Different Latitude. Different Attitude.

Whenever we say we are going to Alaska we get the question. “Are you going on a cruise?” Well, no and yes. We’ve traveled Alaskan waters several ways.

Day excursion ferry boats and tour boats…

Landing craft and ocean fishing boats…

By seaplane -

but only during takeoff and landing.

And by ATV and wading boots -

at low tide.

— Katmai National Park and Preserve —

Di wanted to see bears catching salmon in the river at Katmai. You can go by slow-boat or seaplane, so plane it was. (Safety first. Loaded firearms and bear spray are not permitted in the cabin.)

Katmai National Park covers 6,400 square miles. We are a gnat in a football stadium - maybe smaller.

We get off the plane and find that the bears own the park. We are just visiting.

Mama bear and two cubs are not the sort of thing you find in the “parking lot” of most National Parks.

After a safety orientation, we traverse some back trails to one of the elevated observation platforms. Bears don’t pay any attention to anything above ground level so we are essentially invisible.

Each male bear has established his own fishing location by seniority and intimidation. A mother bear and her two cubs can be seen in the lower left corner. They will “eat and run” lest they be attacked.

The bears have different fishing styles.

Some poke around in shallow water.

A few go diving!

The divers can find the largest salmon - those fish tend to put up a fight.

A few bears like to stand at the edge of the waterfall and wait for the fish to come to them. This poor fellow wouldn’t move over a few feet because he would be invading a senior bear’s reserved location.

I think he was lamenting about the “ones that got away”.

The discussion is rather heated when there is a disagreement concerning fishing rights.

The bears tend to be messy eaters but the gulls are happy to clean up the leftovers.

— Talkeetna, AK —

Talkeetna is an interesting village to explore. Shops and stores feature goods, arts, and crafts produced only in Alaska.

Although the village is small there is is a plethora of culinary choices - none of which is a “name brand”.

Rusty or rustic -

either one is part of the charm.

The old television series “Northern Exposure” was inspired by Talkeetna.

— Denali National Park and Preserve —

Automobile traffic in Denali National Park is limited to the first 17 miles of paved road. Travel to the interior lodges is restricted to bus transportation.

And the remaining 80 miles is a “one lane” gravel road.

The only traffic you see for the rest of the day is a returning bus or a gravel truck or grader maintaining the road.

The drivers have a knack for calming the fears of white-knuckled passengers while simultaneously performing as master docents.

They not only have to be qualified commercial drivers but they must also be fluent in history, geology, botany, ornithology, “are we there yet”…

The vastness of the terrain is emphasized when you can do a “wide angle” landscape with a 100mm lens.

It is an immense park of over 6 million acres.

A bush pilot told me that you can’t predict the weather in Alaska - the weather starts in Alaska.

When we finally reached our lodge, we caught our only glimpse of Mt. Denali in four days. At over 20,000 feet in altitude, it generates its own cloud cover 70% of the time.

This is tundra. It is difficult to walk in because it is vegetation several feet thick. It never decomposes because the ground underneath is frozen.

Our lodge group stopped for lunch on a hillside overlooking the valley. We could see for miles in all directions - probably into another time zone at our latitude. Across the valley were at least five canyons, each with its own weather system.

Isolated from civilization, we experienced a new level of “quiet”. The silence was only broken by the calls of migrating cranes.

A moose couple was having breakfast on a misty morning at Wonder Lake.

A sign worth seeing in person.

The folks in Alaska haven’t established many statues or monuments but the ones they have built are quite inspiring.