Prince William Sound, Whittier Alaska

A trip to Alaska is incomplete without a visit to beautiful Whittier. Lying beyond Maynard mountain, the only access road to Whittier by road is through a one way tunnel known to the locals as Whittier tunnel or the Portage tunnel.The official name is  Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel. The tunnel is single lane and shares the lane with a railway track. Every 30 minutes the direction of traffic changes. The Alaska Railroad shares the tunnel too, its almost like they want the mystery of Whittier to be elusive. 

Whittier is quintessential Alaska. glaciers, bays, wildlife and extreme weather. As soon as we crossed over into Whittier, the weather changed dramatically. There was intense fog, slight drizzle, and much colder temperatures, very much in contrast to Denali NP where it was scorching hot. 

Our 4 hour 26 Glacier Cruise was to depart at 1pm.  You could also go kayaking here but I preferred the warm confines of the ships cabin. They serve very good food that is very reasonably priced. Having driven from Denali starting at 4am, we reached Whittier at 11am. I was extremely tired and I think I had one of the most memorable naps of all time in the back seat of our extremely small Versa. After my 90 minute slumber, I was all set to go and brave the cold weather on a cruise ship.

Waiting for the tunnel to switch directions

Inside the tunnel

The Alaska Railroad

Whittier has a total population of 127 people!! There are 2 big buildings in Whittier and that is where most of the residents stay. Apparently, the weather here is always foggy and mostly wet.The main draw here is the Prince William Sound area. A sound in geographical terms is a narrow and deep ocean inlet lying between two masses of land. The PWS sound are has seen its share of disaster with the Good Friday Earthquake and tsunami in 1964 and the Valdez oil spill in 1989. Yet, it seems like nature has found a way to fight back. The wildlife here is very shy unlike the wildlife in Seward. 

Sea Otters usually disappear at the first hint of the humming of the cruise ships engines. We did not see any whales. We did see many glaciers, lots of shy sea otters and some bald eagles. The main draw of the cruise is to experience Blackstone Bay and to see the massive glaciers and hopefully to see some calving of the glaciers. The 4 hour cruise is the perfect length of time, not too long and not too short!

Sea Otter

Sea Otters in Blackstone Bay are very shy. They usually disappear into the water, this one above stuck his head out just long enough.

Water fall from glacial melt, Northland Glacier PWS

The waterfall above makes a roaring sound as you approach the glacier. The Northland Glacier is pictured below.

Northland Glacier, The water color is gray because of the concentration of minerals

Panaroma of Blackstone Bay

Another massive glacier, 500 feet high

 The bald eagles are in plenty in Blackstone bay. You can spot them by looking for a white patch in an otherwise green tree line. These pictures below were shot with a 50-500mm Sigma Lens with out a tripod.

Bald American Eagle

Close up of a Bald American Eagle, 50-500 Sigma Lens shot without a tripod

Kittyhawk Colony

This colony of kitty hawks was over 1000 strong. They are really noisy and go haywire when a bald eagle attacks the colony. I was able to witness this madness as a Bald Eagle swooped down on the colony to attack a nest. The bald eagle was chased away by the mother. It was intense to watch the kitty hawk chasing the eagle, prey and predator had reversed roles. Unfortunately, I was not prepared with a tripod to capture that and all my pictures turned out blurry.

I hoped to post more photos of the sights we saw but we had a rainy day and my photos were spotty.

Next blog- Seward Wildlife Cruise

Happy Vinayaka Chaturthi

Happy Ganesha Chaturthi! Festivals bring out the crowds and the colors. There are smiles all around, from children to adults. This morning I made a quick stop at the local street market to get some sundries and carried my camera to take some quick shots. 

The energy in the streets was really refreshing. 

Ganesha's fresh off the assembly line

The majestic God gets his shade in style!

More Ganesha's

Gowri, the mother of Ganesha and wife of Shiva

Ganesha's look on as the market buzzes

Clay Ganesha's have their simple charm

Pick me, pick me

As a kid, bringing home the perfect Ganesha was the most important part for me, just like in this picture

Denali National Park, Alaska

Denali National Park is home to 6 million acres of wilderness, home to the tallest peak in the United States- Mt Denali. The park is accessible by one road which goes about 86 miles into the park and terminates at Wonder Lake. There are campgrounds along the road at various spots and can be reserved in advance. Private cars and trailers can only access upto mile 15 of the park. There is a ranger at mile 15, at the Savage River parking lot. After mile 15, the road turns to gravel and dirt. To go beyond this point you will have to take a shuttle bus or tour bus.

