Denali. August, 2025.

I did another 4 day solo trip to Denali National Park and Preserve where I had torrential rain, or bright sun and blue skies. I saw 8 bears on the first day while biking the park road from the Teklanika campground. Got some good Dall Sheep rams on the 2nd day, and paid for it later that afternoon with the heaviest rain I’ve ever biked in. I got absolutely soaked in Igloo Canyon. The next day—not a cloud in the sky, Denali out in all its glory and I got to play chicken with a caribou on the road at the top of Sable Pass. Come along for the ride. Click on the photos for full-screen and captions will tell the story.

A gem that's close to home.

We spent the weekend at the Williwaw Campground in Portage Valley, about an hour south of Anchorage, in the Chugach National Forest. We haven’t been there in many years, and forgot what a great place it is. The scenery is fantastic and the mountain biking and hiking on the trails is first rate. It’s also nice staying at a campground where you’re not packed in side by side. We got lucky with gorgeous weather.

Denali. What a difference 3 weeks can make.

Devany was in Wisconsin judging the YMCA Nationals gymnastics meet, so I managed to score a last minute reservation at the Teklanika campground for 4 nights. We were here three weeks ago and wow, what an amazing difference. It had been a very late spring, with very little green growth yet. Not this trip. The tundra was a lush blanket of green, the wildflowers were blazing all around. Didn’t get any close bears this time, but still saw plenty of critters, including a very rare one that we haven’t seen in many years. Come along for another biking with bears journey. Click on images for full-screen and the captions will tell the story.