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Day 1 - Hatcher Pass (July 10, 2008)| Hatcher Pass sits high up on the Talkeetna mountains, about 90 minutes north of Anchorage. Its main attraction today is an abandoned mining camp, where you can see dilapidated equipment and crumbling buildings. It is also, as much of Alaska, a treasure trove of endless green landscapes. |
| 220 Visits
18 Images
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Day 2 - Flying around Mount McKinley (July 11, 2008)| At 6,193 metres of elevation, Mount McKinley is the tallest peak in North America. It sits at the core of Denali National Park and Preserve (Denali - which means "The Great One" - is the native name for the mountain). Although more than 2,000 metres shorter than Everest, it actually has more mass and a much taller vertical rise. This is because the base of McKinley is barely at 600 metres over sea level, while Everest rests its feet at over 4,000 metres. The summit is shrouded in clouds during more than 200 days a year, most of them in the summer; rangers constantly say that visitors who get even a glimpse of it should consider themselves lucky. Well, we saw it on two consecutive days! This album is from our first try, when we went to the funky town of Talkeetna to catch a plane and fly around this majestic mountain. |
| 660 Visits
42 Images
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Day 3 - Denali National Park (July 12, 2008)| Denali National Park and Preserve is a vast and spectacular wilderness the size of the state of Massachusetts. Its centerpiece is 6,200 metre high Mount McKinley, but it is also a haven for a diverse, teeming and abundant wildlife population. It has a single road, which you can only travel in park buses. We toured 66 of its 91 miles to Eielson visitor center, and then hiked up Thoroughfare Ridge to get even more splendid views. |
| 473 Visits
36 Images
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Sled dogs | In the Alaskan winter, dogsledding remains one of the traditional forms of transportation. The Iditarod, a storied dog sled race from Anchorage to Nome, crosses two thirds of the state. Denali National Park has a kennel, and the former ranger who run the lodge we stayed at kept his own as well. |
| 289 Visits
15 Images
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Day 4 - Fairbanks (July 13, 2008)| Fairbanks, population ~30,000, is Alaska's second city. Just a couple of degrees shy of the Arctic Circle, it also has the largest intra-day and intra-year temperature ranges (hint: summers are better than winters). We stayed a night, and explored a few of its hidden treasures. |
| 222 Visits
11 Images
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Days 5 and 7 - The Richardson Highway (July 14 and July 16, 2008)| The Richardson Highway is one of the less traveled, yet most spectacular highways in Alaska. It connects Fairbanks to the Glennallen junction, from where one can continue to either Anchorage or Valdez. It traverses open tundra, towering mountain ranges and pioneer towns, and it skirts the largest and wildest national park in the United States. We drove through it from Fairbanks to Valdez, stopping for a day in Paxson (population 36) to hike to the Gulkana glacier (next album). |
| 379 Visits
27 Images
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Day 6 - Gulkana Glacier (July 15, 2008)| The Gulkana is one of the many glaciers that descend from the Alaska range. Together with its twin, the Gakona glacier, they are the source of two large rivers that cross the southern Alaskan interior. We hiked up the glacier valley to its terminus, climbed a lateral moraine, and descended on the valley of the Gakona glacier. Since there is no developed trail here, finding the route was half the fun! |
| 622 Visits
41 Images
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Day 8 - Prince William Sound (July 17, 2008)| After spending a night in Valdez (she of the Exxon), we boarded the M/V Aurora of the Alaska Marine Highway System and set sail for Whittier. I was hoping that the sailing through this wonderful fjord would provided endless photographic opportunities! |
| 218 Visits
11 Images
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Day 9 - Kenai Fjords National Park (July 18, 2008)| The Kenai Fjords National Park sits on the eastern side of the Kenai Peninsula, just a couple of hours south of Anchorage. It protects spectacular glaciers and a wide variety of marine life. Most of it is only accessible by boat or floatplane. We booked a tour in a small boat (highly recommended over the 200+ people sardine cans) and headed out for some close encounters. |
| 556 Visits
45 Images
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Day 10 - Exit Glacier and Hope (July 19, 2008)| Our last day! As we made our way back to Anchorage along the spectacular Seward Highway we made a couple of strategic stops. First, we got close up and personal with Exit Glacier, the only area of the Kenai Fjords National Park accessible by car. After feeling the ice, we continued on to the town of Hope for some fish and chips. We then slowly headed back to the airport - fortunately the airlines still don't charge for carrying too many great memories! |
| 214 Visits
13 Images
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