Ken Conger Photography

Assateague & Chincoteague (11/11 & 1/12)

2012-01-06T12:18:00.021-05:00

Trust everyone had a joyous holiday season and Happy New Year. I have taken several trips over to both Assateague Island National Seashore, MD and Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, VA recently, providing private lessons to clients and doing an art festival. Due to the warmer weather we have had this winter, the congregations of waterfowl normally at the refuge have been sparse. The above photo of a White Ibis was captured at Chincoteague. The numbers of this species in the refuge this year have been surprising high. The two goose shots below were captured during a late afternoon shoot with awesome light.

The below wild horse shots were all taken at Assateague. In comparison to prior years, the number and locations of horses accessible for photography was better than average.

Worked out especially well with nice morning light and the wild horse approaching the water for a reflection one morning in Chincoteague.

Good light and great histograms.

2011-10-29T17:30:00.006-04:00

Recently spent a week in Colorado visiting my son and photographing in the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge and National Park. Photo goals were to capture some fall Deer and Elk bucks/bulls.The Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR was challenging from a photographic perspective. The unusually warm weather may have played a factor. Locating and capturing quality buck images took numerous trips. Once the territories were identified, the quality of the head gear on some of the Mule Deer was amazing. An example of the number of large racked bucks can be seen below.

Below are some images of Mule Deer bucks within the Arsenal. Both are morning shots.

One interesting situation is that both species of Deer, Mule and White-tailed, are within the NWR. I posted the below image of a White-tailed due to the great way the light beam concentrated on his face through the trees.

Another fun species to photograph at the Arsenal were the Prairie Dogs. Working the town for several hours produced this neat image of the three guys all lined up.

When approaching a Prairie Dog town, observed this Coyote running away with an unfortunate Prairie Dog.

Also, spent a few days at Rocky Mountain National Park. Always a pleasurable experience with a fall visit, especially when the Aspens are turning and the Elk bugling. Was fortunate to locate several bulls bugling one morning in a field near Moraine Park. This bull, in stunning morning light, was certainly trying his best to attract a cow with his call.

You can see the frost on this bull as the sun was approaching the field.

Too funny, capturing the right moment, when this guy stuck his tongue out at the cow.

Good times seeing my son and the Colorado critters. Blue Skies.

Pantanal, Brazil (8/11)

2011-10-29T15:04:00.001-04:00

Apologize for being a negligent blogger. The last few months have certainly been dynamic. One reason, was an August trip to the Pantanal, Brazil. Our primary goal was to see and possibly photograph the elusive Jaguar. As you can see, things went really well. The Jaguars were usually seen in the evenings along the river shores.

Really awesome when this guy came down directly across from our boat to take a drink.

One of our most exciting evening viewings was when the below Jaguar went into a nest to pursue young Limpkins. This compelling image, "Last Seconds of Life" was captured just prior to devouring one of two birds.

Just when we thought things could not get any better, we watched as two sibling Jaguars spar one evening.

Same two resting after their fun.

Jaguars primary prey upon the Cabybaras. Here is a mother and young frolicking in the water.

The Giant Otters were so much fun to watch. They were efficient predators and often caught fish right in front of us.

I enjoyed photographing the Kingfishers as much as the Jaguars. We were able to capture all 5 species of Kingfishers during our trip. Below is a Ringed Kingfisher with a recently caught fish

This Amazon Kingfisher played with his fish for quite some time. Interesting position of the fish in this image.

Below is a another Amazon Kingfisher in stunning afternoon light.

This final post image was taken on our last night. I asked our guide to take us to one of the wading pools filled with Caimans. After almost an hour of experimentation, ended up with something I had envisioned. Wanted to show viewers how the Caiman's eyes reflect red with the night sky above.

Lots more images of unique birds and mammals on my web site. I will be leading a photo tour to this location next August. Currently working on details with the outfitter. Already have some folks locked in and only have a few more slots available. If you have any potential interest in joining us, send along and email: bkenc@cox.net.Blue Skies.

Loons, Puffins & Moose (7/11)

2011-07-15T18:04:00.021-04:00

Had a super trip last week to New Hampshire and Maine. The primary photo goal was to capture a Loon with a chick on the back. Puffins and Moose were also on the list. The above and below images were some of my favorites of the female with chicks. These loon images would not have been possible without the worthy assistance of the Camera Gear Lackey, who changed hats for this trip and became the Canoe Lackey. When approaching the loons by canoe, she carefully kept the light at my back and us at the appropriate distance so as not to cause disturbance. Local photographer Judith E. Lombardi also provided essential advice on locations, which certainly facilitated where to go for the 3 days we were in New Hampshire.

This was a special shoot for two reasons. We had some great light. And watching the male and female take turns feeding the chicks, often at close proximity, made our time on the water just extraordinary. After the first morning of hand holding with the 400/5.6 and looking at the soft image results, decided to make some adjustments and ended up duck taping my tripod to the Wenonah Ultralight canoe with the Wimberley Head and the 400/2.8. This alteration did the trick!

Below are some additional female loon/chick shots.

Here you see the male delivering a crawdad breakfast to one of the chicks.

Here are two loon images with the body wake taking on the blue sky reflection, which made for some great shots.

After 3 exceptional days in New Hampshire, we headed over to Maine. Photo goals were Puffins and Moose. We also had a fodder goal of sinful amounts of lobster and clams. The first stop in Maine was Machias Seal Island. To get to the island you have to take a 45 minute boat trip from Cutler, Maine. There is a breeding colony of Atlantic Puffins (approximately 3K) on the island as well as other predominant Alcid species of Razorbills and Murres. Having been to the island before, I concentrated on Puffin fliers. Below are some of my favorites.

We next headed to Baxter State Park. Known for its moose density, we stayed in a campground and hiked to a pond in the early mornings and evenings. We saw several on every outing. We had our best morning the last day of our trip, between 5:00 AM and 7:00 AM. We had the pond to ourselves and the light was awesome. These are shots I've always wanted to capture, with the water dripping off the velvet.

Neat capture with the guy breaking out of the water.

Living a dream folks. Blue Skies and great histograms.

Out West (6/11)

2011-07-13T17:45:00.028-04:00

Been on the road lately and been negligent about blogging. Catching up on things this week. In June, had a great trip out west. No specific photo goals, continuing to live a dream and hoping to capture some keepers. The above (Grand Tetons) and below (Yellowstone) images were my favorite bison images of the trip. Just the fact that the buffalo was posing in some dandelions was awesome by itself, but when the cowbird landed on his back, what a bonus!

We spent several days in Colorado photographing Mountain Goats.

Silhouette at sunrise on the mountain.

Watching this Grand Teton NP Coyote pose on the rock and then howl, just after sundown, was special.

We spent several days watching a Yellowstone Badger den. Waiting for the mother to come back to the den paid off. Below you see the mother returning with a ground squirrel. After a feeding session, the young usually came out and we were able to capture some images.

This Yellowstone Red Squirrel was actually one of my favorite images of the trip.

Had fun shooting the Yellow-headed blackbirds at Camas National Wildlife Refuge in Idaho.

How about this group of Uinta Ground Squirrels right in the grass near Mammoth buildings in Yellowstone. Had to go down to 1/100 of a second to get an f stop of 25, so all of them would be in focus.

Loved the breeding colors of the Camas Ruddy Duck's bill. The second image is him chasing another male who was approaching his female.

Camas Horned Grebe

We ended at Bear River NWR in Utah. Lots of Avocets in great light. We were a tad early for chicks, most females were still sitting.

We did find some of the Western Grebes with chicks. Watching feeding time was special.

This White Pelican cruised in while photographing the Grebes and abruptly flew off.

Good times. In the next few days I will be posting some special Loon and Puffins shots from a New England trip taken last week.

Blue Skies and Great Histograms.

Delaware & Chesapeake Bays

2011-05-20T13:20:00.014-04:00

Just got back from a several day trip to the Delaware and Chesapeake Bay areas to photograph avian migrants. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate for photography. Witnessing the massive arrival of shorebirds still made the trip special. Our goal was see and possibly photograph Red Knots. We observed primarily Dunlins, Turnstones and Sanderlings as seen in the above and below images. These were all captured at Slaughter Beach in Delaware.

We saw very few Red Knots amongst all the migrant shorebirds. Getting these two flying was lucky. They were also challenging images to capture. Like most shore birds, they fly so fast that so tracking them off at a distance was necessary and using shutter speeds of 1/2500 or 1/3000 was needed for in focus images.

We also traveled to two of my favorite national wildlife refuges. The below images of a Blue Grosbeak and Eastern Kingbird were taken in Bombay Hook NWR.

The Black Skimmers and Semipalmated Plover images were captured in Chincoteague NWR. I chose to post the Skimmers due to the alignment of the birds and the Plover due to the reflection.

Blue Skies.

South Texas

2011-04-25T17:16:00.017-04:00

Spent last week in south Texas. Helped a good friend get moved into Brownsville and took some time photographing some avian migrants.The bonus was while photographing some birds in Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge the above Bobcat appeared at a water habitat to take a drink.

Was fortunate to capture both the Baltimore and Orchid Oriole at South Padre Island.

Great reflection with this Skimmer also from South Padre Island.

Nicely perched Black-bellied Whistling Duck and Greater Kiskadee taken at Estero Llano Grande State Park.

Green Jay and Cardinal taken at Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge.

Was a fun week with friends and seeing lots of great avian species. Blue Skies.

Virginia Ospreys

2011-04-07T15:26:00.011-04:00

Been having fun the last few days photographing the Ospreys (Fish Hawks) at some local Virginia hot spots. With the above image and the one below, it is so exciting when you have been waiting all morning for a potential Osprey to arrive at a traditional fishing hole and then he catches a fish right in front of you. Having all the settings right before the dive is crucial. I have found that 1/2000th is necessary for sharp shots, which can be a challenge depending on available light.

Captured the below two images as an Osprey was landing into a newly built nest.

