Alaska - Where the Wild Things Are
In almost 24 hours, we would be exchanging our nomad existence for the domestic.
We had spent just enough time to immerse our selves in the kindness of Alaskans but not enough with it’s wildlife. Our encounters were too few and too fleeting and left us wanting more.
Wildlife Glimpses
It wasn’t until our return trip, in a 10 mile stretch along Turnagain Arm, that we had our first and only bear sighting, a black bear, munching fresh greens at the edge of a trailhead parking lot, followed by a glimpse of the resident mountain goats perched atop their favorite peak overlooking the sea. Nearing Anchorage, we passed by all the migratory birds busy tending their nesting grounds along the highway at the Potter Marsh Bird Sanctuary & Wildlife Refuge. After a quick pit stop there, we cautiously drove past a young moose at the entrance quietly nibbling on new shoots, whilst gunshots rang out directly across the highway at the Rabbit Creek Shooting Park - a kind of irony found only in Alaska, we thought.
The week before in Denali National Park, we saw several Ptarmigans foraging along the road side in their early Spring plumage - a first for me. But the photographic scenes of grizzlies roaming the landscape did not appear this early in the year. Only moose were making themselves visible. We caught up with a young one walking along the road, and saw two more grazing on the hillside just above the road before we arrived back at the visitor center that day.
Our first moose sighting was at the start of our trip in Rosehip campground. A couple local guys came past our campsite on their way to fish and returned awhile later to report a moose was sitting in the middle of the camp road on the other side of the campground. We of course had to grab our cameras and go see for ourselves. By the time we got there she was moving through the birch forest in the middle of the campground loop and almost impossible to see through the trees. It wasn’t until she was crossing a few hundred yards behind our campsite that we could spot her shape passing in and out of view between the birch and evergreens. She stopped at a birch leaning over her head to continue nibbling and then laid down in the snow. We thought maybe we slept with her overnight, but in the morning she was gone. The following day on our ride, we again just caught glimpses of a mom and her yearling at the edge of the forest.
Beavers in an Ice Jam
The most amazing encounter we had by far was totally unexpected at Whitefish campground the day before we returned to Fox. After the massive ice flow that afternoon, we decided to walk up river to see how much more ice was backed up between the bridge and our campsite. As we wove our way through the brambles and birch, we took notice of just how many trees had been taken down by beavers. What we didn’t realize until moments later was several of the cuts were still fresh.
The ice was so jammed up on the river it was hard to imagine any beaver were nearby - until Nivaun spotted a dark spot up near the river bank. Just as he was about to dismiss it as a rock, he drew my attention to it and we both realized it was moving. Not only was it one beaver, there was a whole family, two kits and their parents aimlessly swimming circles in the smallest of pools still left between the slabs of ice, briefly pulling up on the river bank, then slipping back in.
We stood there captivated by the moment - being a silent witness to the wild is so awe-inspiring especially in places that in a matter of weeks will be full of human activity. Our timing on this occasion at least, couldn’t have been better, to simply be, where the wild things are…
Farewell but not Good-bye
We had originally planned to camp at Denali one more time on our return trip but the forecast of high winds and rain pushed us onward. Traveling Alaska highways the miles are consumed by the grandeur of Nature - time loses its grip and before we knew it 500+ miles vanished behind us and we were in Fairbanks once again. The Seven Gables welcomed us back to the same room from just a couple weeks before, only this time we were packing up boxes instead of our bikes.
The next morning just as we approached the airport entrance, we found a little red fox sitting under the only tree in the green strip - seemingly to bid us farewell. He didn’t mind that we pulled over to take his picture; and then watched us pull away.
Somehow we managed to arrive at the airport in between all flights coming or going, allowing us to casually check our boxes, and pass through Security without anyone else in line. This time, thankfully, all that was left to do now was calmly wait to be transported back to our civilized existence to mend and regroup.
Our time was cut short, but I don’t know whether there is any length of stay that would make a trip here feel complete or enough. Alaska is an itch that will forever long to be scratched.