moose
Showing posts with label moose. Show all posts
Eagle River Nature Center, 6/1/24
We love summers in AK! On the first Saturday in June we decided to go to ERNC. It ended up being a great day for wildlife! On the drive there we saw a huge bull moose on the road (I have a cool video I shared to IG!) and then we also saw a moose near the pond while hiking. (We just did the easy Rodak Nature Loop.) And then while driving back we saw a mama brown bear and yearling cub just off the side of the road. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my telephoto lens, but we still got some good pics. Enjoy! 🫎🐻
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| The littles somehow forgot their jackets so Scott and I gave them ours, haha. |
Jan. '24
January in AK can be pretty dark and slow, but we always try to make the most of it. Here are a few highlights! ❄️
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| With all the snow we got plenty of sledding in! Sledding at the littles' school here. 1/6/24 |
Grinnell Lake, 7/24/22
From Many Glacier we took a boat tour across Swiftcurrent Lake, walked a short distance, and then took another boat across Lake Josephine. They were both quick little rides, and we loved it! From there we hiked to Grinnell Lake, enjoyed some time there for a bit, and then hiked back to Lake Josephine and took the two boat tours back to Many Glacier. You can hike from Many Glacier to Grinnell Lake, but the boats take off about five miles. (We were glad we made this reservation ahead of time because they were all completely booked!)
While waiting for our boat ride to go back across Lake Josephine, a mama moose and her two babies came through and walked right into the water. It was so amazing! It was so cool to see the mama moose going under and eating water plants and her babies close behind, following what she did. This was definitely a highlight of our trip!
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| Grinnell Lake |
St. Mary Lake, 7/24/22
After hiking Hidden Lake in the morning we continued on GTSR and made a quick stop to do another hike near St. Mary, Baring Falls. This hike was less than a mile RT, but right in the heat of the day and most of the trail had recently been in a wildfire so it wasn't super pretty (and no shade cover). This hike wasn't our favorite, but the waterfall was pretty! After hiking,we kept driving GTSR and stopped at a viewpoint for St. Mary Lake. The reflections were unbelievable! So pretty and so amazing! Enjoy! 👐
Moose, 1/17/21, 2/18/21
This is the time of year when we start seeing a lot of moose. We're getting a lot more daylight and we still have a lot of snow, which makes them easier to spot; and they just tend to be in our yard more often this time of year. We've had several walk pretty close to our family room windows and kitchen windows and it's so exciting! Even after living in Alaska for over 8 years we still get so excited whenever we see moose!
These first few pics are of a small bull, which I think was the same one we saw when Grandma and Grandpa were here, and then the next few are of the mama moose and twins. They are always so cute and fun to watch!
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| 1/17/21 |
Sledding, 12/24/20
On Christmas Eve we took Grandma and Grandpa sledding at the golf course. We went as soon as it got light (around 10:30 am, lol!) so we didn't have to worry about too many other people being there. We had the hill to ourselves pretty much the entire time! It was so fun and everyone got multiple turns going down the big hill. Robyn especially surprised us, wanting to go down on her own on the little Frozen sled. We had so much fun we went after Christmas as well, and several times in our yard, but this was the only time I took my big camera. So fun!
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| Such a beautiful morning! |
Mama Moose and Twins, 11/9/20
It's been a while since I've been able to post! We got busy with the holidays and I've been making photo calendars for the new year and Robyn also doesn't nap anymore so I've gotten a little behind on the blog, but I'll catch up! I have so many fun photos I want to share! First up, this is from November when a mama moose and her twin babies walked through our backyard. The twins got super close to our neighbors who were out sledding, but luckily they were able to safely run inside in time. We always love seeing moose in our yard!
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| Mama moose |
Eagle River Nature Center, 7/3/20
Scott had the Friday before the 4th of July off so we decided to spend the day at Eagle River Nature Center! On the drive up, just before getting to the parking lot, we saw a black bear crossing the road! It was so exciting! Also, at the ERNC there was a huge bull moose near the salmon viewing decks. It was a great day for wildlife viewing! (I was wishing I had brought my zoom lens, but you never know what you're going to see, haha!) Enjoy these cool pics!
