Alaska

Kodiak Island

First stop was the Kodiak Brown Bear Center - an off-grid spot only reachable by float plane. Spent four days there watching several momma bears with their cubs, plus a couple of adolescent males wandering around. A few times we were within ten feet of the bears, which is a genuinely wild thing to experience. Also spotted eagles, foxes, and black-tailed deer along the way. The foxes come right up to you like you owe them money, LOL.

Seward

Took the glass-top train down to Seward, then out on a fjord boat tour. This was the wildlife jackpot of the trip: bald eagles, sea otters, humpback whales, puffins, seals, sea lions, orcas, porpoises, and glaciers, all in one outing.

Our guides fished some glacier ice out of the water and let us hold it. Then they turned it into a cocktail for us to enjoy while we watched the sunlight dance across the fjord.

Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

Visited the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, home to bison, wolves, moose, and more - and got to feed a bull moose, which is not something I expected to cross off a list. His name is Eland.

Anchorage -> Talkeetna

Met up with some Boston-area friends in Anchorage and we all headed north.

On to Denali

Another glass-top train ride, this time to Denali. Once we arrived we did some white water rafting, and an unexpected highlight of holding sled dog puppies and chatting with a few real Iditarod mushers.

Denali Backcountry Lodge

Four days at the Denali Backcountry Lodge - another off-grid spot. Flew in on a plane and took a helicopter back out. Spent the days hiking the tundra and saw bears, moose, caribou, and more.

The real highlight, though, was seeing Mount Denali itself. I didn't realize going in what a rare treat that actually is - the mountain is so massive it makes its own weather and is almost always wrapped in clouds. We got lucky.

Fairbanks

Last leg was a glass-top train to Fairbanks. Toured the town a bit - cool vibes. Did the hot springs and Ice Museum in Chena before heading back east.

Checklist (partial)

• Ate wild blueberries
• Beavers
• Black-tailed deer
• Bore tide
• Brown/grizzly bears
• Caribou
• Eagles
• Flew in a Cessna
• Flew in a float plane
• Flew in a helicopter
• Foxes
• Glaciers
• Harriers
• Humpback whales
• Laid down on the soft tundra
• Moose
• Mount Denali
• Orcas
• Porcupines
• Porpoises
• Puffins
• Salmon
• Sea Lions
• Sea Otters
• Seals
• Trumpeter swans
• Belugas
• Black bears
• River otters
• Wolves
• Dall sheep
• Mountain goats