Drive to Homer, Alaska!!

/ 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!!

/ 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!

Impressive sized fish are caught here!

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!!

/ Ed Armstrong
I was very fortunate to have been able to visit Anchorage on beautiful summer days!!

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!

/ 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!!

/ Ed Armstrong
I had fun visiting the tiny town of Talkeetna, Alaska. It is a quirky town with some fun, touristy businesses. If not covered by clouds, it is a great location to view Denali. Unfortunately, today, Denali was completed covered by clouds.

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!!

/ Ed Armstrong
I love to look at Denali!

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.

This view of Denali from the southern viewpoint in Denali State Park if a great view of this spectacular mountain.

The water, trees, and mountains of Alaska are gorgeous!

This is the view of Denali from the northern viewpoint in Denali State Park. Denali is rising up behind the smaller peaks in front of it.

It is a cause of celebration to see such amazing scenery!!

Denali is Simply Beautiful!!

/ Ed Armstrong
I had the opportunity to go on a hike near the campground and the entrance to Denali National Park. The area is spectacularly beautiful! From the green trees, to the water, to the mountains, to the sky, Denali is truly amazing!

Looking closely at the glacier runoff, it is filled with silt. Fish cannot live in it because of all the silt in the water.

I love the colors of Alaska. I do not understand why I waited so long to visit such a beautiful location?

This fresh water stream was beautiful and very clear

Here the clear fresh water stream is flowing into the glacier runoff river. The cloudiness is the silt from the glacier.

The trees are a bit different and I was surprised to note that the pine cones were quite red in color.

Grizzly Bear!!

/ Ed Armstrong
This is my first grizzly bear sighting in Denali National Park. He is a bit small despite using my 300 mm telephoto lens. There is a balance, you want to be close enough to take a reasonable photo, but far enough away so that he does not attack you. There were no fences between this bear and me!

I liked the reflection of the water flowing down from the melting snow and glaciers.

I went on a hike today and this sign was at the beginning of the trail. Reading this certainly causes you to pause and reflect on the balance of seeing beautiful scenery and wildlife with the risk of being attacked by a bear. I was by myself, but certainly had my bear spray immediately available!

This fellow was fun to watch as he zoomed around the ground.

I loved the bright color of flowers!

I loved the color of these blue bells!

These colors were so vibrant!

I liked watching the light break through the clouds to isolate one section of the mountain range.

The simplicity and richness of the flowers in Denali is beautiful!

This bird was splashing around in the water and did not mind me walking up to him to take his photo.

It looked ominous as the clouds started building up over the mountain range.

This caribou found relief simply standing on the patch of snow to cool down a bit.

Mount Denali!!

/ Ed Armstrong
Mount Denali is covered by clouds 70% of the time. Our tour today was especially fortunate because it was a sunny day and Mount Denali was not obscured by clouds! Our group is now part of the “30% club!”

We saw this moose on our tour too!

The mountains in Denali are beautiful!

It was a “hot day” by Denali standards with a high in the mid-60s. This male caribou found a patch of snow to lie down and cool off.

This neighbor was looking for his own patch of snow so he could cool off too.

Back near the visitor center, this mamma moose and her calf were enjoying an afternoon meal.

Denali National Park!!

/ Ed Armstrong
For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to visit Denali National Park! It is spectacular!

Since I started driving through Canada and Alaska, I have been trying to catch a photo of a moose. This special lady was enjoying breakfast near my campsite and decided to come out of the shadows and eat some leaves in the sunshine. Finally, I found a moose I could photograph!!

After a few minutes, she moved so her whole body was in the sunshine.

She was having a great time eating breakfast, but right after this photo was taken, she ran back into the forest.

I later went on a hike and was captivated by the flowers along the trail.

These dainty purple flowers were pretty!

I loved the symmetry with these white flowers. Everything is so green in Alaska.

I love all the rich colors in the flowers!

Later on the hike I crossed a walking bridge over a beautiful stream.

Water a lush greenery is a beautiful theme in Alaska!!