21 October 2008
Obama's Travel Plans
If I were him, I'd come back from Hawaii via Alaska, where I'd hold a rally in Wasilla.
Labels: alaska, hawaii, obama, presidential, travel, wasilla
06 August 2008
LAST ALASKA PICS!
Why am I shouting? (ALL CAPS!) Because I think I've finally uploaded the last of the Alaska pictures, only, what?, six?, seven? weeks after we got home.
"Good things come to those who wait."
For all of you who've looked at these, please accept my deep and sincere gratitude. It was a wonderful trip, and it's been my/our pleasure to share what are only tidbits of it with you. If ever the opportunity presents itself to go to Alaska, I very highly recommend it. In fact, let me be presumptuous and say that you would be well-advised to go out of your way to make that opportunity happen.
Last pics, from my iPhone, in the stream here.
Last full set, our last day around Anchorage, here.
Example pics?
Anchorage Visitor Center:
Everything is big in Alaska:
"Good things come to those who wait."
For all of you who've looked at these, please accept my deep and sincere gratitude. It was a wonderful trip, and it's been my/our pleasure to share what are only tidbits of it with you. If ever the opportunity presents itself to go to Alaska, I very highly recommend it. In fact, let me be presumptuous and say that you would be well-advised to go out of your way to make that opportunity happen.
Last pics, from my iPhone, in the stream here.
Last full set, our last day around Anchorage, here.
Example pics?
Anchorage Visitor Center:
Everything is big in Alaska:
Labels: alaska, anchorage, mac, mack, mckinley, visitor center
03 August 2008
Anchorage Pics
The penultimate set of Alaska pics is up here, on Flickr. Not as many this time, as we were having a great time bicycling around Anchorage. Here are some representatives:
Anchorage from the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail
Sunset (11:38 p.m., ADT)
Anchorage from the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail
Sunset (11:38 p.m., ADT)
26 July 2008
Barrow, Alaska, Pics
I finally got the pictures from our day in Barrow, Alaska, online. Barrow is the northernmost community on the continuous western hemisphere land mass. (I'm pretty sure there are Inupiat communities on islands that lie further north of Barrow in both Canada and Russia.) It was one of the most interesting places I've ever been.
We were there on 12 June 2008, just a little over a week until the solstice. The sun had been up since April, would stay up until August. Even though the solar azimuth was changing, the elevation stayed pretty constant, and there was hardly any change to the quality of light over the course of our day. We were actually very lucky from a weather point of view: Sunny and in the 40s.
The whole set is here. Here's a couple of examples:
The frozen Arctic Ocean as seen from the air:
Bicycle on the tundra at the coast with frozen ocean in the background:
Us at Point Barrow, northernmost point on the contiguous Americas:
It's hard for me to explain why this mattered so much to me, was so interesting to me. I think it has something to do with looking out from the edge, from a different edge than the one I'm used to.
There's also photos from the Inupiat Heritage Center. Below are some videos Mack shot there of Inupiat people's dances. Check out the drumming.
Young girls dance:
Young men dance:
Men dance:
I'm sorry that I can't tell you the stories that go with the dances.
We were there on 12 June 2008, just a little over a week until the solstice. The sun had been up since April, would stay up until August. Even though the solar azimuth was changing, the elevation stayed pretty constant, and there was hardly any change to the quality of light over the course of our day. We were actually very lucky from a weather point of view: Sunny and in the 40s.
The whole set is here. Here's a couple of examples:
The frozen Arctic Ocean as seen from the air:
Bicycle on the tundra at the coast with frozen ocean in the background:
Us at Point Barrow, northernmost point on the contiguous Americas:
It's hard for me to explain why this mattered so much to me, was so interesting to me. I think it has something to do with looking out from the edge, from a different edge than the one I'm used to.
There's also photos from the Inupiat Heritage Center. Below are some videos Mack shot there of Inupiat people's dances. Check out the drumming.
Young girls dance:
Young men dance:
Men dance:
I'm sorry that I can't tell you the stories that go with the dances.
Labels: alaska, arctic, barrow, inupiat, northernmost, ocean, point
11 July 2008
Alaska Pics, Day N
I've lost track of how many sets of Alaksa pics I've posted, but I know there are three days worth to go after these that I posted today. Samples from today's set from our full day in the Fairbanks area, where we went to The Museum of the North and Chena Hot Springs include...
Moose on the way to Chena Hot Springs:
Alaska-Siberia WWII Lend-Lease Airway Monument:
Moose on the way to Chena Hot Springs:
Alaska-Siberia WWII Lend-Lease Airway Monument:
Labels: alaska, chena hot springs, fairbanks
06 July 2008
Kantishna to Fairbanks
Finally got through this set (of which there were over 500 originals). Yikes!
Example A, Moose in Denali:
Example Z, Mack and I in Fairbanks, a little past midnight the same day:
In between, more animals and more train.
What an incredible place!
Example A, Moose in Denali:
Example Z, Mack and I in Fairbanks, a little past midnight the same day:
In between, more animals and more train.
