Birding With Christian: Alaska Part 1: Denali and Savage River

Disclaimer: I will try my best to do this trip justice, but words and even pictures cannot capture how incredible the land, birds, and mammals were.

I had been looking forward to Alaska for a long time. A week in Alaska was scheduled to take Anthony and I to both Denali and Kenai Fjords National Parks. This is my second time going to Alaska, having been with my grandmother in the summer of 2014 when we did the Kenai Peninsula(and it would help guide me down the path to rediscovering my love for birding) so I knew what to expect somewhat. Even then, I was not ready for what was to come.

We left Houston and flew overnight to Fairbanks via Seattle. It was awful. We landed at 2 AM Alaksan time, or 5 AM Central. We caught a small amount of sleep in the airport before getting our rental at 7. We should have been exhausted, right? Wrong. We were buzzing. This was going to be amazing, but were we setting our expectations too high? Only time would tell.

Denali means "the high one" in the Athabascan language. Mt. Denali towers over North America at 20, 310 feet. There is only 1 road in the entire park that stretches 92 miles, but only park buses can access the road after mile 15. In addition there are very few trails to protect the tundra, so off trail hiking is not only allowed but encouraged. The combination of all of that makes for a tough way to see birds, especially given the low density of birds. You can find all of Denali's birds in other places in the state. Make no mistake, I knew Denali wasn't going to be our birding spot, but it still offered great chances at ptarmigans, Northern Wheatear, and Arctic Warbler.

The real highlights of Denali are the mammals. Moose, Caribou, bears, wolves, lynx, and various rodents abound in front world class scenery. The birds drew us in but the mammals were what we were really hoping for, although you know that Arctic Warbler was a priority.

Anyways, we arrived at Denali around 10:30 to a ton of traffic around the entrance. Something was making these cars stop and we were going to go check it out. Standing in the river was an absolute unit of a Moose cow with three calves.The excellent looks were breathtaking. The calves were very scared to cross the river while their mother looked on to encourage them. They tried, but in the 15 minutes we stopped they never crossed. Moose may look big, but they're a monstrosity in person. All we could do was sit there slack-jawed.

Not a bad first sighting in Denali

Our next stop was a wakeup hike along Triple Lakes. The 3.2 mile loop meanders along the Nenana River and 3 lakes that feed into it. These lakes are largely the result of beaver dams. Rain fell as we hiked through the beautiful spruce forest, but the lake stole the show. A beautiful clear blue beckoned for us to hike closer while Swainson's Thrushes and Yellow-rumped Warblers guided us down the trail. I was taken aback by the beauty of a Yellow-rumped in breeding plumage. In Texas we only get them in drab winter plumage and their call is a dull chip, but up north we got a striking contrast of gray, black, and yellow. We were rewarded with our hike by getting a shoreline view of beavers in the lakes and Canada Jays (lifer!) flying from tree to tree.

One of the 3 lakes at Triple Lakes

The weather cleared up for us at the perfect time. We took a bus to mile 15 at the Savage River trailheads to get our first taste of the tundra. The landscape opened up considerably and the Alaskan Range shot up to provide the perfect definition of the "The Last Frontier." Of course my attention was diverted to another lifer, Spruce Grouse, chilling in the road.

We arrived at Savage River to a distant view of another mammal, a Caribou, that was laying along the river. Being the adventurous naturalists that we are, we decided to test the off trail routes of Denali. The willow scrub was much harder to cross than it looked. The wet ground squished under our feet as we waded through chest high scrub. It was great to flush up some sparrows, though. We got good looks at Savannah and White-crowned, but I was particularly pumped to get American Tree Sparrow.

Views from the Savage River bus

After huffing and puffing our way up the ridge we got the look when had hoped for. Relaxing by the Savage River was a bull caribou and we had an outstanding view. We hiked back and started on the Savage River Loop, and this is where the trip really took a turn.

First Caribou of the trip!

Mew Gulls and Black-billed Magpies were the gatekeepers to one of the most stunning views in the world. The slate gray Savage River cascaded between 2 mountains that we competing amongst themselves for all eyes on the trail. Any conversation between Anthony and I died as we tried to soak it all in. For long stretches the only thing that could be heard was the water rushing past us as it tried its best to escape from the road and any sense of humanity. It was not hard to see why. At the end of the maintained trail it was easy to see why. We crested a ridge to see a view that will stick with me until I die. The river below resembled a line drawn by a pencil as it tumbled past an ice patch and into the distant mountains. The short, but lush tundra climbed down the sides of the mountain towards the river. But the most overwhelming thing was the silence. Not even the river was making noise as we were so high up.

Mew Gull

Black-billed Magpie at Savage River

The silence was overpowering. We were really out here. Canada Jays, American Tree Sparrows, and Spruce Grouse gave a lot to reflect on in that moment. Birding is about the birds, but that's not all. It's about the people you go with, the overpowering scenery that makes you never want to leave, the other critters you see along the way, and more importantly it makes us feel like we're truly living life. Believe it or not, that wasn't the last time I would feel that way on the trip. It was fantastic motivation for day 2: the hunt for the Arctic Warbler.