Denali Autumn – Denali National Park & Preserve, Alaska

For the past several blogs I’ve been posting photos from Denali National Park from the 2016 trip and this will be the last.

It was a short autumn season while camping and photographing the highest peak of the North America; Mount Denali (formerly named Mt. McKinley). With unusually nice weather during my stay, I successfully captured five stunning sunsets glowing on the mountain.

The photo above is the sunrise glow on the east side of Denali, with autumn colored tundra carpeting the landscape.

The fall is the most beautiful season in interior Alaska. The tundra turns to golden fall colors with vivid red patches… I like the way the tundra glows under the warm evening light. 

Here are some more images at Wonder Lake. When the days are calm, the lake reflects Denali.

The old antlers were shed on the tundra hill. Mount Denali is in the background.

Denali glowed bright orange at sunset. This is the spot where Ansel Adam captured one of his famous black & white images, “Mount McKinley and Wonder Lake” in 1948.

Late August is the peak season for blueberries in Denali! The fully ripened berries were everywhere in the park. After 6 years of living in Alaska, I had never seen so many blueberry bushes. 

Frosted tundra leaves. At the end of August, the temperature drops in early mornings in Alaska. Nevertheless, it is art in nature.

The last image is from the Polychrome Pass area. The hill is turning to autumn colors. 

Interior Alaska, includes Denali National Park, is covered with snow with harsh subzero temperature during the long winter months... 

After this Denali photo project, I moved to Hawaii. After 6 years of living and capturing wild Alaskan nature, I was ready to move on to new subjects. I have been capturing beautiful yet different landscapes in this tropic island since September. I will post some of the photos on my next blog posting. Please check back in 2 weeks!

Denali Wildlife, Alaska

 In addition to North America's highest peak, Denali National Park & Preserve is known for a variety of wildlife. Wild animals roam the more than 6 million acres of the vast wilderness along the slopes of Mount Denali (McKinley). During the fall season, animals are in their prime. They are well fed, their fur is prepared for the coming winter, and their antlers are fully grown for the mating season.

 Denali National Park is a sanctuary for wildlife; they are somewhat used to the shuttle bus and visitors traffic within the park. Wildlife, even bears, sometimes can be viewed close by the Park Road. Here is a bull caribou, feeding by the road.

 As much as I enjoyed the close up opportunities, I also love the "animal landscape" images. Here is a grizzly bear strolling along an autumn tundra hill with Mount Denali (McKinley) backdrop.

 Here is a bull moose in autumn colors. The tundra hill warmed by the morning sun.

 Here is another bull moose in bright autumn colors.

 Sometimes little critters will pose for a photo. Arctic Ground Squirrel with fall foliage.

Here is yet another caribou running across the valley.

I'll post some more photos from Denali Park on my next update. Please check back in a few weeks!

Denali (McKinley) Views, Denali National Park & Preserve, Alaska

 Continuing from a previous post, I would like to share more images of North America's highest peak - Denali (Mt. McKinley). I camped deep inside Denali National Park & Preserve to capture Mount Denali in bright fall colors. With unusually nice weather, I successfully photographed five beautiful sunsets of the famous North Face of Denali. In addition, I captured the view from the Eielson Visitor Center, another well-known park icon. 

 I climbed the ridge above the Eielson Visitor Center to get a better view of the valley with Mount Denali and the Alaska Range. The surrounding tundra was draped in warm autumn colors.

I discovered the view of Denali from Stony Hill to be stunning and easily became one of my favorites. When visitors ride the shuttle from the entrance, Mount Denali can be seen in its entirety only after a few hours of riding. When the bus turns the corner on clear days, the view is impressive. I clearly remember that awe inspiring experience back in 2001. I wanted to capture this "first impression" of Denali.

