Two young brown bear cubs playing on the tundra, Katmai National Park, Alaska.
Hey Folks,
We’re announcing a new brown bear photo tour, to interior Katmai National Park. Info is as below:
Price $4400.00
Dates: Aug 4-9, 2021
Details: We’ll meet you in King Salmon, the morning of Aug 4 (you’ll want to arrive the previous night and overnight in King Salmon). Fly in to Katmai National Park and make camp. From camp we have endless miles of relatively easy hiking and perfect brown bear photography terrain. Open tundra, small clear salmon streams, tens of thousands of spawning Sockeye Salmon, and as many as 40-50 bears right in the area.
We’ll fly back to King Salmon on the 4th, and you should be be able to either overnight there or fly back to Anchorage that evening.
All the details are pretty similar to our Grizzlies in the Fall trip, but it’s a different location, with as many or more bears, fewer people in the area, and really nice array of backgrounds and photography options.
Please be in touch directly, this trip will fill quickly. Contact me here.
Cheers
Carl
A male brown bear on the tundra is dwarfed by a distant ridge of the Alaska Range in Katmai National Park.Brown bear chasing Sockeye Salmon, Katmai National Park, Alaska.
And so slides by yet another year. They seem to disappear more quickly than ever these days.
I thought I’d toss up a few images from the year. Mostly bears and northern lights as I was pretty busy with those trips this year.
Looking forward to 2019. We have a great bunch of trips we’ll be running.
Without further ado, I’ll throw some pictures up for you. Enjoy.
Before the Aurora
We arrived at our spot early and waited for the aurora to fire up .. and while we were waiting, this happened.
A beautiful evening sky against the arctic Alaskan boreal forest, Alaska.
Aurora borealis
Good things come to those who wait, eh? This aurora fire up late, and came back again even later. Always something of a treat to see.
Northern Lights fire up over a snow-covered boreal forest in interior Alaska.
Packrafting Nizina
A fun early season trip was packrafting Nizina River, The water levels were not too high, and we had a blast running through the canyons and camping beneath the amazing Mile High Cliffs. One in a million trip.
Packrafting Nizina Lake, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.
Brown Bears
We had a GREAT bunch of trips shooting brown bears this past summer/fall. I spent nearly 6 weeks leading tours and shooting on my own, in some favorite haunts of past years as well as some new locations as well. Awesome year.
A large male brown bear really getting after it, fishing for Pink Salmon, Alaska.
A male brown bear on the tundra is dwarfed by a distant ridge of the Alaska Range in Katmai National Park.
A female brown bear about to snag a salmon on the Katmai Coast. Alaska.
Excitement on the Coast as a brown bear hits top speed chasing salmon through the shallows. Alaska.
Polar Bears
We were lucky to catch some great moments with these amazing animals in 2018. This trip is truly a fantastic opportunity to see and photograph the great Nanuk.
A large adult male polar bear patrols the beach of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Alaska.
It’s always a treat to see the polar bears on ice. This youngster was gingerly testing out the newly formed sea ice on his own.
A wide open mouth displays some pretty hefty canines.
A young bear, 3 years old, approaches to take a closer look at our group.
He pulled up, out of the sea, a caribou antler.
I thought this image looked a little better converted to Black & White.
Cub of the Year, or COY. One of the cutest and tiniest little polar bear cubs I’ve seen.
Sibling of the cub above.
These two gorgeous young polar bear cubs put on a helluva show. Great fun to watch.
This mother and cub gave us a treat when they headed for this point and we got some really strong images. Awesome scene to photograph.
Bald Eagles
A few images from our weeks at Haines in November. Really a fun couple of weeks with some great people and lots of opportunities for bald eagle images. We had a blast.
A bald eagles takes off to avoid the talons of an incoming eagle.
A bald eagle lands in fresh snow on the riverbank, Chilkat River, Haines, Alaska.
A moment. The swirling fog made for a great background and a touch of brighter sky lit the eagle perfectly.
I realize it’s a little heavy on the polar bears, lol. They’re just so amazing to photograph. Really, really a beautiful animal.
I’ll try to add a few more images over the next few months from other trips and activities. Packrafting, backpacking, rafting and more .. stay tuned.
In the meantime .. I and all of us here with Expeditions Alaska wish you the very best for the coming New Year. Travel safe, and enjoy.
