This was my second time traveling to Alaska, and although we revisited some of the places I already knew, we also added new locations. One of them was Moraine Creek, a place you can only reach by small plane and then on foot, hiking down to the river. It’s one of the few places where you can see grizzly bears from very close up, and we were lucky enough to visit during a year with an exceptionally high salmon run, which meant a huge number of bears.

We were able to observe the sockeye salmon from just a few meters away, the species that fascinates me the most because of its intense red color and the jaw deformation it develops as it swims upstream during spawning season. Being that close to the bears (barely two meters away) was overwhelming. When the river is so full of salmon, the bears are focused entirely on feeding, and as long as you don’t disturb them, they are not dangerous.

We also returned to the Kenai Fjords, a place I already knew and that still feels magical to me. The landscape there is very foggy: the clouds merge with the mountains, creating an almost dreamlike atmosphere — an alpine environment fused with the sea. Wildlife is abundant: puffins, whales… This time we also saw a couple of sperm whales and a family of orcas.

Another important stop was Denali. It’s often said that the mountain is only visible around 35 days a year due to the thick clouds that constantly surround it and its own weather system, which can shift dramatically in minutes. It is the tallest mountain in the United States, and seeing it completely clear on one of the days we were there felt like a gift.

We also saw a surprising number of moose. On our previous trip we didn’t see a single one, and this time we counted about fifteen.

Overall, I feel that this trip surpassed the first one in terms of wildlife observation and photography. It may be because I had already been there: when you return to a place, you know better where to look, what to expect, and how to move around. That’s why I enjoy revisiting places I’ve already seen — they always reveal something new.