Northwestern Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Kenai Fjords, Photos, Travel 6 Comments

Northwestern Glacier

Northwestern Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

Yesterday I took a boat tour into Kenai Fjords National Park and visited the amazing Northwestern Fjord.  It had been a few years since I had visited this part of the Park, and I was glad to see the ice hadn’t receded too much, nothing like what we have seen at Exit Glacier.  For comparison, the above photo is the right hand portion of the glacier that you see in this 6 year old photo of Northwestern Glacier (by the way, Alaska Magazine did a really nice double page spreed with this photo in this months issue!).

I am so lucky to live next to such amazing country!  The Travel Channel calls the coast of  Kenai Fjords National Park one of the top 10 natural wonders of the world – for good reason!

Special thanks to Cathy Gonzalez with Log Dreamin’ Bed and Breakfast for helping with my arrangements!

Exit Glacier Road

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Chugach, Kenai Fjords, Photos, Travel 20 Comments

Exit Glacier Road

Exit Glacier Road, Seward, Alaska.

This was taken at about 11:00 at night earlier this week.  I think it is easy to see why I make the 10 plus mile drive from Seward to Exit Glacier frequently this time of year, it is a beautiful drive!

This is Mount Benson.  This area is roughly spit in half by the Chugach National Forest and Kenai Fjords National Park, so I will put this in both categories.

Anza-Borrego State Park Photos

Ron NiebruggeAnza-Borrego, California, Photos, Travel 6 Comments

Slot Canyon in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

Slot Canyon in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

Janine has updated our website with new photos of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California from our travels last winter.  Anza-Borrego definitely isn’t the most popular of destinations, but we sure enjoy spending time there, especially in the winter!

It is interesting, the three places that I have the most in depth coverage of include Anza-Borrego, Kenai Fjords National Park, and the Chugach National Forest are all fairly unknown, with relatively few visitors.  I bet the combined annual visitation numbers of all three parks doesn’t total the number of people who visit a moderately popular Lower 48 Park like Bryce in just an average summer month.

The businessman in me says I should be concentrating on more popular destinations, but we decided long ago that maximizing personal satisfaction was far more important then maximizing profits.  I suppose if maximizing profits was the goal, I wouldn’t choose to be an outdoor photographer.

Glacier Wall

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Kenai Fjords, Photos, Travel 6 Comments

Glacier Wall

Silt embedded into the wall of a glacier cave, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

This probably isn’t for everyone, but I liked the abstract patterns created by the layers of silt in this icy wall.  I used a 400 mm telephoto to zero in on the detail while safely standing outside the cave.

Ice Cave

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Kenai Fjords, Photos, Travel 5 Comments

Ice Cave, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

Ice Cave, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

It is hard to get a sense of scale, but this was a huge cave – the ceiling was a good 8 feet in height.  It followed the small creek over to the right out of this frame.  I found this last Friday – the bright sunny skies helped illuminate the ice inside the cave with a beautiful blue glow.

I photographed this from outside the cave looking in.  These caves can be fun to explore, but this one was way to sketchy, there is no way I would enter a cave like this – it looked like huge hunks of ice could fall at any momment!

Tulip Photo

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Photos, Travel 6 Comments

 

A red tulip in our front year, Seward, Alaska.
A red tulip in our front yard, Seward, Alaska.

I glanced outside just a few minutes ago and noticed the overnight fog and rain had coated Janine’s tulips with some wonderful water drops.  Just about the time I set my camera up, a little bit of sunlight started to break through the fog perfectly illuminating the flowers – it looked like they were glowing red!  

This is hot off the press, just a few minutes old, unless of course you are reading this hours or days later.

Huntington Beach Morning

Ron NiebruggeCalifornia, Orange County, Photos, Travel 2 Comments

A surfer checking out the early morning waves, Huntington Beach, California.

A surfer checking out the early morning waves, Huntington Beach, California.

It feels good to be done with the processing, captioning and key-wording our photos from last winter’s travels.  Now we can send them off to agencies and update our website – finished just in time for summer, so we can make room for a new batch of photos!

Paradise Creek, Kenai Fjords National Park

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Kenai Fjords, Photos, Travel 8 Comments

Paradise Creek, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

Paradise Creek, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

Thanks to some challenging water crossings, this area gets few, if any visitors in the summer.  I have skied up here in the winter, and thought the area was beautiful, but have never been able to get up here in the summer.  Thanks to some low water levels, Janine and I along with some friends of ours were finally able to get up here yesterday  for some scouting.

I think the area has some real potential.  I love the clear water, something you don’t see much of around here thanks to the numerous glaciers.  Glacier rivers tend to be very muddy looking thanks to the silt.  This is looking up an unnamed valley where an unnamed creek flows in from the right.  Paradise Creek is coming in from the left.  We were able to make it another mile or two before steep cliffs and swift water blocked our progress.  It was a great day!  And now I know it is a place worth returning to for good light!