Richard

Landed in Anchorage this evening about 6pm local time. Went out to dinner a little later for some of that famous Halibut. Of course in July this is the land of the midnight sun - so about 10pm we walked through a city park like it was 4 in the afternoon. The present outdoor temperature is very comfortable at 60F.

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Richard

Took the train from Anchorage to Seward this morning. Beautiful scenery the entire way.

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Richard

This afternoon I watched Cormorants and Horned Puffins diving into the ocean.

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chong

Nice photos, Richard. I lived and worked there in the mid-80s for 2.5 years. And traveled there off and on for 2 years before that. First time I stayed overnight there, when I got up at 2 a.m., a sparkle of light was peeking through the gap between the drapes of one of the windows. When I opened the drapes, I saw that the yard outside was like 6:00 am in Seattle. In Barrow and Kaktovik, the sun is out 24/7 in the summer. The camps I stayed at in the various villages had to have 2 layers of drapes over the windows to keep the light out at night. Otherwise, it would be impossible to sleep because it was so bright outside.

6 p.m. there is 7 p.m. here in Seattle. It is now 7:35 p.m. here and it is overcast. But it is still brighter here than in those pictures.

When I see pictures from AK, I sort of miss the place. That road to Seward is certainly pretty. Only thing I don't like about traveling by car or train there in the summer is that when you stop, you get attacked by swarms of mosquitos. Especially, during the evening twilight time. Are you going all the way to Soldotna/Kenai? Or, Whittier, to see the glaciers?

sunfish

I was fishing Salmon on the Naknek River in King Salmon AK. in 1977.

Richard

Today Sue and I took a 9-hour cuise in the Kenai Fjords. We saw a lot of wildlife and amazing scenary including this view of the Colgate glacier..

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Richard

Traveled north several hundred miles today along Alaska Hwy 3 onto the tundra of the Nenana river valley in Denali National Park. Tonight we are staying in a cabin near the visitor center. We had dinner at the Perch Restaurant which sits atop a knoll. It has views to the north, west, and south along with some of the best food anywhere. Tomorrow we travel to Kantishna.

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Richard

Just returned to Anchorage from a three day stay in the wilderness at Denali Backcountry Lodge. Saw a lot of wildlife! Here's a photo of Denali (Mt. McKinley) from the north side:

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palmtree

Awesome pics! Im not sure if I would ever want to live in Alaska, but it looks like a really beautiful place to visit! Definitely one of a kind! Thanks for sharing!

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Richard

Yes, that was just amazing. Several of the photos were uploaded from my smart phone at enormous resolution, so I've re-sized them for easier viewing.

Here's a photo of Wonder Lake, just south of Quigley Ridge in Kantishna, Alaska. The nearest paved road and utilities are 90 miles to the east. The lake is about 1 mile long and the valley is about 30 miles across. The river you see beyond the lake is the McKinley River, passing through what is called the McKinley River Bar: series of braided streams through glacial runoff. The water is flowing from left to right (east to west). Behind that in the clouds is Mt. McKinley. About 25 miles to the east a huge glacier traverses out of the mountains and forms the headwaters of the river. From the location in the photo the river then travels westward about 50 miles, then north about 100 to merge into the Yukon River.

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