Alaska Wildlife, best locations on this route?

We are leaving on 9/4/2013 from Kansas City, and will land in Fairbanks late the same day to begin a Tour/Cruise. The second day is to be spent on the Tanana River and possibly Creamers field if time allows.
Third day going to Denali on the McKinley Explorer and will be rafting on the Nenana river by 1:30 PM. That evening is mine to decide whether to get into the park on my own or spend it around the park entrance.
Day 3 will be on a tour bus into the park, may be as long as 8 hours but I'm afraid they may stop at around mile 52 into the park. That is still in question depending on the weather.
Day 4, looooong bus ride to Wasilla, down the George Parks hwy, then to Seward by night fall to board the ship.
Day 5 at sea.
Day 6 Glacier Bay
Day 7 Haines, going on a wildlife tour looking for bear, both Brown and Black and should be several Eagles, waterfowl, etc.
Next stops will be Juneau, Ketchikan, a day at each of these ports then to Vancouver, for a flight home.

My interests are in shooting all kinds of wildlife, especially Brown Bear, Moose, Caribou, and any birds that would be new to a Missourian. Landscapes are a close second and I know what to expect once I reach the coast but inland Alaska will be new territory for me.

I'm asking for replies from those that have been on or near this route as to what area you preferred for these animals? How far into the park have you traveled? Should I take the Shuttle bus on my own?
I've hunted enough to know that wildlife is unpredictable and have came home with nothing before so this time wouldn't be the first but if I miss my shots at Fairbanks and Denali I will keep trying as we travel South. It just keeps getting more expensive though the closer to Haines I get.
Any replies from those with experience and ideas about this area will be greatly appreciated. Thanks,
Grizz1

I spent a month driving around Alaska in 2006, Denali was great! I camped there (Teklanika camp ground 3 days) 4 days overall so there was enough time to see a lot. If you can get all the way out to Wonder lake that would be great, beautiful views of Denali from there, weather will dictate your views of the mountain, it is covered in clouds quite a bit. I was lucky and was there when it was pretty much cloud free. But you will get wildlife opportunities throughout the park, Bears (grizzly) Caribou, Moose, Dall sheep and if your really lucky Wolves.

I recommend taking the shuttle bus on your own.

There will also be many beautiful landscape opportunities aside from McKinley itself. If you want you may exit the shuttle bus at anytime on its journey through the park and just wander about on your own, then when your done wandering just go back to the road and flag down the next bus to pick you up and continue. Wandering around the tundra in that vast expanse is an awesome feeling! (just make sure you have the bus schedule so you know when the last bus is, you don't want to miss it!)

Creamers Field is wonderful for birds and waterfowl.

While on the boat you will see Whales, Seals, Otters, Puffins and all sorts of birds so keep the camera ready!

You will have much fun!

Thanks Grizz for the comments. I'm going to try to get to Creamers field and if I arrive by train in Denali from Fairbanks in time I will grab a shuttle bus soon as I can the first day. Probably be on the tour bus the second day into the park, they should take us in nearly 52 miles I'm hoping and if it is clear possibly further.
Been watching the weather at Denali, just like flipping a coin, they have been getting 3 days of clouds/rain followed by 3 days of sunshine, hoping again for clear weather for this segment of the trip.
Oddly enough I did a search today of the forums and found some of your posts from your trip to Alaska, I was impressed and they have me even more excited to go. Sixteen days and we will be leaving, but who is counting?

Wow, sounds like an amazing trip. I hope you stay safe and have an incredible experience.

Thanks there are some more on my smugmug link in my sig. I'm sure you will have a fantastic time and will get some super images that I am looking forward to seeing!

I know the feeling about the countdown have a great time and the image oppertunities will be there, I can guarantee that. Enjoy and bring lots of memory cards. Hopefully you get so many images you wear out your shutter button!

Thanks David for the good wishes, really appreciate it.
Craig, looked through more of your images of Alaska, showed them to my wife and she started packing.
I have plenty of memory cards, or so I believe, and taking a second body which is new just in case I wear out the shutter on the old rig. Will not have to change lenses very often, hoping this will help me be ready for anything.