Shuttle bus is suited for those who are adventurous and want to get off and on to the bus anywhere. If you take the shuttle bus, keep in mind these buses are really slow, very dusty and very tiring. It takes 12 hours to go to Wonder Lake and be back at the visitor center. The views all along the drive are spectacular but after Polychrome Point/Eileson visitor center, they get old. If you are extremely lucky, you may see a reflection of Mt Denali in Wonder Lake. But, even this view needs a substantial walk in unmarked tundra, in potential bear territory. My recommendation would be to take the bus to Eileson Visitor Center if you are here for a day. If you want to go to Wonder Lake, do consider camping there as 12 hours in a bus with a potential 6am start is not a fun day. The green bus drivers are not wildlife spotters. Their main duty is to drive you out and back safely. That being said, they do stop for wildlife and are on the lookout for any wildlife.

Tour Bus: If you rather prefer to stay with your bus operator all day, then do take the Shuttle bus as the driver also narrates along the way. These are not hop off-hop on variety.

Trails: There are very few marked trails in Denali National Park. There is a trail near Savage River and one more at Eilsen Visitor Center. This is both exciting and disappointing for many. The best way to see Denali is to blaze your own trail and explore the tundra. Unfortunately this comes with its own risks as anywhere in Alaska you are in bear territory. Considering the statistics- one bear mauling in close to a century long history, it is reasonably safe to assume you will be safe by using your common sense. Make noise at all times and back away from any bear no matter how far it is.

We were walking on the dirt road just about 300 metres from a regular stop at the Polychrome Point when a green bus stopped and asked us to get in as there was a bear and two cubs just 300 yards behind us, just off the road. We didnt spot the bear and her cubs.

All in all, Denali National Park was a slight disappointment for me. Don't get me wrong, the views and the wildlife are great but the accessibility limits the awe factor of the park. 

Here are some photos from the park - some of these have been shot with the Sigma 50-500 mm telephoto lens *without* a tripod. It is very hard to setup a tripod in a jiffy while inside the bus.

Moose, shot with 50-500 mm Sigma lens, before the 15 mile mark.

Moose grazing, shot with 50-500mm Sigma lens

Savage River trail, accessible by car.

Below is a shot of Mt Denali, only 40 percent of hikers summit this beast. Worse still, only one of three visitors are able to see Mt Denali from the National Park. We were lucky for about half a day as it disappeared by noon. Here you can see a jet stream blowing at the summit.

About the photograph:
313 mm, f/18, 1/640

Mt Denali, from the Sanctuary River area.

Just a little after the first stop, we ran into our first bear sighting. This blonde grizzly was in deep slumber and looked up just in time.  He did not stay awake for too long.

About the photograph:
266mm, f/14, 1/250. I had to use the guard rails in the window of the shuttle bus to stabilize this shot.

Sleepy blond grizzly

We saw a total of three grizzlies on day 1, none too close or too active. This grizzly below was almost a mile away, in a deep blissful state, taking an afternoon nap! It seemed like he had had too much beer and had fallen off by the wayside in his drunken stupor!

Credit to the lens- this picture was shot at 500mm zoom without a tripod or shutter remote.
500mm, f/8.0, 1/160

Drunk grizzly, shot with Sigma 50-500mm

Here is a digitally zoomed in version of the same photo- notice his claws!! If you get on the wrong side of one of these bad boys, you are sure to be on the express checkout lane!

Digitally zoomed in, notice his claws!

Mt Denali, before we take on Polychrome Pass. Polychrome Pass gets its name from the color or the rocks/scree at this point. There are steep cliffs on one side and makes for a fun drive. Look out for bald eagles at this location as the eagles like to nest in the rock cliffs.

Mt Denali late in the morning,  lenticular clouds forming at the summit.

Toklat River is an uneventful stop. Do checkout the USGS hut at this stop. Also your last chance to buy bug spray in case you forgot to pack bug spray.

Further down the road, Eilsen Visitor Center makes for a good lunch break. Take in the view of the vast tundras and possibly Mt Denali if you are lucky are. There are pedestal binocular that you can use to look at the slopes of Denali and the neighboring peaks.

Tundras, from the Eilsen Visitor Center

One last look at Mt Denali from Eilsen Visitor Center. The cloud cover was covering almost half the mountain now.

Mt Denali from Eilsen.

You may or may not see wolves, bears, caribou, moose etc etc but you will definitely run into a lot of ground squirrels. These little guys are playful. I tried hard and long to get a shot of the ground squirrel standing up in grassland but they are just too quick. If you do set up your tripod and wait, you will be rewarded. Unfortunately, my shuttle bus was leaving and this is the best I could do. These little guys run every few feet and then stand up to look ahead, almost as if they need directions .

