Tag: Alaska

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Inside Passage, Alaska

by bijansabet

After leaving Tutka Bay, the last week of our Alaska trip was an exploration of the Inside Passage, which began in Sitka and ended in Juneau. The landscape and wildlife in southeast Alaska is magical and Glacier Bay National Park felt like a dream.

Alaska is a remote place, especially coming from the east coast of the United States. It took a long time to get there and a long time to get home. It’s challenging to get around once you make it to Alaska. But it’s so worth it and I hope to get back, again and again.

waterfall.jpgmountain clouds.jpgwhale.jpgkayak hole.jpgglacier raft.jpgice boat.jpgsun mountain.jpgwhale tail.jpghouse flowers.jpgsea lion.jpgglacier zodiak.jpgGlacier sunset.jpgglacier little raft.jpgsun plane.jpg

(Cameras: Hasselblad 503cw and Leica M3 | Film: Kodak Portra 400 | Lab: Richard Photo Lab)

 

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Kachemak Bay & Katmai National Park

by bijansabet

We took a small bush plane out of Denali and then a train to Anchorage where we spent a night. The next morning we boarded a sea plane and flew to Kachemak Bay. We stayed at Tutka Bay Lodge which was located in a perfect spot. Right on the water, surrounded by gorgeous mountains. This part of Alaska was dramatically different than Denali but beautiful in it’s own way. It feels remote but is just a quick 20 minute boat ride to Homer.

We spent the next three days at Tutka Bay and would enjoy each day exploring the local trails and getting out on kayaks.

The highlight of our stay was a gorgeous flight to Katmai National Park to see the brown bears. The bears were so calm and focused on eating that they barely paid any attention to us — even though we were completely fixed on their every move.

I was really sad to leave this special place. I hope we can make it back again in the near future.

Our next stop was meeting up with my parents and Lauren’s mom for a cruise. But I’ll leave that for my next post.

landscape bay.jpgellie and lauren.jpgkayak.jpgseal.jpgtub and house.jpgkayak 3.jpgwalk and chair.jpgbear.jpgplanes bay.jpglauren bay.jpgbear water.jpgbear sqaure.jpglandscape james.jpg

(Cameras: Hasselblad 503cw & Leica M3, Film: Kodak Portra 400 & Kodak Tri-X 400, Lab: Richard Photo Lab in California)

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Denali National Park, 2019

by bijansabet

We have always wanted to see Alaska. We have made several attempts to travel to Alaska over the years but for one reason or another we had to postpone

At long last we were able to make it work. Alaska is over 2x the size of Texas but with only 700k people. It’s hard to get your head around the size of the state and getting around isn’t easy if you want explore various parts of the state. You can only access about 20% of the state by car so you need to see other areas by bush plane, boat or train

Our trip had three parts: three days in Denali National Park, three days in Kachemak Bay/Katmai Coast and then a week of southeast Alaska.

This post is about our time in Denali National Park. I’ll write up two more posts later this month about the rest of the trip.

Getting to Denali was quite a journey. We flew from Boston to Seattle then to Fairbanks. We spent the night in Fairbanks and took a five hour train to the park entrance. Cars aren’t allowed past the visitor center. To get to the lodge requires a four hour bus ride from the park entrance or a 1 hour bush plane. We took the bus in and plane out to get the full experience and I’m glad we did.

Lodging is limited in the park if you aren’t camping. We stayed at the North Face Lodge which is minimalistic. Each room has the essentials and nothing more. There is no wifi in the park or cellular connectivity anywhere. But the setting of the place, staff and food were truly fantastic. The days were magically long with 20 hours or more of full sunlight followed by a few short hours of dusk. We spent our days hiking and relaxing over a book after dinner. One of our most memorable days was getting away from a wandering grizzly bear.

Denali Park is absolutely stunning. I do not know how to adequately describe it properly and my photographs below do not fully capture the beauty of the place by any means. But one thing is for sure, Alaska has the most beautiful landscapes I’ve ever seen in the United States.

Denali 1.jpgDenali 1.5.jpgDenali 2.jpgDenali 3.jpgDenali 4.jpgDenali 5.jpgDenali 6.jpgDenali 7.jpgDenali 8.jpgDenali 9.jpgDenali 10.jpgdenali 11.jpgDenali 12.jpgDenali 13.jpgDenali 14.jpg

All photographs taken with a Hasselblad 503cw and Leica M3 and Kodak film. Other gear in my backpack here.