Yikes!

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Photos, Travel 9 Comments

Snow

This photo was on the card in my back-up camera, a camera I didn’t need on this trip.  I do remember taking this photo before leaving on this trip.  This is a snow storm raging outside our front door; you can see the door frame on the edges.  Normally I keep a path shoveled down to the street out front, but the snow was filling it in so fast that I said forget it and took a picture instead. 

Finding this photo kind of reminded me of my film days when a partial roll would get left in a camera after a trip, only to be developed weeks or months later.  It would often be a nice surprise.   

I must admit, after a couple months in the warm desert, this scene looks completely foreign to me right now.  I have often said that during the summer in Alaska, I have trouble even remembering what winter is like, and in the winter, summer seems equally inconceivable.  I remember enough to know I am very excited to be heading back to Alaska  for summer!  Here are more Alaska photos.

Good Bye Alaska Winter

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Chugach, Photos, Travel 5 Comments

Alaska Winter

Looking into the Chugach National Forest near Seward, Alaska.

We are hitting the road today with mixed feelings.  I must admit, it is kinda tough to leave Alaska this winter because it has been such a beautiful one.  I don’t know how many feet of snow we have received, but it is many, and now the days are getting longer, it is really nice here right now!

But, it is really nice in the desert right now as well.  It sounds like it is going to be a good year for desert wildflowers, and we are going to enjoy the warm weather!

We break our travel up over two days, and then have a couple of days visiting family and getting everything together, so we should be arriving in Anza-Borrego State Park south of Palm Springs, California by Friday.  Many people have asked, and yes I will definitely be providing plenty of desert wildflower updates, including the locations of the best blooms here on the blog. 

We plan to spend a month in the Borrego area – the lower Sonoran Desert blooms first, and then we will move to Arizona to a place outside of Phoenix for another month – hopefully hitting that bloom at the perfect time as well.

Northwestern Fjord, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Kenai Fjords, Photos, Travel Leave a Comment

Northwestern Fjord, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska

Kayakers in Northwestern Fjord, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

As you head into Kenai Fjords from Seward, Aialik Bay is the first fjord you come to.  But they next bay over, Northwestern Fjord, is even more spectacular in many ways.  Northwestern has more glaciers, and almost no vegetation, it is a very harsh, raw environment.

This is Northwestern Glacier from a few years ago.  A few years before this, there wasn’t any rock showing between the legs of the glacier, it was all solid ice.  Now that the rock wall is exposed, this south facing glacier is really melting fast.

Kayaking in Kenai Fjords

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Kenai Fjords, Photos, Travel 10 Comments

Kayaking in Kenai Fjords

Kayaking in Pedersen Lagoon, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

A kayak is a great way to get around Aialik Bay and Pedersen Lagoon.  This was a little early in the season – the icebergs are a little thick by the entrance at this time of year making it a little tricky picking your way through the maze – tricky but fun!  As the summer continues, it get easier.

There are numerous beaches for camping all around the bay, and the Park Service has food storage boxes at most of the best beaches, so you don’t need to worry about lugging bear proof food containers.  The one thing you do have to worry about it the unpredictable weather.  Short sleeve days like the one pictured aren’t very common.