Artic Ground Squirrel

Moose, with reflection

And... finally!! After departing the visitor center at 6:15 am, we were at Wonder Lake at 12:30pm. A long and dusty journey to this place. By the time we arrived here, Mt Denali was almost completely covered. I would have camped a night or two just to get a chance at that reflection picture but that shot is probably better taken from the far end of this lake. You need to be on the Kantishna Experience tour bus to get there.

Wonder Lake, looking away from Mt Denali

I have no idea what species these little ones belong to, probably the geese, swan or duck family.

Little birdies, shot from a moving bus

A visit to Denali is incomplete without spotting the Dall Sheep. Look at all the peaks for small cluster of white specs and you would have spotted Dall Sheep. They seldom come down for fear of being attacked by wolves. They are good climbers as visible in the photo below.

Dall Sheep

Caribou Crossing

 We were lucky to have a Caribou cross the dirt road and walk right by the bus.

Day 2- We had tickets to the Eilsen Visitor Center but did not make it past Polychrome Pass. We were debating if it made sense to make this arduous journey into the park again and delayed our start. Just a few minutes past the Savage River area, I was able to spot a large blonde bear foraging for grass. This grizzly was quite the showman. We observed it for almost 25 minutes and he was active all along. This was one place where, if I or someone else on the bus hadnt spotted the animal, we would have driven right past it. They really need spotters on all buses.

Blonde Grizzly

The blonde grizzly in Denali NP is smaller in size to the brown grizzly. The blonde variety mainly forage on berries. They eat almost no salmon as the rivers here are fed by melting glaciers and have no fish in them. Hence they are smaller in size, but I assume they pack the same punch in them. All of these pictures below were shot at 500mm.

Blonde Grizzly foraging for food

Finally, as the bus started, he looked right at us

He didnt seem to be bothered by the big green bus and quickly went back to looking for edible roots.

Denali NP, Blonde Grizzly

We did not spot too many caribou close to the road. Apparently, these animals like to stay in the snow patches because the flies do not bother them there. This caribou was startled by the noise some passengers made in the bus. As a courtesy to your fellow passengers, please use your judgement while choosing to speak loudly. This could have been a beautiful viewing experience, cut short by senseless human noise. 

Caribou running away from the roadside.

Thus ended my two day Denali NP visit. I may visit again but I will definitely choose to stay over in Kantishna or camp at Wonder Lake.

I would love to hear from you, leave your comments below.

Talkeetna and Denali Summit Flight

Talkeetna, AK is a small town at the confluence of three rivers the Susitna, Chulitna and Talkeetna. These rivers are mainly fed by melting glaciers and snow from the Alaskan range. The rivers look brackish gray and sandy most of the time.

The town is very small, with a population of less than 1000 people. All summit attempts to Mt Denali start here. Most of the summit tours and glacier landings start from the Talkeetna Airport. Talkeetna was our second stop in Alaska. We had spent the night in a cabin in Talkeetna, the cabins here are really cosy and I mean extremely small. On a cloudy and overcast morning we set out from our cabin the the Talkeetna Aero Services office, fully expecting our summit flight to be cancelled. There was a steady drizzle that morning. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that the weather was just fine and dandy above 12000 feet. While most other fleets were sitting grounded, Talkeetna Aero Services were running full steam ahead. This was probably because their planes are equipped with VFR and can fly through thick clouds. Not going with K2 Aviation had paid off, although I assume their summit tours were flying too?

Tip- if you decide to do the flight tour, pick the more expensive summit tour as you there are lesser chances of this flight being cancelled. The summit flights are equipped with VFR. Also, check the Alaska Tour Saver for buy one get one coupons.

We were seated in a 10 seater aircraft and took off on time. I had rented the Sigma 50-500mm f/4-6.3 APO DG for Canon and I was excited as this would be my first experience with this lens. It weighed what seemed like a ton and I had no tripod to mount this monster. As we took off we were greeted by views of the Susitna, Chulitna and Talkeetna rivers and the Denali wilderness as far as the eye could see.

Susitna, Chulitna and Talkeetna rivers near Talkeetna

After a brief passage through clouds, we were treated to our first view of the majestic Denali Peak. This photo below is from somewhere around 12000-14000 feet and about 15-20 miles away. Denali is the highest peak in the United States and in North America, with a summit elevation of 20,320 feet (6,194 m) above sea level. Measured base-to-peak, it is the tallest mountain on land. Measured by topographic prominence, it is the third most prominent peak in the world after Mount Everest and Aconcagua. Denali means "The High One" in the native Athabascan language. (Source- Wiki)

First Look: Denali Summit

As we continued to get closer, I was excited about the fact that it was a great summit day. There were no clouds in sight at 20,000 feet. The photograph below is the West face (I think) of the summit.

