Alaska

Location Description

365 photos

Having arrived in Anchorage, standing on the balcony of...
View from the balcony towards Cook's Inlet. This is...
On the train leaving Anchorage, Judy and Alan look ready...
Judy seemed to feel that we had "bronzed" up in AZ. I...
Two more adventurers ready to brave the North Country.
Passing through by train on our way to Denali. Our...
First of many poor bridge pictures, though it has a...
Based on the train guide, this is the point at which you...
A long reaching waterfall from snow melt
Top of Aunt Judy, and a clear stream fed by snow melt. ...
Pretty stream scene. The train was very comfortable...
In the Dining car on the train, having lunch.
Another dining car scene. Folks look like they are...
Glacier fed stream; notice the murkiness of the water...
Just some pretty mountains. Perhaps McKinley is behind these?
Panorama mountain, 5800 feet, seen as we approach Denali...
Bridge over Riley Creek ... which is both glacially fed...
This was the train car we were on. Great for touring.
People at Denali station were waiting to board the...
Took this from the bus taking us to our hotel as the...
Again, from a spot at which McKinley would be visible,...
Another "mcKinley" shot ... this is where Aunt Judy...
Aunt Judy getting "her" picture of MtMcKinley.
.... which looked something like this.
Our trusty vehicle that we had rented for our...
Judy commandeered the wheel.
Along the road side on our Jeep adventure. Lupine was...
Pretty contrast with the lupine, don't know its name.
The 'back side' of Panorama Mountain with the Nenana...
Our accommodations at McKinley Chalet in Denali Station....
Our moose in Denali, as seen from the bus window.
And there she is again.
And another 'picture' of Mt McKinley ... the brightest...
Our tour bus of Denali. Judy said she had never ridden...
We were all pretty bundled up. It was around 50.
But happy to be on the trip.
What is called a "braided river", fed by glaciers. The...
If you look really closely, there is a ptarmigan sitting...
Now he's in the middle of the picture. Still tiny.
A bridge for Catherine, across the braided river. ...
A bridge for Catherine, across the braided river. ...
Finally you can see what I meant by 'braided". Coursing...
This side of the bridge, the valley is V-shaped, caused...
Just a pretty picture in Denali, which is so empty and...
The Park and Preserve is 6 million acres, larger than...
Our best view of McKinley from a relief display at the...
Judy and I had a 'debate' over white spruce vs black...
... while the black spruce generally grow over...
Lesson in black spruce grown. Taiga is a Russian word,...
Closed we came to seeing a Dall sheep. The visitor's...
Alaska Rose.
Taken at the train station in Denali as we await our...
Three of our intrepid travelers.
In case you get lost.
This was the engine for the "McKinley Explorer" train...
Our McKinley chalet accommodations were in one of those...
A bridge over the Nenana as we are leaving Denali Park.
A bridge over the Nenana as we are leaving Denali Park.
And another view. ... I'm guessing the swerve in the...
One of many elaborate beaver dams that we saw along the way.
This was the final link on the Alaska RR route to...
Arrival in Fairbanks ... guess what, cloudy again It's...
The next morning, at the wharf. We came by bus to a...
This is similar to ours, though we have three enclosed...
We saw hundreds of small planes in Alaska. This one was...
Parked
Along the river bank was a husky training camp. The...
The trainers are putting 10 or 12 dogs into harness.
... which is easier said then done. They 'train' with a...
They're hooked up and ready to go.
Mush, now you doggies.
Not really a typical house along the river, though there...
Some caribou grazing along the river. No, wait, see the...
A few more. We really did not see much wild life. A...
A spot along the river where clear water (on the right)...
A close up of the same.
Some interesting patterning.A
A "fish camp". The native peoples of Alaska were...
More reindeer. A lot of "velvet" on their horns which...
Cutie
Ahhh.
Mom got in the way.
That is not dad ... but I'm only sure because he had no...
Part of the native Alaskan display
This gal is a native Alaskan, lives near Barrow on the...
It was raining off and on and she explained the shorts...
A friend joined her to describe a robe made from animal...
Lots of pelts on display.
There was a huskie training camp near by. These dogs...
The average trained huskie will run 40,000 miles in its life.
This gal liked to stand on her dog house. They all have...
Just taking it easy. They come in all colors of brown /...
Queen of the kennel.
And yet again. She was the only one who "posed"
Bull Moose ...
Another denizen we spotted along the river bank.
There's our boat. Despite the weather, this was really...
There she is again.
I don't think he's going to get that in the garage.
Back where we started off.
From the river boat, we went to a miners' camp and were...
Exploring the mining camp.
Another set of explorers .. it was chilly.
Though apparently, the sun does shine in Fairbanks
Another pretty arrangement
And the last
This is a dredge. The buckets go down in the stream,...
They bring it inside this building where all sorts of...
The dredge itself has the ability to "walk" by pivoting...
This dredge "walked" (if I remember right) seven miles...
Glad not to be a miner on this dredge.
