So, I am headed north again – the third trip north in less than a month.  This time, I am going way beyond Fairbanks and going up the Dalton Highway, aka “the Haul Road,” to Coldfoot.  It is a two-day drive, unless you savor 11-hour solo drives.  I really don’t, especially because I know I simply cannot drive anywhere without stopping.  It goes with the territory of being a photographer.

For example, I am about fifteen minutes out of Cantwell this evening, just entering the area known as Broad Pass, when I get a call from my friend Nick Fucci.  He was up recently for several weeks, visiting from his home in Montana, and he thought perhaps he had left a flash behind.  We are well into our conversation when I look to my right and see a bright, vivid rainbow arcing up from a grove of golden aspen.  The mountains behind them are dark, standing in the shadow of the rain squall moving in from the north.  I manage to pull over and tell Nick that I have to get off the phone – I know that time is ticking, as the angle of the setting sun will quickly change the appearance of the rainbow.

I missed that first shot, but proceeded to “chase” the rainbow up the pass, moving and stopping when I had a good view of the rainbow.  I capture a few other images from the pass, probably the most scenic area along the Parks Highway all the way from Wasilla to Fairbanks. 

Tomorrow I hit the road early, bound for Coldfoot, where I will catch a flight out to Bettles.  There, I will spend five days doing some aerial photography work in Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve.  The objective – certain areas of the central and western portion of the park where I have not yet done any aerial work.  Technology permitting, I will blog each day’s flights.  There may also be an overnight somewhere.  Conditions permitting, it will be a clear night so I can watch and wait for the aurora.

No, not those who belong to the religion, but our friends Peter & Patty Christian who live in the Kenny Lake area along the Edgerton Highway.  I met Peter last year when I did some aerial photography for the National Park Service up in Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve.  He is a law enforcement ranger and pilot for the Park Service.  At the time, he was stationed at the Marion Creek Ranger Station for Gates of the Arctic, just north of Coldfoot, where he and his family had lived for seven years.  All-in-all, he served the Brooks Range area, starting with Kotzebue, for thirteen years.  But, due to changes in the winter management for the park – the NPS decided not to spend the funds needed to have a winter presence in Gates of the Arctic – Peter and Patty had to make a decision as to where they would go next.  They decided, and I think rightfully so, to take a post as the District Ranger for the Chitina District for Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve.

When I knew that we would be heading to McCarthy as part of our Around-Alaska trek with Daniel, I emailed Peter and indicated I would like to connect when we were in the area.  When we were in Fairbanks, Patty offered for us to stay a night at their new home.  Remembering that they had three boys – Elias, Brooks and Orion – and knowing Daniel would prefer a break from the adults, we accepted.  I also knew it would be nice to have a break before we embarked on the 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive it would take to go the 90 miles to McCarthy from the Richardson Highway (the McCarthy Road is a gravel road that is graded only twice a year by the Alaska DOT, so the optimum speed is 30 mph at best).

Upon pulling into the Christian’s property, the two things you notice at first are the classic and beautiful log home – with moose antlers – off to the left and the sea of sled dog homes off to the right.  You really know you are visiting real Alaskans when you see sled dogs.  Many people who live out away from the urban areas rely heavily on sled dogs for getting around in the winter.  They are an important asset for those many times when vehicles won’t work or cannot get you where you want to go, whether it is for hunting, trapping, or simply exploring.

After a delicious dinner of moose meat tacos – a moose they had shot themselves – we took a walk down a trail to a spectacular view, replete with wooden benches for sitting, courtesy of the students at the nearby Kenny Lake Elementary School.  The view of the mountains was a bit obscured by the clouds that have been in the area bringing much-needed rains, but the view below to the Tonsina River was fantastic.  Weaving among the gravel bars laden with large fallen trees, the swift gray waters flow their way down to the Chitina River.

Daniel enjoyed playing with the twin cats, Minnie and Marion, as well as the old dog of the house, Rora, and any of the sled dogs that would let him pet them.  And that was when he was not jumping on the trampoline with the other boys.  I think one of the highlights, though, was the next morning when Peter took him out on an ATV (what we call Four-Wheelers in Alaska) and let him drive for a while.

Alaska is known for its beautiful landscapes and amazing animals, as well as its many outdoor recreational opportunities.  But its hidden treasure, one that I think most people don’t think of exploring when they visit, its its lifestyle, its people.  As a photographer, I am often blessed with getting to know people of all sorts of backgrounds.  Fortunately for me, my photography allowed me to get to know Peter and Patty.