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| Look close to see the moose |
McHugh Lake Trail, 5/13/20
A few weeks ago we were having some beautiful sunny and clear weather so Scott decided to take the day off and we went hiking along Turnagain Arm. We hiked the McHugh Lake trail up to Table Rock which had the most beautiful views of the inlet. These pictures just don't do it justice. It was so pretty! The girls were great little hikers and we saw quite a bit of wildlife too! We saw six moose on the trail, which was a little scary (one was laying down in the shade right by the trail and we didn't notice it until we were pretty close), but for the most part we kept our distance and we were good! We also saw some Dall sheep high up on the mountain which was so cool. Noelle, our little flower child, noticed some forget-me-nots, lots of dandelions, and some lupine (almost blooming). We will definitely be hiking this one again, hopefully soon!
I checked out this book from the library and it's been so helpful with great tips and finding new hikes that we haven't done yet.
I checked out this book from the library and it's been so helpful with great tips and finding new hikes that we haven't done yet.
Great Grey Owl, 4/12/20 (Also 3/19, 3/31, and 4/11)
Our friends down in Point Mackenzie had been seeing a great grey owl in their yard recently and this is Scott's absolute favorite bird! He's been wanting to see one in real life for a while now. (They have one at the Alaska Zoo that we've seen a few times.) So anyways, I told my friend to let me know the next time she saw it so we could come and try to see it too! However, they live about 30 min away. We tried going out several times, and then just Scott went out a few times (it was a little long and boring for the girls) and then finally after several evenings of birding, Scott saw it! Yay! He just had Ruby with him at the time and they were so excited! Scott had to walk in almost waist deep snow to get some pictures of it, but it was so worth it! This bird is amazing!
The next night (which also happened to be Easter) our friend let us know that there happened to be two great greys flying around their house. We all decided to drive out there, and we were all able to see both owls! One of them flew away not too long after we got there, so we didn't get any pictures of both of them together, but we were able to see both of them. It was so cool! Enjoy these amazing pics!
The next night (which also happened to be Easter) our friend let us know that there happened to be two great greys flying around their house. We all decided to drive out there, and we were all able to see both owls! One of them flew away not too long after we got there, so we didn't get any pictures of both of them together, but we were able to see both of them. It was so cool! Enjoy these amazing pics!
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| Scott was able to get the best pics on 4/11/20 😊🦉 |
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| It is perched on a part of their greenhouse here. |
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| So cool to see it in flight! |
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| This is from 4/12/20. It was a little rainy/snowy, and you can't tell from this pic, but as we were walking through the snow we'd sink down to at least knee deep every step, haha. |
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| 4/12/20, such a beautiful bird! |
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| We originally set out on 3/19/20, but turned around because it was snowing pretty hard. We did see this cute mama and baby moose though! |
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| We also saw this bald eagle on 3/19/20. |
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| On 3/31/20 just Scott was out and he saw these trumpeter swans! |
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| Scott also saw this gray jay (I think). Cute little bird 🐦 |
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| And he saw this moose on the way home |
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| We saw these two different bald eagles on our drive home 4/12/20 after seeing the owls 🦅 |
Moose, 3/25/20
We had the most exciting moose encounter yesterday! We were just sitting in the family room playing a game when Noelle noticed this moose walk right by our side porch. We all got so excited! It was a baby moose (not sure where mama was) and he did not seem scared of humans at all. The moose got really close to our windows and stayed for a while too. I have a fun video I shared on my IG. We FaceTimed with a lot of our family members to show them the moose as he walked around our house. He walked from the back of the family room to our kitchen, stopping at most of the windows. He ended up by our huge snowmen and ate their carrot noses, haha. Enjoy these fun pics!
