Separate thread from pics of driving the Dalton beyond the Arctic Circle. After staying another night in Fairbanks I drove back to Anchorage on Monday. The drive down was just incredible. Crystal clear all the way to Wasilla (there's some irony). Amazing views, watching break up actually happen and no tourists to be seen anywhere.

Break up is what we call spring up here when everything starts to melt and the ice on the rivers starts to break. I had been hating break up in Anchorage. All the snow that has been piled up for months starts to melt and the whole Anchorage bowl just turns into a big slush and mud filled gooey mess. But the trip down was fantastic, no crowds, no traffic and actually watching the transformation of the Nenana River was amazing.

Summers are amazing here, but I think I prefer late fall and late spring even more. You can actually see how Alaska changes during the seasons and there's no crowds or traffic to take attention away from the beauty around.

Overlook just after leaving Fairbanks. Fog lifting off the Chena River with the Alaska Range in the background.


Looking at the Alaska Range I thought to myself, "Holy crap I've got to cross back over that to get to Anchorage!" Then I thought, "Holy shit, the mushers in the Iditarod had to cross that on dog sleds!"


Denali from over 200 miles away.


Bridge over the Nenana River, yes the running water really is emerald green.


Looking down into the canyon. The colors of the green running water against the white of the ice was incredible.


Playing with the light.


Looking upstream.


This was really cool, a frozen stream coming out from underneath the railroad trestle emptying out into the Nenana River.


Close up of the stream emptying into the river.


Frozen in time.


One thing pictures can't convey is sound. Standing on the bank there's the sound of rushing water, huge chunks of floating ice crashing into each other, the sound of ice cracking as it breaks off. Then there was this, it literally sounded like a crack of thunder and this huge piece broke off from the bank and started flowing downstream.


That same piece floating downstream to join the ice dam.


The pedestrian bridge across the Nenana River at Denali Village. Yes, I had the whole bridge to myself, that will never happen in summer.


The power of the water is amazing in how it can move and uplift huge sheets of ice.


The colors were almost surreal.


Do we really need all the signs that the state highway department puts up along the Parks Highway reminding us that it is a scenic highway?


Along the Nenana River.


Just outside of Cantwell.


The view on the other side of the road. Denali doing what she does best, creating her own weather and hiding from us.


One last shot of Denali before getting back in the truck to finish the drive down to Anchorage.

The effect of this kind of beauty and solitude is amazing - several years ago I finished up a job early south of Seattle and drove to Mt St. Helens in early April - it was a beautiful Friday but well before normal tourist season - I saw a handful of cars during the drive but never saw a person at any of the stops I made. I enjoyed it as I new getting that kind of opportunity to enjoy it in silence was extremely rare.

That first pic looks like it was taken from somewhere right around Skinny Dick’s Halfway Inn.

quote:

Originally posted by Kravashera:
That first pic looks like it was taken from somewhere right around Skinny Dick’s Halfway Inn.

The first three pics were all taken in the same spot. I think it was in-between Fairbanks and Skinny Dick's. I have to say Skinny Dick's was kind of a disappointment (yes, the jokes write themselves). I'd heard about it for years so I had to stop. One very haggard barmaid and two locals sitting at the bar. I thought I heard banjos in the background. Maybe it's different in the summer.

That's amazing. That's one thing I miss about living that far out west (or that far out into mountain country?) - the way light and colors do what they do over distance.

Great pics!
I love Alaska during break-up.
It's simply amazing to see the landscape change and life spring back into action.

quote:

Originally posted by 2000Z-71:

quote:

Originally posted by Kravashera:
That first pic looks like it was taken from somewhere right around Skinny Dick’s Halfway Inn.

The first three pics were all taken in the same spot. I think it was in-between Fairbanks and Skinny Dick's. I have to say Skinny Dick's was kind of a disappointment (yes, the jokes write themselves). I'd heard about it for years so I had to stop. One very haggard barmaid and two locals sitting at the bar. I thought I heard banjos in the background. Maybe it's different in the summer.

I was there back in 2010. I would not be surprised if the barmaid and two locals were the exact same ones that I saw. It was...an experience.

thanks for sharing

Better check your river names.

I flew up from Fort Richardson to Fort Wainwright on a slick in early summer, mid '80s. We stopped for fuel at the Cantwell airstrip and had lunch there. Great burger and the best blueberry pie and ice cream I've ever had. The blueberry fields were out behind the café. Some pilots preferred Cantwell to Talkeetna.

Very nice. #4 is the Park Highway Bridge over the Nenana River, and the railroad also passes under it. In 2007 I rode the train and got 7 or 8 photos of that bridge.

flashguy