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Denali, Susitna River, and Fairbanks
While it is warming up fast, much of interior Alaska’s infrastructure is closed for another month or more. The George Parks Highway is open pavement, but most rest areas and overlooks to the side of the road haven’t been cleared. Many people before us had trudged thru the snow to this viewpoint of the Alaska…
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Two Days in Palmer
While C was in training, I explored the Palmer area. He joined me on a trip to Reflections Lake after work today. Altogether, I saw 9 Moose, 4 Sandhill Cranes, 3 Bald Eagles, 2 Northern Harriers, 2 Merganser couples, 2 Trumpeter Swan couples, and a Ruffed Grouse. Palmer has an excellent visitor center/museum, though it…
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Aurora V, from Denali National Park
Astronomical twilight (the darkest it gets this time of year) started at 12:06 early this morning. Since it was a clear night I had set my alarm for 12:20 am. I wasn’t expecting much as the forecast kp index was only a 3. To my surprise, there was some color in the sky, dramatically obvious…
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Denali and Wildlife, Healy Week One 2024
We have been back in Healy one week and have gone into Denali as far as Mountain Vista 3 times. We saw The Mountain (and lots of beautiful lesser mountains). Yesterday we watched a mostly white Ptarmigan walk along a gravel bar, and saw a moose grazing then lie down. Today we saw fresh tracks…
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Aurora IV, April 2024
Our third night at our dry cabin in Healy, and we’ve already been blessed with the Aurora Borealis. It was relatively faint but beautiful! The dancing northern lights were all around us again – north, south, west, and a bit to the east. My new cell phone has a night setting on the camera. Now…
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Day 10, Arrived in Healy April 13
The forecast and rumors led us to believe we would have bad weather and sketchy roads today, but once again our luck held. While we woke to a dusting of new snow and had a few flurries on the drive, the roads were great until the last 2 miles and passable right to our door.…
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Day 9, Delta Junction, Alaska
We have arrived in Alaska and only have 205 miles left to finish the drive to Healy. We saw 24 Dall Sheep in their usual spot near Destruction Bay. Once (2022?) we saw them near the highway, but today they were dots unless we zoomed in with binoculars or camera. We saw a Northern Harrier…
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Day 8, Lynx and Liard Hot Springs
Today we drove from Toad River in the Canadian Rockies to Haines Junction in the Yukon Territory. It was a long day, leaving at 7:45 am and arriving at 8:50 pm. We had such great weather that we pushed on significantly further than our original plan. Just a little over 600 miles left to Healy!…
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Day 7, Wildlife and Mountains
Today we drove from Fort St John to Toad River Lodge. All of our miles were within British Columbia, which is 1.5 times the size of Texas. We crossed the highest point on the Alcan (in the Canadian Rockies). In order today, we saw 4 mule deer, 1 marmot or groundhog (their ranges overlap here),…
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Day 6, Alaska Highway
We finished Alberta today, and shortly after entering British Columbia, we started the Alaska (Alcan) Highway. I saw 2 Trumpeter (or Tundra?) Swans flying in Alberta as C was napping while I drove. We have about 1600 miles remaining to Healy, Alaska. We planned to take a photo at the famous Alaska Highway sign in…
Me & C
Roaming: Shenandoah River to the Alaska Range
Me & C 