Utqiagvik (Barrow), Alaska - Part 1 (Oct 7-8, 2025)
For a few years I had been toying with the idea of trying to see Polar Bear in a reasonably non-touristy way. I had no interest in the Churchill, Manitoba tundra buggy outdoor zoo experience. I wasn't against being shown a Polar Bear by someone, but self-found was the preference. The issue of course is that no place that harbors Polar Bear is cheap and easy to reach, so an all-or-nothing self-guided Polar Bear trip seemed at risk of being a waste of money and time. If no bears, ideally there would be something else to do. This is why Utqiagvik, by no means a guaranteed destination to see Polar Bear, rose to the top of the list. A visit in October would likely include sightings of Ross's Gulls migrating in their normal range, which is something I had wanted to see after twitching two vagrants around here: a first cycle in NY and a subadult in CT. October 2025 seemed like the right time to do this, since I had a bunch of Alaska Airlines miles set to expire, and I had already tim...