Have watched on numerous occasions some Eagle/Osprey confrontations. The Eagles lay in wait within the trees for an Osprey to catch a fish. When the Osprey catches one, the Eagle flies out and continues to harass the Osprey until he drops the fish. Awesome to witness these aerial pursuits but difficult to capture with a camera.

Blue Skies.

Kenya, Africa - Avian

2011-03-30T10:54:00.023-04:00

The diversity of birds we saw in Kenya was overwhelming. We identified one bird short of 150.The above and below images are of an African Fish Eagle. Similar to our Bald Eagle here in the USA, they prefer fish. Photographing the different eagles from a boat was challenging, but just as exciting as seeing the cat species.

This lucky capture is of a flying Augur Buzzard.

The below species is one that I was hoping to see, let alone photograph. We ended up seeing several, but this image was a bonus in good light and with a lizard in his mouth. I think it is the most dazzling, colorful bird I have ever photographed and named a Lilac-breasted Roller.

This conveniently perched guy is a Marabou Stork.

We watched this Woodland Kingfisher fishing for awhile one afternoon.

We saw lots of different bee-eaters. This was one of the better images of a Little Bee-eater. Hope to capture one with a insect next year.

On our first morning this pair of Black-winged Stilts were in great light. The reflection really made the shot.

As you can see from the Kenya posts it was a special trip and we are so fortunate to be able to go. In fact, it went so well I have worked out the details with our safari company and be leading a photo tour back to Kenya next February. Once mentioned, it filled up within a week. If you would like to be on the waiting list, please send along an email and we can discuss the trip specifics.

Blue Skies.

Kenya, Africa - Misc Species

2011-03-21T09:24:00.016-04:00

As mentioned, photographing in Kenya was so exciting. I was floored with the diversity of species within the Masai Mara and just how habituated they were to safari vehicles. Included are some of the additional species photographed during the trip, besides the cats in the prior post. The featured image was one of my favorite Giraffe shots. The mountain in the background is Mount Kenya, the tallest mountain in the country. My goal was to frame the Giraffe's head with the similar profile of the mountain.

We were fortunate to see both White and Black Rhinos. Below is a White Rhinoceros.

Forest Elephant taking a drink in pouring down rain.

Water Buffalo with new born.

Zebra with new born.

New born Waterbuck with Oxpecker on back.

Group of hippos with new born looking on.

Relaxing Hyena.

Warthog.

Colobus Monkey.

Olive Baboon.

New born Vervet Monkey.

Next post will include some of the avian species captured during the trip. If you want to see some additional species you can check my web site.
Blue Skies.

Kenya, Africa - Cats

2011-03-15T13:26:00.017-04:00

Had a great first trip to Kenya. One of the most productive trips ever. Exciting, so much new dynamic wildlife species to observe and photograph. Here is a few of the cats.

Our safari guide had a good idea where this leopard could be located. Viewing this cat so close was special. The male pictured was later joined by a female. We were also able to watch some leopard pre-mating behavior.

We were able to watch this pride of lions on several occasions. There were 11 cubs in the group. The male image below is the dominant of three within the pride.

The Cheetahs were my favorite cat to watch. We saw 11 different cheetahs and saw several on a hunt. Often they were so close to our Landcruiser you could hear them purr.

More species to follow in the next few days.
Blue Skies.

Florida

2011-02-03T12:44:00.015-05:00

Headed down to Florida again to visit with family and participate with a photography booth in an art festival. On the way down and back to Virginia stopped in a few of the local honey holes for some avian photography. The above and below Kingfisher images were captured in Wakodahatchee Wetlands.

The below Reddish Egret and Spoonbill photos were taken in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

This calling Red-winged blackbird image was taken in Wakodahatchee as well.

Yours truly with my younger brother, mother and younger sister at the festival. As you can see I did not get the attractive gene in comparison to my siblings. Blue Skies.

Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, Virginia

2011-01-13T09:41:00.012-05:00

I was able to travel over to photograph at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge for 2 days with a friend before the winter storm arrived. We concentrated on waterfowl images. The above male and below shots are shovelers (named appropriately for their spoon shaped bill). With awesome light had plenty of shutter speed, we had a great time trying to capture sharp images of fliers.

Enjoyed the afternoon light and the birds walking accross the frozen impoundments.

We travled over to Assateague Island National Seashore, MD and lucked into some close wild horses.

Blue Skies.

Florida - Avian

2010-11-27T12:51:00.020-05:00

Back home after spending most of November with family in Florida. Only had time for some limited photography. Burrowing Owls are always fun to photograph. The second image below was fun playing in Photoshop with a program called Fractilus.

Located this Osprey with a recently caught mullet in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Also in MI, discovered this Clapper Rail surveying the shore and a perched Red-shouldered hawk.

In Viera Wetlands, was fortunate to find this cooperative Loggerhead Shrike.

Blue Skies & stunning sunsets

National Wildlife Magazine's Photography Competition

2010-11-18T16:24:00.006-05:00

I was recently humbled with some news that the above Lynx image that was submitted to the National Wildlife magazine's 40th annual photography competition, took second place in the mammal category. You can this (#10 of 32 ) and some other stunning images at this link

Shenandoah National Park - Whitetail Deer

2010-11-16T17:18:00.001-05:00

During the first week of November had a great week with some folks that joined me for some wildlife photography lessons in Shenandoah National Park, VA. The rutting period was approaching peak, and bucks chasing does were readily seen in the morning and the evening. The above image was one I was able to capture of one of the more dominant bucks in the area. Blue Skies.

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge - Polar Bears

2010-10-13T15:48:00.012-04:00

After leaving Denali for the season, after last year's exceptional experience in the Arctic, just had to go again. Never did I think that this year's trip could exceed last year's. On our only morning of the two day trip, we had stunning light and a sow with yearling cubs at very close range.

Seeing polar bears in the wild is extraordinary, but having this polar bear family totally at ease and curious about our presence was just awe-inspiring. While we were out in a boat observing them on a spit, they were curious about us and walked over to our location.

They settled in on a bank and watched us, while we watched them.

As the boat drifted towards the shore, with a super telephoto lens, amazingly I was able to capture full frame shoulder shots of the sow and cubs interacting!

The absolute best viewing of the trip was watching the cub above. He sat up and did a number of unusual hand signals for us. He did this on more than one occasion. I'm planning on doing a composite image with all the different hand signs and call the photograph "The Referee".

After a marathon drive back from Alaska, nice to be back home in Virginia. After being home less than a week, already did a booth in an art festival in Crozet, VA. Doing a studio tour this weekend as well. So, needless to say life rocks. Blue Skies.

Denali - Beavers

2010-09-29T18:17:00.009-04:00

In my last days in Denali for the season, maximizing wildlife viewing opportunities were certainly a priority. With the unusually warm weather, the moose rut seemed to slow down. So, I concentrated on another favorite species, the Beaver. The above image is something I have been trying to capture for years. Beavers are nocturnal and rarely seen above the water, so the above "chew on the tree shot" was something very fortunate to see let alone capture. In this image he is about to take his last tree bite and at the same time using his arm to push over the tree. Just awesome to be able to witness this entire event.

In the above images, he is busy carrying the limbs on a path to the lodge which is at least quarter mile away.

My second season in Denali was certainly as good as the first one. It is such a special place. I am now on the road trip home to Virginia. A Virginia friend flew up to Alaska and is making the entire trip back with me as well. We are currently in Wyoming. Before starting on the road trip, we flew up to the arctic to view polar bears. The trip went well. My next post will include some special polar bear images that will include some cub shots.

Blue Skies.

Denali - Moose

2010-09-09T15:43:00.013-04:00

I was fortunate to be able to get out into the park when the leaves were turning. The moose were also gathering in their traditional rutting area within the park. My goal was to capture some bull moose with fall colors in the background. The bulls begin to loose their velvet approximately around August 20th. Fall generally occurs in Denali the last week of August. The photo on top was one of my favorites captured during this time period. The lighting conditions were certainly challenging though. He appeared well after sunset. I rarely shoot above 400 ISO to maintain image quality with my Canon MarkIIN. When he posed, remaining still enough, I began raising my ISO and using whatever shutter speed I could manage to capture the shot. While on my tripod, this image was actually shot using ISO 800 and a shutter speed of 1/40th of a second. Sometimes things work out.

As this bull walked away, he looked over in my direction. I liked the way his eye is framed by the brush.

He found this cow earlier in the evening and was hoping his head gear would attract some interest. She seemed more concerned with eating.

On another afternoon with great light I located these two younger bulls.

After watching them for awhile, they then decided to spar. Although not a real fight for ownership of females, was still a thrill to watch.

The fall colors are all gone now. Still amazed at how stunning the colors are in the tundra, as seen in the above image. Soon the moose rut will peak and snow will arrive.

Blue Skies.

Katmai National Park, Alaska

2010-08-14T23:51:00.032-04:00

Katmai National Park, Alaska is a special place. The park is world renown for the location where brown bears can be seen catching salmon in close proximity. Before our arrival, from fellow rangers, I had heard about a special sow, named Milkshake. In previous years, she had birthed 4 cubs and 3 cubs. This past spring she had another 4 cubs. Amazingly as we arrived at Katmai by float plane, Milkshake was on the beach to greet us. The photo above was taken one morning on our way to Brooks Falls, when she was walking the cubs along the beach. When my buddy Tim was changing his photo location, he lost his footing. During his attempt on how close he could perceive Katmai beach sand, the family stopped in their tracks to observe unusual human behavior and I was able to capture the image. I feel so fortunate to be able see this special family, let alone photograph them with the bonus water reflection.

Below, the same clan was also attentively watching another boar that was walking the beach close to their location.

Milkshake would often nurse the cubs on the beach.

We were fortunate to see the cubs playing on the beach on a number of occasions during our stay.

