Alaska

To put a twist to this interesting thread...

Is there anyone that has had success while on one of those touristy cruises that are advertised out here? I'd love to find some time to visit Alaska, but I know that the only way I'd get the Mrs to go is if she can retreat to one of the coat closets that they call luxury staterooms on board a floating city...The mere mention of bugs will send her scurrying for cover.

This presents a major challenge for me. How to you find and photograph the uncommon, while on a well trodden route? Yosemite from someplace other that the regular perch overlooking halfdome, etc.????

If anyone has accomplished this in other parts of the world, please share your experience. Where there's a will, there's surley got to be a way...

jandc said:

Sanjay,

A dangerous road to nowhere, sounds great.

I broke down and bought all sorts of books today. but thanks for the offer.

John

Click to expand...

If it's off the beaten path you're looking for, you might try contacting George Provost in Kotzebue, on the Arctic Circle. He's closer to Siberia than he is to Fairbanks. photopsyche@yahoo.com.

http://www.mccarthylodge.com/

Great place to visit as I did a couple of years ago in September. Absolutely true that the bugs disappear around late August or early September. The weather was perfect, the leaves were turning and we experienced the first snow. There's Kenicott about 5 miles away with some of the largest wooden structures (in arrested decay) you're ever likely to see that used to be one of the world's richest copper mines. McCarthy is a friendly if not unique town populated by a stimulating mixture of people from every conceivable background. The fellow tourists you encounter are as likley to be from Germany or Belgium as from the lower 48. I spent more than a few hours shooting pool, drinking beer and eating great food at the Lodge. All of this and you're at the foot of the Root Glacier and the Wrangell-Mt. Saint Elias mountain range. A flight-see arranged through one of the two local charters is alone worth the trip.

Bug off

Yea, the mosquitoes don't quit. The road takes a toll on equipment also. I am now in Inuvik and have had one digital camera die and my rangedfinder is erratic. (( I will be going to Fairbanks if anyone is in the area and wants to show a New Yorker some of the real Alaska )

John,

The bugs hatch in the spring time. Most die off toward the fall when you get the first frost at night. But it gets better in the late summer when it gets drier. If you plan on longer hikes away from your car consider carrying bear spray on you. Apparently up in Alaska, even the black bears can get quite aggressive - unlike the black bear population in Yosemite that is somewhat accustomed to humans. A geologist doing fieldwork in Alaska in the 70ies was nearly eaten alive by a black bear. She survived but lost both arms in the attack. This may be an extreme scenario but be aware that these guys are around.

Best,

Markus

Here's my own trip to Alaska and the far north, riding with a friend on a pair of BMW motorcycles up the Dempster Hwy in the NWT in 1999. It could help with you planning your trip:

http://www.ibmwr.org/pastevnt/grosjeanalaska/alaska.html

We didn't have mosq. problems. No idea why.

Boy were you lucky not to have mosquitoes!