Virtual Visit During Quarantine: Park Units 135-136 - Alagnak Wild River and Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve

This morning we relaxed in bed, not needing to get up early and decided to go on a virtual visit. We Alagnak Wild River  

chose two places that are incredibly difficult to get to in Alaska. The first is the
"The headwaters of Alagnak Wild River lie within the rugged Aleutian Range of neighboring Katmai National Park and Preserve. Meandering west towards Bristol Bay and the Bering Sea, the Alagnak traverses the beautiful Alaska Peninsula, providing an unparalleled opportunity to experience the unique wilderness, wildlife, and cultural heritage of southwest Alaska. " This is adjacent to Katmai National Park.

We discovered that this is a fantastic place to go sports fishing and we watched some fabulous videos of groups who did fishing trips along the river.

In all the videos we saw an amazing amount of bears, just chilling out along the water, or walking along the grassy banks. Truly a wild and beautiful land.

Next, we virtually visited Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve, continuing our theme of wild rivers this week! "Given its remote location and challenging weather conditions, Aniakchak is one of the most wild and least visited places in the National Park System. This landscape is a vibrant reminder of Alaska's location in the volcanically active "Ring of Fire," as it is home to an impressive six mile (10 km) wide, 2,500 ft (762 m) deep caldera formed during a massive volcanic eruption 3,500 years ago. Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve is a truly primitive landscape with no federally-maintained public facilities."

We watched a video of a group who visited Aniakchak, which gave us a really good feel for the remoteness, wildness, and beauty of the place:


We also viewed aerial shots that show the amazing caldera that remained from the volcanic explosion in 1500. Surprise Lake in the caldera is the head of the Aniakchak River, which as seen in the video above is a great adventure to travel on.

Surprise Lake in the Caldera

 Since Aniakchak is so difficult to get to, we were happy to be able to visit remotely!