Alaska is big. Really big. And the Alaskans love to tell you just how big.
Kristen spent most of July in Alaska, primarily working on a psychiatric unit in Fairbanks. The hotel abutted a nature preserve with a variety of trails and this lovely "dawn" image (the actual time being about 4am).
There was the requisite midnight flight into the Arctic Circle. Below is a portion of the Yukon Flats (tributaries of the Yukon River) from the air.
After 3+ weeks of work there was some time to sightsee. Below is the unofficial greeter to Denali National Park.
What follows is a series of images of Denali and the Alaskan Range, which were simply majestic. The mountain was shrouded for the first day (which is its most common state in the summer months), so Kristen did the Denali "triathlon" -- hiking 6 miles up to a range to NOT see Denali, biking 6 miles to Wonder Lake to NOT see Denali, taking a flight to get above the clouds to finally see Denali! These next three photos were taken from that plane trip.
The second day was crystal clear in the morning and we were rewarded with spectacular images of the mountain on the way out of the park. These next three are the reflection of Denali in Wonder Lake, close to where Kristen was staying at the Kantishna Roadhouse. This is the Zen photo....
The classic photo....
And, an image with ducks, since we have a soft spot for the birds....
This is Denali in Reflection Lake, the location of Ansel Adams classic photo.
Here is Denali from a bit up the road with fireweed in the foreground.
I call this the "fake background" photo of Denali.
From Denali, Kristen took the Alaska Railroad down to Anchorage. After a brief stop there, she headed down to the Kenai Peninsula and the charming fishing village of Homer.
There she spent a delightful two days at the Sadie Cove Wilderness Lodge and sampled wild crow berries, bear berries, blueberries, salmon berries, and watermelon berries. The drive back to Anchorage was delightful as well, with classic vistas of Alaskan peaks.
