Denali in snowmelt

Winter stuck around a little longer this year, but 5 days ago the hammer lifted and now suddenly spring has arrived.  Every day huge changes are noticeable.  I’ve gone for a few drives in the park, taking advantage of the short remaining time we’re allowed to drive 30 miles in on the park road.

Recently I’ve come to love a particular area about 12 miles in.  The views are open and endless, and there are some lovely streams to add interest.

Tonight the light was divine and the melt was particularly active, creating some gorgeously technicolor life to the scene.

Click on the images below to see them larger on your screen.

I hope you enjoy this little slice of Denali!  Feel free to drop a note below.

Flying Denali

I spent the day home sick (don’t try to call me because my throat is so clamped up I can’t say a word!), and I’ll likely miss tomorrow as well.  While I slept much of the day, I spent much of my waking time on a project I’ve wanted to do for a while.  In 2011 and 2012 I was able to go flightseeing 5 times in Denali.  Hopefully this year will bring more of the same.  The scenery is amazing and I got some amazing video.

With that thought, I bring you a 4 minute compilation video of my favorite flying shots.  Enjoy.

For better viewing, click on this link to take you straight to Vimeo, where you can view the HD video larger or even full screen.  The narrow WordPress format just doesn’t cut it.

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Let me know what you think!

Are you going to join me this summer for some amazing flying in Denali National Park?

Denali in Monochrome

Lots of snow here in Denali.  Snow and cold.  Last winter brought more snow, but this year the snow has come later, and the cold just won’t leave.

I love snow.  In February.  I don’t love snow in late April.

I’ve made a few photography treks outdoors, deciding to stop complaining about the weather and take advantage of the beauty that’s out there.  With the exception of the Broad Pass panorama, all images were shot in the park or just outside the entrance.

These scenes lend themselves to B&W.  Enjoy.

Broad Pass panorama. About 30 miles south of the park entrance, this open area on the Parks Highway always has outstanding views.

I’m not great at shadows on snow. I’m always in awe of people who do it well, but I’m not one of them.

When the light like this is I love Alaska. It has a quality I haven’t found anywhere else.

I suspect these are lynx tracks, because of the dragging tail. Someone smarter may know better though.

I hope you enjoyed these “spring” images of my April-September home.  Leave me a comment with your own thoughts about the photos or Denali.  And feel free to click the “follow” button on the right.

Humpbacks, Greys, and Seals, Oh My!

When you are viewing whales, how can you be in a bad mood?  Is that even possible?

Mid-april means the grey whales are passing through the Gulf of Alaska on their way from winters in Baja to a summer in the Bering Sea and lots of humpbacks are visiting after a rough winter in Hawaii proving that not only human Alaskans make Hawaii their vacation spot.  I met up with two friends in Seward for another fun day of whale watching tour and a night away.

The drive from Anchorage through the Kenai Peninsula to Seward is, in a word, spectacular.  Incredible mountains rising straight out of Turnagain Arm… every time I move to Denali I regret not exploring south of Anchorage more often.

In some places the ocean was quite broken up, in other places, the ice was still heavy.

Seward’s small boat harbor.

The fjord of Resurrection Bay is just so damn beautiful…

The boat ride was COOOLD, but well worth it.  And that’s what layering is for, right?

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Spot the mountain goats?

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But now, the real reason you are here – WHALES!  We were lucky enough to have the best whale sightings I’ve experienced on any of my 3 Alaska whale tours.

I hope you enjoy this 2 minute montage of trip highlights.  I apologize for some shaky video.  Photographing whales is always difficult, and occasionally choppy seas added to the fun on this trip.

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Leaving Seward the next day, I took a side trip to Portage Glacier, near Anchorage.  I think I need to try kite skiing sometime!

Have you ever seen whales (Sea World doesn’t count)?  If you haven’t, I encourage you to get out there!

I have now arrived for the season in Denali.  It’s snowy and cold – negative 4 F this morning at 7am.  With luck, I’ll be able to start sharing some nice wildlife footage soon.

Thanks for tuning in.  If you enjoyed this, feel free to click the “follow” button on the right side!

How do you get here?

And now, for something completely different.

One of the fun features of a WordPress blog site is the ability to see what search terms brought people to the site.  I read them occasionally for a good laugh.  Here are some of my standout search terms of the past year.

