Category Archive

Brown bear with a red salmon, Kenai Peninsula, Alaska.

I hadn’t planned on photographing more bears this week, but a video assignment found me in the middle of bear country not too far from my home in Seward on Wednesday.   This is an image from that day.  The fishing was good and the salmon everywhere.  If this bear caught a male, it might peel some of the skin off, but as often as not, it would just toss it back.  It definitely was after the row in the females.  When it did catch a female, the salmon eggs were about all she would eat.  Times are good when you are living on just caviar!

In the morning I head north for almost two weeks.  Much of that time will be in Denali – I’m really excited to have drawn permit dates during the peak of the fall colors – I have been trying to get these dates for over 10 years!

I probably won’t worry too much about bears on this trip, but I would really like to improve on my coverage of caribou and moose – not to mention landscapes and fall colors.  Northern lights would be a real bonus.  If I have time, when I come out of the park for gas and showers, I will post an update here – but, it is possible that I won’t have the time in which case I’ll see you when I get back!

Janine on the trail to Spencer Glacier, Chugach National Forest, Alaska.

How is this – I’m playing my excuse in advance for my possible lack of photo blog activity!

Tomorrow morning I head out on a boat for a few days as part of my Kenai Fjords photo tour.  It is shaping up to be an epic trip – there have been reports of a large number of whales, and the weather is even looking great!

I then have a steady series of private tours everyday right up to my week long bear and puffin tour.  The bear tour is also shaping up to be great with reports of a number of spring cubs!  You can’t beat spring cubs!

I should have a bunch of new photos to share, and when I get a chance as I come and go, I will do updates here and there – but, if you don’t hear from me for awhile, you will know why, and I’ll be back soon!

Now I need to go mow the lawn so that I can find the house when I return!

Wildflowers at Spencer Glacier, Chugach National Forest, Alaska.

Here is another new photo from our overnight trip to Spencer Glacier last week.

Spencer Glacier, Chugach National Forest, Alaska.

Just got home from an overnight trip to the Spencer Glacier.  I have past by Spencer Glacier on the Alaska Railroad many times, I have rafted passed it, even flown over and photographed it from a helicopter a couple of times – but despite my best intentions, have never spent the night out there.  It has been on our “to do” list for a couple of years, and with wonderful weather moving in this past week, we decided it was the perfect time to go!

By spending the night, I was there for the best light around sunrise and sunset – although the skies completely cleared and I didn’t get the dramatic sky I was hoping for, I still found plenty of dramatic scenery!  This also gave us extra time to explore the area – even put on crampons and was able to check out the glacier which is an easy three mile hike away.

Spencer Glacier has to be one of the best day trips around.  You get there by catching the Alaska Railroad in Anchorage or Portage.  The railroad drops you off at a small station in this beautiful remote country.  The train passes back through the area a couple of hours later giving you time to hike around, or to go on a rafting trip with Chugach Adventure Guides.  I photographed the rafting trip for the railroad a few years back – it is fun!

Or, if you prefer, you can do like we did and bring your camping gear in backpacks and spend the night or multiple nights.  A new trail that takes you way up into the nearby mountains is almost compete – next time we will be doing it.  Eventually, there will be a series of trails and huts connecting railroad stops through this entire remote country.  They are working another trail this summer that will eventually connect to 5 different whistle stops.  When done, It will offer easy access to some amazing country!

Fireweed, Chugach National Forest, Alaska.

Let me say thanks for all the nice comments on my last post.  Even though most of the comments and my responses are now gone, I was able to read them and really appreciate it.  I had a problem with an update to my blog and had to revert to a backup that was a day or two old so unfortunately I lost a lot of the comments.

By the way, this is another photo from this past week out in the amazing Chugach National Forest.  Unfortunately I didn’t get the light I did in the last photo, but I still thought it was a pretty scene.

So, as if it wasn’t hard enough keeping up with the blog, Facebook and Twitter, there now is another contender in the online social world, Google +.  I started playing around with Google + earlier this week, if you are already there let me know so that I can add you to my circle.  If you aren’t there, but are interested, let me know and I can send you an invite.  Here is my Google + page.

Looks like I may be on the road for a few days – hopefully I will have some new stuff once I return.

Chugach National Forest near Seward, Alaska.

I looked out the window at 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning and conditions were looking pretty good for a colorful sunrise as there was a gap near the horizon to the North.  At 4:30 a.m., my lack of sleep paid off as I was rewarded with this beautiful morning!

Because the mountains extend so far to the Northwest and Northeast, we rarely see colorful sunrises or sunsets around here in the summer – the rising / setting sun just doesn’t have the needed gap to illuminate the underside of the clouds.  Our best skies usually happen in the winter when the sun is rising and setting to the South over the ocean.  What a treat!

Black bear sow in a tree, Chugach National Forest, Alaska.

So why was this black bear sow up in a tree last week?  Because she had three cute little spring cubs further up the tree above her – below is one of the three, they were sure cute!

Black bear cub, Chugach National Forest, Alaska.

Cynthia and Susan in the Chugach National Forest, Alaska.

Here is a quick snap from my phone of a couple of members from the film crew I worked with last week, and will be working with some more over the summer – we had a really great time!  We spent time in Seward, Cooper Landing, Portage and Girdwood, hiking trails and photographing landscapes and wildlife.