Kenai Mountains Backpacking

Fishing in Seward

I went fishing for Pink Salmon and had some good luck.  One evening, Krista and I headed into town to fish at the mouth of the Resurrection River.  In a matter of an hour I caught five Pinks.  A fine Alaskan day.  (August 2008)

Homer, AK

Kachemak Bay

Krista, her Parents and myself on the end of the Spit

Kenai Mountains from the Homer Spit

Iliamna Volcano, near Katmai NP

Kenai Fjords

Stellars Sea Lions

Humpback Whale

Orca hunting (notice the tilt of the dorsal)

Northwestern Glacier

Hanging glacier near Northwestern

Iceberg in Northwestern Fjord

Male Orca

Female Orca 

Orca breaching (it breached twice in succession)

Splash

Fishing the Kenai River

Trying my luck again for some Reds

A young brown bear

Trying a new spot; still no luck

Harding Ice Field Mountaineering

Traveling to "The Mole" to attempt Camels Hump (left of center)

Kenai Mountains from atop Pk. 5007

Self portrait en route to Pk. 5007

Harding Ice Field Nunataks

Climbing Camels Hump (this slope was 60 deg.)

Approaching the base of Camels Hump (3 A.M.)

Camels Hump from "The Mole". Our route is the left hand face (w/bergshcrund)

The expanse of the Harding Ice Field (30x50 miles)

Traveling in a whiteout

A chilly morning on Camels Hump

DRIVING THE AL-CAN HIGHWAY

Well, Krista and I are in Seward, AK once again (after 5 long days of driving)...

We began our drive in Tacoma, but had a layover in Bellingham to visit with my friend Josh. The next morning we were off and headed north. Smooth sailing the entire day. Made it all the way to Prince George and stayed the night in an RV campground. After some breakfast at Tim Hortons (my goodness do Canadians love Tim Hortons) we were on our way yet again. This time our goal was the small northern BC town of Fort Nelson. We made it with time to spare and spent the night at yet another RV park (this one far crappier and more ghetto that the last). Let me just say that northern BC is quite boring. The terrain is VERY flat, with lots of trees. Day three was a solid 11 hour driving day to Whitehorse, in the Yukon. This day we also saw quite a bit of wildlife including: Bighorn sheep, blacktail deer, caribou, elk, moose, buffalo, and a bald eagle, oh and partridge in a pear tree. So far we had been driving at least 60 or 65 miles per hour, I mean 100 to 110 kilometers an hour. Day four shut that trend down. The road conditions had been excellent (bone dry), until a little ways outside of Whitehorse, then the fun began. Snow+ice+road=SLOW. The road was coated in snow and ice. And yes, it was extremely slippery. With only all season tires, we were forced to 30 mile an hour crawl for hundreds of miles. Our day four destination, Tok AK. (Pronounced Toke). Day 5...about 20 miles outside of Tok, the check engine light came on. As you can imagine, I was not pleased. Fortunately, it was nothing and we were able to proceed at 30 miles an hour over ice glazed roads. Finally at Glenallen the roads cleared and we drove the final 5 hours to good ol' Seward. We were met by 6 foot high banks of snow surrounding base camp, but thankfully, our boss had already cleared a pathway. So, there it is. We're in AK, we'll be here until October, then back to WA. Here's some pictures to explain everything I just said.