Alaska Marine Highway, Alaska weather, Alaska Wildlife, aurora borealis, coho salmon, Copper River Highway, Cordova, fishing, foraging, Northern lights, Whittier

• Labor Day Weekend, Coho IV, 2024

  

  Fall is here with fresh snow on the mountains and fall color everywhere.   We spent 4 nights fishing for chum and camping at Sheep Creek Slough.  Four co-workers joined us, and all caught at least one fish. We got on the road early on Saturday to pick up a friend at the airport.   Thanks to…

  Melissa Rudacille

  September 6, 2024

  Alaska Activities, Alaska Wildlife, Birds, Camping in Alaska, Fishing in Alaska

  Alaska weather, Alaska Wildlife, Bird Watching, coho salmon, Denali National Park, fishing, Grizzly Bear, Sandhill Cranes