The Traveling Widower

Tag: alaska

  • I Can See Denali From Here – Flying Around in Denali National Park

    A person wearing a headset and a hat looks out from the cockpit of an aircraft, with a panoramic view of the landscape below, including forests and lakes.

    August 3rd, 2026

    Yesterday, as we approached the Anchorage airport I looked to the North and could see Mt. Denali (Oops…someone renamed it back to Mt. McKinley) clearly – such a beautiful day. I wish I could have scheduled my fly around that day. I knew the weather was not going to be iffy today, but it seemed sunny in Anchorage, so I headed North to Talkneeta, for the flight tour with K2 Aviation. I was really excited – I was going to pass thru the town of Wasilla, former home of Sara Palin. Remember her? She of the famous quote about Russia – “I can see Russia from my back porch”. Well, maybe that was Tina Fey on Saturday Night Live who said that. It was hard to tell them apart.

    A woman in a red blazer smiles while standing at a podium with microphones, in front of a blue curtain and an American flag.

    At any rate, I passed through the town without stopping to see her former residence, and motored on to Talkneeta – a really cute village right on the huge Susitna River. K2 was a major tourist attraction, it was packed with people waiting to take their flight – there were at least a half dozen 8 passenger DeHaviland Otters on the runway.

    View of an airstrip with several parked red and white planes, a cloudy sky, and people walking nearby.

    And then I found out that my “Grand Tour of Denali” was cancelled – the peak was socked in and the winds were too dangerous at high altitude. Crummy buttons! I was offered a shorter, lower elevation flight instead, which flew around the lower peaks and over many of the glaciers. What the heck, I was there after a 2 hour drive. 

    After waiting a bit, the pilot called out our group of 8, and we headed out to the plane. I got dibs on the copilot seat, and crammed in – a bit roomier than the float planes, but still difficult to get my big feet past all the control handles. 

    The flight was fantastic – the glaciers were incredible, the peaks we flew around were all around 10-12,000’ and incredibly jagged, and we had this nice gray layer of clouds just above. Interesting lighting. I thoroughly enjoyed the flight. The pilot was also our guide, so unlike the float planes, they kept up a conversation throughout the flight. I’m glad I decided to stick with it, even if I did not get to see much of Denali.

    If I get back to Anchorage earlier in the summer, I’d do this again, but try for the high altitude version – they have one flight that flies over the top of Denali – that’s over 20,000’. They provide oxygen for the passengers.

    Here’s a bunch of photos.

    Aerial view of unique geological formations featuring deep, circular depressions filled with blue water surrounded by dry, rocky terrain.
    Aerial view of a winding glacier surrounded by jagged mountain peaks under a cloudy sky.
    Aerial view of jagged mountain peaks with snow-capped summits and a winding glacier below, under a cloudy sky.
    Aerial view of a glacier winding between rugged snow-capped mountains under a partly cloudy sky.
    A dramatic mountain landscape featuring snow-covered peaks under a partly cloudy sky.
    Aerial view of a snow-covered mountain peak with rocky cliffs, taken from an airplane wing against a backdrop of clouds and a glacial landscape.
    Aerial view of rugged mountains with snow and a glacier flowing through a valley, surrounded by clouds.
    Aerial view of rugged mountain peaks with rocky terrain and patches of snow under a cloudy sky.
    Aerial view of a winding glacier surrounded by mountainous terrain under a cloudy sky.
    Aerial view of a glacier winding through a mountainous landscape, surrounded by snow-capped peaks and dramatic cloud formations.

    Now if I had only spotted a moose on the way back to the airport.

    Peace

  • Day Four in Katmai National Park- A Bonus Outing and Back to Civilization

    Close-up of the paw of a bear standing on wet sand with water splashes.
    Sasquatch maybe?

    September 1st,  2026

    I had read reviews on the Nat/Hab site about how difficult it is to leave the Ursus and the bears. I understand that now. As much as I was looking forward to having a nice, long shower, a private bathroom, and dry towels, it was hard departing – once you get used to the routine and the people you are sharing the adventure with, it’s hard having it all end. But, since our plane was not arriving until 1:00PM there was time for one more short outing in Geographic Bay, where we started out. You can take a lot of picture in 2 hours. Thousands for some people on this trip. 