As we were heading out of the park, I had put my camera down and was settling in for a short nap on the way back to Bettles.  I looked down and saw the cascade of shadows and light washing across the stacked ridges of the Brooks Range, a classic image of these rugged mountains.  I had Curt turn just a little bit so I could get the right angle and shoot around the wing support struts.

Early famous for its rock climbing opportunities, the Arrigetch Peaks region of Gates of the Arctic is one of the more iconic locations in the park. It is a popular destination, accessible only by backpacking from a float plane drop off near the Alatna River. It is spectacular to photograph from the air, and I look forward to one day backpacking up in there and spending about a week exploring the area. When the right golden light hits these granite peaks, the Arrigetch Peaks truly represent some of the best in landscape beauty for a photographer to examine.

So, we were able to get our arrangements made to have Bettles Air pick us up at Lake Kavacharak, a common pickup and drop off point in the Noatak National Preserve, at around 3:00 p.m. Wanting to make sure we had plenty of time to portage the gear from the river to the lake, we arrived at the lake at around noon, and had everything portaged by a little after 1:00. We treated ourselves to a hot lunch, and I relaxed against a large dry bag, reading “The Blue Bear.” We knew that our ride would not be there on time – bush taxis never are – but we were not quite prepared for the 3 hours and 40 minutes late that Bettles Air eventually was. Curt was at the wheel, of course, and helped us to quickly get loaded and get up in the air. As we flew back toward Bettles, I became increasingly pleased at the late pick up, as the light was starting to get rather spectacular. As we flew near Mount Igikpak and through the Arrigetch Peaks, I quickly filled the compact flash card in my camera. I wished we could stay out more and capture more aerial photos from this end of the park, but knew we had to get back. As it was, we landed and had the plane unloaded just in time for the sunset.

I arise earlier than I want because I can no longer resist the call of nature. I find that a thick fog has developed along the river and some of the small lakes tucked in behind some bluffs away from the river. The light of dawn is peeking through, adding muted pastels to the sky and creating some wonderful compositions, just waiting for me to capture them. My tripod is really stiff and can only be coaxed through the help of my Gerber tool. I photograph for a while, then go back to my sleeping bag. About an hour later, the sun makes its first appearance, but strongly muted through the fog, creating a great opportunity for photographing the disk itself.

It is our last night of the trip, as we have arrived near our take out point about a day early and expect to be picked up in the afternoon, rather than the next morning.  After spending a day within the Noatak Preserve I am not particularly interested in staying longer.  The land is flat, featureless, and lacking the many details I had enjoyed upriver.  But my nightly routine takes me out of the tent just before two, and I look up to see one of the more spectacular aurora displays of the trip.  Fortunately, I am ready for it.  My gear is a bit more reluctant as this also happens to be the coldest night of the trip.  As with the other nights, though, the lights fade relatively quickly after I capture a few images.  I have to wonder … am I really hitting them at their peak, or have the displays been brighter, and I am actually catching them on the downhill slide?  I can never know, but am still happy to have finally had the chance to photograph the aurora out in the backcountry.

After an earlier day hike to a prominent hill on our side of the river, we take a pre-dinner ferry over to the other side of the river to possibly intercept some caribou.  From our earlier vantage point, we had watched a couple of groups move through this area and thought it would be good to check it out.  Sure enough, once we selected an isolated, small hill to sit and watch, we had the chance to observe three large groups, moving at a bit of a distance, migrating from within the park over into the Noatak National Preserve.  Unfortunately for those caribou, that took them out of the protection of the park and into an area where hunters were at that moment sitting and wating to shoot caribou.  Just about an hour earlier we heard two shots come from the direction where all of these caribou where heading.

The light is hitting the ridges noticeably later in the mornings.  I arise this morning, as I have each day, looking to capture some early light on the land.  Without the prominent ridges in the right location, however, I look around for other ways to take advantage of that early light.  I also take pleasure in the fact that I will not have to rush through the routine of breakfast, strike camp and get on the water that has been the mainstay for the last several days.  Today, we can take our time.  Fortunately, our gravel bar provides many wonderful colors and opportunities with which I can explore that first sun.

After a hard day of pushing, we made it from Lake Matcharak to a large gravel bar across the river from the boundary between Gates of the Arctic and the Noatak National Preserve, the Douglas River.  We pushed hard because we wanted this spot for our layover day, as it would offer good opportunities for day trips to hike up to high points and observe wildlife.  As we were setting up our tents, Ben noticed that there was a large group of caribou moving behind us through the willows on their way to cross the river.  My camera was a couple of hundred feet away, so I ran down, set up the tripod and large lens, and was able to get a few shots of the group after it crossed.  I added Ben in the scene to provide the “human-enjoying-nature” element.