Life in the northern landscape
If you spend any time outside in interior or arctic Alaska this time of year, then this photo needs no explanation. While we humans might not like mosquitoes, the birds sure do. It is one reason they migrate so far to feast on these protein rich little insects and raise their young.
As a child, I had a proclivity towards experimenting with the body and balance. I used to ride a unicycle to grade school and tried to get a gymnastics program going at my high school. Today, I still do handstands all over the world in my travels. Which is a good segue into explaining the…
The snow keeps falling Fairbanks, with about 6-7 inches of fresh snow over the last day or so. Spring seems far away. As I prepare for a few days in the Copper River Delta region for the Copper River Delta Shorebird Festival, I pulled this picture out of my archive, taken a few years ago.…
Each year, schools of Pacific Herring arrive in Sitka in late March to early April to spawn in the nearby waters. I spent a few days there recently but the weather and fish conditions never timed themselves in my favor. The photo shows conditions not favorable for aerial photography, which was my hope. One singular…
The polar bears are abundant along Alaska’s arctic coast as they wait for the ice to form on the Beaufort Sea. Warm weather has kept the snow at bay, at least at this point. This curious polar bear stood up for a better view and I’ve learned by their posture when this is about to…
This classic view of the AlCan Highway weaves its way through British Columbia and the Yukon Territory about 400 hundred miles from the Alaska border. I’ve traveled the highway many times over the past three decades, and while it has changed significantly, it still holds that charm of remote and unpopulated feel. Early to mid…
Within 24 hours this weekend, 80% of the leaves were stripped from the trees in the vicinity of my house in Fairbanks. Powerful winds swept across Alaska’s interior advancing the look of winter on the landscape considerably. These winds also offered oxygen to a wildfire burning south of Fairbanks in the Tanana Valley. It was…
McCarthy is a very small town located in the bowels of the Wrangell St. Elias National Park, near the old historic Kennicott copper mine. It’s a quirky town and it has the license to be so due to its remoteness and the handful of folks that chose to reside there. There is a foot bridge…
While driving through Hatcher Pass on a late July evening, a group of para gliders were having fun riding the wind currents at this mountainous area. It looked like a lot of fun!
Backpacking in the Arrigetch Peaks, Gates of the Arctic National Park If you have been following my blog, you may remember a trip I did last summer, where I spent 10 days backpacking in the Arrigetch Peaks, located in the Gates of the Arctic National Park, in Alaska’s Arctic. This region is well known among climbers and…