Alaska
We had the opprotunity to spend a couple of weeks in Alaska. Over the next few weeks I'll add some pictures a commentary to this post so please check back often.
We were able to see many glaciers break off and experience "calving." This was a fascinating experience.
The sun was breaking through the clouds and it was just beautiful.
The first day at sea we traveled along the coast and passed many small islands. They are all heavily wooded and most are occupied by just a single home or maybe a few homes. It was a fascinating experience to view these amazing places.
Ketchikan is one of the rainiest places on Earth. It rains over 300 days a year and they have had over 200 inches of rain in one year. We were asked if it rained the day we were there, yes of course. It did not last the entire day.
One of my favorite towns in Alaska was Ketchikan. This is a cute image of a quaint town. There were abundant eagles around Ketchikan, the number of eagles reminded me of the number of robins we have in northern Utah. I would perfer the eagles.
In Ketchikan there are many float planes that travel to various locations. Mystic Fiords is one of the areas to go and visit. We experienced the zip lines,very fun and worth the time. We saw a black bear, caribou, and of course eagles while zip-lining.
This is on the way to Alaskas capital, Juneau.
In Alaska the tide can range twenty-two feet from high tide to low tide.
The largest employer in Juneau is the government. The next largest is the fishing and touristindustries.
In Juneau we went on a whale watching and glacier tour.
We definitely saw many whales.
I had a great desire to see a whale tail and the captain made certain that I was able to see a couple.
On this beautiful island there are more brown bears (grizzly ) per square mile than any place on Earth. You can camp on the island but it is not advisable. There is a light house you can see pictured but it is unmanned.
Mendenhall Glacier is probably one of the most famous glaciers and you can walk to within 300 yards of the face of the glacier.
There is also a beautiful falls right next to the glacier and it is as big as it looks. Perhaps one of the big attractions in Juneau is Tracy's King Crab Shack. You must spend your money and have some of their monster delicious king crab. It is a must.
In Skagway Alaska we went for a hike to Dewey Lake it was a strenous 7 mile hike but the next few images are from there.
Dewey Lake
Trail
The largest wild raspberry plants I have ever seen. They are bigger than a large dinner plate, amazing.
The views going to the glaciers are nothing more than amazing.
There were 1000"s of these birds on the cliffs surrounding the glaciers.
I have so many images of the glaciers it is hard to choose one to place here.
The glaciers in Glacier National Park are just beautiful and the surrounding areas just take your breath away.
This was the largest glacier it rose 23 stories and was so long I could not get it all in even in a panorama. They are just amazing sites to behold.
The most iconic scene in Denali National Park. "The Mountain" as it is known happened to be visible the day we were there. It is said that only 30% of the visitors are able to view this magnificent mountain. We were lucky.
We were also able to view this "Brown Bear" grizzly. She was an impressive animal.
One of the beautiful valleys about 45 miles from the entrance of Denali National Park. The scenery is so stunning it is hard to capture in one frame so I took many panoramas.
There are only two rest stops on the eight hour bus tour of Denali National Park. This image is from the second one. You can drive a passenger car only fifteen miles into the park and then the trip must end. If you want to continue on, you will need to arrange a tour with the park service on one of their buses. I suggest you do this months in advance (8-10). I suggest you leave as early in the day as possible 6:30 the tours start. We left at 6:45 and it was good. We were able to see nine grizzlies, moose, caribou, dall sheep, ground squirrels, rabbits, golden eagles and I am sure I am missing some. Remember in Alaska the sun sets around 12:15 a.m., that doesn't mean it goes down, and rises at 3:30 a.m. in the summer. The tours go on all day and well into the evening. As always, animals seem to be more active in the morning.
This is "The mountain" as the guides and the semi locals call it. The largest peak on the North American continent and a very magestic site to view. We were very fortunate to be able to view the mountain. The south peak is taller than the north. This picture was taken at around mile 62 of the 92 mile road. The only other great view of the mountain is at Wonder Lake at the end of the road. You can only arrive there by a special "green" bus. No narration is provided on this bus. This bus will drive the road and drop people off at various stops. It is a 14 hour round trip ride to go to Wonder Lake and back to the Visitor Center.