Tag: Denali National Park

• Alaska with Friends

  

  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…

  Melissa Rudacille

  July 11, 2025

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

  Alaska Wildlife, Caribou, Denali, Denali National Park, fishing, glacier, Grizzly Bear, moose photos, Porpoises, Ptarmigan, Russian River, Teklanika Campground, Whittier

• Fun Times in Alaska

  

  The five-week old sled dog puppies at Denali National Park are adorable.  Volunteers and park staff are asked to help socialize the puppies.  Storm was my favorite, she is on the far left in the photo below.  Webcam of puppy kennel:  https://www.nps.gov/dena/learn/photosmultimedia/webcams-pups.htm. Later the same day we went on a thrilling flight with Fly Denali…

  Melissa Rudacille

  June 12, 2025

  Alaska Activities, Alaska Wildlife

  alaska, Alaska Wildlife, Denali, Denali National Park, Fly Denali, glacier, pika

• Moose and Pika

  

  The little pika above looked particularly bunny-like.  Perhaps his ears are a bit larger than normal? The adorable and industrious pikas are related to rabbits.  I always enjoy watching them.  I also enjoyed watching this mother moose and her young calf.  Mom seemed to have a destination in mind, while the calf kept getting distracted.…

  Melissa Rudacille

  May 31, 2025

  Alaska Activities, Alaska Wildlife, Camping in Alaska, Fishing in Alaska, travel, Wildlife

  alaska, Alaska Wildlife, Denali National Park, fishing, moose photos, pika

• Wild Life

  

  We have spent the past week in Healy, where my primary focus has been volunteering at Denali National Park.   We have a good group of volunteers providing Wildlife Safety and Education at Savage River Trailhead.   I am the only returning volunteer in this position and am working regularly until the middle of June. While I…

  Melissa Rudacille

  May 25, 2025

  Alaska Activities, Alaska Wildlife, Birds, Fishing in Alaska, Life in Alaska, Retirement

  alaska, Alaska Wildlife, Caribou, Denali National Park, moose photos, Volunteering

• Grizzly,  Porcupine,  Ice Jam, and more

  

  Today, we got a relatively early start to check out a Nenana River Ice Jam, then drive to Teklanika in Denali National Park. We have spent at least 4 hours at a Nenana River ice jam in the past 2 days.  We are fascinated watching the dynamic process, with newly arrived ice crashing into the…

  Melissa Rudacille

  May 2, 2025

  Alaska Activities, Alaska Wildlife, Birds, Wildlife

  alaska, Alaska Wildlife, break-up, Caribou, Denali National Park, Grizzly Bear, Harlequin ducks on Savage River, moose photos, Teklanika River

• 27 Moose and Denali Alpenglow

  

  We had a record moose day yesterday!  We have never seen so many in one day.   Our first moose was on Stampede Road just 15 minutes after leaving the house, and the last was on our road, 5 minutes from home. The other 25 moose were all in Denali National Park.  Eleven were in sight…

  Melissa Rudacille

  April 22, 2025

  Alaska Activities, Alaska Wildlife, Wildlife

  alaska, Alaska Wildlife, Denali, Denali National Park, moose photos, Moose with white hind legs

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 8 Days Coho Count and Talkeetna

  

  We spent 6 days camping, canoeing, and fishing in the rain. We saw 6 moose, a river otter, a beaver, and 3 Sandhill Cranes.  We watched a Merganser mother with her 11 (!) ducklings scavenging and fishing around us.  We also watched the Olympics on C’s phone during a break in the rain. On our last…

  Melissa Rudacille

  August 15, 2024

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

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