Fireweed around the Seward Boat Harbor last Summer.
Whale and Bear Tour Opening

Humpback whale at sunset, Frederick Sound, Alaska.
A very unfortunate injury has just opened up a spot on my yacht based bear and whale photo tour in Southeast Alaska this July. This trip originally filled quickly almost a year ago, so if you can travel with fairly short notice, this is a great opportunity to photograph lots of whales, bears and stunning landscapes. Click on the link for all the details.
I also still have two spots, thanks to a last minute cancellation, on my Alaska Bear and Puffin photo tour. I have been leading this wonderful tour for years and there is nothing like spending your days up-close with magnificent brown bears along with their cute little cubs! Thanks to our mild winter, it is looking to be an excellent year with 13 bears already arriving at the lodge by the end of May!
Denali Evening
Hot off the press – another new one from an amazing trip into Denali National Park last summer. Here are more photos of Denali National Park.
Banff National Park
It has been a good week – but busy with assignment work and private tours, so I haven’t had a chance to post any photos. So I thought I would share another one from more then a decade ago from one of my favorite areas; the Canadian Rockies. This photo from Banff National Park.
Riding around the world the hard way.
Last week a few friends and I stopped at the Arctic Circle – even though I have been making my living as a photographer for many years now, I’m not immune to grabbing an occasional cheesy tourist photograph, and what better place then in front of the Arctic Circle sign.
While grabbing photos and playing games with the GPS and sunrise apps – another perfect spot for such things – I was surprised to see someone ride up on a bike! You see, we were a very long ways from anything, anywhere, so that has to be an interesting story. Over the years I have meet other travelers on bikes, motorcycles and automobiles who were traveling between the Southern end of South America, to the top of North America, or vise versa, and that is what I assumed he was doing. But no, this guy is planning on going much further.
Hi name is Rob Landaurer, and it turns out this Texan is going to effectively ride around the world. As he explained, his route will take him around the world in more of a North / South direction as he makes his way East, not the more common East / West route – I can’t imagine either route is very “common”. He is planning to travel from Prudhoe Bay to Ushuaia, Argentina, then will fly to the Southern end of Africa. After riding across Africa with a flight around some dangerous areas, he plans to fly from Morocco to Spain. From there, he intends to ride across Europe and finally across Russia! The entire trip is going to take a year and a half!
His bike was interesting. It had a teflon like belt instead of a chain like you see on some motorcycles to avoid wear and rust. The rear gears were entirely housed within a large hub to protect them from the elements. The front hub could be engaged in order to provide power to a usb connection on the goose neck of his handlebars, so that he could charge his phone on the downhills, or power a light.
If you are interested in learning more, check out his website Self Powered Travel. I see he is already in Beaver City, Yukon.
Rob is also doing this to raise money for World Bike Relief. All the money he raises will go straight to the worthwhile charity – none of it will go to cover the cost of this trip which he is funding out of pocket.
Good luck Rob, you are an inspiration!
Atigun Pass
Last week we made a trip far to the North – we actually made two trips well North of the Arctic Circle, first in a friends plane, and then by vehicle. Long road trips really help put Alaska’s large size in perspective.
This truck is climbing the gravel road to the top of the 4,800 foot Atigun Pass. At this high latitude, the effects of even the slightest increase in elevation is exaggerated, so to find a road over a 4,800 pass is amazing. The road itself rises up from the valley you see below at a 12% grade. This is the Dalton Highway, formally known at the Haul Road and made famous in the History Channel’s show Ice Road Truckers.









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