BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture Alaska Have you visited Alaska?

I went to Alaska in 2007 to participate in a Women's Show and had a great time!

Here's an image of Mount Susitna -

My brother and I drove to Alaska in May 2007. He is from NYC, and he picked me up in Indiana and for the next 5 weeks and 14,300 miles we had SO much fun! As he said, we were like two astronauts, jammed into a tiny capsule (Toyota RAV4) travelling enormous distances and seeing wonderful things! It was the first time we had been together, one-on-one, since childhood and it was great. We drove as far as 35 miles above the Arctic Circle, did a lot of birding, took 2 boat trips to see birds and glaciers, drove into Denali, saw 18 bears (he kept count) and stored up a lifetime of memories.

That sounds like a marvelous trip, Claybird!! Did you have a favorite part of the trip?

Yes, it was in the Yukon. We stayed overnight in Whitehorse and I saw an announcement that the Yukon Bird Club was going to have a field trip to see Blue Grouse the following evening. I called them to see if outsiders were welcome and we were, so we stayed the extra night. That trip was the best! We climbed way up a mountain near Carcross, it was one of the hardest hikes I've ever taken but I did it! Part way up we stopped and the leader made a campfire and we had cocoa and snacks, then continued up to where the grouse were displaying. The views were amazing, the company welcoming and congenial and the grouse were a Life Bird that we probably would never have gotten otherwise. Brother and I agreed that it was the high point of a trip that was outstanding overall.

Sounds like you had a great trip here, Claybird! Besides the Whitehorse birding trip, did you find any other great birding spots? Since moving here I've added a couple dozen species to my life list - spring migration is always something to look forward to!

Kimi

Wow that sounds like great fun, claybird! It is so nice that they let you come along

Kimi,
We birded the Homer Spit when the shorebird migration hit, and that was great! There was a boat trip from Homer into the bay that was led by a bird-friendly captain and his wife and they found lots of new water birds for us. I also enjoyed Creamer's Field in Fairbanks, it's a preserve maintained by the city, and migrating waterfowl stop there in huge numbers.
I really loved visiting Alaska, I guess we were there at the best time; roads were (mostly) open but the bugs were still asleep. What a beautiful state!

Claybird -

I'm hoping to get down to Homer one of these years for the shorebird migration. Last spring I went to Cordova, but was just a tad too late (about a week). The large numbers and big variety was gone - I did get some great rock sandpiper photos, though, and got to observe a lot of other species going about their business.

Were the cranes in at Creamer's Field when you were there?

Kimi

I have always wanted to go to Alaska. when i was a kid they told us you could go to college there for free . . .but no more i did the research when I was 18. but I know I'll make it there some day

I really enoyed visiting Alaska. The nearly day-long light made me feel energized. My favorite experience was taking a helicopter ride over glaciers. At low altitude we saw a group og grizzlies and when the clouds parted briefly we saw Denali's snow-capped peak.

Best,
Candyce