The falls were not as active as on my prior trips, due to our visit during the later part of the sockeye run. The bears were still fishing and catching salmon when there were brief circumstances of fish jumping the falls.

The social interactions of the bears at the falls are always dynamic to view. Arguments happen regularly when the fish are running and as the bears jockey for the best fishing locations.

When things were slow at the falls, bears resort to different fishing methods. I concentrated on water shots when the fish were not jumping. The bottom image of this series was shot at 1/20th of a second to create the creamy water look.

This guy had something else on his mind besides fish.

Sometimes the bears would stand to view the area when looking for fish.

The weather was rainy and cloudy for most of our 5 day visit. We decided to take a trip to the valley of 10,000 smokes one day. It was a worthwhile trip. This image was captured at the end of the road looking across the valley.

Blue Skies.

Denali - Grizzly Bears

2010-07-14T01:37:00.012-04:00

As I mentioned in the last post, in addition to the wolf activity, we also had some bear opportunities as well. A sow with two yearling cubs that were close to the road, that were readily photographical from a vehicle without disturbance was special. Interesting that the yearling pictured above had a blond coloration and the sibling below was more chocolate colored. The visible flowers in the one image were a nice touch.

Funny the way the below image turned out, appearing that the bear was waving to the visitors on the park road.

The sow below certainly provided for a full frame shot when she approached the road to grass. As the tundra season transitions, the bears will changeover to the ripening berry patches for their dietary needs.

This evening I am still drying out clothes/equipment from two days at the Denali State Park to photograph loons with chicks. Unfortunately, the two days of rain and the loon proximity (always far away) to shore prohibited any photo opportunities.

Blue Skies.

Denali - Wolves

2010-07-07T19:02:00.020-04:00

The diversity and quality of wildlife images that you can capture from the park road within Denali National Park, beyond milepost 15, is amazing. It is a true testament how successful things can work within a National Park that is managed well. The challenge is to maintain a true wilderness area and still allow public access w/out wildlife disturbance. I was fortunate to be able to photograph from the road two days last week.

The above wolf was located near an apparent kill site. When we arrived the wolf had the caribou calf hindquarter in his mouth. Incredibly, we watched as this wolf carried the remains 12 miles along the park road to the den site for the awaiting pups! He never slowed down on his trip even with the shuttle/tour buses that maintained an appropriate distance right behind him.

The above wolf was located in a field, sleeping just 100 yards off the park road. When he awoke, he decided to travel down the road as well.

This wolf was seen on the road out west near Wonder Lake on the road.

I left the road in the late afternoon and set up next to a pond area to photograph a Horned Grebe pair. After being there for an hour or so, I saw the above wolf cruising the other side, looking for an available waterfowl meal. When he heard my camera shutter go off, he turned and looked in my direction. As you can see in the bottom image, he came fairly close, prior to heading off into the bush. At this time of day and location within the park, a wolf was a surprise and special treat.

We were hoping to see the wolf pups. These were two of the three we observed on a river bar, well off the park road. Although not a great photo, still a special wildlife situation to view.

Denali/Mt. McKinley was also out on our second day. I framed the top image using some available caribou antlers from the Eielson Visitor Center. The lower image is from the western end of the park, out near Wonder Lake.

We were also able to capture some great Grizzly Bear images. Hope to post these on my next good available Internet day.

Blue Skies.

Nome, Alaska - Avian Species

2010-06-30T23:01:00.020-04:00

The birding in Nome, Alaska was exceptional. We saw many species not viewable in the lower 48. Sorry for the belated post but hiking for internet access has been challenging for blogging.

Finding these Red-throated Loons was special. As you can see the evening light really helped to provide stunning images.

The above Bar-tailed Godwit was on our list of species to see. They fly all the way from New Zealand to Nome to nest. They fly over 18,000 miles in one year.

I've seen Long-tailed Jaegers in Denali from a distance. Never did I expect to see them so close and have the ability to photograph them on the tundra in Nome.

These Red-necked Phalaropes were fun little birds to watch and photograph.

The above Black-bellied Plover revealed herself when a Muskox walked close to the nest site.

Really liked how the wing position turned out with this Hoary Redpoll.

Spent the last two days out on the park road photographing. Had some exceptional bear and wolf photo opportunities which I hope to post soon.

Blue Skies.

Nome, Alaska - Muskox

2010-06-15T20:41:00.024-04:00

Locating the Muskoxen so quickly would not have happened without the help of one of my ranger friends (previously worked in Bearing Land Bridge National Park) who advised where they were normally seen. Never did I think that within three days we would be able to view/photograph them so close. Appropriate approach and patience paid off immensely for some stunning images.

Muskox are native only in the arctic areas of Alaska, Canada and Greenland. They have incredibly long fur coats (hair can be as long as 6 feet). They roam the tundra in search of their primary diet of willow, mosses and lichens (as seen by the calf and bull above). Muskoxen are survivors, who prehistorically have lived with the mastodons and mammoths and have survived hunters and climate changes which have caused other species to become extinct.

Muskox are a herd animal (groups usually 2-3 dozen) and are extremely social animals that maintain a strong family unit structure. This fact was obvious while viewing them. They are known to form a protective circle around their young when threatened, a behavior we did not observe. Above you can see females with young. The females’ horns do not extend completely over the forehead like the males (bottom 2 images).

As you can see with the above, the yearlings lack the head gear of the adults. On occasion you would see a yearling nurse.

The bulls are quite impressive. After resting in the tundra and when getting up to move, the entire herd always followed their lead. Looking close you can see the grooves in the horn with some battle damage.

The most fun viewing was certainly the calves. The cows have one calf every two years. Most were only a week or so old and were so adorable. On our last day two calves closely approached us wailing until the cow herded them up.

In addition to the Muskox, on our travels we were able to see a massive migration of caribou with calves and a moose cow with a calf.

Still hard to believe the things I’ve seen and done the last two seasons and realize how fortunate I am. The next post will be some of the amazing avian species photographed while traveling the few roads around Nome.

Blue Skies.

Denali - Checkpoint Drama & Wilderness Backpacking

2010-06-02T14:01:00.018-04:00

Backpacking in Denali is special. The front country of the park has a few maintained trails, but once you go beyond milepost 15, you backpack trail less into a true wilderness area. After spending several busy days in the visitor center and at the checkpoint due to holiday weekend visitation, I was ready to escape into the wilds of Denali.

Before I left, we had one of the more dynamic wildlife situations at the Savage checkpoint work station. A moose cow with two recently born calves had a standoff with a grizzly bear about 300 yards northeast from the checkpoint. The dramatic scene began on the hiking trail (to the lower left of the top image) at around 9:00 PM. The cow did a magnificent job protecting her calves. As the bear approached she made several aggressive full out running charges at the bear, one time chasing the bear into to the Savage River. The bear was persistent and continued to attempt to remove the calves from the cow by approaching from several different angles. This went on for 30-40 minutes. Park visitors certainly accumulated and without the help of another ranger (my friend Dave who I met in MT. for the ALCAN trip north to AK) would have unmanageable. Next, the moose/calves retreated into the parking lot (as seen in the second image, bear following in third). Another 10-15 minute standoff and the moose decided to retreat taking the calves back down the river. At this point the bear decided he was going to head across the bridge towards us (me and 20+ visitors) to approach the moose/calves I’m guessing to approach from a different angle. Needless to say, I was asking the visitors not to run, but to please quickly exit into the checkpoint cabin and available van and bus. All went well and the bear decided to go back and follow cow/calves down the river. The bear lost ground by coming across the bridge and the cow now had a several hundred yard distance ahead of the bear when last seen (10:40 PM). The 4th image is the cow heading south on the Savage with the calves. Apologize for the poor quality of the photos, but due the challenging light and no tripod, had to shoot at 800 ISO.

So, I decided to backpack to the top of Mount Wright. A herd of Dall Sheep frequents the flat top of the mountain and I was hoping to photograph some lambs. An all day hike to the top and searching all the ridges and valley no sheep were found. I set up camp on top of the mountain to hopefully see Denali at sunrise. A severe thunderstorm hit the mountain that evening and I was glad my MSR tent withheld the strong winds (guessing 30-50 mph gusts). The storm passed relatively quickly and the temperature dropped nicely. I awoke around 4:00 AM to catch the sunrise on the range. The top photo provides you an idea of what an outstanding a view I had. The image is a photo merge of 6 photos. The immensity of this landscape cannot be captured in one image. Denali was slightly obscured due to some clouds. Its hard to describe in words, but for those who have experienced this do understand, that when gazing upon a vast scene like this in solitude, it grabs one’s soul and emotionally connects you with this land.

During the trip into the park I was able to see a number of species. The Wolf and the Rock Ptarmigan (still mostly in winter plumage) were my favs.

Picking up a shuttle bus out on my way back to the cabin we saw 11 bears. Several of the sightings were of a sow with cubs. All sightings were distant, the bears were foraging (heads down), thus were not conducive for quality images.

The Camera Gear Lackey arrives on Saturday and we are flying into Nome. The town is known for the end of the famous Iditarod and birding. We also hope to see and photograph the rare Musk Ox.

Blue Skies.

Denali -Willow Ptarmigan

2010-05-24T00:52:00.019-04:00

Willow Ptarmigan are the most entertaining and photo friendly birds I have photographed. They make the best call and are just plain fun to observe. When I arrived in late April I was hoping to catch them still in their winter plumage.

So, with plenty of snow still around I checked their favorite haunts from last year. As you can see most had already started to change.

They change colors fast. These images were captured last week. Some of the females are totally changed and sitting on nests already.

One of the features I enjoy most about these birds is the way the males vibrate their eye brows when attempting to attract a female or when alerted.

Denali is in full swing. All the facilities outside the park are now open. Visitation seems as busy now as it was in July last year. I have seen several bears every day at the checkpoint and we have had to manage the public at several bear jams. We had a cow moose with a new born calf chase a visitor into the restrooms below the checkpoint yesterday. I'm still with limited internet capability realizing this may be the circumstance for the entire season. Blue Skies.

