Alaskan Ventures

A trip in February and March 2005 allowed me to focus my attention on sled dogs, their drivers and the races they run. I was able to witness the finish of the Yukon Quest in Fairbanks, the start of the Iditarod in Anchorage and the finish of the Junior North American Sled Dog Championship Races back in Fairbanks. Of all the racers, the juniors, particularly the tiny mushers with their one-dog-sleds, captured most of my film. The intended objective of my trip, photographing the Northern Lights, was unmet as the lights failed to show. The Aurora Borealis, as they are formally known, can disappoint winter visitors as the solar energy needed to create them and the clear skies needed to view them are rarely predictable.

In between dog sled races, I photographed the trees on the Dalton Highway near the Yukon River and snow shoed many of the trails in the White Mountain National Recreation Area north of Fairbanks. In winter the snow-clad trees present frozen caricatures of human shapes, and while the conditions for viewing them are often brutal, the views are unique in North America. As for the White Mountain trails, they provide almost limitless trekking opportunities both winter and summer.

Visit my Alaskan Gallery to see photos from this and earlier trips that include not only the above activities but also watching salmon-fattened bears frolic on the Alaskan Peninsula, viewing tiny native villages in the Brooks Range, hiking through the fall colors on the Kenai Peninsula, and viewing Kenai Fiords National Park on a roiling Resurrection Bay. Visit the Articles section of the site to read full-length articles on my Alaskan experiences reprinted from California Explorer magazine.

I welcome your comments, suggestions and inquiries. Contact me at john@johndaltonwalks.com.


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