The main regions of Alaska divided up, and special places
On the Arctic photo tour that I guide each year, our departure from Kaktovik, Alaska was delayed a few hours due to mechanical problems with the airplane. This resulted in a different plane showing up about three hours later. It was a Caravan, and the first time I’ve flown in one. It is a fantastic…
Each October, my friend, colleague and fellow guide Hugh Rose and I lead a trip of intrepid photo enthusiasts into Alaska’s arctic to chase its magical light. The aurora borealis, polar bears, arctic wildlife and other grand landscapes prompt many shutter clicks. The sights vary every year, in an amazing diversity of subject material. However,…
Polar bears congregate along Alaska’s north coast when the scent of the bowhead whale carcasses show up from the autumn indigenous whale hunts. Barter Island, located just off the Alaska mainland, is bordered by the Beaufort Sea to the north. It is growing in popularity as a destination to view polar bears, an amazing experience…
Nellie Juan Glacier in western Prince William Sound is a magical place, and remains one of my favorite destinations in all my years of travel to the Sound. The Glacier is fed by the Sargent Ice Field above, and often harbors chilly winds that blown down over the ice and into the Lagoon. This day…
Late September and early October bring the first snow to Fairbanks, generally. A light dusting on the trees which still retain a few of the autumn leaves offers a beautiful contrast of soft white and colorful autumn colors. This frame was taken in the undulating hills on the north west side of Fairbanks, just a…
On a short excursion in Prince William Sound (courtesy of Discovery Voyages), a group of us basked in the sunshine on a tremendous hike through the lush and verdant hillsides of Western Prince William Sound and the Chugach National Forest. It was an area I longed to trek in given a clear day. The granite…
There are two summits on Denali, or Mt. McKinley, the north and the south. The South Summit is the higher one (20,320 ft), while the North Summit has an elevation of 19,470 feet. You can see the South Summit clearly in the view, taken from the McKinley overlook along the Parks highway (note the north summit…
This is shot is mostly luck mixed with a little bit of perseverance. First of all the mountain often clouds over as the day progresses and if it does not, it tends to be very hazy by this time of day. It was noon when I shot the frame, and thanks to the amazing clarity…
On my late August trip to Denali Park, I decided to focus primarily on landscapes, since I was getting around on a bike and on foot. However, I did spend one cloudy afternoon in the pursuit of caribou. I spotted this bull some distance away and started trekking up the tundra hillside with my new…
The monolithic mass of Denali, North America’s tallest mountain seems to have a million faces. I’ve photographed it hundreds of times, from many different locations, on the ground and from the air. It looks different from every view and the weather it generates surrounds it with an array of ever changing clouds. In early September…