June 16, 2018. Birding Trip Day 9. Denali Highway.

With morning sunshine, we hiked early onto the tundra looking for Smith's Longspurs. Walking in wet tundra really is hard, but we made slow progress through wet swales full of willow thickets and over low hills where the walking was easier. After only half a mile, the Smith's Longspur boys revealed themselves by singing and displaying.

On the hike back, I split off from the crowd to hike on the other side of a hill and spent perhaps 20 minutes alone on the arctic tundra, except for a close encounter with a pair of Long-tailed Jaegers. It truly was a magical moment for me in the Alaskan Wilderness.

From there, we drove west some 110 miles on the Denali Highway. The scenery here truly is superlative, and the wildlands seem endless as the road passes from boreal forest to tundra against the backdrop of the snowy Alaska Range. The highway is a not-so-well graded dirt road, and we stopped several times to scan ponds for Trumpeter Swans and other waterfowl and to scan brushy tundra for Spruce Grouse and Arctic Warbler.

Night outside Denali National Park (Denali Cabins Inn).

Trip Map.