What an incredible place!
Labels: alaska, fairbanks, kantishna, railroad
04 July 2008
Woo Hoo. More Alaska Pics Online.
Got another day's worth of photos uploaded today. They're in this set.
By the way, there are many ways to look at the Flickr photos. You can click each one in the photostream, each one in the set (here's all my sets so far, can see a slideshow of the set (here's the slideshow for the set I just uploaded) or of the whole stream (that slideshow), etc. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. You can also search by tags.
Here's a pic of Mack and me from today's upload:
There's also this collection of all the sets from the Alaska trip.
By the way, there are many ways to look at the Flickr photos. You can click each one in the photostream, each one in the set (here's all my sets so far, can see a slideshow of the set (here's the slideshow for the set I just uploaded) or of the whole stream (that slideshow), etc. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. You can also search by tags.
Here's a pic of Mack and me from today's upload:
There's also this collection of all the sets from the Alaska trip.
Labels: alaska, Flickr, mack mckinley, pictures, tim wilson
29 June 2008
More Pics! More Pics! More Pics!
The hits keep coming, folks. Just uploaded this set of photos from our Sunday, 8 June 2008, hike up Busia Mountain near where we were staying in Denali. Hope you enjoy.
Here's our hiking group with a caribou antler:
Please check 'em all out!
Here's our hiking group with a caribou antler:
Please check 'em all out!
Labels: alaska, busia, kantishna, mountain, pictures
28 June 2008
More Alaska Pics
New set uploaded, here. Pics of Saturday, 7 June 2008, when we road into Denali National Park for our stay in the Kantishna District.
Here's Denali / Mount McKinley:
Also, be sure to check out the moose cow with calf photos:
Everybody say, "awwwwwww."
Here's Denali / Mount McKinley:
Also, be sure to check out the moose cow with calf photos:
Everybody say, "awwwwwww."
Labels: alaska, denali, kantishna, moose, mount mckinley
26 June 2008
Getting Alaska Pics Online
I've managed to get two sets of Alaska pics up so far.
The first has been up for a few weeks; it's from my solo day hiking in Anchorage. Here's Flattop Mountain.
The second is of our trip from Anchorage to just outside Denali National Park on the Alaska Railroad. Here's our train approaching the trestle over Hurricane Gulch.
Oh, man, the trip was fantastic. Go check out both sets, and stay tuned for more. Be patient, though, because I'm wishing I'd've relearned some photographic discipline before the trip. (You can easily choose the best out of three photos of one subject, but choosing the best out of ten is tough!)
The first has been up for a few weeks; it's from my solo day hiking in Anchorage. Here's Flattop Mountain.
The second is of our trip from Anchorage to just outside Denali National Park on the Alaska Railroad. Here's our train approaching the trestle over Hurricane Gulch.
Oh, man, the trip was fantastic. Go check out both sets, and stay tuned for more. Be patient, though, because I'm wishing I'd've relearned some photographic discipline before the trip. (You can easily choose the best out of three photos of one subject, but choosing the best out of ten is tough!)
Labels: alaska, flattop mountain, hurricane gulch, photos, railroad
23 May 2008
More on Alaska
16 May 2008
Travel Planning
Next month, Mack and I go to Alaska, a trip we've wanted to make for a long time. The itinerary has just fallen into place, finally, today.- Monday, 2 June: I fly to Anchorage, getting in late. We're using points to go first class. What a concept.
- Wednesday and Thursday, 4-5 June: I attend and present our ERAU team's UAS work at the CGAR meeting.
- Thursday, 5 June: Mack flies in, first class. I know, we're spoiling ourselves here.
- Friday, 6 June: We take the Alaska Railroad, north to just outside Denali National Park and Preserve. We'll spend one night outside the park at the Denali River Cabins. The same folks own the place we'll be staying within the park.
- Saturday-Tuesday, 7-10 June: We stay in the backcountry of the park at the Kantishna Roadhouse. Three days on the north side of Mount McKinley. Should be pretty cool. Besides hiking and wildlife observing, we hope to do one of the glacier landings with a "flightseeing" plane.
- Tuesday, 10 June: Take the train from Denali to Fairbanks.
- Tuesday-Thursday, 10-12 June: We'll be staying in Fairbanks, but hope to hit the Chena Hot Springs Resort for most of the day on Wednesday.
- Thursday, 12 June: This is still tentative, but the plan is to fly to Barrow from Fairbanks, spend the day there, then fly to Anchorage that night. We had wanted to stay in Barrow overnight, but you can't get a flight out until the evening, and we weren't quite sure what we'd make of two full days in Barrow. Still, I hope to put my toes in the Arctic Ocean.
- Thursday-Saturday, 12-14 June: Spend some time in and around Anchorage. Maybe take a day cruise or something.
- Saturday-Sunday, 14-15 June: Fly back to Florida, uh, first class. All those Northwest miles from when we lived in Memphis are finally paying off!
Labels: alaska, anchorage, barrow, denali, fairbanks, railroad, vacation
