After the AOS conference ended, we headed towards the Denali Highway bright and early Saturday morning. We'd heard from several people that the Denali Highway is actually much better than the Denali National Park, which is almost always overcrowded and doesn't provide much in the way of individual exploring. The Denali Highway is a 135 mile (mostly) gravel road stretching from Paxson to Cantwell. On the highway, there is little evidence of any manmade structures, besides a few dispersed lodges and cabins. The highway itself is lightly traveled, and over the course of it we routinely traveled over an hour without seeing another car.
The drive from Anchorage to the start of the highway was stunning, passing over glacial lakes and through tiny towns. But it was also surreal. Peter, who had driven this route as a teenager, pointed out a glacier that was obviously severely receding. He lamented that 13 years ago, ice had covered the sheet. Now, it appeared as if barely a fifth of that ice remained. We continued on in silence for a few minutes, mourning for the future of the Alaskan wilderness.
Before the start of the official highway, we stopped off at a small stream to try for American Dippers, which had evaded us repeatedly thus far. We climbed under the bridge, and sure enough, there was a little dipper at the other end of the stream, bobbing its body as it scampered across the rocks. Dippers are incredibly adorable birds, and we spent a few minutes watching it before moving on.
We first stopped at mile marker 7 of the highway, where soaring overhead was the unmistakeable and incredibly elegant Golden Eagle. Continuing on, we stopped again at mile marker 11, which overlooked a large lake. As we were setting up the scope, we heard something different...an ascending chattery trill in the distance. We approached the trill and both got our lifer look at an Arctic Warbler, an Old World warbler whose Eurasian range extends just into the western portion of Alaska. Though they are considered to be dull-colored, the exoticness of this bird to my east coast familiarity made it a beautiful gem of the green tundra. A few miles up the road we went for a hike on 13 mile hill, where we had great looks of resting American Golden-Plover and an anxious Whimbrel cautious to exit the trail.
Before continuing with the birding highlights, I should take a moment to mention how astoundingly gorgeous the entirety of the highway is. It felt like we were traveling through a dream the entire time. It's difficult to describe, so I'll just leave you with some photos...
A few other bird highlights of the day included Cliff Swallows, Long-tailed Jaegars, Golden-crowned Sparrows, Barrow's Goldeneye, Bank Swallows, Blackpoll Warblers, and Red-necked Phalaropes.
We had finally arrived at our lodge for the night. It was an interesting experience. There was a biker's bachelor party, which brought a mix of...characters. After grabbing a beer and a snack, Peter and I hiked up a short trail behind the cabin, which led to a gorgeous overlook. We sipped our beers and took in the beauty of the day, the scenery, and how lucky we both felt to have one another. That is, until Peter got stung by a wasp.
The next day we woke up early to try a Smith's Longspur spot along the Susitna River, a few miles south of the cabin. After walking around for about 40 minutes, we came out empty handed. We headed back to the cabin for a quick meal, and then continued on. The remainder of the morning, and the last 40 miles of the drive, didn't provide any new birds. But what it lacked in birds, it made up for in beauty.
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