A different type of gold mine, underground, complete...
And then he came out to explain how they get gold out of...
Typical miner's cabin.
They did explain how he used this equipment to 'sluice'...
This is the train we're on, having gone through the...
This lady, who ran the ElDorado Gold Mine, was a hoot. ...
She was explaining to us how you mine gold ... she's...
She operated the back hoe and sent a bunch of rock down...
Watching the stuff come down the sluice.
Couple of her helpers. Tthe gal kneeling just finished...
Now she'll show us how to move the pan to cause the...
That's what her helpers found.
So, of course we all get our little bags of ore and sit...
This is hard work
Has Dad found something? I see gold in my pan!
Back on the train. We each have a little cannister with...
Judy and Alan look pleased with the day's find.
That's the spot to come get your gold.
From the mining camp to today's fuel. This is the...
The line runs from Prudhoe Bay (450 miles to the north)...
Here it is above ground. The technology allows it to...
Rather impressive, though the signs of rust are scary.
Another close-up
And another
Off into the distance
An object called a "PIG" as described in the next slide.
Who knew.
Recording our visit.
An amazing engineering feat.
Some of the facts. It's currently running at 1/3...
Our dinner before the "midnight sun' raft trip that we...
The river site for our "midnight sun" float.
The raft .... We assume there were at least two of them...
There is a moose in the water, honest.
Finally, McKinley! As seen on our flight from Fairbanks...
Getting closer, seeing some of the seven peaks that...
Pretty impressive range; which we could have seen it...
There it is
Thre it is without an airplane wing
Fading away as we fly south
Good bye Mt McKinley
Hello Chugach Mountains, outside of Anchorage as we...
Traveling by motorcoach. Supposedly one of the most...
It is scenic, no doubt of that. It is a tidal body of...
The tide here runs about 18 ft and is known to have a...
Pretty spectacular mountain range all around
More of same
And still more. This is all in the Chugach State Forest...
Another bridge over ? Creek. The richest creek in...
More bridge
The trip into the gold fields was rugged to say the least.
This is looking back towards Turnagain Arm, away from...
It took pretty determined people to decide there was...
Ah ... Seward and our next mode of transportation.
The MS Ryndam awaits our arrival. It is 8 pm, and we...
Looking back at the mainland as the Ryndam puts out to...
And again
Meg enjoying the same view.
And apparently happy about it.
The next morning at 6 am we are in College Fjord .......
This was still in College Fjord, with some glacier in...
First of the towel critters that Holland America puts on...
Land Ho .... actually Judy was taking our picture when I...
So now we have the picture
What's left of the whale sighting
Happy Days
Time to soak up a few rays ... if they could find me.
Coming into Glacier Bay
We'll see close ups of the Glacier
Just a chunk of ice
Getting close to the Glacier, which is a waterfront glacier
Closer still .. but no calving while we were there
Can see the "flow" of the river as that is what a...
Close up from our stateroom
The blood color comes from the density of the ice, with...
Good bye Glacier Bay
Just to prove I was there.
Coming into our first port of Haines / Ketchikan Alaska....
It's another HAL vessel, the Oosterdam. We'll pass her...
And tonight a lobster?
The port of Haines Alaska. These are study folks who go...
A few of the other ships in port.
Interior of the Red Onion Saloon on Main street in...
A second shot in the Red Onion
Down town Skagway, filled with tourists and tourist busses
This narrow guage rail line is what we'll take up to...
And now we are off on the train.
There will be lots of bridges, and lots of scenery on this trip.
A few of the platform on the back of our car. We were...
Not sure how deep that ravine is, but there's a bridge...
Just happen to like this shot.
and this one
A waterfall coursing down a mountain across from where...
Another view of the waterfall
And yet again
Some idea of the terrain we are going through
A lot of people out of the platforms getting pictures.
Hard to imagine how people looked at these mountains and...
View from the stateroom window as we cruise near Juneau
One of the night time critters ... A turkey is my guess
From verandah in the Juneau harbor ... watching a plane land
... and taxi around
... and go right by the boat. The number of planes /...
Having left the Mother Ship and taken a tour bus, we...
Our first sighting. According to the naturalist on...
Some harbor seals that enjoy hauling out on a buoy.
Slightly better look at them. I'm ready for that zoom...
And one of the reasons we are buying a new camera ......
We went a considerable distance to an area where our...
To the right of the other boat, you can see a "blow"...
A lot of 'blowing' going on.
... and more
... and finally, a whale. Breaching, which is the...
... and perhaps two other whales, and some more 'blowing'.
The tail of the humpback is called a fluke and sometimes...
Certainly a lot of activity out there. Our naturalist...
But there certainly was a lot of activity and we were...
A whale off to the left, and one in the middle
Some more something.
And two whales visible
and maybe the end of a fluke flap.
The naturalist felt we were watching "bubble netting"...
Seemed to get a lot of pictures of blows, but not that...
... sort of a whale, or a fluke there in the middle distance.
The captain repositioned the boat after a period of no...
