Alaska Road Trip May 1 to June 20

[carld]

I'm back from Alaska and trying to put a few pictures together. The total trip was 6 weeks, from Plano TX, through Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana, British Columbia, Yukon, and Alaska. I took the Alcan Highway to Alaska, and on the way back I took highways BC 37, 16 and 97 down to Winthrop WA and and then to the Washington, Oregon and California coasts and head back across through Lake Tahoe NV , Moab UT, Lake City CO, Santa Fe NM, to Plano TX. A total of 13,300 mi, 770 gal of gas, at $2,100, and got an average of 16.8 mi/gal. The routine was get up about 7 am, fix coffee and breakfast, drive about 250 miles a day stopping at the sights along the way, and some times end up at a micro-brewery for an early dinner and after head to the nearest camp site. My wife flew to Anchorage and we spent 12 days driving through Talkeetna, Denali, Fairbanks, Paxson, Anchorage, Soldotna, Seward and Homer. It was helpful to have a plan ahead of time, but sometimes I improvised. For example in AK, YT, and BC there are gravel pits used to maintain the roads about every 20 miles that make excellent places to stop overnight without having to pay for a campsite. In Winthrop WA, the kid washing glasses at the bar said “You can camp behind the ball field, the restrooms are open and no one will bother you there. We don’t have police here.” And a uncrowded place in CA was a free Red Mountain BLM recreation sight up a rough road west of Ukiah CA which I shared with some ATR and dirt bike enthusiasts until evening. Here are some pictures starting with some campsites.

 

[carld]

Here are some pictures from Alaska

 

[Stalking Light]

Very nice, thanks for sharing.

 

[carld]

Here are some pictures on the way back

 

[carld]

I started a new hobby on this trip, night sky photography.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Thanks for posting your trip.
We have about 4 weeks until we start out Alaska trip.
Your photos have upped our excitement for the trip.
Unlike your trip we will use the ferry system so we have more time to drive in the Alaskan areas we will be in.
Hope you will post more trip photos.
Frank

 

[takesiteasy]

Sounds like an epic trip! Some great photos- love the Devil's Tower night pic. Thanks for the report.

 

[Cayuse]

Gorgeous photos! Sounds like a great trip!

 

[ski3pin]

Some day, maybe some day. Everybody says we should................

in the meantime, thanks much for sharing your trip!

 

[carld]

Oh I forgot to mention. Late in the evening looking for a campsite south of Crescent City CA, I drove to the beach with NO CAMPING signs. I saw people down the beach so I threw her in 4-wheel drive and head out only to make it about 100 yards and getting stuck in the sand. After about an hour of work putting drift wood under the wheels, some observers mentioned "did you let air out of the tires". I have E rated tires with 45 to 50 psi of air, so in desperation I deflated them to 20 psi and made a run for the road. The truck popped up no problem. I drove back into town and found the nearest micro brewery, Port O'Pints Brewing Co. After some fish and chips and a couple of pints I noticed RV's parked on the streets, so I found a place behind a truck trailer. All night long I heard trucks and trucks breaking, so in the morning after breakfast at McDonalds and airing up my tires at Les Schwab Tire Center, I went back to see where I had spent the night. It was on the exit ramp off the 101 next to a bunch of motels. The Les Schwab guy told me I could of parked in their parking lot no problem. What a great trip! Here are some more photos.

 

[N'kwala]

Really enjoyed the photos. Thanks.

 

[longhorn1]

Carl, Looks like a fun trip. Thanks for sharing your trip and the great photos. What type of camera did you shoot the night photos and what settings? Thanks. jd

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Carl,you had quite an adventure. Thanks again for sharing.
Did you get to all the "micro breweries" that you had on your itinerary?
We are about 4 weeks from "launch" and starting to get some last minute things ready.
I like your collection of NPS brochures. Over all the years I have managed to collect many that we still have.Usually pass them on to other camper/travelers we talk to while out on a trip.
Post more pictures when you can.
Sure is great to see them.
You got some good MPGs on the trip.
That's about what I get with my 02 Tundra also.
Frank

 

[mitch h]

Looks like you had a great trip. Thanks for the pics. I also like the Devil Tower shot. I have a good daytime shot with flag, we will have to go back someday and get a night one. Thanks Mitch

 

[carld]

I posted to the forum a question about "what is the good inexpensive camera for night time pictures?" The answer was http://www.lonelyspeck.com/how-to-make-an-amazing-photo-of-the-milky-way-galaxy/ . I looked at there recommendations and bought a Sony Cyber-shot RX100 III from Amazon for $650 plus case for about $50. It has and equivalent (to standard 35 mm) f1.8 24 mm to f2.8 55mm (3x zoom), full manual 20 mega pixel raw mode. It also has built in wifi to download camera apps like time laps and blue sky, remote control from phone, and down load jpeg from camera to phone camera roll. I have the raw pictures, but most were adjusted using the Adobe Light Room app free for my iPhone. I also used the PhotoPils and Sky Guide iPhone apps to predict when and where the Milky Way would be, mostly around 3 am in the morning and fortunately after 3 or 4 beers in the evening I had to get up and go out side.

Now I have a bigger problem. I'm looking at the Sony a7s, with a f1.4 14mm lens and I'm back in Texas 3 weeks and itching to get back to Colorado next week. Unfortunately the new moon passed yesterday.

 

[carld]

Frank,

I know you'll have a good trip. Its a little past salmon season there now, we were there just for the Halibut. Back in 1966 my dad drove our family of 6 in a chevy suburban with a 16' trailer from Santa Fe NM to Fairbanks. We went back on the ferry system and I remember its a great trip, it maybe better now. We slept below deck in the trailer. That was 50 years ago.

Carl

Oh I forgot to mention. I got to Anchorage 2 days before my wife was scheduled to arrive so I headed up to Talkneekna and was hanging out at the Denali brewery restaurant (they move the brewery down the road a couple of years ago). I walked around town, out to the river, over the railroad bridge and back. Check out Aurora Dora place, she does some amazing astro photography. I climbed Denali back in 2012 and knew that the place to hang out is the Fairview Inn. When I got there at the bar it was pretty dead. Then after a while I was talking with two guys that had just attempted Mt. Hunter, but were stopped because the snow was too soft. Then at around 11:00 pm all the locals started to filtering in. It was like being in the bar seen in Star Wars, really crazy. After one too many I waked back to the camper crawled inside folded out the couch. The next morning I walked down to the Roadhouse for breakfast. You got to go there, sit at the community tables and be hungry or share.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Thanks for the food tip,Carl.
I plan to fish while there,but not interested in that "combat" style of fishing.
Hope to hit some small lakes and streams.
Frank