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Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 100
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 100 |
Get a copy of "the Milepost". It is a must for visitors traveling around Alaska. https://www.amazon.com/MILEPOST-2023-Alaska-Travel-Planner/dp/1892154579/ref=sr_1_1?crid=159KZ498R6UMW&keywords=milepost+alaska+2023&qid=1672695848&sprefix=milepost%2Caps%2C313&sr=8-1
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 6,879
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 6,879 |
That is good advice from Shrapnel. I'd also include a UAF Museum visit in Fairbanks.
Getting wildlife pics without getting far from the vehicle is not a good prospect, generally. Scenery, yes. Hatcher pass is north of Anchorage is a nice drive, i hear. My wife has been there, I never have.
If going south out of Anchorage to Seward, Homer, etc., do some glassing for sheep and goats at the Seward Y area. You won't get close-ups of animals, but I almost always can see some there on the mountain sides. Sometimes black bear. A several mile hike up to Carter lake is nice, also.
if the salmon are still in the streams of Portage Valley, there is potential for some bear pics there, also- probably blacks only. Early and late.
There is also a sheep viewing area at Sunrise a few miles down the Sterling Hwy from the Y. At Russian River, there is a falls a couple miles up from the campground- good trail. A fairly good prospect, with patience and time spent, to find a bear fishing there early and late if the salmon are there, but I've seen small black bears there almost any time of day when the salmon are in.
Go to Hope, drive up Palmer Creek Road, spend some time up there. Maybe get moose, and/or bear (black, mostly) pics. Good fall colors.
For fantabulous fall colors, Interior is the best! If you fly into/go to Fairbanks, head up the Steese Hwy, maybe pick a ridge between the two summits (about 90-100 mile drive from Fbks), follow any 4 wheeler trail 1-2 miles up the face of a spur ridge to above timber-line, maybe get some caribou pictures. Maybe....
Possibly some bear pics too, working any caribou gut piles and the berry patches. I haven't done it that time of year- only in June and August, so that's just a throw-out thought.
Again, without some hiking or a fly-in, or park visitation, wildlife viewing/photography is likely to be pretty spotty, so keep your expectations realistic. Alaska is huge, with fewer animals per square mile than most envision, and they don't much like to be close to people areas. +1. I didn't spend much time In squarebanks but otherwise good info. Especially in hope. A very nice spot folks don't think about. Alot of good moose and black bear up palmer creek.
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Joined: Jan 2023
Posts: 22
New Member
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New Member
Joined: Jan 2023
Posts: 22 |
Sounds like the trip of a lifetime
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Joined: Dec 2022
Posts: 66
Campfire Greenhorn
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Campfire Greenhorn
Joined: Dec 2022
Posts: 66 |
You could always stop and stay a few days at my family's Lodge here in Talkeetna. WWe offer an array of activities including bear viewing and fishing trips. Nice cabins with views of Denali just down the road.
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 32,082
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 32,082 |
Broad Pass, near Cantwell in Sept. '22. One of these years I have to drive the Denali Hwy to/ from Paxton/ Cantwell.... There is a roadside pullout over on the Pax side on the Richardson hwy with spawning salmon thick in the stream. Sept might be late for that. Can't fish for those, but the lake trout are in there scarfing their eggs, also. Check the regs - 30 years ago the lakers were legal to fish for, don't know about now. 12 -16 " max is what I caught, on the way back from dipping at Chitna. There are always some ignorant Karens ready to torpedo your legal activity. You WILL be visited by a game warden if fishing there. .... Nice guys usually.
Last edited by las; 01/08/23.
The only true cost of having a dog is its death.
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,196
Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,196 |
I’ve not done it, but have been told by those who have taken the train from Seward to Anchortown has fabulous scenery. It goes through the heart of the Kenai mountains.
If you take the time it takes, it takes less time. --Pat Parelli
American by birth; Alaskan by choice. --ironbender
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Joined: May 2018
Posts: 425
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 425 |
Get a copy of "the Milepost". It is a must for visitors traveling around Alaska. https://www.amazon.com/MILEPOST-2023-Alaska-Travel-Planner/dp/1892154579/ref=sr_1_1?crid=159KZ498R6UMW&keywords=milepost+alaska+2023&qid=1672695848&sprefix=milepost%2Caps%2C313&sr=8-1 I'll second this, wife bought one and it was an excellent idea.
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 6,960
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 6,960 |
Take a Denali flightseeing tour out of Talkeetna. Get the glacier landing package where you land up at the head of Ruth Glacier. The scenery in Alaska is fabulous from the ground, but to see it from 4-5000’ up it’s spectacular.
Mark
NRA Life Member Anytime anyone kicks cancers azz is a good day!
~Molɔ̀ːn Labé Skýla~
Oh The Drama!
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 10,345
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 10,345 |
I agree! My first trip on the train was in about 1955 from Fairbanks to Anchorage and back. I still love it.
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 32,082
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 32,082 |
Nenana railroad bridge from the highway bridge.
The only true cost of having a dog is its death.
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Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 5,031
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 5,031 |
If cruising up the Parks Hwy past Trapper Creek, don't forget to stop & shop at WAL*MIKES stick around and have a chat with Mike, he'll talk your ears off ....
"The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants".
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 9,743
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 9,743 |
If cruising up the Parks Hwy past Trapper Creek, don't forget to stop & shop at WAL*MIKES
stick around and have a chat with Mike, he'll talk your ears off I stopped in and gave him a Moose liver once from a bull we'd taken up off Petersville Road. About a half dozen old farts sitting out front, they swooped in on that liver like Coyotes on a fresh kill, I mighta even started a fight. Didn't hangout to chat, I was on a mission. In and out in less than a minute.
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Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 98
Campfire Greenhorn
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Campfire Greenhorn
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 98 |
Following this guys! Headed back to Alaska this fall!
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,479
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,479 |
You could always stop and stay a few days at my family's Lodge here in Talkeetna. WWe offer an array of activities including bear viewing and fishing trips. Nice cabins with views of Denali just down the road. Who is this? Just curious. Jerry is that you?
We can keep Larry Root and all his idiotic blabber and user names on here, but we can't get Ralph back..... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over....
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 15,360
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 15,360 |
nenana is where I live ...
I work harder than a ugly stripper....
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 15,360
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 15,360 |
this is from my living room window...
I work harder than a ugly stripper....
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 15,360
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 15,360 |
Nenana railroad bridge from the highway bridge. Me 4 miles up river from that bridge...
I work harder than a ugly stripper....
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,677
Campfire Regular
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OP
Campfire Regular
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,677 |
Thanks for your help - at this point I have the flight booked into Anchorage on September 2nd. Ill be planning/mapping out our destinations in a couple weeks (kids spring break weekend), but we are leaning towards renting the Jeep with rooftop tent and slowly making our way to Denali and back down for the week. More to come....
joe
Providing digital marketing services for startups & small-to-midsize companies - including website design/hosting, videography and editing. www.jolinmedia.com
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Joined: Mar 2020
Posts: 587
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Mar 2020
Posts: 587 |
Take a Denali flightseeing tour out of Talkeetna. Get the glacier landing package where you land up at the head of Ruth Glacier. The scenery in Alaska is fabulous from the ground, but to see it from 4-5000’ up it’s spectacular. AMEN BROTHER !!! A great Flight, money well spent !!!
"not too grumpy"
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 6,822
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 6,822 |
Been to Denali twice, saw a ground squirrel, that's the extent of the wildlife seen!
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