Alaska late July-Early Aug 06

[josh_miller6]

I am currently planning a trip to AK for this comming summer, I will be there from July 19-

about Aug 11.

 

We are planning on going to Denali for about 8 days of the trip (I have that area down as I

used to work there). My question is where else should we go that is going to be in

season? I had looked at Khatmi but I think we may be too late for running salmon/bears.

We would like to get some seriouse Bear and Eagle time in, but it seems we are right

between spring and fall seasons. We thinking heading down to the Kenai.

 

Any ideas would be great.

 

Also for you wildlife shooters... I am going to replace my old Nikon 300 f4 before the trip

(doesn't work with extenders on my digital) I am trying to decide between a new 300 f4 S

with the 1.4x and 2x or maybe the slower 80-400 VR lens with extenders. Any

comments?

Josh

[mark_chappell]

<I>I am trying to decide between a new 300 f4 S with the 1.4x and 2x or maybe the

slower 80-400 VR lens with extenders. Any comments? </I><P>

 

What do you want to photograph? For birds (including eagles except exceptionally tame

ones), you'll need all the focal length you can get and will often be wishing for more. For

big and relatively confiding mammals, or for landscapes, the 80-400 would be very useful.

When I've visited Alaska over the last couple of years, most of my landscape shots were

taken with either a 17-40 or a 100-400, whereas the vast majority of wildlife shots (birds,

bears, caribou, hares, etc.) were at 500 mm or longer.<P>

 

If you really like birds, and have some money to spend, consider going to Nome, Barrow,

or the Pribilofs. The latter especially is a fabulous (but expensive) place to visit. FWIW,

you can get data on places and focal lengths on my <A HREF="http://biology.ucr.edu/

personal/MACphotos/MACphotosAlaska.html">web pages</a> for Alaska.

[josh_miller6]

I am trying to decide if it is better to go to coast first or Denali first. Later in the season in

Denali maybe a little more color in the tundra & earlyer on the coast better chance for

bears fishing and whales? I know I only have three weeks, but I would love to find out if

doing one or the other first would be more photographicly productive?

josh

[troy_schauls]

My wife and I were there in '05 the first three weeks of August, and a couple of years earlier the last week of August and the first two weeks of September. I'll be there again the the last few days of August and the first 10 or so days of September. So what I'd suggest really depends on what you like to shoot (terra, flora, fauna?).

 

But if you're a fisherman, get to the Kenai first. Buy a spinning rig and a couple of red Pixies at any local store for < $25. You'll probably "catch the tail end" of the sockeye run, and the beginning of the pinks. Great fun in the mid day (not shooting anyway) and good eating later. Also, the Kenai is a great place for bald eagles.

 

Then move on down to Seward. Catch a cruise to the Kenai Fjords National Park. There are several tour operators you can find via Google, and pretty much all of them use the same boats and cruise the same routes. It's a long time to be on that boat, but if you have time take the 6 hour cruise all the way to the Harding Ice Field glaciers. The captain will bring you right up to a huge tidewater glacier and turn off the engines. In the silence, you'll hear the glaciers cracking and creaking, and we got to witness a couple of large calving dramas. Very cool. Oh yeah, and the wildlife. You'll get up close to dolphins, humpback whales, seals sea lions and all kinds of sea birds. Be sure to take that long lens. Also, I just set up my tripod right there on the boat deck. It's nice because you're all set when the whales are spouting and breaching, and the others on the boat won't obstruct your view, especially if you have anything more than a 200mm on top of it.

 

Then maybe down to Homer for a day or so. It's very scenic and a really funky town to boot. There's also to opportunity to shoot Mt. Redoubt & Mt. Iliamna right from the road (if it's not too hazy). Also, Mt. Augustine just to the south erupted two days ago, so who knows what will be happening there in August.

 

Then in Denali... if you're not planning it already, bring a tent (and DEET!) and take the 6 hour ride (each way) out to Wonder Lake to camp for at least one night. Without a doubt, no photographer should go to Denali NP and not try to get a shot from out there. IMHO, it's really not a complete experience if you don't do this. Not to mention it's a really, really fantastic area anyway for hiking and general relaxing. There's also caribou everywhere and several really great moose ponds within 20 minutes of hiking from the camp. We saw moose there at least twice each day (morning and evening - if it's hot in the day all the large mammals go bed down in the shade somewhere). Really, there are no other views in the park quite like that one... assuming you get to see The Mountain. There's only about a 33% chance of seeing it that time of year - either because of clouds or really thick smoke from fires in the northern interior. The smoke was horrible when we left there. About 200 yards (!) of visibility...

 

Also, I really recommmend driving to Glenallen and the Matanuska glacier on the Glenn Highway. The glacier itself is pretty interesting, but the valley itself and Chugatch Mountains are amazing, as are the Wrangells in Wrangell-St. Elias NP.

 

But sadly, the tunra will still be in its summer colors for all but the last few days in August. So you might be there just a bit early unless this summer is exceptionally dry, in which case the change may come a bit sooner. But when it begins changing, it changes remarkably fast. From green to fire red, amber and yellow in just a few days. You can watch it change day by day. Really, from my experience the first two weeks of September are the prime time for color (and very, very aggressive caribou) everywhere south of Fairbanks.

 

Hope this helps...

 

-Troy

[josh_miller6]

I have also heard about some Forst Service cabins in the General Seward area that You can

get dropped off at (with a Kayak) and spend a few days in one area all alone. Any one

know anything about his?

[ron_niebrugge]

There are some great Forest Service cabins near Seward, but none of them can be reached by kayak. Alaska State Parks has cabins you can kayak to from Seward � Thumb Cove is probably the best one. Kenai Fjords National Park has the best cabins with ocean access in my opinion, but you will need to use a water taxi to get to them. They are located through out the Park, getting to the most distant ones will be expensive. I would use Weather Permitting for water taxi services.

[josh_miller6]

Yea I had heard that you hire the water taxi and they will carry Kayaks if you rent them in

town. I wasn't planning on paddling all the way to these cabins, but I would like to use

them once at the cabin to travel and look for wildlife to shoot. I figure I could probably

get close enough with a 300 f4 with a 2x on it (840 f8) that is hand hold able as long as

the light is good!