2 new trips on the website for 2018, and more to come.
The first one is one Rhane guided in 2017 for us as an exploratory trip, in Lake Clark National Park. We’re offering custom trips to Lake Clark National Park this year, either basecamp trips where we camp, hike and packraft for a week, or a 4-6 day backpack trip through the heart of the Alaska Range in this classic Alaska walk. Continue reading…
Wrangell Mountains at sunset in winter, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
Please click on the image to view the full size version
Hey Folks,
Anyone coming up to Alaska this winter? Here’s a good reason why.
The Wrangell mountains, in al their alpenglow-ing glory are second to none in the winter.
Here I’m looking across the Copper Winter toward the Wrangell Mountain range. From the left the peaks you can see are Mt. Sanford (in the background), Mt Drum, Mt. Snyder, Mt. Zanetti, and Mt Wrangell at the right hand edge of the frame.
Tonight we have some rather ugly news. Sadly, I present to you that portion of the US Tax Bill passed by the US Senate tonight that seriously threatens a place very dear to me. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR, as it’s casually called.
Click to read it and weep.
These words in the Tax Bill voted on by the US Senate tonight threaten the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
“The Secretary shall issue any rights-of-mayor easements across the Coastal Plain for the exploration, development, production or transportation necessary to carry out this section”.
The Northern lights brighten the night sky over Wrangell Mountains. Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska. Click the image to see a larger version of the photo.
Hey Folks,
Here’s a nice surprise. I just finished a week of bald eagle photography, and picked up a new lens from B&H photo and a night sky of aurora borealis. So what better way to finish a 600 mile drive back to interior Alaska than to enjoy my new Zeiss 25mm f1.4 lens shooting the northern lights over the Wrangell Mountains in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve?
The mountain peaks are, from left to right on your screen, Mt. Sanford, Mt. Drum, Mt Snyder, Mt Zanetti, Mt. Wrangell and Mt Blackburn. Blackburn, far in the distance on the right hand side of the range, is actually the tallest of these mountains. Mt Sanford is the 2nd highest. You can also see the fog rising off Copper River in the foreground.
The aurora was pretty crazy tonight. At times I was shooting at 1/5th of a second, ISO 1000 @f1.4. That’s pretty intense aurora. Speaking of aurora, wanna join me on the Spring Aurora Borealis Photo Tours this coming year? Love to have you come along.
Oh, and the Zeiss lens is pretty sweet. More testing to come.
Jule expertly guiding a boat full of rafters and gear down the Marsh Fork River, on our way to the Canning River, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, ANWR, Alaska.
Hey Folks,
Wow, November is here already. Here’s an image from our Canning River Rafting trip in the ANWR this past summer. This year we took group of 6 people out in the refuge for 12 days, with 2 rafts, tons of food and we all had a blast. Fun trip, a great mix of people, and nice weather.
And because I didn’t get a chance to keep up with the blog too much this past summer (it’s many, many long stories), I’ll add a couple images from this trip for you here as well. Be sure to click the images to see a larger view.
The Marsh Fork is such a beautiful section of river, that gorgeous turquoise water is SO inviting.
Rafting the Marsh Fork River, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, ANWR, Alaska.
Guide Rhane Pfeiffer Kayaking near Tyndall Glacier, Tan Fjord, Icy Bay, Alaska.
Hey Folks,
Welcome back to the blog. It’s been a long, busy and somewhat crazy season. More on all that later.
Here’s a photo of the Tyndall Glacier from our first trip, way back in June, when Rhane and I guided a Sea Kayaking trip in Icy Bay, before a week hiking and packrafting on the Lost Coast. Good times.
The trip was a blast. Saw a wolverine right by camp, had a nice batch of weather, great camping, great food, and some awesome, awesome kayaking.
The Tyndall Glacier was in the news a good bit recently. A landslide right by the toe of the glacier (out of frame on the left of your view) dumped many, many tons of debris into the Taan Fjord and on top of the glacier. A Tsunami several hundred feet high resulted, scouring the fjord and completely redrawing the landscape. It was amazing to get back to the area and view some of the carnage. I’ll write a review of that for you later. Incredible what power that wave wrought.
Look for more coming blog posts here over the next few months. The season has wound down a bit, and I’ve time to catch my breath and update the blog. until then, enjoy the view.