But this is where the whales had moved too. Fairly...
More puffing to let you know they are there
... and then one surfaces
That may be the same one.
You can see a little more of the 'hump' here.
Couple guys frolicking around
I think I see three.
Definitely three in this one. Whales are normally...
I think I'm catching the end splash from a breach. ...
Pretty quiet. Lots of pictures like this that I have deleted.
... and then some more action
We were probably in and around this group of whales for...
They almost look as if they were up on shore.
If I told you there was a bear on shore, would you believe me?
Nope ... just whales near by.
Down to one, I think
Ah ... my best picture of a breach, after the fact.
Ditto on this one.
And this was the third. They came all in a row...
Just a few more puffing through their blow holesan
and I believe a fluke
.. and a few more splashes
and couple more break the surface. I told Judy that we...
I think there are four in this picture
... and this looks like another breach follow up
The route we talk ... the captain literally went off...
Our crew (though not the captain) who were very friendly...
All together (still no captain). The naturalist is the...
Ah, a bald eagle in flight.
We went from whale watching to visit this ice field.
... which had been calving earlier in the week, but not today.
The red growths, which look like pine cones, are...
Some more lupine, which was plentiful through out Alaska.
The ice bergs are in Mendelsohn Lake which is fed by the glacier.
And here is the glacier, moving forward 2' a day on it's...
Back on the Ryndam, some views of Juneau. It backs up...
Thta's a little bit of the main street.
A better view of main street ... the mountain starts...
A little bit more
And looking north along the same street
The view across the inlet from Juneau
This was the outdoor pool and deck, literally 20' from...
The Mt Roberts Tramway leaves from 'downtown' Juneau and...
This fellow caught my eye, parasailing over Mt Roberts
... seemed to be getting higher
and then started to go out the channel
... fairly high in the clouds (about dead center of picture)
... and last seen heading out to sea. Though we didn't...
Downtown Junean, with the governor's mansion: center of...
Juneau waterfront
A very sad looking lobster. His eyes fell off and I...
Example of failing camera
Rather dramatic, no?
Is this boat sinking???
Actually the moss on this bank was a very brilliant...
A bald eagle sitting in a tree as we leave Ketchikan...
The eagle again. C'mon zoom lens, I'm ready for you.
New Eddystone Rock, in the Behm Canal on the way to...
Behm Canal is not a canal. It seems to be an...
Turning into Rudyerd Bay which was a spectacular spot.
This is fjord country!
Wish it had been sunnier, but you get what you get.
Truly spectacular scenery
Any sharp peak is referred to as a "nunatak", an...
Nunataks in the background
Waterfalls into the fjord.
This is known as a "cirque" - a bowl shaped depression...
Just gorgeous scenery
Zoomed in on a cirque sort of around the corner
Not a flying saucer; reflection of on-boat light
Another cirque
Can't find the depth of Rudyerd Bay on-line, but you...
Ditto
And another cirque
Check out this photo; called a Maritime El...
The bay keeps going around corners, revealing more and...
The area gets 160" of rain a year. We left Ketchikan to...
Does make for pretty waterfalls.
Pretty stuff for folks from AZ
Went out on the top deck and got what I think is the...
This is neat; interesting to consider the scale.
Since, it's just about the bottom 20' of the entire run.
Slightly different angle
Enough already
Some of the folks on the boat were disembarking to fly...
This is Rudyerd Bay International Airport
... and their flight is coming in.
One man operations ... pulls up, hops out, ties up.
And another cirque, I believe at the top NE corner of Rudyerd Bay
Heading back ... a nunatak in the distance.
Vertical shot of some of the cliffs as we came in close....
Astonishing how stuff will grow on rock faces (with...
I thought this place was interesting
Some harbor seals, I'm pretty sure
Last chance to miss the zoom lens
Indian pictographs on the rock face. This is the sun...
Backed off a little bit
And further back ... there are red "dots" off to the...
The Oosterdam, which we have seen a lot of, was also in...
Walking back to our pier. That's a map of Ketchikan. ...
Pretty little welcome area for the cruise ships.
Not sure what this town would do without them.
Sitting in the Crow's Nest (the 12th deck bar on the...
Dad enjoying a Manhattan before our final formal dinner on board.
Looking down at Ketchikan enjoying some rare sunshine.
And a puppy dog on our bed
Saturday is a "day at sea" as we make our way from...
Cocktail Lounge on one of the decks
Seating area; is a piano bar at night
Coffee bar adjacent to the library on deck 8
The casino ... faces blurred to protect the innocent
And another bar
and the seating area around it
The front desk where you could collect your bills. You...
Shopping area on Deck 7. We managed to avoid it completely
More shopping
The deck outside our cabins
This was about the nicest weather we had on board
A few people taking the sun in Ketchikan Harbor
A few up to the Lido deck
One of the contented passengers
The mists are coming in and people are going to dinner.P
Probably even this one.
Good bye Ketchikan
Good bye swimming pool
The clouds are rolling in.
And the camera is dissolving.