Denali - Lynx

2010-05-12T01:09:00.019-04:00

I have been blessed in my life to have had some incredible experiences viewing and photographing wildlife. My third evening in Denali for 2010 season was in the top ten. After arriving in Denali, I had driven the park road for two evenings and the critter viewing wasn't especially great. So, on night three thought I would check on my favorite beaver lodge. Last season I had taken over 20 trips watching the clan's activities. It was exciting while heading down to the lodge in the snow because I could tell that I was the first visitor to the area since last fall. When I arrived, there was a small open water area (10' x 20') directly in front of the lodge.

After about an hour the beavers began to come out onto the ice. They began eating some of their stashed willow limbs from the winter cache.

Eventually the entire family came out and was out on the ice right in front of me.

After several enjoyable hours of watching their activities, I saw something approaching from the woods, to my left, in my peripheral vision. I was in leafy camo and secluded, so whatever was moving towards the beavers could not see me. Not moving an inch I could just see that the animal was a gray color. I thought that it was either a wolf or coyote. My heart was racing and I hardly didn't want to blink, wondering what I was about to witness. Well as you did see, from the top image, that the animal ended up being a Lynx. Man was I excited.

He made a wimpy attempt at catching one of the beavers on the ice. The beavers all dove into the water quickly. The Lynx never really had a chance.

After the beavers dove in, the Lynx walked over to where they exited and looked down into the water. The green tint of the water from the adjacent conifers and his face reflection in the water was awesome to see, let alone photograph.

The Lynx could hear the camera shutter go off and looked in my direction. Next, what was amazing, was that he laid down next to the opening for 45 minutes hoping the beavers would show up again right in front of me!

When he gave up and left the water opening into the woods, he sat down for a minute and stared in my direction, still trying to figure me out. My heart was racing the entire time.

I thanked the photo Gods immensely. Swear I am the luckiest guy in the world and so fortunate to see what I have in my life.

This week is my final week of training. Officially start in uniform this weekend when we open the Visitor Center. Things are just starting to open outside the park. Still gets down below freezing every night.

Blue Skies all.

Creamer's Field, Fairbanks, Alaska

2010-05-09T16:00:00.011-04:00

Before arriving in Denali, I was fortunate to be able to stop in one of Elaine’s favorite honey holes for wildlife viewing in Fairbanks, Alaska, Creamer’s Field. This location has been a long-established stopping place for waterfowl prior to nesting in northern part of Alaska. The above trumpeter swans are a regular visitor this time of year.

Things are usually slower from a wildlife viewing perspective in the summer, but in the spring and fall this is a great place view a diversity of migratory species. The above Pintails and Canada Geese were active at one of the smaller ponds in the south part of the refuge.

The above White-fronted Goose was a new one for me last year. Great to see them back. Had two sitings of them in the park, near Wonder Lake last year as well.

During my road trip, I have been observing the Sandhill Cranes in Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana and in Alaska. Funny that their migratory route is very similar to my leg of the trip from the upper Rockies to Alaska. I love to watch the guys do everything they can with their bodies, trying to show off to the females.

I have been in training all this week and will be next week as well. I have no Internet at my new cabin, so my next post will be delayed. That next post will include one of the best experiences I have had in Denali.

April ALCAN Trip

2010-05-02T17:30:00.015-04:00

Arrived in Alaska mid-week and moved into my cabin today. The trip could not have been better. In comparison to last year during the same dates, this trip the roads were clear, weather was sunny/mild and there were less permafrost humps on the roads.

I met with another park ranger after Yellowstone, in Montana, and we drove the ALCAN together into Alaska. Dave, my buddy, took the cheesy photo of me in Dawson Creek at the beginning of the ALCAN.

A mandatory fuel stop is in Watson Lake, the gateway to the Yukon. This year I took the time to take a photo of the sign post forest. Amazing and interesting signs are from all over the world. After some searching found 2 Virginia license plates.

I didn't see as much wildlife along this road trip in comparison to last year, not even one bear. The two photos above of a Clark's Nutcracker and Big Horn Sheep were taken at Lake Louise and in Jasper National Park (Alberta).

Have lots of great blog posts upcoming. Already have had one of the best wildlife experiences of my life, the second day in Denali. Blue Skies.

Yellowstone Bison

2010-04-27T02:00:00.008-04:00

After leaving Colorado headed north to the Tetons. Not much wildlife action there, so headed north to Yellowstone. The bears were really not out yet in the park. The wolf population had also declined to 97 individuals for the entire park, from a high of 174. The primary cause of the population decline was due to mange, distemper and competition. So, since the high level predators were not readily visible decided to concentrate on the bison/buffalo. I was fortunate one evening when a rainbow appeared in Lamar Valley.

I enjoyed watching these three guys race across Soda Butte Creek in a Buffalo Triathlon in great afternoon light.

The above dominant male was letting the others know that the adjacent female was owned.

The boys were clashing on a regular basis within the herds.

I arrived in Fairbanks, AK yesterday evening. The roads and weather on the ALCAN could not have been better. After some vehicle maintenance and getting some supplies I am heading to Denali tomorrow.

Blue Skies.

Colorado Sage Grouse

2010-04-16T17:16:00.005-04:00

My apologies, I lied to you in my last post. I said that my next stop was going to be the Grand Tetons, but ended up in north central Colorado photographing Sage Grouse. I spoke with some Fish & Game/USFS folks after leaving Will's and found out that the Sage Grouse were also appearing on leks or booming grounds. What an awesome sight. The guys blow up these amazingly large esophageal sacks and sound like a rock dropped into a well, all in a effort to attract a female.

The girls seemed interested. I saw as many a 22 males and 17 females on the lek. Although is was 18 degrees, it didn't seem to bother their activities.

A quick trip through the Tetons, which was slow, so arrived in Yellowstone today. Be here for a couple days before leaving the lower 48 and headed north in Alberta.

My apologies to all for not blogging back. Up early and in bed late after photographing so have limited time online.

Blue Skies.

Nebraska Prairie Chickens

2010-04-12T19:00:00.016-04:00

I'm on the road trip back to Alaska for another season as a park ranger in Denali. After last year's successful stop to photograph prairie chickens in Nebraska, had to do it again.I stopped at the same private farm in Pawnee County which is in southeastern portion of the state. This farm had numerous prairie chickens last year. The farmer who owns the land where the lek or booming ground is located, has a wonderful family, remembered me from last year and was kind again to allow me access.

The two days I was there, the weather and light was conducive for photography. Since I was familiar with the location from last year's shoot, knew exactly where to position my blind. The male birds arrived just like the did the previous year in the late evening and early morning. Watching them dance, fill their yellow cheek pouch and then battle in an attempt to attract a female, was just amazing to witness again so close.

Once I obtained some portraits, began to work on fliers. There was enough light that I could shoot at 1/1250th or 1/1600th which enabled for sharp images.

After getting some decent fliers next began working on behavior shots. Trying to catch these guys when they are battling was a fun challenge.

I am at my son's in Denver for a few days. Next stop will be the Grand Tetons.
Blue Skies.

Florida

2010-03-22T14:31:00.021-04:00

A friend/blogger Tim Rucci and I had originally planned to photograph the shuttle launch. Unfortunately the month's cold weather postponed the launch until April. So, since we already had the time set aside, we decided to photograph birds instead. One of our first stops was Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge near Titusville, FL. We met another blogger Klaus the first day and photographed with him and his friend Donnie. The shot above and below were captured within the refuge. For years I have always wanted a good Roseate Spoonbill flier and Black Skimmer doing his lower bill thing. Good times on this trip because both circumstances happened and we were able to photograph the birds in good light.

Another cool image captured in Merritt Island was the below White Ibis flier.

At Viera Wetlands near Melborne we also scored a bird I have not had an opportunity to photograph until this trip. The below immature Cara Cara below was very cooperative, remaining on the wetlands entrance fencepost for several minutes. Small world thing happened while photographing this bird. Someone stood behind me and said, "A little different than deer in Shenandoah". Lo and behold, it was another blogger friend, Brad Myers who I had not had the pleasure to meet until that day.

We also headed south to the Everglades National Park. Plenty of birds and gators in the Glades. The above Anhinga and below Alligator were photographed in the Shark Valley area. We watched the Anhinga for hours hoping to catch him with a fish. The sky blue reflection made the gator shot below more visually dynamic in the green water.

Blue Skies.

Hawaii

2010-03-03T10:57:00.025-05:00

I wanted to take the Camera Gear Lackey on a trip, just for us, prior to leaving again for Alaska. We found a decent priced package to the Big Island. After traveling there twice before, we knew exactly where to stay and go. We stayed in Kona. Since this was not a photo trip, I did not concentrate on photography. The green sea turtles images above and below were taken in the waters adjacent to our hotel.

Since I knew we were planning on snorkeling most days, I purchased an underwater housing for my point and shoot Canon S90 camera before leaving.

Taking the turtle images above and the below fish photos underwater was a new photography challenge. After 2 underwater trips, I figured out the best settings (TV; ISO 400; 1/1000; underwater white balance). Having a real flash sure would have helped. Seeing these fish was awesome, let alone photographing them.
Yellow Tang

Wedgetail Triggerfish

Moorish Idol (yellow & black) and a Threadfin Butterfly Fish

Orangeband Surgeonfish

The below birds would visit the feeders put out by our hotel.
Java Finch

Saffron Finch

Zebra Dove

Mongoose are found all over the island. Found these guys in a garden area adjacent to the hotel.

Gold Dust Day Geckos could also be found in the hotel garden area.

Also was able to get my park fix in. We took a day trip to Hawaii Volcano National Park. The lava was not flowing like we had seen in the past. A smoking volcano can be seen in background of the below image.

On one of our trips we had to stop and capture some shots of the surfers. The waves were good size and the water color was amazing.