Denali West Face

We were to do two runs of the south side of the summit. We were here on the 4th of July which officially marks the end of the climbing season. Only 40% of the hikers make the summit every year. It takes around 3 weeks to make the ascent from the Kahlitna glacier.

Denali, coming around to the west face from the south face

In the next set of photographs, Im going to walk you through something amazing! Credit to the 50-500 lens- I was operating this lens at its far end and without a tripod. What do you see below-- Snowy valley? Not just that, look closer and you will see people.

Snowy valley in Denali? Look closer.....do you see people?

Ok, how about now? Those little specs you see are campsites. This is the 14000 feet camp- also called Advanced Base Camp on the West Buttress route. Notice the three tiny specs on the left of the photograph- three hikers walking out.

Advanced Base Camp, West Buttress route, shot from 21000 feet

Still dont believe me? The photos below are digitally zoomed in, in the first one you can see colorful tents surrounded by snow walls.

ABC, 14000 feet, photographed with Sigma 50-500mm f/4-6.3 APO DG for Canon

You can see people standing by their tents. (Digitally zoomed in)

After an exciting view of base camp, which lasted about a minute before the plane turned around, we were headed back from west to east to get another view of the summit. Excuse the poor photo, but it was shot from the plane.

Denali, North Summit and South Summit

I snapped some pictures of Kahlitna glacier which was partially visible through the clouds. I accidentally captured some one elses lens but it made for a nice effect.

Kahlitna Glacier

The next picture is not a great picture- a picture of high camp at 17500 feet. The captain uses his wing tip to point out these locations and it is hard to immediately see and locate what he is pointing at. This is the last camp before the summit attempt. I could have taken better shots if I knew exactly where this camp was. I was only able to locate the camp site on a computer while viewing these pictures. From the plane, this camp looks like some rocks. Here is a beautiful image of this campsite.

17500 feet, High Camp

As we descended down and around the Alaskan range we were treated to beautiful sights. The photo below is of a formation called "chutes"

Snow Chutes - photographed with Sigma 50-500mm f/4-6.3 APO DG for Canon

Here is another picture of the chutes but with the entire ridge in focus. This is quite a breathtaking sight!

Snow chutes with the entire ridge in focus

We flew around the Alaskan range for a few more minutes- Here is a another peak. I dont remember the name of the peak, although I think this is Mt Foraker

Mt Foraker

One thing you are constantly reminded of while you are in Alaska is how fast the glaciers are receding. Here is a glacier exiting, you can see the rocks around it carved by the glacier. Apparently the glacier extended all the way to the bottom of this range in the 1950s.

Glacier exit

After the summit itself, the most amazing views are offered by Ruth Glacier. The colors and formations on Ruth glacier can only be best experienced with your eyes.

Ruth Glacier

Ruth Glacier with medial moraine

Close up of glacier formation on Ruth Glacier

Ruth Glacier with lateral moraines in view

Ruth Glacier

Here is a super zoom shot taken to show the glue patches in the above pictures. These small blue lakes if you can call them that. The glacier reflects only the blue color and hence the water in these pockets take on a deep blue color. These pockets could be many hundred feet deep.

Ruth Glacier blue lakes

As we exited the glacier, we could see the change in topology. The formation below was much more densely packed and seemed deeper at the start of the glacier and tapered out as we exited.

Ruth Glacier snowfield formation

Just before the exit, the 50-100 feet cliffs of snow were all flattened out into almost plain fields of compacted snow.

Ruth Glacier exit

Ruth glacier exits into the northern end of Denali Wilderness. The contrast from dirty white to solid green is evident.

Denali National Forest

After a mind blowing tour of Denali Summit and the glaciers, we were back in the beautiful town of Talkeetna. America's beauty lies in it small towns. We were in Talkeetna town just after the 4th of July parade and the town center was crowded and colorful.

Talkeetna town, 4th of July parade

This oversized car participated in the parade

And of course, what small town is complete without its cafes and restaurants. This small cafe in Talkeetna had a nice outdoor seating with many local beers on the tap. Hint: the Alaskan  White is very good!

Local brews on tap/

As we strolled through the town center, we came across a small park with a Moose auction. These moosi were handcrafted and were being sold in the auction.

Moosi auction

All in all, Talkeetna offers a nice glimpse of a small Alaskan town. It is a nice mix of civilization and roads and rugged back country.

Next Blog - Denali National park
PS: The photos in this blog were taken from inside a plane looking out through a glass window. So please excuse any dirt or reflections.