Alaska trip. Advice. Partners ?

[qtluong]

I am planning to travel to Alaska, around Aug 12-Sept 9. The tentative

plan is:

Kenai Fjords + maybe Glacier Bay if the weather is ok, Gates of

the Artic

(Arrigetch area), Denali (both NP and SP), Wrangel St-Elias

(McCarthy)

maybe Katmai. I will be mostly interested in quintessential grand

Alaska

landscapes of mountains, glaciers, icebergs, taiga, and tundra,

which can be

worked on a tripod. I don't plan to seek wildlife, but if an

animal comes within

reasonable distance of a 400mm lens, I wouldn't mind shooting :-)

I will try to

photograph on day hikes or short backpacking trips (due to heavy

large format

equipment), and to save a bit by camping out and not chartering

more boats and

airplanes than necessary.

 

I am looking for (a) recommendations on access and locations, (b)

photographers

interested in joining for parts of the trip.

[jeff_loffert]

If you're planning to hit Denali Park and McCarthy I would link the two together with one of the most scenic stretches of road in our state(in my opinion), the Denali Highway. It runs roughly east/west between the towns of Cantwell and Paxson. I might also suggest starting with your most northern destinations first, and work your way south. The foliage/tundra colors should be great. If you don't mind driving, try doing a loop from Anchorage to Denali Pk. via the Parks Hwy then go back south to Cantwell and head east on the Denali Hwy to Paxson, then south on the Richardson Hwy which will take you past the access to the road to McCarthy( a side trip all the way down the Richardson to Valdez would'nt hurt ), then back north on the Richardson to Glennallen turning west on the Glenn Hwy back to Anchorage. Whatever you do, buy a book called "The Milepost", as it is absolutely invaluable for highway travel in Alaska. I'll be away on vacation till July 15, but will gladly answer direct email upon return. Good luck!

[cowan stark]

I just got back from a conference in Valdez-was there for 9 days, I got to make several photo side trips, so here's my two cents worth. I spent 3 days in Kennecot/McCarthy. To get there, you have to drive to Chitina, then either pick up a small plane (Wrangell Air-they have a website)or drive 2 hours on a washboard road. The rental car agencies won't let you drive up there, (at least Hertz won't-they are even talking about not letting you park in Chitina and leaving the car there while you fly in due to recent episodes of vandalism). There is van service between Chitina and McCarthy. I took the plane, it was well worth the $65, if you don't mind a little rain leaking through the windows. You can stay in McCarthy, or stay at the lodge in Kennecot which is not cheap, but comfortable. There were nice views of the Chugach range and the Wrangells from there, as well as the often photographed copper mill (I know, not nature...). Moose, bears (from the air), arctic ground squirrels were about all I saw for wildlife, wildflowers were around, but I don't know what'll be there in the fall. If you fly in, you can take only 40lbs, and one bag-these are 4-6 seaters. They didn't have a scale to weigh anything anyway, but that's the policy. The Richardson Highway through Thompson pass to Valzez I thought was very scenic-lots of construction going on, and a bit slowgoing-lotsa motor homes. Nice, easy to photograph roadside waterfalls near Valdez-Bridal Veil, Horsetail Falls. Several easy to do hiking trails into the rainforests around Valdez also. My favorite trip was a seakayaking trip to the Shoup Glacier in Prince William Sound (Anadyr Adventures in Valdez)-it was spectacular! Lots of wildlife opportunities, I took a 300/4 IS and 28-135 IS in the Kayak-getting the LF equipment in would be difficult, but might be do-able. I only wish I had more time, but I definitely want to go back sometime. Feel free to e-mail me if you want anymore info-sounds like a great trip! I'd advise planning as much ahead of time as possible.

[louie]

Ah, it looks like you're going to complete your survey of U.S. National Parks.

 

For Denali N.P., I would recommend you spend some time at Wonder Lake. If you go in late August, the bugs shouldn't be bad, and you'll have a classic shot of Denali from the campsite. This is, of course, dependent upon weather. Also, I would recommend taking the earliest or latest shuttle buses. They offer the best chance of seeing wildlife. I took the first camper bus to Wonder Lake last August, and we saw numerous bear - many within 20-40 feet of the bus. Plus, the early buses tend to be less crowded, especially the farther out you go on the park road.