Swear I am the luckiest guy in the world to be able to travel and see so much. Blue Skies.

Arizona

2010-03-03T09:43:00.017-05:00

Decided to take a blog hiatus due to having an aggressive road schedule doing art festivals and in Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina as well as programs in January and February. So catching up on things today. In January took a 5 day photo trip to Arizona. Waterfowl were the primary target species.We had good weather for most of the trip. Wood ducks are my favorite ducks to photograph. Finding the above and below birds in the Lake Powell area was great.

We also found some mallards and pintails at Papago Lake.

The below Anna's Hummingbirds and Say's Phoebe were located in a super location, the Riparian Institute, right within the suburbs of Phoenix. If you look closely at the second image below you can see the female's tongue sticking out.

Broke out of my critter mode and took a few landscape shots. The below shot is at an awesome place called Horseshoe Bend during sunrise.

This shot is on Navajo land and named Antelope Slots.

There was so much snow in Grand Canyon National Park in some locations you had to trudge through knee deep snow to get to the overlooks. The Grand Canyon is always special and the views were worth the walk.

I had seen photos of Monument Valley and happy we were able to work it in during our road trip.

We were fortunate to see as much as we did in the short trip. This country is so special with it's diverse opportunities. Blue Skies.

2009-12-23T09:54:00.001-05:00

Wanted to wish all a Merry Christmas! This photo was taken on one of Carole's visits to Alaska when I was there @ Denali this summer. We traveled down to Kenai Fjords. We took a wildlife tour boat. The Capt. provided the sign for those that wanted their pics taken with the ice bergs.

New Mexico - Waterfowl

2009-12-09T11:05:00.006-05:00

In addition to visiting Bosque, we also spent a day in Albuquerque photographing ducks.

Male Hooded Merganser

Wood Duck pair

Male Wood Duck

New Mexico -Sandhill Cranes & Snow Geese

2009-12-02T09:38:00.015-05:00

The week before Thanksgiving I could not have had a better time photographing in New Mexico while traveling with 4 other wildlife photographers. Our first stop was Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, 8 miles south of San Antonio, New Mexico. We had tremendous weather the entire trip. Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese are typically the main attractions at Bosque. The images above and below were taken at the crane pools on the main road as the sun rose. The temperature was below freezing, so in the morning it was interesting watching the birds navigate on and around the ice on the pools.

Bird numbers during our visit were approximately 6,000 canes and 22,000 geese. The geese shots below were captured in the agricultural fields managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service for the birds.

In the evening, we photographed the cranes utilizing the sunset sky to work on silhouette images.

I trust everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Blue Skies.

Bucks of Shenandoah

2009-11-05T08:49:00.009-05:00

Nice to be home. But after being home for just a couple weeks, I still needed a national park and photography fix. So, headed out to meet some photography friends at Shenandoah this past weekend. Whitetail Deer bucks were the target species. We had decent light/weather Saturday morning and most of Sunday afternoon.

During the 2 days we were able to locate at least a half dozen decent bucks to photograph.

National park wildlife are not hunted, thus have no reason to fear humans, so are habituated our presence and conducive for photography without changing their behaviour.

Blue Skies.

Polar Bears - Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

2009-10-23T09:51:00.038-04:00

Sorry again for another belated post. Been busy since arriving back home in Virginia. As promised, this post contains images from a trip to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The goal was to see polar bears in the wild. Things could not have gone better with my day and a half there. After leaving Denali, drove north and flew from Fairbanks to Barter Island (on the north end of the ANWR and 120 miles from the North Pole) and met with a local Inupiat Guide Robert Thompson. Robert came recommended and his Arctic knowledge and philosophy on life were profound.

The flight over the Brooks Range was amazing. I was thankful for good weather. I was the only passenger on the prop plane and was surrounded by supplies for the community.

Kaktovik was the name of the Inupiat town that I flew into. The town population is close to 300 folks. The town is one of the most remote communities in Alaska, with the closest road being 170 miles away. If you enlarge the Google Earth image below, to the left of the push pin is the location of the town site and ice landing strip.

The push pin is the location of where a bone yard was located. A photo of the bone yard is below. If all goes well, the community is able to harvest two subsistence Bowhead whales a year. After harvesting the whale, the remains are transported to this bone yard location. The longer hooked shaped items are whale skulls of prior harvested whales.

After arrival, in a few hours, the polar bears began to arrive to the bone yard site. The bears are attracted to the remaining meat/blubber as you can see from the images below.

The bears came relatively close to our viewing location. Robert was armed in the event we had any problems. I was amazed at how much larger these bears are than Grizzlies/Brown bears. An adult male averages between 700-1,500 lbs.

On the second day, we went out in a jon boat and cruised the island spit shore across from the push pin in the map above. We saw a number of bears. In the two days I counted 20. Some of the bears were curious and approached the shore as we went by.

The bears were quite playful and entertaining to watch.

While we were out in the boat, Robert commented that due to the calm winds that it might be a good day for the community to harvest a subsistence whale. Lo and behold, shore activity indicated that something may be coming in. We left the water and went to the traditional whale processing site. When the whale arrived the entire community came out to view and help. The whale is brought into the beach with a dozer. The young man in the first photo wasn't going to wait for the equipment to do the job.

A tradition is to allow all the young folks of the community to mount the whale and have their picture taken.

Cutting up the whale is a lengthy process. The whale is divided amongst the community according to traditional rules.

Needless to say this portion of my Alaska season was special. Swear I am the luckiest guy in the world to have been able to experience what I did this summer.

Blue Skies.

Denali - Moose

2009-09-24T00:31:00.024-04:00

Sorry for the belated post. My last two weeks in Denali were especially busy. As promised, this post's theme will be fall Moose. I observed Moose behavior for my last few weeks concentrating in the traditional Moose rutting area, in Denali National Park, whenever I was not working.

Just prior to the bull Moose loosing their velvet, I was fortunate to find some accessible guys on some hikes. Both of these majestic animals were very close to loosing their velvet.

The Moose begin to loose the velvet around the last week of August. As you can see from the above images, when the velvet begins to fall off the antlers there is some visible blood remaining on them.

During this same time period, I also located this cow and calf during an intimate moment.

When the fall colors arrived in the tundra, during the first week of September, I went out every chance hoping to capture some Moose with colorful backgrounds like second image above.

After the colors were gone and the rut started, I was hoping to locate some battling bulls. I never did find some of the more dominant bulls, but did find these younger guys sparing.

I did find several bulls close to the park road on my photo trips.

During my last week of work, the snow arrived and I was able to photograph the above bull and calf with a snowy backgrounds.

Yep, sorry again for more Mt. McKinley photos. The above images were taken on my very last morning prior to leaving for the season. It was an emotional moment when I came around the park road bend and observed the mountain with it's isolated color. The alpenglow color was just on Denali due to it's height in comparison to the surrounding mountain range. I have never seen the mountain this magenta/pink hue. It was almost like it was saying goodbye.

After leaving the park for the season, I did a two day trip to Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. My goal was to photograph Polar Bears in the wild. Things went incredibly well. So, my next post will be Polar Bears images. I am currently on the road with the Camera Gear Lackey who joined me for travels from Alaska to the Canadian Rockies. We are currently in Jasper/Banff National Park. It has been snowing for the last two days. Blue Skies.

Denali - Caribou & Dall Sheep

2009-09-09T19:14:00.017-04:00

Have been busy since my last post using all free time taking photography trips (backpacking and vehicle) into the park. The fall colors in the tundra have been amazing. The two species featured in this post are Caribou and Dall Sheep.

The Caribou in the top image and above is one of the largest males in the park. He is regularly seen in Wonder Lake (far west) area of the park.

This young male was seen on my way out to Wonder Lake. The afternoon sun in the fall tundra made for a nice background.

Sorry, but I had to include the above two images. Know I have inundated you with Mt. McKinley/Denali shots, but every time I see the mountain I am awed. These shots were taken just as the sun began to show some alpenglow on the mountain. The photos were taken at Reflection Pond, which is also in the Wonder Lake area. From this distance the mountain is a tad less than 30 miles away.

After taking a rather strenuous hike to the top of Mount Margaret (4,992 feet) with 35 pounds of photo gear, I was rewarded with a bachelor herd of 5 Dall Sheep rams. I have seen these sheep with binoculars near the summit (they stay in the higher elevations to stay safe from the wolves) from the park road on a number of occasions and really wanted to photograph them.

After photographing the group from a distance I sat down in hopes that the direction they were browsing would allow some closer shots. Lo and behold, they came closer and then actually laid down right adjacent to my location! Needless to say I was thrilled. The last thing I want to do is disturb them.

The moose rut is in full swing. I have been out in the traditional rutting area every chance I get. Next post will be some dynamic bull shots.

Blue Skies.

Mount McKinley or Denali

2009-08-24T13:22:00.016-04:00

The native Athabascan's referred to Mount McKinley or Denali as "The Great One". Recently with good weather, I was very fortunate to fly the mountain as well view it from one of the park's shuttle buses. Above you can see the mountain from the Denali National Park road, at the Stony area. The sky was as clear as I have seen it since April, with not a cloud in the sky.

After arriving at the Eielson Visitor Center, this was my meager attempt to try to line the NPS US flag up with the ridge line of the lower mountain range. Waiting for the flag to be in the right position, with the wind, took 20 or so images to get the one pictured above.

Flying to Denali aboard a plane with K2 Aviation we were able to get quite close to the mountain. After rising above the clouds, Mt. McKinley was certainly visible and you knew it was the "great one". We were about 7 miles from the mountain when this image was captured.

As we got closer (5 miles away), you could plainly see the difference in elevation of the two peaks. The southern peak, the larger rounded one in the center, is 20,320 feet tall, the highest mountain in North America. The smaller peak to the right, which is the northern peak, is 19,470 feet tall. At this distance, the mountain did not seem to be as overwhelming as it does from the park road at 30 miles away.

