Our Own Bed

We are finally home. This has been one of the best summer trips we have ever had. However, it feels great to be home after travelling almost 27,000 km. I get to a point where I’m creatively spent and no longer productive. I wish I could just stop and rest along the way but it is so hard to not shoot when you are travelling in Canada.

Tombstone Territorial Park, YT - Click for larger

I thought it would be interesting to share my 5 favorite and least favorite moments of the trip. Let’s start with the negative so we can end this on an up note.

5 Least favorite things about our trip:

• Missing my mom’s surprise 85th birthday party. Sorry mom!
• Lori and I getting sick on the road. It’s never fun to be sick but when travelling it is especially hard.
• Problems and worries about the van. I worried everyday something would give out. It finally did resulting in a $700 repair bill and 2 nights in a motel.
• No decent photos of Grizzlies or northern lights.
• The incredibly long days of driving. Mind numbing really.

5 Favorite moments:

• The moment I photographed the barren land caribou north of the Arctic Circle. A dream come true.

Porcupine Caribou - Click for larger

• Celebrating our 30th anniversary in Jasper with friends.

American Pika - Click for larger

• Camping in Grasslands National Park during a thunderstorm. The light was fantastic and I howled and the coyotes answered!

Grasslands National Park - Click for larger

• Standing above the Salmon Glacier in BC.

Viewing the Salmon Glacier, BC - Click for larger

• Witnessing Bull Elk in rut in Jasper.

Bull Elk Bugling - Click for larger

As we rest up for our next adventure, we will work our way through the many thousands of new images. I will continue to share as we go.

Termination Dust

Kluane Mountain Range, Yukon - Click for larger

That's what the Whitehorse locals call the first snow on the mountains. They told me it marks the end of the tourist season. We were real excited to see the snow. It added a beautiful frosting. Lori and I worked the Alaska Highway north of Destruction Bay and tried to capture the reflections along the way.

Kluane Mountain Range, Yukon - Click for larger

It truly is the end of the season up here. Many of the campgrounds, stores and restaurants are closed and many more will close soon. We were surprised to learn that Kathleen Lake Campground, and the two Visitors Centres in Kluane National Park would close Sept. 4th. This was due to the recent cuts in funding to our National Parks by the federal government. Sad is all I can say.

Kluane Mountain Range, Yukon - Click for larger

We travelled back through Whitehorse and then south to Watson's Lake. There is a highway that runs south through Northern British Columbia called the Cassier Highway. In 2010 highway 37 south was closed due to forest fires. This time the road was open and in good condition. The first part of the road was through the previous fire area. The burn area was very large. It went on for miles. We camped and made our way to Stewart BC.

Male Spruce Grouse - Click for larger

We tried to photograph Bears in Hyder Alaska but didn’t have much luck. There is a viewing platform at Fish Creek where there are spawning salmon. The bears would wander by eat and wander on. There were far more people than bears. Not my cup of tea I guess. I had much more luck photographing bears at the side of the road around Watson’s lake than we did in Hyder. I’m sure Fish Creek is a wonderful place; we just didn’t hit it at the right time.

Black Bear - Click for larger

The other attraction in the Stewart area is the Salmon Glacier. We drove a very rough road up high in the mountains passing from Alaska back into BC. We got up there expecting to see the 5th largest glacier in North America. It was completely covered by clouds. Lori and I climbed into the van and snoozed for a while. After a couple of hours of waiting for the glacier to appear through the clouds and fog, we gave up and made our way back down the road.

Salmon River Valley, BC - Click for larger

I didn’t look forward to driving up the road again but I knew I had to before we could leave the area. We waited a couple of days and finally it cleared enough for us to try again. Even though it wasn’t clear skies, we did get a little light at the top.

Salmon Glacier, BC - Click for larger

It was worth the wait. What a spectacular sight!