 

I believe Kenai Fjords can only really be seen by boat. If you take one of the cruises, you'll find good opportunities for wildlife, and the boats can get fairly close. They usually stop at the glaciers for a good while. Also part of Kenai Fjords is Exit Glacier. You can walk right up to this glacier along a paved path. There's a trail to the Harding Icefield, which I didn't have time to do. From what I hear, it's a fairly strenuous hike up to the Icefield, which is apparently quite huge.

 

Louie

[sjhein]

I returned last week from a 2-week Alaska trip that included both Denali and Kenai Fjords. If you can afford the time and the weather looks cooperative I highy recommed taking an all-day Kenai Fjords boat trip out of Seward. We took one of the Mariah small boat tours out to the Chiswell Islands and the Northwest Glacier and had outstanding photography opportunities. Since your interest is photography, it is important that you take one of the smaller boats - the Mariah boat that we were on held only 20 people max (there were 11 on our trip), but still was able to cruise at 18 knots (which is important since it's a 150-mile round trip). The larger tour boats have limited outside viewing spots and blast along at 30 knots! The Chiswell Islands are a major seabird rookery with Horned and Tufted Puffins, Parakeet Auklets, Black-legged Kittiwakes, Common and Thick-billed Murres, etc. I was also able to get great images of Sea Otters, Fin and Humpback Whales, and Stellers Sea Lions. The Northwest Glacier is a spectacular landscape subject, particularly on a sunny day, like the one we were blessed with. The skipper and the deck hand of the Mariah boat were both very knowledgeable about the wildlife (by far the best I have had on any boat trip), and did a good job setting the boat up for photography and viewing.

 

Regarding Denali, the bus trip through the park is definitely worthwhile, particularly for big mammals. Be aware, however, that a round trip out to Wonder Lake is 10-11 hours with only 20 minutes or so at the lake. You can always stay and pick up the next bus but that makes a long day even longer (particularly if the next bus is full). If you are really serious about photographing at Wonder Lake you should probably plan to camp or stay at one of the lodges near Kantishna. One of the frustrating things about the bus trip is that you have no control over where the bus stops. If it is very crowded, you may not even be able to get to a window that would allow you to shoot at a close caribou, moose, or Grizzly. Unless it has rained recently, the ride is also *very* dusty, so make sure you have protection for your camera gear. I also second the recommendation for a trip from Cantwell at least part way out the Denali Highway. There is great scenery, and the possibility for wildlife - we saw our only wolves of the trip on the Denali Highway.

 

We also visited the Pribilof Islands for three days and two nights, which was too short for serious photography, mostly because the weather didn't cooperate - the driving rain and wind made for less than optimum photographic conditions.

 

Good Luck and have a great trip

-Scott

[qtluong]

In case anyone is interested in checking out the results of

this trip, see:

<ul>

<li> <a href = "http://www.terragalleria.com/parks/np.gates-artic.html">

Photos of Gates of the Artic National Park</a>

(all from that trip)

<li> <a href =

"http://www.terragalleria.com/parks/np.denali.html">

Photos of Denali National Park </a> (90 % from that trip)

<li> <a href =

"http://www.terragalleria.com/america/alaska/denali-highway/">

Photos of the Denali Highway</a> (all from that trip)

<li> <a href =

"http://www.terragalleria.com/parks/np.wrangell-stelias.html">

Photos of Wrangell-St Elias National Park</a> (50% from that trip)

<li> <a href = "http://www.terragalleria.com/america/alaska/glenn-highway/">

Photos of the Glenn Highway</a> (50% from that trip)

<li> <a href =

"http://www.terragalleria.com/america/alaska/seward-highway/">

Photos of the Seward Highway</a> (50% from that trip)

<li> <a href =

"http://www.terragalleria.com/parks/np.kenai-fjords.html">

Photos of Kenai Fjords National Park</a> (95 % from that trip)

</ul>

A productive month despite the rainy weather !