Although the sun was adding allot of contrast with the snow covered mountains and shooting through a plane window was a challenge, the mountain range and glacier views were still amazing and fun to photograph. The steadfast curmudgeon "Critter Guy" has certainly broke down during this trip.

Blue Skies.

Gates of the Arctic National Park

2009-08-15T00:04:00.029-04:00

Visiting Gates of the Arctic National Park was on the list of places to try see, during my off time while working at Denali. So, with an afternoon and 3 rest days, headed north to the park. For those that read this blog on a regular basis, you know I am primarily a wildlife photographer. The scenes at Gates were so inspiring and wildlife so scarce, that I primarily concentrated on landscape images on this trip.
Never being above the arctic circle before, I had no idea what to expect, other than knowing that there would be different looking tundra there and a mountain range.

My concern before leaving was that there would be smoke from forest fires potentially blocking the Dalton Highway/Haul road to Gates. Fires are a regular occurrence in a boreal forest. Fires are actually a good thing because it helps to rejuvenate the forest. Fortunate for me, the fires were just about out. The one fire scene pictured above was one of the few that I incurred along the road.

Traveling on the first part of the road north of Fairbanks, you see a mix of taiga and arctic tundra. Much to my surprise, the landscape was spectacular and much different than what is seen in Denali. During the first section of the road, you see rolling country like what is pictured above. The fireweed was just finishing up for the season, but viable enough to provide some dynamic color to the land.

The oil pipeline also follows the Dalton Highway/Haul road. This pipeline runs 800 miles from Valdez at Prince William Sound to Prudoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean. After seeing the pipeline cross this vast land, I am amazed at what a feat this was to accomplish considering the harsh Alaska landscape and environment.

The tractor trailer trucks have the right of way on the road. After meeting some on the road you know who rules. I was lucky after having two rocks hit my windshield from passing trucks and not have a running windshield crack. The road does have some paved areas, but is mostly packed hard earth.

Continuing north you begin to enter an ecotone, leaving the taiga or boreal forest into rolling arctic tundra. Some of the rock formations sticking out of the tundra provided some interesting looking landscape photos.

Further north the Brooks Range started to appear. These were jagged odd shaped mountains, different than those I was used to seeing growing up in the east.

After crossing the Arctic Circle, the Brooks Range had plenty of snow. There was a nice campground/visitor location when you officially crossed the Arctic Circle. A BLM (Bureau of Land Management) volunteer was on hand to provide you with a certificate. He also took my picture.

My plans were to have a plane drop me off into the Gates of the Arctic bush for a two night stay. After checking with a fellow park ranger at the park visitor center, I realized that a flight would be cost prohibitive. We discussed potential hikes into the park. This is a truly wild park, with no roads or maintained trails. To backpack in, you just pick a spot and start hiking. I chose the foothills of one of the mountains on the north side of the range. To get there, I had to drive over Antigun pass, which had plenty of snow and ice. The roads were hazardous and I was glad to make it to the north side of the range. After arriving and backpacking in for about 4.5 miles, I found a decent campsite. The scene you see is what I witnessed late that evening after it stopped snowing.

It was allot colder than I expected. Snow and ice were on the tent in the morning. On the second morning it was so cold when getting ready to leave, I had to put my boots into my sleeping bag to thaw them out so I could put them on. When I arrived at the truck and checked the temperature it was 16 degrees! I learned later that the temps hit 12 degrees that night. Man, was I glad to get back to the truck and turn on the heater.

I only discovered a limited number of species during my two day hike and trip. The Arctic Ground Squirrel and the Rock Ptarmigan are pictured above.

I left early in the morning (3:30 AM) so I could see the sunrise and also have time to supply up in Fairbanks before headed back into Denali. I was fortunate to see the sun touch the top of the mountains like the very top image and what is directly above. These images do not truly capture the beauty of seeing the unique blues in the sky and the vibrant color as the first sun light basked the mountains.

Back on the south side of the range on the way back, the mist in the mountains looked nice.

Also on the way back I photographed a Spruce Grouse and a cow Moose crossing the tundra. The tundra almost had a Monet type look with the fireweed and plants.

The park exceeded my expectations, even with the weather conditions. I was certainly glad to experience another unique part of the world and realize how lucky I am to be able to see and do these things.

Blue Skies.

Denali - Photographing on the Park Road

2009-08-07T02:30:00.014-04:00

Been dynamic here in Denali lately. I have been out just about every evening since my last post, doing either wildlife photography or social things. I had an opportunity to photograph on the Denali park road with two awesome photographers. One, a Kent Miller, who is a photo-journalism professor from Central Michigan University, The other, Neil Blake, his student intern doing photojournalism studies here in Denali. We photographed the road for two solid days and had good times. The above images were some of my favorites.

Although the wildlife activity was generally slow, we had two exceptional opportunities with a sow and her two cubs close to the road and a rainbow that appeared in the Polychrome area of the park.

Fortunate for us, the mountain (Mt. McKinley) was out as well. The hiker pictured above was from Switzerland. He was passing through when we stopped to photograph Denali. He was the real deal. When I talked to him, he told me he had already spent 10 days in the park back country. If you look closely you can see his beat up water bottle and natural wood hiking stick, no commercial trekking poles for this fellow. I asked if he wouldn't mind posing just to the right of the mountain.

We also had a great opportunity to photograph some Arctic Terns. These amazing birds are always a blast to photograph. After patterning their flight over a portion of a small lake, we could predict where they would return to hover prior to diving in for a minnow. The above are just a few of a series of fun images.

Blue Skies.

.

Valdez- Moose Calf Drama

2009-07-26T18:45:00.019-04:00

The scenario started when the Camera Gear Lackey and I first observed a cow and her calf on two different sides of a small island that was located in the middle of a raging river, on our way into Valdez, AK. It was late in the evening and not much light for photography.The day was unusually warm and causing the river water to be high and run fast due to glacier melt.

The pair were separated because the cow was checking for the best place to cross the river. When she located the best spot, she came back and beckoned the calf to cross with her.

Off they went together for the adventurous crossing.

As they started across, there was plenty of sturdy river bottom beneath them.

But, as they started to cross the main stem of the river, both lost their footing and the current took them quickly down stream.

The cow, due to hear long legs, was able to find a footing and get to the shallow water. The calf, on the other hand, was really struggling. We didn't think the little fellow was going to make it. The cow stayed with the little guy, following along, as the current took him down stream.

To our relief, the little calf eventually found some solid footing and it appeared that he was going to be able to make it. Mom was anxiously awaiting.

The reunion was a great one, with mom rewarding the calf with a kiss on his joyous arrival on solid river bottom. The calf was a tad unsteady on his feet after the ordeal. Then they both causally sauntered off into the woods.

Blue Skies.

Denali - Rainbows

2009-07-23T02:08:00.005-04:00

When I was out walking Muddy (May 30th post) about an hour ago, I watched a rainbow form in the east sky. Quickly ran back to the cabin, grabbed my camera gear and was able to capture the three images above while traveling west on the park road before it disappeared. Blue Skies.

Valdez - Grizzly Bear

2009-07-22T11:37:00.016-04:00

As promised this blog post will include images captured in Valdez, AK of Grizzly Bears.

As mentioned in the previous post, the Camera Gear Lackey and I were fortunate to see so many critters, in good light and tidal circumstances during the salmon run. As you can see in the above images, the bear is enjoying a freshly caught salmon.

I included the above image because it captures both a fishing bear and an eagle in the background of the same shot.

On this foggy morning this guy had just left the beach and was cruising the rocks looking for something to munch on.

This bear had gone up into this interesting looking ravine and was fishing in the beautiful green water.

The next post will be of a dramatic situation involving a moose cow and her calf.

Blue Skies

Valdez - Bald Eagles

2009-07-18T21:45:00.015-04:00

Been busy with friends lately, thus the belated post. The Camera Gear Lackey also visited for 9 days and we had some special experiences in the outdoors. One trip with Carole, similar to the one I took with Tim, was to Valdez where the salmon were running. We were able to view Bald Eagles, like those above, frequenting the Prince William Sound area for the fish. The eagle viewing was special, similar to what I have seen in Homer, AK. We were fortunate in that the the tide was low and the sun was out, so conditions were perfect for photography.

Even the immature eagles were in on the action.

After a slow approach, this eagle allowed a close photographic range. He was enjoying a freshly caught salmon on the Prince William Sound tidal bar. The reflection of this and the image above in great evening light were just special circumstances.

I had focused in on an flying in eagle, hoping to capture him catching a fish and only caught the lower portion of him snatching a spawning salmon close to shore. Made for an interesting image.

The next post will be of Grizzly Bears that came out of the bush to catch some of the salmon at the same location.

Blue Skies.

Valdez - Sea Otter

2009-07-06T01:49:00.011-04:00

My photo/blogger buddy Tim visited here in Denali last week. We decided to take a photo trip outside the park for a couple of days. We traveled the Denali Highway east and then south to the town of Valdez. There we took a wildlife/glacier viewing cruise out into the Prince William Sound. In the marina we happened upon a cooperative sea otter seen above.

We watched the otter for over an hour, thrilled to watch as he dove repeatedly for mussels and clams on the bottom and return to crack open the shells right in front of us. If you look closely in the above image, you can see him use his teeth to break open the mussel.

He was so cool as he laid back, floating like a cork and feasted on his efforts.

The glacier scenics as seen in the above and second from the top image were also spectacular in the evening as the sun would poke through and light up the mountains behind the teal colored ice bergs from the Columbia Glacier. Good times.

Blue Skies.

Denali - Lynx

2009-06-23T00:06:00.018-04:00

If you are outdoors enough and in the right location, sometimes you get to see some awesome wildlife occurrences. I was fortunate to witness one today. This Lynx photograph was capured near the Savage River area of Denali National Park. After luckily spotting a Lynx cross the road, shortly thereafter, a second one joined him for a Snowshoe Hare hunt adjacent to the river bottom. We couldn't believe our good fortune as we watched the two work in unison in a fairly open area that was conducive for photography. In the above image this Lynx approached fairly close to our location eying the willow bottom in search of a hare.

