Northern Exposure

The semi-elderly like myself may remember the 90s TV show Northern Exposure. It was about a young doctor from New York who ends up in a small town in Alaska. The fictional town of Cicily is said to be modeled on Talkeetna, a short detour off the road the road north from Anchorage to Denali. We visited there 20 years ago and on this trip. It has changed a lot and not for the better. It once felt like a remote outpost. It's bigger and commercialized now, fed by tourists from the cruise lines' land excursions.

I'm scraping the Alaska pictures. However, today is my precious Madeleine's second birthday. I plan to stop by her house on my way home from work to record the occasion. 
                     

Yakkety Yak

I lied. The title is a teaser. No yaks in Alaska (they are over here). But our northernmost state does have musk oxen, which is what these are. If I met one of each in a dark alley I couldn't tell them apart.

There is a musk ox farm in Palmer, a pretty little town that  is really a suburb of Anchorage these days.  The animals were nearly hunted to extinction and the farm carefully cares for them. The person who took us around said that the animals are lazy and might lay around all day until they get hungry.                     

Denali

You're lucky if you get to see Denali. It's officially Mt. McKinley but President Bill had little to do with its protection. Most people now refer to it by the native Alaskan name that means the High One. It is by far the tallest mountain in North America.The peak is lost in cloud most of the time but we got a peek from Talkeetna, 70 miles away.  

Tourists

Well, that's what we are. You could think of it as broadening your experience, making for a richer life. Or, you could think of it as fly-in, fly-out voyeurism. I suppose there is some of both but I'll tell you, being there is a whole lot better than looking at these photos. 
                        

The Interior

Alaska photos will skip around until I can shoot some new STL material. That probably won't be until next weekend.

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, there is a single 93 mile road into the 6 million acres of Denali National Park. Most of it is gravel, some of it is harrowing and visitors are not allowed to drive more than a few miles in. Farther than that requires approved buses. The weather was pretty bad the day we rode to the end (well, it wasn't snowing) so photographers make do with what is available. This is outback Alaska.                       

You'll be glad they're around...

... when you need them. Found in a garage in downtown Anchorage on Friday.                    

Denali Is Not A Zoo . . .

Or so said our guide and driver as we set off on a 12 hour bus tour to the end of the road in Denali National Park. It's genuine wilderness. But, hey, I'm a tourist and I have to get my shots. The weather was miserable, cold and drizzly. It's obvious that summer is ending up here.

We had a moose cross the highway not far in front of us on the drive in. They say if you hit a moose with your car, you break its legs and the massive body comes through the windshield, often leading to your early demise. Not likely to see bear near the highway but I think they are totally scary and this was quite close enough.

The ptarmigan, seen below, is the official state bird but many say it should be the mosquito.

Driving to Fairbanks this morning for our last stop, then a succession of inconveniently timed flights home. We have 12 hour layover in Anchorage Friday - we'll get a car for the day and have one last look around before a red eye flight down south. Posts may be irregular for a while.                   

Glacier

Day trip at sea from Seward to Aialik Glacier and various scenic points. We have to get up in a few hours for a 12 hour drive to the end of the road in Denali National Park, home of Mt. McKinley, the highest peak in North America. More later.
                      

Sea Life

Seward, Alaska, on Resurrection Bay, one of the very few year-round ice free ports up here. We stopped by the Alaska SeaLife Center, where we saw the puffins.  On Sunday, we took a full day boat ride down Resurrection Bay, through the many islands of the local fjords and to the face of Aialik Glacier, more about which soon. These puffins were at the center. Below are river otters, a whale, seals resting on glacier ice and orcas we found out on the water. 

The pod of orcas was engaging in a rare behavior, going right up to a rocky beach and scratching themselves on the stones. The weather was terribly gloomy but the sights were amazing.                         

Go Fish

We are in Seward, on the coast. In the early evening boats for visiting fishermen and women return to harbor and unload the day's catch. The crews clean and fillet it on the spot. It's flash frozen, vacuum sealed and shipped anywhere. We met a man from Arkansas who told us he had been to Seward more than 20 times. At the end of each visit, he ships home 50 pounds of salmon and 50 pounds of halibut.

I took about a zillion pictures of this process. There are lots more good ones I could edit in my spare time. Havent even started on the pix I took earlier Saturday in Seward (anyone want to see puffins?) or the long boat trip we took Sunday down Resurrection Bay and into the Gulf of Alaska, where we saw a glacier that empties right into the ocean, seals, whales and a pod of orcas. No rest on our holidays.                       

A Long Sunset

Summer sunsets in Alaska linger and linger. We did a walk around downtown Anchorage and a four hour evening van ride with Alaska Photo Treks, which I highly recommend if you are a shooter and find yourself up this way. The local photographer who took us around, Jody Overstreet, was wonderful. She knows the area and her photographic technique inside out. These pictures were all taken Friday evening.

From top to bottom:

Anchorage sunset from the Chugash Mountains east of the city. It is a popular hang gliding point.

The Alaska Railroad train that comes up Turnagain Arm from Seward every evening. Jody knows exactly the right time.

A mountain stream a bit uphill from the railroad tracks.

Sea planes going in and out of Lake Hood. This is the only means of transportation to many places in the bush.

So many more to edit. And wait till you see the pix I got Saturday evening at the fishing harbor in Seward.