I had to wait a few hours for perfect lighting at Stony Hill... Dozens of shuttle buses passed by as clouds drifted by... I like the shadows of clouds on the vast tundra field. A few hours passed easily, I noticed a few buses stopping on the road down below... This means wildlife presence, normally. Sure enough, I spotted a small black dot moving on the road. It was a bear - a grizzly bear! More buses joined the bear viewing. Those passengers were lucky to see the bear very close by. Slowly, the black dot moved away from the road and walked into the hilly tundra. The bear started climbing up the hill ... It was a small dot and soon its was out of sight from where I was at. Then, the next time I saw him, the small dot got bigger and closer. He was coming my direction! I quickly packed up my gear and began walking to one of the shuttle buses parked by. The bear climbed up this steep hill so fast and with ease. The shuttle driver yelled to the passengers to get inside the bus. I too joined them. Soon, the huge grizzly bear came close and walked behind the bus then crossed the road! Thank goodness, the bus was here at that moment.

Here is another photo of the Grizzly Bear, I took earlier in the day.

I'll have some more Denali images to share on the next posting. Please check back soon!

Mt. Denali (McKinley) Northface - Denali National Park & Preserve, Alaska in Autumn

My week long Denali photo project was success. I camped deep inside Denali National Park & Preserve for 5 nights in early fall to capture Mt. Denali (McKinley) at sunrise and sunset. The weather was more than perfect, Mt. Denali was out for my entire stay, which is extremely unusual.

 In late August, interior Alaska is already in autumn colors. The tundra started turning bright orange against the blue sky; the most beautiful time of the year. Nature showed off their its prime beauty before another harsh winter.

 The lake was a little calmer in the morning... Denali reflected on Wonder lake.

 This is the entire Wonder Lake, about 4 miles long, and Denali on a calm morning.

 After a long and challenging bush whack, I made it top of the range... The entire Wonder Lake and Denali was in view on my site with a bright crimson tundra hill! This one of the best views of Denali and Wonder Lake. The midday light was too harsh... I may have to come back there for sunset on a future trip.

 A few hours before sunset, I arrived at the spot where I dreamed of photographing the mountain at sunset. After 4 nights of sunset shooting, I selected this spot where I could capture the perfect reflection of Denali on Wonder Lake. I set up my camera, carefully adjusted it, and waited for sun to slowly shift toward the horizon. As the breeze slowed down, the ripple on the surface smoothed out. The bright white sun on the mountain slowly turned to a warm golden light, then orange to pink... The entire range glowed magenta as the sun lowered. It was the brightest glow during my 5 evenings in the area. The lake was flat at the time, and a perfect mirror image was on! The glow was shifting up to the highest peak the North America, then faded... It was the image that I dreamed of since I first saw the mountain 15 years ago.

When I made it back to the campsite, the northern lights started dancing above the sky. The lights were very active that night; waving, swirling, then spread over the sky. Then the faint light band stretched over Denali...

On one morning, I was shooting the mountain by the lake and a large caribou was found feeding on tundra. He was calm and quiet, I didn't notice him until he came close by... He rose his head and looked at me but he went on continuously feeding. He seemed at ease not caring about my presence.

The 5 nights at Wonder Lake in Denali was amazing... It was nonstop photographing and exploring the area. The place is truly magnificent. I'm deeply in love with Denali...

I will post more Denali images on next few blogs.  Please visit back soon.

First Snow on Chugach Mountains, Alaska

It was mid September when the first snow fell on the mountains just outside of Anchorage. The past summer the weather was unusually nice and warm paving the way for vibrant fall colors around the city and surrounding mountains. It was mid September when light snow dusted the high peaks. "Termination dust" as the locals call it indicating the termination of summer in Alaska, and about a month later, permanent snow would fall and stay.

From Rendezvous Peak, Chugach Mountain peaks were covered with snow while the foothills and valleys were still in Autumn colors.

Rendezvous Ridge was dusted with fresh snow.

At the lower elevations, fall foliages were still vivid among new snow.