Here is a photo of the pair as the joined briefly prior to hunting in another section of willows.

This image was captured just after one of the Lynx exited a thick area and looked over in my direction.

Above you see a Lynx in some of their stalking positions.

Above are a series of static shots after a hunting session and the Lynx taking a rest and looking around. When he made eye contact I hit the shutter button.

After the hunt this Lynx decided to go over to the river and have a drink. He laid down for a minute when I captured this image.

This was certainly one of the most exciting series of photos to capture since my arrival in Denali. Seeing a Lynx is special, let alone seeing two in one place and then having the ability to watch them hunt. Man, I am fortunate to be here.

Blue Skies.

Denali - Red Squirrels

2009-06-18T14:43:00.004-04:00

This spruce dwelling Red Squirrel is quite common in Denali.
When hiking in the woods they are real chatter guys. When I was searching for the beavers in the previous post, in fact, located the above fellow by his sound. After watching him for awhile, he would go to the exact branch location to chew on a spruce cone. As you can see I was able to get quite close. If you look closely you can see pieces of the cone in the air flying as he devours the seeds.

During this time of year the Red Squirrels are cutting and storing green spruce cones. They also create "middens", which are basically the accumulation of the remains of the cone scales and storage area for caching cones. Some of the middens are right good size.

Blue Skies.

Denali - Beaver

2009-06-12T13:26:00.009-04:00

Beaver can be found in a number of the lower elevation pond areas in Denali National Park. The fellow above was seen nibbling away on a spruce limb on the ice. They are nocturnal critters, so capturing a photo in the lower 48 usually has to be done at night. Here, since the available light is close to 20 hours or more this time of year, you can capture some photos of them in action with decent light.

An example is the image above, here you see a beaver swimming across the water with plenty of light and tree reflection in the water. This shot was taken around 10:00 PM.

Beaver eat water vegetation and the cambium layer (tissue layer below bark) of trees. They prefer Willow of which there is plenty in the park. In the head shot above you see this guy chewing away. They have poor eyesight, so if you hold still you can get fairly close without disturbing them.

You see see why they float incredibly well with the photo above. I watched this guy groom himself on shore for about 20 minutes.

Blue Skies.

Denali - Waterfowl

2009-06-09T13:19:00.010-04:00

During the shoulder season here in Denali, a number of waterfowl species can be found in the small ponds just off the park road. For weeks I did not see a single duck and then, one day, almost every pond had some type of waterfowl in them. The Horned Grebe in the top photo is one of my favorite waterfowl captures thus far, due to the nice evening lighting on the water.

The upper image is of a pair of Barrow's Goldeneyes. The moon shape white patch in front of the eye on the male identifies the Barrow's from the Common Goldeneye. In the second image the male was snapping his head back and forth to eat some pond vegetation more efficiently. The water droplets made an interesting reflection on the water around him.

This photo is of a male Pintail. Very stoic looking duck. Fortunate that the wind had laid down enough to capture his reflection in the water.

Things are starting to look more spring like in Denali. Most of the park below 4,000 feet has greened up. Allot of wildflowers are out. Little snow remains except in the higher elevations. Amazing how quickly things change here.

Blue Skies,
Ken

Denali-Merlins

2009-06-05T22:33:00.006-04:00

Both of these Merlin images were captured on conifers adjacent to the Denali Park road. The top image is a male and the bottom is a female. Blue Skies.

Denali - Sled Dogs

2009-05-30T11:56:00.006-04:00

Thought I'd provide a slight change from the wildlife images. Some folks have requested photos of Muddy, so they are included later in the post. First, I wanted to provide some pertinent sled dog history. The Denali National Park huskies have a long history in the park (NPS Photo above).They are the only sled dog teams that conduct patrols in any national park.
When Denali received its first park ranger in 1921, Harry Karstens, pictured above (NPS Photo), he used sled dogs to patrol and address the rampant poaching within the park boundaries.
By the late 1920s, the kennels had expanded. The current building you see pictured above and to the left was constructed in 1928. You can really feel the history when you walk into the building.
Within the building and pictured above are some examples of the antique and current sleds used on sled dog patrol. The same tradition of sled dog patrol continues today. The sled dogs provide transportation for the park rangers in the winter to patrol the back country, resupply park cabins and assist researchers. The dogs' winter patrol is on average about 3,000 miles. One interesting fact is that this breed of dog is most comfortable at approximately -10 degrees. They are so well insulated that when they lay in the snow it doesn't melt. A short, interesting, video produced by the Discovery Channel about the sled dogs can be viewed on this link: Denali Sled Dogs

During the summer season, one of the most popular interpretive programs in Denali is the sled dog demonstration. An average of 50,000 visitors view the show.

At the end of the program a ranger takes the dogs on a short run through the woods for the visitors to see the dogs in action, as seen above.

Also, since the dogs don't get any sled time during the summer season, they ask the ranger staff for volunteers to adopt a sled dog for the summer. Since the camera gear lackey was not able to join me in Denali, I have a summer bride and adopted a female dog named Muddy, pictured in her pen above.

Your responsibility after adoption is to walk your dog as many times as possible during the week. Muddy and I have become good friends. She usually spots me when I walk into the kennel area and starts barking like above, just raring to go for our walk.

Before I put her leash on, she jumps up on top of her house on command.

She is quite a handful. When we take our 4 mile walk most nights, she pulls me the entire time. As you can see she is a rusty brown and a unique color from all her other team members.

Blue Skies,
Ken

Denali - Dall Sheep

2009-05-26T02:43:00.003-04:00

A few days ago Dall Sheep came down low. The sheep generally stay up in the higher elevations to have a safe haven from predators. These sheep shots were captured right behind the box mid-day.

Someone saw the first lamb of the season yesterday. Next week when I am off I plan on climbing to one of the prime sheep areas to see if I can photograph some of them.

Blue Skies.

Denali - Grizzly Bear

2009-05-23T11:11:00.008-04:00

I have seen grizzly bears off and on since late April. Never have I seen a bear this close and right on top of the road.

He was digging and eating roots when I first saw him on the road right of way, like above.

Next, he decided a take a walk.

After a short stroll down the road he decided he needed to rub his back and you see him in the top image rolling on his back with his feet in the air.

Obviouly he was quite comfortable with the close proximity of humans which is a true testament to how well the road system works here in Denali.

I rode a bus on my off day to Toklat (mp 53) yesterday and saw 7 bears on the trip.

Blue Skies.

Denali - Wolf & Denali Update

2009-05-21T13:42:00.011-04:00

When I have been seeing wolves, they are often at a distance. When first observing the pictured wolf above, he was down in the river valley and appeared to be leisurely hunting.

Although the light was not that great, it was a stoic scene with the lone wolf on the snow and then crossing the river.

To our surprise he came out out of the valley and onto the road.

He looked right over at us and then went into some willow to hunt for hares. This wolf was then joined by another and we watched them hunt as a pair for hares. Awesome.

Most of the snow is now gone. There are still scattered patches throughout the park and on the mountains. It still gets down to freezing most nights. The amount of snow that has left the park is amazing. The visitor center is now open, our small ranger checkpoint cabin opened yesterday at milepost 15. The buses are running tourists all day now. One of my responsibilities is to provide a brief talk, on the buses, to the tourist when they stop at the checkpoint. The road to milepost 80 is cleared, they are letting it dry out some, so the buses are only going out to milepost 53 (Toklat) currently. I can no longer drive the road in the evenings to milepost 30 during my off time for photography. Unfortunately my photo trips will be limited to the front country now (milepost 15), except on my days off when I will be taking backpacking and photo trips to the back county. From our ranger checkpoint cabin I see Dall sheep and Harlequin ducks in the river below every day. Had two rams down low on the path behind the checkpoint cabin and a cow moose with two new born calves pass to the side yesterday. On a sad note, the snowshoe hare that was greeting me in the morning outside my cabin was taken by a lynx. His remains were scattered in the parking area. I also had a bull moose in velvet and a yearling blocking the entrance to the shower house last week.

Next post, grizzly in the road.

Blue Skies.

Denali - Lynx

2009-05-14T11:30:00.007-04:00

I have been seeing Lynx occasionally since my arrival at Denali National Park. Most of the time I see a glimpse of them from the road and off they go into the bush. When this shot was captured, this particular animal was laying down in some moss relaxing. As you can see, it is some thick woods. I had to lay down flat in the road so you could get a decent view of his head. In the shot below it is the same guy yawning. There are a large number of snowshoe hare (Lynx's favorite prey) along the road now, so expect there will be other opportunities in the future.

Blue Skies.

Denali - Moose

2009-05-12T01:09:00.009-04:00

I see Moose every evening when I check the Denali road for critters. As in the above image the bulls are in velvet and just sprouting their antlers. The velvet is loaded with blood vessels which nourish the antlers until they stop growing and the bull scrapes the velvet off in August. Can't wait to see these guys when they have their full head gear in the fall. The odd clump of hair that hangs below the lower jaw is called a bell. Researchers think that the males dampen the bell in some urine soaked earth and then mark rear of the cow indicating to others that she has been mated.

In few summer months here in Denali, moose antlers can grow from knobs you see in the photos to huge racks that can weigh as much as 80 pounds. A pound of antler growth can be added a day.

This younger fellow below, with barely new showing knobs, has a few seasons before he will be battling the big guys.

Below is a typical scene in the evening on the way back to my cabin.

Next post will be the Lynx.

Blue Skies.

Denali - Caribou

2009-05-09T18:03:00.008-04:00

Currently the Caribou are scattered throughout Denali.I have seen them as close as milepost 9, with more herds congregated down towards milepost 30. The above pictured bull with his beginning velvet spread was standing fairly close to the road, which has been rare occurrence.

