Tag: Trumpeter Swans
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Destruction Bay, Fall 2025

We have begun our road trip back to Virginia! We anticipate taking a bit over 2 weeks, arriving in late September. We didn’t take many photos today, so below I added 3 highlights from earlier trips on this section of the Alcan Highway. We didn’t see any bears on this stretch today (September 13, 2025). …
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Chilly then Chilling

Our Kenai Fjords boat tour was cold, wet, and shorter than planned due to a small craft advisory. The highlights were 8 or so Dall’s Porpoise just 20 feet away playing in the boat’s wake at the bow, 3 Orca, and many cool birds, including Horned Puffins. As we left the protection of Resurrection Bay,…
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Day 16 Arrived in Healy Spring 2025

After 4085 miles of driving plus 3 lovely days on the Alaska Marine Highway ferry, we have arrived! The snow isn’t deep, and our little dry cabin is warming up at a reasonable pace. Top priority tomorrow is to drive 20 minutes to get water. Our 6-gallon aquatainers are completely empty (if we had left…
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Bore Tide, Puffins, and Coho III

Seven nights: Seward, Swanson River, and Sheep Creek Slough Our second attempt to see the Turnagain Arm bore tide was spectacularly successful. The August 21 wave was much bigger than July 25 (https://roaming-nature.com/2024/07/27/bore-tide-and-bears-sockeye-ii-2024/) This time we could see the wave even before Beluga Point! As we were pulling the trailer we didn’t have the flexibility…
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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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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 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…
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Day 8, Toad River to Pink Mountain
I woke up to a family of Trumpeter Swans 50 yards from our cabin at Toad River Lodge. So awesome! I watched them a long time while C slept in. The white parents and 3 grey cygnets fed together. The parents did a lot of the churning work while the cygnets and some opportunistic ducks…
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Day 6, Beaver Creek to Johnsons Crossing, YT
So much wildlife near the Alcan Highway today! We saw a grizzly bear, 29 dall sheep, a coyote, several pairs of swans, and lots of grouse. In the evening I walked down to the Teslin River where I saw 3 swimming muskrats and at least 70 swans! It was dusk and the largest group of…