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| This is a screenshot from one of the videos I took. He got so close! |
Snowflakes, 3/2/20
Earlier this week we had a pretty big snow storm that produced the most perfect snowflakes! I was picking up Noelle from preschool and I noticed these perfect snowflakes falling on my coat. So we ran home and while Robyn was napping, Noelle and I played in the snow and I did my best to try and capture the beauty of the perfect little snowflakes falling all around us. I was feeling a little bit like Snowflake Bentley (my favorite book lately). Enjoy these beautiful pics!
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| Look closely to see the perfect little flake towards the left center of the pom pom on this hat ❄ |
Moose, 2/18/20
In between making Noelle's birthday cake and going to Noelle's parent teacher conference (She is doing so good, learning so much, and we're so proud of her!) , a moose decided to stop by and say hello! It got pretty close so of course I had to get out my big camera, haha. We were also in the middle of a a big snowstorm, so the falling snow in these pics makes them all the more magical, lol. I took all these pics inside our house, through the kitchen window. Enjoy!
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| I shared this pic on my social media and it got so many great comments! I appreciate all the love! Moose are such cool animals and we still get so excited whenever we see one in our yard! |
Denali National Park, Day 2, 9/13/19
Driving the Denali Park Road was such an amazing experience! We've been so lucky that we have been able to drive it twice! (See our 2018 trip here.) Again this year I decided to rent a super telephoto lens, which was so fun. I think we may have had a little better luck with seeing more animals closer last year, but it was still really good this year too. We were able to see most of the mountain (just the very tip of the summit was cloud covered) on Friday, and then we saw it just for a bit during the drive home on Saturday, too. (Denali is 20,310 feet and the highest mountain in North America! It likes to hide behind clouds a lot of the time though, haha.)
On Friday we ended up driving all the way to the end of the road (92 miles!), and then that evening we were able to spend another night in our hotel, which was nice. For all the time spent in the car, the girls did pretty good! It got a little long for Noelle and Robyn, but it was still fun and I'm so glad we got to have this experience. Enjoy these pics of beautiful Denali National Park!
On Friday we ended up driving all the way to the end of the road (92 miles!), and then that evening we were able to spend another night in our hotel, which was nice. For all the time spent in the car, the girls did pretty good! It got a little long for Noelle and Robyn, but it was still fun and I'm so glad we got to have this experience. Enjoy these pics of beautiful Denali National Park!
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| We got lucky enough to see nine grizzly bears while driving through the park! This mama and her two (big) cubs were the first ones we saw and they were so fun to watch! The cubs were so playful! |
Moose, 3/2/19
This is the time of year when we see a lot of moose! I'm not really sure why, but we tend to see a lot of moose in the spring time. I think I've heard that they come closer to roads/houses because they've already eaten what they can off the trees deeper in the woods. And then it's always easier to see a dark colored moose against the white snow. I think every day Chrissy was here we saw at least one moose!
These pics are from Saturday. I was at work, but this mama moose and her twin babies got pretty close to our home and Scott and Chrissy were able to get a few pics! Enjoy!
