Muskox Farm!!

July 7, 2022 / Ed Armstrong

These are the 3 sisters because they like to spend time together.

Their horns are tough and this is how they butt into each other.

The horns of the females are not as thick as the males.

She is a bit hidden in the grass, but this is a baby female muskox. She does not have any horns at this time.

This girl is not super friendly. Our group had to carefully walk by and not antagonize her. She was giving me “the eye” when I took her picture.

This one is younger and does not have fully developed horns. The muskox farm tends to separate the animals roughly by age and sex.

This huge male muskox liked to mostly live separately from the other males and he was not too excited about being moved to a new pasture.

I continue to be amazed by the rick colors of the flowers in Alaska. These were growing at the muskox farm.

Boondocking near Seward!!

July 6, 2022 / Ed Armstrong

I love this campsite! What a wonderful view!

I met a couple that was traveling while we both were in Homer, Alaska. They told me about a great place to boondock camp near Seward. It took me three tries to find the correct entrance, but it opened up to a dry riverbed section of the Resurrection River. It is surrounded with beautiful mountains! This was a treat to enjoy! The photos show the 4 directions around my campsite. The only downside is that there was no cellular service at this location. I guess I can survive without internet access for a day. 😉

This is a small branch of the river. The main flow of the river is to the left.

I love these clouds behind the mountain!

Katmai National Park!!

July 4, 2022July 4, 2022 / Ed Armstrong

This brown bear caught this huge salmon flying up the falls!!

Alaska continues to amaze me. Today I flew on a float plane for 90 minutes west of Homer, Alaska to visit Katmai National Park and its famous Brooks Falls. What makes it so well known are the brown bears that live in the area and spend time fishing for salmon. It was an incredible experience! Yes, it was expensive. Yes, it was worth it!

These bears are huge and they own the place!

The bear is on the prowl for salmon in the river.

The other bears watch with envy as one bear catches a fish!

This salmon was jumping to get over the falls and he survived without being eaten.

Despite this bear’s best effort, these salmon were out of his reach!

This bear is tearing bites out of this fish that he caught swimming in the river.

This bear has a different strategy. He is standing at the base of the falls and waiting for the fish to get close and then catch the fish as they are getting ready to jump.

This bear was successful catching this salmon as it tried to jump over the falls.

This mom is teaching her two kids how to fish.

This bear is on the lookout for more fish!

A bald eagle is looking over the scene to see whether he can find any fish scraps to his meal.

I was amazed at how well the bears swim. They are fast!

This is one of Alaska’s newer volcanoes. This photo was taken from the float plane on the way to Katmai National Park. The cloudiness and early morning light gives it interesting coloring.

Here is our float plane that brought us to Katmai National Park. You either need to fly or take a boat to visit this extremely interesting national park.

Drive to Homer, Alaska!!

July 3, 2022 / Ed Armstrong

Today was a cloudy day that revealed some mystery in Alaska. I loved the bright sunny days to see Denali in its full glory. Today was a contrast of cloudiness covering much of the mountains. This photo was taken from the drive down to Homer. I pulled off the road and marveled at this active volcano (last erupted in 2009) within the Lake Clark National Park. I would have preferred a sunny day, but there was intrigue in the midst of the cloudiness.

I pivoted a bit and loved seeing the sun trying to peek through the clouds with the mountains largely hidden in darkness.

A little farther down the road, the volcano was a little more visible and was an interesting contrast with a home owners boat. How would you like to live here and see that gorgeous scene out of your back window!

I kept hoping for the sun to break through and shine on the mountain and make my eyes pop. However, in Alaska fashion, the clouds stubbornly kept the mountain mostly dark.

Zooming in a bit still shows the mountain largely hidden by cloudiness.

Farther west reveals another mountain across the Cook Inlet also mostly covered in clouds. I hope soon to see these mountains bathed in sunshine.

Soldotna and Kenai!!

