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Our Alaska pages:
trip&ship
animals
scenery and
wide panoramas
cool stuff
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Alaska is BIG, so we will start with some wide shots, made
by pasting several photos together. Toward the right you can see a glacier
in the Kenai Fjords region near Seward. The next photo shows the port of
Seward (and part of the Alaska pipeline).
The two photos above are actually left and right of a huge
panorama; Ketchikan was the first stop of our cruise.
Click here to see the whole
panorama.
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When the cruise
was over, we boarded a small boat to look for wildlife and glaciers in the
Kenai Fjords near Seward. This trip, and the whale-seeing trip near
Juneau, were really worth the extra money! The animals are spectacular,
and it was remarkable to be this close to a glacier. I've inset the boat
photo (the size of the red box; also at the bottom of
page 1) to show just how big a "river of ice"
is! This composite is made from four photos. |
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The oldest part
of Ketchikan was built over this river because there wasn't any land
available. Although Ketchikan is the state's third biggest city, it only
has about 14,000 people! That is the size of a neighborhood in
China! |
It was very foggy when our cruise ship visited the Hubbard
Glacier in Glacier National Park, but Photoshop has removed some of the
haze. It was freezing to stand outside taking pictures!
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Sitka was the capital when Russia owned this territory, and
the Russian church is still a vital part of Alaskan life (especially among
the native Americans). It was fascinating to learn about Russian pioneers
who translated the Bible into "Eskimo" languages.
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This shows the
"lifeboats" (i.e., launches) we rode from the ship to Sitka's dock. We
really enjoyed visiting this town, which has several historic attractions,
a totem pole exhibit, a wildlife
"hospital," nature walks, a port-side church that serves visitors free
tea, and much more to offer. |
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Dad is standing
by a river just across the road from our motel near Seward. We enjoyed
many sunny days, though it was often quite cold (even in July). |
Private cars are
not allowed in most of Denali National Park, so we took a bus to enjoy the
sights together. It was too cloudy to see Mt McKinley (also called
Denali), the highest mountain in North America. For animal photos, click
over to page 2. |
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Michael's Dad
took these beautiful lighthouse photos from the cruise ship. |
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That little
white dot in the distant water [above
left] is a cruise ship, docked at Skagway. From there we took a
train 20 miles up to White Pass (elevation 2888 ft) on the Canadian
border. This railroad (and especially the "V" bridge shown below) was an
engineering marvel at the end of the 19th century, when it was built to
transport miners seeking their fortune in Alaska's Gold Rush. In addition
to the beautiful scenery, you could see part of the rugged and dangerous
trail carved into the mountain by hundreds of men and mules while the
train was being constructed.
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A moose grazes
in the foothills near the entrance of Denali National Park. We also saw
bears, a bobcat, caribou, elk, a fox, wolves, mountain sheep, rabbits,
various birds, and lots of eagles. For more animal photos, click over to
page 2. |
Vivian snapped
this humpback whale, just before it disappeared (they can stay underwater
for half an hour). This "extra" boat trip near Juneau was a highlight of
our trip, maybe because it was the first chance we had ever had to be near
these magnificent creatures. (click here for a
bigger photo) |
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For our policy regarding copying or using photos/materials
on this website, click here. For more photos from (and a map of) the USA,
click here.
Our main Alaska pages:
trip&ship
animals
scenery and
wide panoramas
cool stuff
Click here for the "camera types"
used.
Vivian's Alaska photo album is also on line at
www.scrapbookflair.com/China_Doll
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