Diary
Saturday 27 august 2016.
Landed in
Fairbanks after 24 hours of travel from Virum. The journey went first to
Frankfurt, from there to Anchorage and finally to Fairbanks. We flew up over
northern Greenland and the northernmost Canada. This is the shortest route. I
was picked up at the airport by my Guide: Kurt.
Sunday 28 august 2016.
The tour starts in the evening with a welcome dinner
for all participants. I've been alone here at the beginning of the day. I've
seen two museums. Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center, and later the
Municipal Museum, which deals with the history of the city. They were worth
watching both.
I met last night with the rest of the group. We are
only seven plus the Guide. It is the smallest group I have traveled with.
Up at. 6:30 pm and leave by bus 7:30. First stop at
Nenana, Tanana river home of the Nenana Ice Classic. Each year people are
betting on when the ice will break up in the spring. You place a log structure
in the middle of the ice on the river. When the structure overturns, the ice is
broken. The one who comes closest to the day and time win.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nenana_Ice_Classic.
Next stop was lunch
at a restaurant with a nice view. We could see across to the railway station
and the entrance to Denali National park. Here we had to change to the national
park's own bus. From the entrance, we were driven to the Kantishna Roadhouse a
trip of 90 miles (145 km). Along the road, we saw a rich wildlife. Two moose
four caribou, two bears and a single wolf. It was fantastic.
Mount Denali was formerly called Mount McKinley after
a former American President. The name change came finally in 2015 after many
years of political fight.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denali%E2%80%93Mount_McKinley_naming_dispute
Tuesday 30 august 2016.
Today, we have been in the Park all day. Early rise to
photograph Mt. Denali. We were dropped off at the Reflection Pond where
mountain mirrors very well when the water is completely quiet. Then we went
back to Wonder Lake where we took more pictures. The only animals we saw was a
squirrel. We went back to lunch. In the afternoon, there was a lecture and
demonstration by dog sled ride. Later Kurt taught fundamental photography.
Wednesday d. 31 august 2016
Up at 05 hours to drive the long way back out of the
Park to the railway station. We saw a single moose on the road. There was a
long wait before we went aboard the train. We had the expensive seats on the
second floor with skylights. We ate lunch on the train. The train ride ended in
Talkeetna. Late in the evening we could
see northern lights aurora borealis. I tried to take pictures but the results were
not good.
Thursday 01 September 2016.
We went on a
little walk around in the woods next to the hotel. There were anxious warnings
about a moose was spotted in the area. We saw only traces of it.
We drove
further South in the bus. Around Palmer is the largest agricultural area in
Alaska. We stopped and went on the agricultural fair (with associated Tivoli).
We stayed only an hour or so. We drove
further south through Anchorage and along the coast. At a stop, we could see a
group of Beluga whales.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beluga_whale
They could be seen in binoculars but they were too far
away to photograph. Our Hotel is located half way up on a hillside. In winter time,
it is a ski resort.
Friday 02 September 2016.
We had free
time in the morning. I took the opportunity to get Up to date with photos and correspondence.
In the afternoon, there was a tour to Spencer glacier. We drove by bus from the
hotel to the train station. The only way to get to the glacier is by train. We
had another bus drive to get close to the glacier lake. We sailed in river
floats with space for four passengers plus a pilot with oars. We sailed past
the glacier and then continued by the River a long way for a landing field
right next to the railway. We returned the same way to our hotel.
Saturday 03 September 2016.
We drove South
to Seward, located at the bottom of a Fjord. On the way, down we made a few
stops and I took some nature pictures. It was cloudy and there came a few
showers. In Seward, we had a little time before we boarded the boat that would
take us out to the Fox Iceland. There were a few sea otters in the port but
they were gone before I could get my photo equipment ready. We were installed
on Fox island. The rest of the day was devoted to sea kayaking. I am not
enjoying this but I saw the other getting ready and go. Then I went for a long
walk along the beach.
Sunday 04 September 2016.
Boat trip on the Kenai Fjord all day. We should see
birds, whales and marine mammals. Our little boat was rocking violently and it
was cloudy. About the worst circumstances of photography. We saw Dell's
Porpoise, Harbor Seals. Steller's sea lion, Bald Eagles and Puffins. We held a
break in the voyage in front of Holgate glacier. On the way home, we came past
a humpback whale that made a show for us, and it was the highlight of this
tour.
Monday 05 September 2016.
We had plenty
of time today. Took off from Fox Iceland with the same small boat as we used
sailing around yesterday. Just off the Seward port we came across two sea
otters that we could photograph on a short distance.
In Seward, we ate lunch and then we visited Alaska Sea
Life Center. We had a tour inside first where we had explained the scientific
work. Then we saw the public exhibition, which is a modern Aquarium. Here I
managed to photograph the Puffins I saw yesterday where it was impossible to
photograph.
We drove to
Anchorage with a couple of photo stops along the way. One place was called
Potters Marsh. Here was a long boardwalk into the swamp.
Tuesday 06 September 2016.
We were driven
to the airport early in the morning and was checked in for King Salmon. The
plane was a small turbojet. Just before liftoff the pilot pulled the brakes and
we taxied back to the airport building. There was something wrong with one
engine and we should have a new aircraft. Somewhat delayed we arrived at King
Salmon and was transferred to a seaplane. We had Lunch upon arrival at Brooks
Camp and managed to walk to the waterfall where two great male bears were
fishing. We stayed there until sunset.
Wednesday 07 September 2016.
Stayed all day
in Brooks Fall Lodge. We were on tour all morning. First, we were equipped with
waders. We had two extra guides with us and they directed us around when we
were near bears. At one point, we waded
out in Brooks River and we saw a mother with two cubs come out into the river
50 meters from us. We pulled back a little.
We had to go out in the middle of the river as the bears were following.
Here there were bears both upstream and downstream. We had to wait until they
had passed. When we were returning to camp, the bridge was blocked and we had
to wait until the bears had passed. In the afternoon, we went alone, without a
local Guide to Lake Brooks. There was nothing special to see so we went back to
the waterfall where there always are bears.
Thursday 08 September 2016.
Our hydroplane is leaving at 5 p.m. so we have almost
all day available. We were going down to the bridge but we were stopped by a
female Ranger. Four bears, a mother with three cubs had chosen the area just in
front of the bridge as a rest stop. It took over an hour before they moved away.
We decided to go to the waterfall for the last time. We were back to Lunch, and
I stayed in camp the rest of the time. I got the seat next to the pilot in the
hydroplane and I did take some great video footage. It was the same way back to
Anchorage. Kurt, our Guide had cancelled the dinner in town and us instead we
had farewell dinner at the hotel's bar with appetizers and drinks. My colds getting
worse, and I went to bed with a fever.
Friday 09 September 2016.
I had a free
day in Anchorage before I was going home. Now I had got a fever, and
I was forced to care for myself. I took a trip to the Alaska Native Heritage
Center in a taxi. It was far away. The rest of the day I slept or was in my
room.
Saturday/Sunday 10/11 September
Returned home.