Category Archive

Some more Alaska Winter.

Here is another one from my hike last weekend.

Standing dead trees usually only remain standing for a couple of years in these parts thanks to our wet, extreme weather.  The wet rots the wood, and the wind and heavy snow takes care of the rest.

So for these dead trees to be still standing after 50 years is remarkable.  The reason they are still standing is interesting.  This area subsided during the huge Alaska earthquake of 1964 and that allowed this area to be flooded by the nearby ocean.  When the trees sucked up the salt water it killed the tree, but also preserved it.  After time, the weather turns the trees white which is why they are often called ghost trees.  These trees are extra white in this photo thanks to the snow and frost.  There are numerous examples of these trees along the coast throughout South-central Alaska.

This was from a hike in Portage Valley this past Saturday.  It was a bit cold for this time of year, at least in this area – the temperature varied from 10 to 15 below Fahrenheit.  These trees were nicely back lit by nice golden light as the sun just peaked over the mountains on the horizon to the South – right about at high noon!  A good portion of the Portage Valley doesn’t even see sun this time of year.

This reminds me of a post I did a few years ago that might be of value:  8 winter photography tips.

This was last night (Sunday) from my front porch!  This is looking across the bay at Mt. Alice through a 70-200 telephoto.  There is no question I have more photos of this mountain then any other subject!

I had hoped to photograph this scene on Saturday night since the last sunlight of the day would have been illuminating the mountain as the moon peaked over the ridge.  But, unfortunately about the only clouds we have seen in sometime moved in during that one hour – go figure.