view
Cold morning, Denali National Park, Alaska.

Alaska and Yukon

In early September 2000, I made my first trip to Alaska. I only had two days, but it turned out to be one of my best weekends ever. I drove from Anchorage to Fairbanks, then to Valdez, and back to Anchorage, visiting Denali and Wrangell-Saint Elias national parks and some other nice places along the way. Visiting Alaska for such a short period of time is always risky, because local weather is so unpredictable; but I was lucky to have one sunny day, and fall colors were at their best. I spent my last evening in Anchorage, looking for moose in city parks, and finally found two of them on a major street leading to the airport. As I flew back to California, I realized that, in just one weekend, I'd visited almost all of Alaska's places of interest accessible by a car. But I liked this state so much that decided to devote my next summer to exploring it.

view
Summit of Pink Mt., British Columbia.
In June 2001, I drove from California to Yukon Territory and Southern Alaska (9000 miles/15000 km). view
Arctic Circle in Richardson Mts., Yukon.

view
Mount McKinley (6193 m/20,320'),
view from Denali State Park, Alaska.
Alaska has almost everything the North has to offer. Its volcanoes are almost as active as those of Kamchatka, its glaciers almost as impressive as in Greenland, its forests almost as pristine as in Canada, its tundras almost as vast as in Siberia, its fjords almost as spectacular as in Norway, its marine wildlife almost as abundant as around Kuril Islands, its large mammals almost as tame as in the Northern Rockies, and its mountains are simply the tallest anywhere at high latitudes. view
Mount Wrangell volcano (4949m/
16233'), Wrangell-St.Elias Nat.Park.

view
Morning, Alaska Range.
Alaska Range and Wrangell-
St. Elias Mountains are the highest ranges.
view
Mount Caribou, Alaska Range.
view
Edge of Worthington Glacier,
Chugach Range, Alaska.
Atop these ranges lies a mysterious world of endless glaciers and icefields. Except for some fringe areas, it is almost inaccessible, unless you are able to rent a small airplane or helicopter. Only mountaineers visit it regularly, but they try to avoid glaciers or pass them as soon as possible, paying no attention to the hidden beauty of icefalls and glacial caves. view
Icebergs on Portage Lake,
Kenai Peninsula, Alaska.
view view view
view Aerial views of peaks, glaciers, fjords and icefields,
view
Haynes area, Alaska/British Columbia border.
view
view view view
view
Reid Glacier have already
retreated above sea level.
Glacier Bay.
view
John Hopkins
Glacier,
Glacier Bay.
In Glacier Bay Nat. Park and other parts of Southern Alaska, many glaciers flow down to the ocean, although most of them are rapidly retreating. view
View of Mt. Adams
(4161m/13650')
from Glacier Bay.
view
Kittiwakes (Larus trydactylus)
feeding on krill in a glacial cave,
Glacier Bay.
Calving
icebergs,
Margerie
Glacier,
Glacier
Bay,
Alaska.
calving
1----->
calving
2----->
calving
3----->
calving
4----->
calving
5----->
calving
6----->
calving
7

view
Ogilvie Mountains near Dempster Highway, Yukon.
view
Tombstone Mt., Ogilvie Range.
view
Richardson Mts. west from Makenzie River, Yukon.
moose
Moose (Alces canadensis), feeding during sunny
midnight, Ogilvie Mts., Yukon.
Richardson and Ogilvie mountains of Yukon Territory are lower than the ranges of Alaska. They are located at the edge of Arctic tundra, so their colors are tender and beautiful, and their flora and fauna are very diverse. caribou
Tundra caribou (Rangifer tarandus),
Richardson Mts, Yukon.
plant
Loco (Oxytropis sp.), Arctic Circle
at Dempster Hwy, Yukon.
view
View of Richardson Mts. from Ogilvie Mts, Yukon.
plant
Alpine poppy (Papaver kluanensis),
Peel River, Yukon.

view
Timberline, Denali National Park, Alaska.
Alaska is one of the few places were the fall colors of taiga and tundra are at their best at the same time - usually the second week of September (see Fall Colors page for details). view
Upper edge of tundra, Copper Valley, Alaska.

coyote
Mousing coyote(Canis
latrans)
, Five Finger
Rapids, Yukon.
Many Alaskan animals can be easily seen in city parks and suburbs, but are often difficult to find in more remote areas because of hunting. In national parks, there are so many people that almost nothing can be seen in the vicinity of major roads. The good thing is, nocturnal animals can be observed in broad daylight from April to August. porcupine
Porcupine (Erethizon
dorsatum)
, Denali
Highway, Alaska.
bear bear bear
bear
Bears of Alaska and Yukon:
upper row - Kodiak bears
(Ursus arctos middendorfii)
and black bear
(U. americanus emmonsi),
Glacier Bay National Park;
lower row - grizzly bears
(U. arctos horribilis),
Bear Glacier, Canada.
bear

moose Moose, Kluane Mts, Yukon. goats Mountain goats, Glacier Bay. goats Mountain goats, Glacier Bay.
caribou Woodland caribou, Teslin River, Yukon. Moose and caribou are the most abundant large animals of Alaska and Yukon. Others, such as mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) or Dall' sheep (Ovis dalli), are much more rare and local. caribou Woodland caribou, Teslin River, Yukon.
swans grouse grouse eagle
Trumpeter
swans (Cygnus
buccinator)
,
Chitina Valley,
Alaska.
Willow ptarmigans (Lagopus lagopus), Denali National Park, Alaska.

So, I expect to see more animals and get better pictures next summer!
Bald eagle
(Haliaetus
leucocephalus)
,
Copper Valley,
Alaska.
view
View of Alaska Range from Parks Highway.

Home