Alaska Fall Colors
Fall comes early in Alaska and it has breath taking colors with lots of grizzly bears and moose!
I took a trip to Denali National Park in August 2024. The first night I stayed at an ABNB in Fairbanks and that night was uneventful after picking up a 4x4 truck because it was cloudy so no Aurora sitings! I found out you need special trucks for certain gravel highways in Alaska. Luckily, I didn’t need one of those for this trip.
The second day I drove from Fairbanks to Denali stopping to take pictures along the way but finding most of the area was private lands or Indian reservations.
Finally, I arrived at a nice coed hostel and checked in. My bed was a top bunk in the main house with 6 beds. It was a decent place where you could hang out or cook your meals. Everyone was respectful of their belongings and space.
During that afternoon I drove into Denali Park and rode the free bus to mile 14 which is at Savage River. It’s a beautiful spot for a nice scenic hike. It was fairly nice weather with clouds when I started the hike but by the end of the hike it was pouring rain and I was drenched! I did get several low light picture's of the beautiful mountains, rivers and fall colors.
I spent a mostly quiet night in the hostel and had a nice dinner of hot dogs and chili. A couple came into my room in the middle of the night and turned the light on briefly but turned it off when they saw people sleeping in the bunks? There was a lock on the door that you had to punch a code to get in.
The next day I took the bus that goes to the middle of the park for around $33.25. On the way out the bus stopped briefly at a spot where we could see the Denali Mountain for a few minutes and get a few pictures. After those few minutes it disappeared again, the bus driver said it’s only visible twenty percent of the year! The bus driver said it was a rare sunny day after over a month of clouds and rain. She also gave everyone on the bus the bear and wildlife advice. Basically, just leave wildlife alone and if you have a close encounter to remain calm and leave them alone. If they come towards you make noise and movement to try to scare them. Do not run from them, they will think you’re their prey! If you have bear spray use it if needed. I took the bus to the last stop called east fork at the Toklat River that the bus driver called the gravel pit area that had beautiful streams, mountains and foliage. Half of the park is closed because of a landslide at the pretty rocks area at mile 43 of the park back in 2021 due to be repaired by 2026. I hiked some of that area for about an hour taking several pictures. Then I came back to the bus stop and asked the bus driver for a ride but she said I needed to talk to the ranger at a small shack on the other side of the bridge. However, at that moment a grizzly walked right by the shack and the bus driver yelled “Bear” but the ranger not seeing the bear said “It’s a person!” but he quickly corrected himself when he saw the bear. The bear went directly down the hill into the gravel pit area passing within around 20 yards of a tourist! The tourist stayed still and the bear just walked by him crossing the gravel pit. Meanwhile, the people near me were just taking pictures while the bus driver yelled “Bear” and you’re not in the safety zone 300 yards away. After saying it more than once they finally moved further away. The bear disappeared into the brush, however he reappeared soon after when the bus started going back to the front of the park. He stood up and sharpened his claws on the wildlife warning sign right in front of us. Then he crossed the road and caught and ate a squirrel for a snack. The bus driver said each squirrel is worth 2,000 calories. I saw ten bears and two moose but the moose were very hard to see hiding in numerous trees.
I rode the bus a few miles until I found a good spot to take pictures of the fall foliage and was the only one that got off at several spots in the park. Everyone just rode the bus without hiking, enjoying the landscape and wildlife. It may have been dangerous however it’s fairly safe if you follow the instructions the bus drivers give you for wild animals. Every time I got on the bus the driver asked me if I had bear spray because if I did have it they wanted me to put it in my back pack because people have left it out and it has gone off in the bus!
That evening, I tried a nice pizza place called Panorama Pizza, it was across the street from the Hostel. I drove back to the Hostel and as I got out of my truck I noticed a strong Aurora at 1030PM. I quickly grabbed my camera and took a few shots. Then, saw two other guys watching it and taking pictures with their phones! I asked them if they wanted to go with me to find a better spot away from the light to see the Aurora and I drove them into Denali Park where we shot pictures for a few hours. The Aurora was out but not as strong as it was earlier.
The next day I took a break and rested because it was cloudy and rainy all day.
The following day was another sunny day with only a few clouds so I took the free bus back to Savage River but discovered you can’t even see Denali from that area unless you hike to the top of those mountains. I hiked all the way over to Mountain Vista which had very nice views of Denali with lots a bright beautiful color from the fall foliage.
On my way out I hiked another trail near the husky sled dog kennels called Rock creek trail which had lots of beautiful plants and trees including a forest of aspen. It was late in the day and I met only one other hiker heading the opposite way.
That night was one of two nights I had to tell people at the hostel to quiet down because they were getting very loud even though a sign is posted for quiet hours from 11PM to 7AM. They left within a half hour of me reminding them. Our room was just above the kitchen living room areas so we could hear everything.
I drove back to Fairbanks the last day stopping a few times for more pictures. The trees are shaped differently than other places I’ve visited and some types of trees including aspen were turning into nice colors. I got to Fairbanks in the early afternoon and checked out their city which is fairly small. Then, I turned in my truck and got a ride to the airport for a red eye at 250AM flight to Seattle, WA.