Well here it is late January and I still have photos to edit from our vacation to Alaska last Sept, with temps often below zero and howling winds it is a nice pastime to have.I took 2643 images, my wife another 400. We made friends with several people on our trip, one family lives in Fairbanks, their nine year daughter is a fine photographer for her age. We stay in touch and many days it is colder here in North Mo than in Fairbanks, a permanent move there often crosses my mind.

I found the advice of Grizz (Craig) to be spot on, my original plans changed somewhat so we missed Creamers field and lost a half day in Denali because we went white water rafting on the Nenana River.
As Craig had mentioned Denali did provide the wildlife, out of the big five the wolf was the only no show for us however folks ahead and behind us saw a pair of wolves.

The weather was bad when we were in Denali, never caught even a glimpse of Mt McKinley but the wildlife was plentiful. Made it to Wonder Lake and caught the next to last bus back out turning it into a 13 hour day. We had originally boarded a bus provided by our tour that took us to Stoney Point at mile 52, turned around and went back 15 miles to a rest area. After talking to my wife and mentioning the shuttle bus Craig had suggested we decided to jump off and go it alone. They made sure we had a ride and left us along the Savage river. Our next ride was an old green shuttle bus loaded with photographers and an excellent driver that knew the answer to any question we had. She drove to Wonder Lake where we had a long break but with snow starting to fall and late evening upon us she suggested we stop looking for the big mountain and go Moose hunting. The driver was very helpful when a Moose was spotted and we probably saw more than 35, most everyone got some excellent shots.

Our entire trip was a Landscape paradise, shooting Landscapes was difficult because of the schedule we were on, bus, planes, trains, boats, rafts, coach and a ship, always something to catch, board and keep moving.
We did get good photos from the ship in Glacier Bay NP and at each port. I was also warned about the Gulf in mid Sept and yes it was an experience for me. With temperatures in the low 30's, wind at 67 mph, a cabin in the Bow, the first night sailing in the gulf of Alaska brought new meaning to the "Deadliest Catch" TV program. I'm sorry if I ever said those guys should quit complaining about their job.
Now that I've been to Alaska twice, my conclusion at this time is: anywhere/everywhere for Landscapes, Denali for Wildlife, Ketchikan for Salmon, Glacier Bay for Ice and Seals, Haines for Brown bear and Eagles, any body of water may have waterfowl and Swans were among them. Whales, Dolphins, Otters, Seals were seen on a daily basis from our ship once we began the inside passage.

Wow sounds like you had a great time! Excellent! Looking forward to seeing your images.

Hey Grizz1,

Searching on here for info regarding brown bears in Alaska and came across this thread... My wife and I have a cruise booked for the 2nd week of august, 2016. Seven night southbound. We've previously done the northbound with a 3 night land tour, it was fantastic but we did not splurge on excursions that trip. This trip we will. Wanting to see brown bears... we had look at Anan Creek out of Ketchikan but that looks to be as much black as brown bears. Pack Creek out of Juneau does not have any platforms and my wife doesn't like the idea of wandering on foot that much. We are looking at the Haines option... It sounds like you had a good result there? Can you expand on that? Currently we are looking at tours that travel around Chilkoot lake in a van but I also have my eye on a flat bottom boat tour but it seems to specify eagles more, with bear, moose and others as possible

Anything you can add would be great.

Thanks

rane, we did have a great time seeing Brown Bears in Haines. I can not remember the name of the tour at the moment but it was on an old school bus with two guides that took turns driving and explaining the scenery between stops. We actually did not travel far and saw bears at the edge of town along the Chilkoot River. At one stop we made I became uncomfortable with being so close to a Sow that was challenging another sow with cubs, the one doing the challenge was about 10 feet away so getting close was very possible.
The tour took us to Chilkoot Lake where we walked into the Rain Forest for awhile and spent some time near the lake where there was Water Fowl and several Eagles but saw no bear at the lake.
There was a device that spanned the river at one point that had something to do with counting fish if I remember correctly ( don't count on that) and the bear were concentrated near it, both sides but most on the down stream side. I'm guessing we saw at least 10 different bear near this area.

Also saw 3 vehicles and the people driving them were photographing the Bears, someone in our group thought they had rented these vehicles and were on their own private excursion. I don't know if this is true or how expensive but it would be a short distance to drive and easy to drive along the river to the Lake.