July 2, 2022 / Ed Armstrong

This part of Alaska is all about fishing. Serious fishing. People from all over the world travel here to fish!

I thought this carved wooden bench was quite impressive!

If you look carefully at the bottom of the sign, you can see hooks where the successful fishermen hang their catch and have their photo taken to document the memory.

Everything, and I mean everything, is focused on fishing. It is beautiful!

Although I have loved visiting Alaska, there is one topic about Alaska that I do not like. Mosquitoes!!! Sometimes there are not too many, but other times they are suddenly swarming all around you! People camping often use portable screened porches so they can sit outside and not be eaten alive by mosquitoes.

I simply love looking at the rich color of flowers in Alaska.

This is a Russian church in Kenai. It reminds me of my trips to Russia, Ukraine, and Moldova. I am sure Russia now deeply regrets selling Alaska to the US.

This is from Kenai looking west across the Cook Inlet to Lake Clark National Park.

This is in Kenai. I am not sure there are too many beaches where you play on the beach in shorts while there are snow capped mountains not too far away. Alaska is amazing!

This is not a great photo. Sorry, but it was the best angle I could get from an upper bluff. I thought it was important because it shows where the mouth of the Kenai river flows into Cook Inlet.

This is another stop looking across the Kenai river. I simply love to look at the picturesque scenes. I love the colors and the clouds.

Anchorage!!

July 2, 2022 / Ed Armstrong

After a gorgeous bike ride in the morning, I drove to the waters edge in the afternoon and enjoyed seeing the Kenai peninsula across the water. Alaska is so beautiful!

The colors of Alaska are so amazing. There are gorgeous views in every direction.

Iditarod Headquarters!

June 30, 2022 / Ed Armstrong

I had the opportunity to learn details about the amazing Iditarod race. The headquarters is based in Wasilla, Alaska. The race is more than 1,000 miles in length and goes from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska.

The dogs are amazing athletes to complete such a grueling course!

I learned quite a lot about Susan Butcher when I was in Fairbanks. She is very famous! Susan shocked the world by winning the Iditarod race four times!!

Talkeetna, Alaska!!

June 28, 2022 / Ed Armstrong

This is a quaint park in the center of town. Notice the motorhome in the background. I arrived early today and was able to find an open parking spot right in the center of town.

This seems to be the closest grocery store and sells all kinds of items, including specialty coffee.

How can you not love a store with moose antlers in the front? I bought a cup of chaga tea from this gentleman. The tea is made from the birch tree. It was ok, but not great. I think next time, I will pass on the birch tree tea and simply buy coffee.

This store was dedicated to making wooden spoons. They also made other nice wood products. It made me wonder how they could pay their rent? I did not think there would be a large demand for left and right handed wooden spoons. No question, they did quality work here!

Talkeetna has an active runway right in town. They are quite famous for having flights to view Mount Denali. I was surprised that I could walk right up and walk on the runway. Notice a plane coming in for landing in the background.

I have been captivated by the rich colors of flowers in Alaska.

I am looking forward to trying some of the salmon products in Alaska!

Talkeetna has some unique businesses. They seem to be a combination of hippie mixed with wild frontier.

Talkeetna has their own brewery in town (Denali Brewing) and I had fun sampling a flight tasting of 6 of their beers.

The winner of the tasting was Denali Lager. I bought a 6-pack to enjoy during the trip. It is fun supporting small, local businesses that are creative in developing new products.

Denali State Park!!

June 27, 2022 / Ed Armstrong

I left Denali National Park this morning and headed south to the adjacent Denali State Park. The drive was beautiful, and the State Park provides some great views of Mount Denali. Denali is the highest peak in north America and is always covered with snow. The weather was beautiful with clear skies, minimal clouds, and no smoke from the nearby forest fires. This provided a spectacular view of beautiful Denali. All along the drive, cars pull over everywhere and people take photos of this truly beautiful mountain.