“What is pexting”  and the variation “pexting.”  This one is beautiful because in a burst of randomness (and inspired by one of my favorite blogs that you need to check out here), I tagged one of my posts with the nonsense phrase “Is photographing while texting ‘pexting’?”  Which led to at least 13 people googling “what is pexting” – which then brought them right back to my blog.  How awesome is that?

“Jeff Binnig“  And it’s variation “Jeffrey Binnig.”  Nice to know that my Texas cousin might be more popular than me, with 13 searches bringing people here.  Don’t worry Robin – you were right up there too, with 5 searches.  And my friend Holly Gingles got 2 internet search shout-outs as well.  Do yourself a favor and check out her adventures in Antartica.

“Denali paintings”  Sorry to disappoint, there are no paintings here.  I do hopefully have some pretty photos  though.  Start with these maybe.  Or here.

“How thick are glaciers”  I’m probably not the best person to answer that, but thanks for the confidence.  You can at least find pictures and video of glaciers here, and here.

“Huaorani people with clothes”  As opposed to another popular term “naked ecuador men” and the variation “living topless with the huaorani tribe”  They aren’t naked, but you can read about my trip with the Huaorani people here.

“Ecuador kids naked” – definitely NOT funny.  I’m sad to say at least 2 people were looking for such pictures.  Here’s a link to the FBI.  Try there first.

“Most beautiful scenery in the world”  I hope they weren’t disappointed when they arrived here.  I do think I’ve been lucky enough to see some great stuff, like this trip through Jasper National Park.  And then there’s Yellowstone.  And Romania is pretty too.

” “Kevin Meyers” nurse” I’m not sure why my name was in quotes or why someone thinks I’m a nurse.  Am I missing my true calling?  Was it something I said?

“The universe is smiling to me”  Why yes, sometimes it is.  Especially one night last summer when I witnessed a beautiful aurora show.  Or when I was lucky enough to spend a week in Death Valley.

“serious and epic conversation about life the universe and everything!”  With exclamation points!  My conversation probably wasn’t very serious, but you may remember that currently I am the answer to life, the universe, and everything.

“boudiar photos anchorage alaska” (sic)  Another disappointed customer, I’m sure.  No boudoir photos here.  But perhaps you’ll think the dogs are pretty sexy in this post?

“turbo beaver denali”  Is this a new species of beaver?  What makes it a turbo model?  For Alaskans and plane afficianados, YES, I do realize it’s a type of plane.  But you have to admit it sounds funny.

“pay the man his money”  Yes indeed.  Show me the money.  Where are my millions from my hard work on this blog?

“sexy jungle adventure”  I don’t know how sexy it was, but this was a jungle adventure.  As was this one.  Why isn’t anyone searching for “sexy jungle adventure with kevin meyers”?  Now there’s a search term I could get into.  Someone did search for “jungle adventure with a hot looking guy” however.  But since I haven’t received any propositions, apparently I failed the test.  Damn.

“Why are toklat grizzy bears a light colour in denali”  Why indeed?  Great question, and thank you for thinking that I have the answer.  I don’t.  But perhaps this Park Service page can help you out.

“cool rowdy pics of denali national park”  What exactly is a ‘rowdy’ pic?  And what makes it cool?  How about Denali employees playing?  Does that work?  Trust me – I live with them.  I know exactly how rowdy they can get.

“This guy rocks”  Why thank you.  I think you’re pretty cool too.  Hope you enjoyed my stories.  Try this one.  Me on rocks.

And a top choice for my favorite – “santa claus caught on tape 2011″  Most of these search terms I see at least some connection.  But this one?  Santa was caught on tape?  And just 2 years ago?  Why didn’t I hear about it?  Is the video on my blog somewhere?  It’s not Santa, but Bryce Canyon in winter is cold.  And beautiful

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One of the cool things about living in Anchorage in the winter is the Fur Rendezvous festival dog sled races in late February and the Iditarod in early March.  I never got around to posting pictures from either of those events, so here are a few.  Enjoy.

This corner was definitely the spot for good action at the Fur Rondy dog sled races.

Faster, faster!!!!

Lens envy

Whodathunk? A Jamaican in the Iditarod! (actually, his third Iditarod)

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Thanks for stopping by.