A golden leaf trapped in icicle...

Coming down from the mountain, glad to see it was still fall. Golden foliages glowed in warm light just before sunset...

Fall color trees with distant peaks, also snow dusted.

Mountains aglow in rose color at sunset.

Finally snow reached ground level in late October. The long Alaskan winter has begun... Snow will stay another half year.

I will post some more Alaskan wilderness images from the past summer in the next posting. Please check back in 2 weeks!

Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve, Alaska - Autumn in August

In mid August 2015, I headed north, the far north, above the Arctic Circle to explore the Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve. It had been almost 3 years since I was there last. I wanted to explore and photograph more in depth this time... The Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve is true remote wilderness, it is hundreds of miles away from civilization, and the weather and environment can be harsh. Only a handful of people venture into the area during the short summer season. There aren't any visitor facilities or established trails, so you have to be very self-sufficient.

It was gray and rained constantly since leaving Anchorage and while passing through Denali and Fairbanks... It was typical weather in Alaska during August. When I crossed the Yukon River and made it to the Arctic Circle, it was raining hard... Camping in cold rain isn't my favorite! It was raining on and off all the next day driving through the Dalton Highway along the Brooks Range. This remote wilderness seems depressing in the dark overcast weather. Autumn was already in the air here in the Arctic north in mid August! The brilliant fall colors were at least brightening us up. The rain got harder when we finally arrived at the Gates of the Arctic and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge area... and it was drenching overnight till late the next morning!

Finally, the rain slowed down in late morning as three of us packed up camp and prepared for several days backpacking into the park. Starting at the Dalton Highway, we crossed the icy cold Dietrich River then climbed up the brushy tundra hill for a few hours. It was a long steep climb with heavy packs. Reaching the flat area of the mountain ridge, we officially entered the National Park boundary. Clouds were gathering above us while we walked across the marshy tundra on the ridge... and a stormy rain began to fall! We put on rain jackets and pants, and covered up our packs in the stormy wind. Sadly, the rain turned to hail! After we were wet and cold, the sun came out and brought up multiple rainbows over the mountains. We traversed through the wet and marshy tundra covered mountain till finally we descended down towards Kuyuktuvuk Creek. It was much harder than backpacking on established trails... The three of us set up base camp at the creek that night.

It was at least partly sunny the next day. We hiked along the creek with daypacks only and camera gear for me. The fall colors in the tundra were colorful in this Arctic region - red, orange and yellow patchwork! The colors really stood out in the sunshine!

 A skull from a Dall Sheep was found on the tundra hill... The place was truly wild, away from towns, no phone signals, and no other people besides the three of us... If something tragic happened, there wasn't any way to call for rescue and our bodies weren't going to be found for years, just like this sheep.

Waking up the next morning surprised us with snow! The mountain pass was snow covered while raining in camp... It was still the middle of August! We decided to shorten the trip and headed back. To get back to where we started from, we had to climb up the steep tundra mountain with snow on the ridge... Climbing up the slippery tundra hill in rain was pretty demanding, and as we climbed higher the rain turned to snow... The mushy tundra ridge was snow covered, as more snow fell... It was cold, wet, and miserable... I just had to keep walking. I regretted not capturing the snowy landscape, however, I lost any motivation to do any extra work besides walking to get out the area...

Better weather was waiting for us at the other side of mountain ridge. No more snowing, and sunshine! Finally, I took out my camera. The vast landscape with endless mountain scenery was amazing... Hundreds of thousands of miles of untouched wilderness! Dalton Highway and Pipeline was the only human evidence in the area. This remote Arctic North is truly beautiful, but at the same time, I sensed nature's brutal power.

Here are the some more images from the Arctic North...
Beginning of the Dalton Highway.

Breathtaking sunset at the Yukon River.

Old mining town of Wiseman. This old cabin is a museum now.

More images from Alaskan wilderness will be in the next posting. Please check back!