Travels with Dennis and Mike

Monday, June 20, 2022

We spent the last week in the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska and were very impressed.

We took entirely too many pictures. So we are dividing this phase of our trip into two posts yet again. However, this time we have decided to emphasize our personal visions. This first post is photos taken by Dennis. The next post will be photos taken by Mike.

The view across the Cook Inlet from our campsite in Anchor Point looking to the mountains in Lake Clark National Park (about 40 miles west from us).

Swimmers in the Portage Lake near Whittier. This is a glacier fed lake from the Portage Glacier and the water was VERY cold, so the kids all had the good sense to rush back out of the water to dry land.

Female Bald Eagle keeping an eye on the world.

Iliamna Volcano.

Also across Cook Inlet from our campsite in Anchor Point, it rises from the shoreline to an altitude of about 10,000 feet.

Male Bald Eagle on the beach at Anchor Point.

Female Bald Eagle flying along the shoreline.

Mike at Kenai Lake, north of Seward, AK.

Sea Otter in Resurrection Bay, Seward, AK.

Mountain Goats on a cliff along Resurrection Bay.

Icebergs in a lake below Bear Glacier, just off of Resurrection Bay.

More scenes from our cruise on Resurrection Bay.

Mike watching for whales.

Puffin

Sea Otters on an ice flow at Aialik Glacier in the Kenai Fjords National Park.

Sea Lions resting on a cliff in the Gulf of Alaska.

And, returning to Seward from our cruise, more Icebergs in the lake below Bear Glacier.

Saturday, June 11, 2022

This is the second of our blog posts of photos from our visit to Denali National Park. There is a single 90 mile road through the park. Only the first 45 miles are presently open. The remainder of the road is closed because of a landslide due to melting permafrost. Most of our animal photos were taken from our truck or from the transit bus which is used to go deep into the park. The Arctic Ground Squirrel encounter was up close on foot.

Mike at the bus stop for Teklanika Campground

Wilson's Warbler

Caribou

Mother and Son Grizzlies

(The cub was estimated to be about 3 years old. And he was larger than his mother. We were told that it is not unusual for cubs to stay with their mother until 3, so he will probably go off by himself this summer.)

Polychrome Mountains

A camper's work is never done.

Denali and the Alaskan Range.

The Teklanika River Valley.

Willow leaves unfolding.

Bull Moose in velvet.

Creek along the Savage River Alpine Trail.

Rock Jasmine

Willow buds

Rain and snow falling along the Alaska Mountain Range.

Dennis on the Savage River Trail

Blackpoll Warbler

The Savage River

American Tree Sparrow

White Crowned Sparrow

Mike in the Savage River Canyon

Denali

Friday, June 10, 2022

We spent eight days at Denali National Park.

The mountains, the rivers, the forests, the tundra and the animals were all magnificent. We spent the first few days near the entrance of the park and then ventured into the back country. We stayed in some wonderful campgrounds and took some memorable hikes.

Needless to say, we took a lot of pictures, so we will sharing the photos in two blog posts.

Moose

There had been a heavy snow the week before we arrived, so, for the first few days in Denali, everything was still covered.

The Alaska Mountain Range

The Alaska Mountain Range, with Denali in the distance.

Glaucous-winged Gull.

Gulls were common along our travels, which seemed odd until we considered how close we were to the sea and how common it is for gulls to follow rivers inland.