Mostly what I see are groups of 4 to 18, moving and feeding in the river bottoms or valleys, like in the above images.

For those of you who do not know, Caribou are the only member of the deer family where both male and females grow antlers. Bulls have large and tall extending antlers and the cows have short skinny ones. The adult bulls shed their antlers in late October. Young bulls and non-pregnant cows do not shed their antlers until April. Pregnant females keep their antlers until the calves are born in late May or early June. To date, I have not seen any moose or caribou calves. The below image is of a bull with a radio telemetry collar.

Next post will be of some moose in velvet. I have some lynx and merlin photos ready to post as well.

Blue Skies.

Denali - Snowshoe hare

2009-05-07T11:22:00.005-04:00

Today's featured Denali National Park species is the Snowshoe hare. These guys, like the Ptarmigan in the previous post, are all along the road mostly in the late evening and early morning.

As you can see they are in a changing color phase from all winter white into a gray rusty brown for the summer. Snowshoes get their name due to their large hind feet and the track they leave in the snow. I have a hare that meets me just about every morning outside my cabin.

The next featured species will be the caribou.

Blue Skies.

Denali - Willow Ptarmigan

2009-05-04T21:14:00.012-04:00

Today's featured species from Denali is the Willow Ptarmigan. These guys are all along the park road right now. They are within the grouse family as well as the state bird of Alaska. Their range is only in Alaska and northern Canada.
As you can see from the above image, the male has a distinctive red brown neck.

The female has a more brown mottling neck color. In the second image she is feeding on some willow blooms. In the winter they are completely white.

What I find most interesting about these guys is the red colored Andy Rooney eye brow thing they got going on, fascinating feature that raises up and down depending on how agitated or aggressive he is feeling.

Two interesting facts about the Willow Ptarmigan. One is that the males in comparison to other species of grouse will take responsibility of the young by defending its territory and his young. According to Wikipedia, males have even been documented to have attacked a Grizzly Bear and will attack humans who distract their young.

Next post will contain Snowshoe Hare photographs.

Blue Skies.

Denali-First Report

2009-05-02T19:33:00.012-04:00

Hard to believe that I'm here. The scenery is surreal. The weather has been incredible. The photo ventures have been awesome. In the photo above you can see Denali in the background and a Willow Ptarmigan in the foreground. What are the chances, one the mountain be in view so clear, two that a ptarmigan be there and then then that the ptarmigan be up in a willow in the same frame with Mt. McKinley!

For those of you who don't know anything about park, Denali National Park and Preserve is located 240 miles north of Anchorage within the interior of Alaska and contains Mount McKinley (Denali), the tallest mountain in North America at 20,320 ft. The word "Denali" means "the great one" according to the native Athabaskan language. The mountain was named after president William McKinley of Ohio in 1897. The photo above is of Denali from the road with a telephoto lens.

The park is 6 million acres large and bigger than Massachusetts. The park is only accessible by an 80 mile road which runs east to west, north of and parallel of the Alaska Range. Only a small portion of the road is paved due to permafrost and the freeze-thaw cycle. Only the first 15 miles of the road are available to private vehicles. To see the rest of the park you have to take one of the concessionary buses. To get to Wonder Lake at MP 80, you have to take a six hour bus ride from the Wilderness Access Center. Right now during the spring shoulder season you can drive to Milepost 30. During the few days I have been here it has taken me about 4.5 hours to do a round trip to MP 30.

After park arrival and orientation, I got settled rather quickly because I was so anxious to drive the road. You can see my living quarters above. The little cabin has has a fridge, heater, kitchen and desk area. Will not have running water until sometime in mid-June, after the freeze date. The bonus is that my cabin is close to the rec hall where there is a wifi, so I can use the internet from my room. I will be sharing with someone who has not arrived yet. Everyone starts a two week training period on Monday. The park begins bus tours on May 19th.

I have driven the road to MP 30, 4 times. I have seen lynx, caribou, moose, ptarmigan, snowshoe hares and red & ground squirrels. The weather has been unseasonably mild during the days up to the mid-60s and when I start in the mornings it has been in the mid-20s. Friday morning I woke up before 5:00 AM due to hearing a wolf pack crying out. Snow is still along the road at heights above my truck in the higher elevations. The above photo is a scene in the lower elevations at approximately 2,000 feet.

Well that is a quick update. My next post will feature some images of the Willow Ptarmigan in winter plumage.

Blue Skies.

April on the ALCAN

2009-04-29T20:47:00.015-04:00

I arrived in Fairbanks, AK today. Since arriving early, using it as a down day to shop for supplies before heading into Denali in the morning. Never having traveled on the ALCAN before, I had no idea what weather or road conditions would be encountered. After traveling 7,205 miles from Virginia as of this morning, thought I would provide a trip synopsis for those who may be considering this trip in the future. The ALCAN is actually the portion of road from Dawson Creek, British Columbia to Delta Junction, Alaska, a distance of approximately 1,500 miles (2,449 km long). The historic end of the highway is near milepost 1422, where it meets the Richardson Highway in Delta Junction, Alaska, about 100 miles (160 km) southeast of Fairbanks.

Weather:
I ran into two major snow storms during the trip. One was concentrated to the north and west of Denver, CO and the other was in the southern portion of Montana. Snow was also regular occurrence on the ALCAN portion of the trip and I encountered one smaller storm (4-6 inches) in Alberta and BC. The snow storm in CO was by far the worst one. It was actually measured in feet in the mountains. After checking the weather before that leg of the trip, I knew I would be facing some major snow. The flashing signs on Interstate 70 west of Denver stated that snow chains were required. I did get off and purchased some chains. When I got back on the interstate and went to the "chain on" area, the chains the clerk provided were 1.5" short. Since I had already committed to the interstate, exiting on side roads was not an option due to the snow. Since I had plenty of weight in the rear of the truck with the truck camper I had no problems, only sliding a couple of times. I did see at least 100 other vehicles and jack knifed tractor trailers along the inerstate in the snow.

I also encountered an incredible wind storm in central Montana. Winds gust were in the 60-70 mph. The winds were so strong they impacted a clamp on the truck camper so that the top roof portion was exposed and flapping. I could not get out of the truck cab to attempt to fix it due to wind strength. Luckily, I made it to a rural town. The camper suffered no major damage. I did find a clamp and located a shop and a mechanic and we installed the new clamp with stronger screws.

On the ALCAN I drove on a couple hundred miles of a single path in the snow. Just stayed on the road crest. I only ran into three other folks on that leg and we both slowed down and moved aside so we could pass each other safely. Above photo is typical of the road conditions in BC.

The coldest night was 12 degrees in Banff and the warmest day is today, an very unusual balmy 66 degrees in Fairbanks.

Fuel:
Driving a diesel truck I found stations in the US reasonably priced and accessible. The average price I paid for diesel fuel was $2.19 a gallon. On the ALCAN the pricing was a tad more expensive depending on how remote the station was from a major city. In Alaska, where most of our fuel comes from, I paid the most for diesel at $3.74 a gallon. Only once, did I not locate a needed fuel station (in the Yukon). Since it was still considered their winter season, most fuel stations were closed or closed early. So, in this one incident I had to camp out until the morning when the station opened again. This was the only night I spent in a hostel instead of the truck camper.

I averaged 15.2 mpg on the trip with the truck camper. My average speed was 60 mph. The highest mpg I got was in Wyoming with a tail wind at 18.1 and the lowest I got was 8.7 in the Montana wind storm mentioned above.

Road Conditions
The ALCAN is not what it was in the old days. Roads were paved for all but about 50-75 miles. Roads conditions were analogous to rural county secondary roads with the occasional bumps, pot holes and wash outs. Above is a typical example of the road scene. There were several areas that had fallen rocks in the road. Some of the roads were great. The worst road portion was a couple hundred miles south of Tok where speeds could not exceed 40-50 mph due to the bumps and frost heaves. I felt like a bobble head doll during that stretch.

Wildlife
Looking for wildlife along the way from Yellowstone to Alaska to photograph certainly kept the trip interesting. Unfortunately, seeing critters were far in between, mostly because there was still lots of snow on the ground. When I did see something, it was usually great. I saw more moose (11) than anything.

Saw lots of big horn sheep in Banff (like the above image) and scattered other locations in CA. Saw Dall sheep in the Yukon but high up in the mountains. Saw lots of migrating caribou which was special but they move fast, thus a challenge to photograph. Saw only one grizzly bear in BC which is pictured above. He was really close to the road, grassing. Another highlight was watching a snowy owl last night attempt to catch a ptarmigan. The fox jumping in the prior post was also special.

Landscape
The scenery was incredible. Something everyone should see once in their lives. My personal favorites were the stunning rockies in Banff (photo above) and the road to Skagway and from Haines.

Lodging/Food
There were plenty of private motels/hotels/inns as well as cafes/diners/restaurants along the way in the towns where most folks fueled. Cannot advise of the costs since I stayed in the truck camper for the entire trip except for the one night ($65 CA). I found showers at truck stops, RV parks, and laundry facilities. Prices ranged from $3 to $8.

Recommendations
1) If you plan to make this trip in April, I suggest you do it in a vehicle that has all wheel or 4WD. The chances of running into snow somewhere along the trip is high and you want something capable of handling inclement weather. There were two days when I only saw 6 other vehicles in 10 hours of driving.
2) Strategically plan your fuel stops according to your vehicle's capacity, anticipating that some fuel stations may not be open, except in the major towns.
3) Carry on board food and a fuel can in the event things don't go well. My Sprint cell only worked in Haines and Fairbanks, AK on this trip. I think I could have paid extra and turned it on for international travel in CA. Although I did not do this, would highly suggest it. I would also have a tow strap and some type of mounting plate for your jack to change a tire. Having an extra tire other than a spare and a filled fuel can are not necessary.

My next post will be from Denali. Curious if the park road is open yet.

Blue Skies and great sunsets.