Posted by Steve Luther on June 22, 2015 at 1:49 AM
Hi - this forum doesn't look very active from what I can tell but I thought I'd give this a shot. I'll be in Alaska in mid-late August, around the 17th to 27th, and wondering if anyone can give me ideas of good places to go for photography. I'm a big hiker/camper/outdoorsy type person. Flying in/out of Anchorage and will have a car the entire time so can travel - even long distances. I've never been to Denali before. I have backpacked in Wrangell St. Elias a number of years ago and also visited Kenai Fjords at times when I wasn't a photographer. Also have never done much in the Chugash mountains. Will wildflowers still be out that late? Will any fall color show that early? Thanks for any advice.
Alaska has way more to see & photograph than you can possibly accomplish in 10 days so you probably need to focus on a couple specific locations. The odds are that coastal areas will be rainy and foggy that time of year so you might want to focus on the interior for this trip. I would suggest saving Denali for the last half as you'll have a better chance at some decent fall colors. If you fly into Fairbanks (I'm assuming you're flying rather than driving up) instead of Anchorage you would be relatively close to the Airport when you got out of Denali Park. If you started in Fairbanks you could drive down the Richardson Hwy to the Chitina cutoff and drive the Chitina - McCarthy Hwy to the old Kennicott Mine sight. It`s a pretty wild area that follows the base of some of the largest mountains in the Wrangells (and Alaska). The down side of that drive is that it's all gravel road after you get to Chitina and most rental agencies have policies against off highway use of their cars. The alternative would be to go on down to Valdez and take your chances on the weather. The drive alone is more than worth your time anyway. If you end up on the Richardson Hwy and you're going back to Denali and Fairbanks you definitely should take the Denali Highway from Paxton Lodge to Denali Park. It's also a gravel road but the views are expansive and impressive.
If you go to Denali National Park you definitely should go to their Web site and familiarize yourself with their Park rules and transportation requirements. You would have to travel on their tour busses but they can drop you off most anywhere and you can catch another bus later. You can drive a little ways through to a campsite but that only covers a small part of the Park at the lower elevations (that's where most of the Moose tend to be that time of year though).
The Parks Hwy from Fairbanks to Wasilla is normally a gorgeous drive also but a whole lot of that area just recently burned or is currently burning.
I would plan your next trip for this time of year and do the coastal routes, including Kenai, Seward and the ferry ride from Whittier to Valdez. You could loop from Anchorage to Glenallen on the Glen Hwy, down the Richardson Hwy to Valdez, ferry to Whittier, Seward Hwy to Girdwood and finally back to Anchorage.
On your third trip you could fly into Fairbanks and drive the Dalton Hwy all the way to the North Slope and back.
There are all kinds of places to get off the highway and hike, camp, float and fish while you're taking photos no matter which route you choose.
Hope that helps you a little bit. If you have questions feel free to contact me.
Late August can be a beautiful time of the year and also a very wet time. That is a little early for fall colors though you may find some north of the Alaska Range. Still a little early for Denali colors. Fireweed will be turning red by then though, along with all the great mushrooms in the forest. As you know, its a huge state, and I see no reason to try and rush through it, you could spend your whole trip in Chugach State Park, outside of Anchorage. Its the third largest state park in the United States, plenty to photograph there. Also Portage Valley is an hour south and Hatchers Pass is an hour north, between those three places you could spend years exploring. I see no reason to drive any farther than that. Its also a great time to do some glacier exploring, like on the Matanuska Glacier.
Discussion
2 repliesHi - this forum doesn't look very active from what I can tell but I thought I'd give this a shot. I'll be in Alaska in mid-late August, around the 17th to 27th, and wondering if anyone can give me ideas of good places to go for photography. I'm a big hiker/camper/outdoorsy type person. Flying in/out of Anchorage and will have a car the entire time so can travel - even long distances. I've never been to Denali before. I have backpacked in Wrangell St. Elias a number of years ago and also visited Kenai Fjords at times when I wasn't a photographer. Also have never done much in the Chugash mountains. Will wildflowers still be out that late? Will any fall color show that early? Thanks for any advice.
Hi Steve,
Alaska has way more to see & photograph than you can possibly accomplish in 10 days so you probably need to focus on a couple specific locations. The odds are that coastal areas will be rainy and foggy that time of year so you might want to focus on the interior for this trip. I would suggest saving Denali for the last half as you'll have a better chance at some decent fall colors. If you fly into Fairbanks (I'm assuming you're flying rather than driving up) instead of Anchorage you would be relatively close to the Airport when you got out of Denali Park. If you started in Fairbanks you could drive down the Richardson Hwy to the Chitina cutoff and drive the Chitina - McCarthy Hwy to the old Kennicott Mine sight. It`s a pretty wild area that follows the base of some of the largest mountains in the Wrangells (and Alaska). The down side of that drive is that it's all gravel road after you get to Chitina and most rental agencies have policies against off highway use of their cars. The alternative would be to go on down to Valdez and take your chances on the weather. The drive alone is more than worth your time anyway. If you end up on the Richardson Hwy and you're going back to Denali and Fairbanks you definitely should take the Denali Highway from Paxton Lodge to Denali Park. It's also a gravel road but the views are expansive and impressive.
If you go to Denali National Park you definitely should go to their Web site and familiarize yourself with their Park rules and transportation requirements. You would have to travel on their tour busses but they can drop you off most anywhere and you can catch another bus later. You can drive a little ways through to a campsite but that only covers a small part of the Park at the lower elevations (that's where most of the Moose tend to be that time of year though).
The Parks Hwy from Fairbanks to Wasilla is normally a gorgeous drive also but a whole lot of that area just recently burned or is currently burning.
I would plan your next trip for this time of year and do the coastal routes, including Kenai, Seward and the ferry ride from Whittier to Valdez. You could loop from Anchorage to Glenallen on the Glen Hwy, down the Richardson Hwy to Valdez, ferry to Whittier, Seward Hwy to Girdwood and finally back to Anchorage.
On your third trip you could fly into Fairbanks and drive the Dalton Hwy all the way to the North Slope and back.
There are all kinds of places to get off the highway and hike, camp, float and fish while you're taking photos no matter which route you choose.
Hope that helps you a little bit. If you have questions feel free to contact me.
Steve,
Late August can be a beautiful time of the year and also a very wet time. That is a little early for fall colors though you may find some north of the Alaska Range. Still a little early for Denali colors. Fireweed will be turning red by then though, along with all the great mushrooms in the forest. As you know, its a huge state, and I see no reason to try and rush through it, you could spend your whole trip in Chugach State Park, outside of Anchorage. Its the third largest state park in the United States, plenty to photograph there. Also Portage Valley is an hour south and Hatchers Pass is an hour north, between those three places you could spend years exploring. I see no reason to drive any farther than that. Its also a great time to do some glacier exploring, like on the Matanuska Glacier.
Have a good trip.
Carl