Denali Park Road - Descending down to Toklat - Mile 50


Denali Park Camper Bus approaching beneath Denali

Stunning. Thank you.

Here are a couple more from my "office" in Denali National Park -


Sun and shadows accent the upper Savage River Canyon and Fang mountain on a pretty summer evening in late June


Climbing up Polychrome Mountain

That's one heck of a view from your "office"!

Alright - one last one since the fireweed is just starting to pop up...

Fireweed accents the road up Polychrome Mountain. I'm lucky enough to drive this road every day

Since the title of the thread is "Alaska Photos", I thought I'd include one or two taken from above Alaska...



I took this photo as we were climbing away from Juneau through light turbulence, bound for Petersburg. The mountain is called the Devil's Thumb or Taalkhunaxhkʼu Shaa in the local Tlinkit language (Meaning the mountain that never flooded). According to Wikipedia, the most famous feature on the Devils Thumb among climbers is its Northwest Face, rising 6,700 ft (2,042 m) from the Witches Cauldron at its base to the summit, at an average angle of 67 degrees. This is the biggest rock face in North America. The conditions prevalent also make it perhaps the most dangerous climbing proposition on the continent.

I can't believe this picture came out so well - with my lens on zoom through an airplane window no less. The mountain, the lighting, the shadowing - all spectacular...

Here's a pretty shot of the Malaspina Glacier - the largest piedmont glacier in North America and one of the largest outside the ice cap regions of the world. It is located in Wrangell St. Elias National Park and this photo was taken while flying AS 66 - the afternoon milkrun operating ANC-YAK-CDV-JNU and beyond to SEA

Early evening shadows accent the Cafe Car on Alaska Railroad's Coastal Classic while rolling along Turnagain Arm between Whittier and Anchorage

A few years ago I posted a (now broken) link to a collection of old photos of the Aleutian village of Akutan that I found in an old box in my possession. I had come across these years ago in the village, and after scanning them I sent digital copies to various people and organizations in Alaska that might add them to their archives.

They document some aspects of village life and also the building and operations of a whaling station that was in operation on the island between around 1915 and 1940. The earliest pictures, which show something of the building of the station, date from 1912. I still find them fascinating and quite remarkable (and in some cases quite beautiful) given the island's remoteness and the difficulties that must have confronted the photographer.

Building the whaling station, 1912. (The captions are from notes on the backs of the prints that I scanned.)





Unloading a boiler



A busy day at the station



A blue whale



Atop a finback whale



General view of the station



Local men working at the station. The man in the middle is wearing a traditional seal gut parka.



Future village chief in the middle. I worked with his great grandson.



Baidarka and drying salmon



Skin covered baidarka with village elder



Villagers and livestock



Hiding in the shrubbery



Old Orthodox church with village in the distance.



Inside the church (wedding?)



The master of the ship.



The lookout.

Finally headed to Denali next month. Hope you are our shuttle driver on 8/21 9am

Thanks, pjs! We have a new bid coming up affecting schedules from August 18th onward. I don't know what I'll get yet (bidding is based upon seniority) but I generally try to book late morning runs - as in 9:30am - 1130am departures. I just had a PhD professor with a group of 16 who rode my bus today ask if there's any way she can get on my bus next year. Quite the compliment but, alas, I have no idea what I'll be able to bid next year or what my days off will be. In the meantime - most FTers who've visited here could care less. As long as they can get a seat, that's the main thing. Whether I'm their driver or not has no more relevance a jar of two month old expired date mayonnaise. As a 27 year veteran of the park road I beg to differ but be that as it may, the park generally speaks pretty well on its own behalf and I think that for most the most important thing is getting a seat that suits their time requirements. As to the driver - well, one hopes for the best.

Good to know; my family will be visiting the second week of June next year (hopefully, since it's been postponed twice already). I recall we were discussing the road closure a while back... I haven't been keeping up to see if that's resolved yet, but I'm hoping by next year it would be.

Below is a link to more information:

https://www.nps.gov/dena/learn/natur...htm#comparison