    The tide was out, so the bay was basically a big tidal flat, with small channels and a lot of ash/sand – easy walking for a change compared to the previous day. There were also lots pretty green algal mats, channel patterns in the sand, and a few soon-to-be-dry jelly fish to look at as we headed towards a fairly large number of bears close to mouth of the river. At least 11, and at least one cub.

    The only difficulty we had was a mud patch, which both myself and my cabin buddy found. He sank down to his knee (but saved his camera), and I had one foot trapped down to my calf. We both had to be pulled out. No damage done. 

    The were a lot of bears in the tidal flats, but they were scattered about – some fishing, some just lounging around. Our guide picked a nice comfortable, sandy bar in the middle of them all, and we settled in one last time on our green buckets and got to work. This was interesting photography – nice light, a beautiful background of mountains surrounding the bay, and great colors of the water – a lot of green and tan, to go along with the brown bears. Beautiful. We had a few close encounters, nothing like the day before, and got to see one bear rolling around on the sand, looking like a drunk that had fallen off the bar stool. And then he looked back and waved…..really. Here’s the proof. 

    A brown bear lying on its back in the sand, playfully waving one paw while surrounded by natural scenery.

    One huge, very old male wandered by as well. 

    A brown bear walking along a sandy shoreline, with a backdrop of green vegetation and shallow water.

    And then there were just lots of nice photo ops of individual bears with nice backgrounds. Hard to stop shooting.

    A large brown bear walking along a sandy shore with a backdrop of greenery and water.
    A large brown bear sitting by a riverbank, with lush green hills and trees in the background. Other bears are visible in the distance, and white birds are scattered along the river.
    A brown bear standing on a sandy shore with a natural landscape in the background.
    A relaxed brown bear lying on its back in a sandy area, surrounded by natural landscape.
    A brown bear standing on the shore of a river, looking out over the water with a lush green hillside in the background.

    But as we approached out two hour limit, our guide had us move over to the mother and cub – hard to pass that last opportunity up. 

    A young brown bear walking across rocky ground, surrounded by tall grass.
    A brown bear and a cub sitting in tall green grass, interacting with each other in a natural setting.

    We did have one more photo op on our walk back to the skiff – a not quite adult bald eagle, sitting quietly in a tree. Perfect!. I snapped a few shots with my phone, and then dragged the Sony out of my bag and shot a bunch more. I was hoping it would take flight but no such luck. Still, nice to get some good shots with the Sony.

    A bald eagle perched on a branch, surrounded by lush green foliage.

    This photo, and the ones of the cubs, were taken with my phone. I found out a bit later as we were finishing up packing for the flight, that the SD card had somehow become corrupted at the end of our outing. I lost all of cub shots, as well as all of the eagle shots made with the Sony. #$!@^!!!. I’ve never had that happen before. The good news is that it did not happen on any of the other days, when I was taking hundreds of pictures. That would have been a disaster.

    We had our last great lunch on the Ursus, finished up packing, and waited for our aerial Uber to arrive. Three of us were on a different plane this time, a smaller version of what we flew in on. Bonus round though – I flew in the co-pilot seat, and there was a full set of controls there! A chance to try out my flying skills. Maybe not. Besides, I fell asleep soon after we get off the ground/water. It would have been fun.

    A pilot with gray hair and glasses is seen inside a small aircraft cockpit, focused on flying. The view through the window reveals majestic mountains and a glacier below, with a small plane flying in the distance.
    Max likes to fly…(AI generated)

    The flight back was perfectly smooth – we really lucked out on weather for this trip. It was in the high 60’s when we landed back in Kodiak. The Nat/Hab leader was waiting for us at the airport, and offered up a few choices for the remainder of the afternoon. I was tired, and really wanted to just get to the hotel, but the rest of the group opted for door number 2, which was a hike in the rain forest. I was shamed into going along. It was a nice hike – easy trail, nice views of the forest and some of the old WWII installations. Thankfully, it was short, and we finally made it back to the hotel. 

    A pretty amazing day all around. Tomorrow I head off to Anchorage to the non-bear part of my trip. 

    Peace