The main regions of Alaska divided up, and special places
On June 10th I crossed Ernie Pass (the continental divide) of the Brooks Range on foot, during a 110 mile hike/packraft trip with a friend. Yesterday, I was near Isabel Pass in the Alaska Range. Mountain travel has one common feature, and that is dramatically changing weather. It is one aspect I like about traveling…
Summer is here in Alaska! In just a few weeks, the solstice will mark the longest day of the year, and believe it or not, we start losing daylight following that. To really see the beauty of the “evening” light, it will require a late night indeed. I was traveling through the Alaska Range last…
The Calypso Orchid May of 2016 in Fairbanks has been a big leap into the Spring season, with early green up and a few days of record temperatures. All of this wonderful weather has no doubt influenced the early blossoms of a beautiful orchid that I spotted while on a trail in the Fairbanks area.…
I took a photo a few days ago in Broad Pass, which is the high point through the Alaska Range mountains along the George Parks Highway that connects Fairbanks to Anchorage. A few inches of fresh snow had fallen early that morning and decorated the tundra in a beautiful white blanket. The small spruce trees…
Rustic Cabin and the Aurora I have a cabin in the Alaska Range mountains, which is nestled amongst spruce trees and beautifully flanked by snow covered mountains. I made my first trip to this area when I was 18 years old and am so grateful to still make such ventures 34 years later! Abundant snow…
If you have been on a venture to photograph the northern lights, then you have encountered the challenge of photographing in the dark while still being able to control your camera settings. A headlamp with a red filter can help provide the necessary light to assist with camera adjustments. However, that light can easily find its way into the picture if you are not careful. In order to avoid headlamp light pollution in your aurora photos, see headlamp etiquette practices on my blog article here.
While browsing through my photos from 2015, I pulled a few to share from some memorable trips. In typical Alaska form, the weather varied greatly, ranging from blowing snow to blazing sunshine. Access points were made with a car or bush plane and travel methods included skis, hiking, biking, backpacking and packrafting.
New Blog Theme After many months of multi-tasking between travel and website reviews and edits, my new site is now live. I purposely went with a color scheme that was bright and easier to read. After years with a dark color scheme, I either got tired of it, or felt that images should be presented…
If you are a regular reader of this blog, you may be aware that every October I co-guide photo tours to Alaska’s Arctic in search of all things “Alaska Special,” with a focus on the northern lights, polar bears and Arctic wildlife. I just returned from the first trip and leave tomorrow for the next one.…
On September 8, I returned to one of the Nation’s least visited areas of its Parks system, the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve. (see a post from last year’s visit) Located on Alaska’s Seward Peninsula, the Preserve’s coastal boundary lies along the Bering Sea, just 55 miles from Siberia. Many years ago, during the Pleistocene Ice…