Christmas Eve, 12/24/18
Our Christmas was pretty much perfect except for one thing. Our poor little girls came down with a yucky stomach bug. :( The girls were happy all day long on Christmas Eve as Scott and I made a delicious Cafe Rio copycat dinner, cleaned, and FaceTimed. That evening we had the missionaries over and we did a live nativity with them. It was fun. We all got new Harry Potter pajamas and just about when we were all ready to go to bed (maybe 30 minutes after taking these pictures) Noelle threw up. She continued to throw up all through the night, maybe eight or so times. Poor little thing. :(
On Christmas morning we had a great time opening our stockings and presents, and Noelle and Scott had a good nap. We've all been really into Harry Potter lately so a lot of the girls' presents were Harry Potter themed. The big present they got was a LEGO Hogwarts Express. It goes with all the other Harry Potter LEGOs that we have, and we've had fun playing with them over the break. On Christmas evening though, Ruby started throwing up. She was up all night on Christmas. It made for a pretty exhausting few days and lots and lots of laundry, but we made it through, and ended up getting a new vacuum and a new carpet steamer, too. Luckily just Noelle and Ruby got the bug, and overall we had a very merry Christmas. 🎄⭐
On Christmas morning we had a great time opening our stockings and presents, and Noelle and Scott had a good nap. We've all been really into Harry Potter lately so a lot of the girls' presents were Harry Potter themed. The big present they got was a LEGO Hogwarts Express. It goes with all the other Harry Potter LEGOs that we have, and we've had fun playing with them over the break. On Christmas evening though, Ruby started throwing up. She was up all night on Christmas. It made for a pretty exhausting few days and lots and lots of laundry, but we made it through, and ended up getting a new vacuum and a new carpet steamer, too. Luckily just Noelle and Ruby got the bug, and overall we had a very merry Christmas. 🎄⭐
Denali National Park, 9/17-18/18
We were lucky enough to get into the Denali Road Lottery this year! Yay! We actually didn't get drawn, but Scott's co-worker did and he couldn't go, so we got to go instead! :) Grandma and Grandpa Burton decided to make a trip of it, and they came up and enjoyed Denali with us. It was a lot of time in the car for the girls, but overall they did great! It was definitely worth it, and we'll for sure be entering again next year!
We drove to Denali on Monday and stayed in a nice lodge that night, and then on Tuesday we actually drove into the park. We drove to the Eileson Visitor Center (mile 66) before turning around heading back. We then drove all the way home that night. If we get to go again I'd definitely stay two nights and try to drive all the way to the end (92 miles.) We saw plenty of wildlife, all in the prettiest of fall colors. I also rented a super telephoto lens for my camera, which was so fun to get a little closer to the animals. The only unfortunate part about this trip was that Denali was completely cloud covered the entire time we were there. We couldn't see the mountain at all, but we still had a great time!
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| The Grizzly bears were easily a favorite. We saw four while driving through the park. :) |
Girdwood/Kincaid Park, 6/12/18
We spent Monday night in Girdwood. We stayed at an Air B&B, and the girls absolutely loved it! Our room had bunk beds, which they really liked, and it was a nice, clean place too. On Tuesday morning we hiked the Winner Creek Trail to the hand tram. It is such a pretty hike (one of our favorites), and we had the hand tram all to ourselves! It was so fun! After the hike we headed home, but stopped at Kincaid Park in Anchorage to let the girls run around. Scott had been here with the girls before, but it was my first time. It's such a pretty park, and the girls loved the playground. The moose is so fun! We also loved the sunshine!
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| This hand tram is so cool! |
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| View from the hand tram :) |
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| Scott pretty much did all the work in getting all of us across :) |
Homer, 6/23-25/17
Aunt Chrissy got to come visit us this past week! We had so much fun together and we are so glad she got to spend some time with us. The girls definitely love their aunt Chrissy. :)
Last Friday we drove down to Homer, AK. On Saturday my work took everyone out on the annual halibut charter. Chrissy took my spot because I wasn't sure I wanted to be out on the boat that long, lol. They had a great time and caught lots of fish. Scott actually caught the biggest halibut of everyone on the boat, a 40 pounder! :D
While Scott and Chrissy were out on the boat I took the girls to the park and museum, and we just enjoyed the beautiful sunny weather. :)
Last Friday we drove down to Homer, AK. On Saturday my work took everyone out on the annual halibut charter. Chrissy took my spot because I wasn't sure I wanted to be out on the boat that long, lol. They had a great time and caught lots of fish. Scott actually caught the biggest halibut of everyone on the boat, a 40 pounder! :D
While Scott and Chrissy were out on the boat I took the girls to the park and museum, and we just enjoyed the beautiful sunny weather. :)
Fall Family Pix! 9/9/16
We had some nice weather on Friday evening so we decided to do family pictures while it was still relatively warm and the fall colors were showing through. We drove down to the hay flats, and they turned out really cute! We may even use one on our Christmas card this year!
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| Love this one <3 |
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