Skolai Images

Hey Folks

Well, I’m here in Anchorage, after a long trip, and glad to be here. Anchorage is such a cool town, and I look forward to getting to know it a bit better. With all the time I’ve spent in Alaska over the years, I’ve not spent much of that time in Anchorage, and so don’t know too much about it. I do know that traffic is a hassle, as I was reminded yesterday afternoon when I arrived. (more…)

Hey Folks

Well, well, well .. times have indeed changed. I’m currently sitting in the plush surroundings of the Princess Cruise Line Copper Center Lodge. I’m sitting in the ‘Wrangell Room” appropriately enough, gazing out one of the 15 twelve foot-high windows, across the Copper River Basin, where I can see Mt Drum, Mt Sanford and Mt Wrangell. If for some reason I took it upon myself to stand up, out of my comfy swivel chair, I could also see Mt Blackburn to the south. An impressive view. (more…)

Hey Folks

Well, I finally made it to Wrangell - St. Elias National Park, and it sure feels good to be here again. I arrived at the park’s northern entrance, at the small community of Slana, and drove the Nabesna Road into Jack Creek, where I made camp. Since then, I’ve poked around a little, hiked up Caribou Creek (I often wonder if anyone has ever done an accurate, or even inaccurate, count of how many “Caribou Creeks” there are in Alaska - I’m guessing over 100!), and also spent some time yesterday talking with a ranger and some other local people to gain a little more perspective and insight on the park. Today I would like to do another hike, and then hope to meet and talk to Michale Quinton, a National Geographic staff photographer who lives near the Park entrance at Slana. (more…)

hey Folks

Well, I made it. Many, many miles of sitting behind my steering wheel finally got me up to Alaska. And whata gorgeous day it is to arrive. This morning, as I made my way through the final couple hundred miles of the Yukon Territory, I saw moose, tundra swans, grizzly bears and a coyote. I managed to take a few images of the coyote, and also the bears as they grazed on the wildflowers and grasses. I saw a number of black bears in western and northern BC, but no grizzlies. Grizzlies are SO cool, it’s always a treat to see them, (more…)

Hey Folks

This is probably my lastpost from here in Jasper - well, maybe .. we’ll see about that. I’m expecting to scoot on outta here tomorrow, and head overto nearby Prince George, to meet some friends of mine there, then hit the long road up to Alaska. As much as I love Jasper, I haven’t had a great deal of success here this summer. Once again, I arose at 4am, headed for my planned destination, and waited and waited in the cold morning air for the sunlight to strike the peaks. The sky was relatively clear, and there had been no breeze at all down at camp. (more…)

Hey Folks,

Another bird! I haven’t had much luck with the weather for shooting landscapes, but I’ve been fortunate to get a few bird photos instead. This bald eagle photo was taken along the Athabasca River in Alberta’s Jasper National Park, just north of Banff, Canada. After a crappy morning (I was minutes late to Moraine Lake for sunrise, and missed the VERY brief glow of good light on the peaks there by mere seconds), I took off again and headed north, this time to Jasper National Park, one of my favorite places. (more…)

Hey Folks

Hola, from the road. I’m currently in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. I love this part of the world, but I don’t enjoy the crowds. I had to come in to the town of Banff today, to check some email, and do some errands. I can’t wait to finish, and get back out into the mountains. The crowds here drive me crazy. The traffic is insane, made worse by a bunch of road construction being undertaken right now. (more…)

Hey Folks

Today is the last day of my tenure here in Atlanta, GA. Tomorrow morning I venture north, and west, to Alaska. I’ll be working, as usual, as a backpacking guide in Alaska, running trips for my company, Alaskan Alpine Treks. However, this year, come fall, I won’t be returning to Atlanta. (more…)

Hey Folks,

Moose are one of my favorite subjects to photograph. It never ceases to amaze me at how enormous they are. From a distance they look “big”, but as I approach and get close to them, their size just blows me away. A big bull like this can stand 7′ tall at the shoulder, and weigh up towards 1800 pounds in their prime. I found this particular bull moose in Denali National Park, and I was able to spend quite a bit of time in the area, photographing him. The light and weather was almost always uncooperative for me, (more…)

Hey Folks,

Here’s the last of my series on the Arctic national Wildlife Refuge, for now. I’d like to write some more about the place, but will do that later. I wanted to post this because I read somewhere the other day that because the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is not a pristine wilderness, we may as well go ahead and drill there. What so often is forgotten or neglected is that much of the disturbances to the pristine nature of the land here are a function os previous oil exploration. Out on the coastline, the tundra is littered with signs and debris of oil exploration. Whilst I was hiking one afternoon, I counted over 300 empty oil barrels lying on the tundra in one very small section of coastal plain. (more…)