Faulkner
Member
My wife and I have recently returned from a two week trip to Alaska that included a cruise down the Inside Passage. This was our fifth Alaskan cruise but this time we spent an extra week land touring by way of Alaska Railroad from Fairbanks to Denali through Anchorage and then boarded the ship in Whittier, Alaska.
We thoroughly enjoyed the trip and we both took a lot of pictures, after I culled through mine I still had several hundred photos (ain't digital technology great!). No way I can post them all, nor would you want me to, but I'm thinking as I sort through the pictures I'll post some samples . . . here are some of the wildlife we saw.
This is a moose with twin calves in Denali National Park. I spotted them up a dry creek bed and it was starting to snow. I stopped behind some brush and stood still as they continued in my direction until, no doubt, the moose saw or caught my scent. She made a 90 degree turn, climbed up the creek bank and paused a moment before slipping into the brush out of sight.
I don't know that I could ever get tired of photographing bald eagles. When we docked in Skagway we caught the ferry and made the 45 minute ride to Haines, Alaska. From there we had scheduled to meet a guide to take us up the Chilkat River for some eagle watching. Reportedly there are dozens of nesting pairs of bald eagles in the Chilkat River valley.
While on a trail along the Chilkat River the small group of us were easing up the bank to get some pictures of an area where some eagles had been fishing. Momentarily, I thought I heard something in the brush and I held up my hand for all to be still. The guide, who was bringing up the rear whispered for us to be quiet, might be a moose or caribou slipping through that we can get a picture of if it breaks out into the open. As we stood there I caught a glimpse of movement through the brush and whispered back to the guide, "I don't think that's a moose."
"Yeah," he replied, "let's all ease back the way we came as quietly as we can."
I stood still and starting started taking a few pictures.
Turns out, this was a grizzly that was probably fresh out of hibernation. He was heading to a nearby avalanche slide to dig around for food buried under the loose dirt of the slide. He stepped out on the trail about 40 yards from me and I stood still but continued to take pictures. I distinctly remember how loud my camera sounded all of sudden. He (or she, not sure) looked up and down the trail then started in my direction. It was at this point I realized the rest of my hiking party were way down around a bend in the trail and I was pretty much alone. I slowly back away keeping the distance constant, still taking pictures, and the grizzly walked up to a point on the trail and started sniffing the ground and then started digging. At this point I picked up the pace and backed away until the trail made a turn and I then I turned and walked briskly down the trail until I saw my hiking party waiting for me about hundred yards away. I then slowed down, tried to get my breathing back under control, and walked nonchalantly up to the group. Turns out none of them got any grizzly pictures while I had taken a couple of dozen.
We thoroughly enjoyed the trip and we both took a lot of pictures, after I culled through mine I still had several hundred photos (ain't digital technology great!). No way I can post them all, nor would you want me to, but I'm thinking as I sort through the pictures I'll post some samples . . . here are some of the wildlife we saw.
This is a moose with twin calves in Denali National Park. I spotted them up a dry creek bed and it was starting to snow. I stopped behind some brush and stood still as they continued in my direction until, no doubt, the moose saw or caught my scent. She made a 90 degree turn, climbed up the creek bank and paused a moment before slipping into the brush out of sight.
I don't know that I could ever get tired of photographing bald eagles. When we docked in Skagway we caught the ferry and made the 45 minute ride to Haines, Alaska. From there we had scheduled to meet a guide to take us up the Chilkat River for some eagle watching. Reportedly there are dozens of nesting pairs of bald eagles in the Chilkat River valley.
While on a trail along the Chilkat River the small group of us were easing up the bank to get some pictures of an area where some eagles had been fishing. Momentarily, I thought I heard something in the brush and I held up my hand for all to be still. The guide, who was bringing up the rear whispered for us to be quiet, might be a moose or caribou slipping through that we can get a picture of if it breaks out into the open. As we stood there I caught a glimpse of movement through the brush and whispered back to the guide, "I don't think that's a moose."
"Yeah," he replied, "let's all ease back the way we came as quietly as we can."
I stood still and starting started taking a few pictures.
Turns out, this was a grizzly that was probably fresh out of hibernation. He was heading to a nearby avalanche slide to dig around for food buried under the loose dirt of the slide. He stepped out on the trail about 40 yards from me and I stood still but continued to take pictures. I distinctly remember how loud my camera sounded all of sudden. He (or she, not sure) looked up and down the trail then started in my direction. It was at this point I realized the rest of my hiking party were way down around a bend in the trail and I was pretty much alone. I slowly back away keeping the distance constant, still taking pictures, and the grizzly walked up to a point on the trail and started sniffing the ground and then started digging. At this point I picked up the pace and backed away until the trail made a turn and I then I turned and walked briskly down the trail until I saw my hiking party waiting for me about hundred yards away. I then slowed down, tried to get my breathing back under control, and walked nonchalantly up to the group. Turns out none of them got any grizzly pictures while I had taken a couple of dozen.
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This year is crazy for bears, our neighborhoods have been taken over by sows with cubs hunting down the cow moose with newborns.
