Denali National Park and Alaska!

On a slope above Tattler Creek,  37.5 miles into Denali National Park

I am amazed and overwhelmed by Alaska. The scale of the landscape is really beyond my descriptive abilities. You all need to go there and see it for yourself. I'll be posting more photos soon, but wanted to get a few up on the blog.

The alpine tundra we hiked across during one day of the class.

The tundra was still fairly brown looking from a distance because the spring was very cold, and the summer late this year. However, once in it one could see a host of flowers in bloom. Lousewort

View into Denali from Stony Point. To give you an idea of scale, look for the interpretive sign at the edge of the pullout from the road. 

Heather bells. Tundra plants hug the ground to stay warmer and out of the dry,  desiccating wind.

Alpine Rhododendrons- much smaller than those one might find in a garden.

Arctic ground squirrel keeping an eye on hikers passing by. 

This very low growing "shrub" is actually a willow.

Grizzly bear sow with two cubs, Denali National Park.

We spotted this female bear and her two cubs while in the van driving back to our campsite after a long day of looking a wildflowers. At first the cubs were crouched down, but soon started running around after their mom.

Bald eagle grabbing a fish out of Auk Bay, north of Juneau Alaska

This may be my favorite wildlife shot of all time. My friend Karen and I very were excited to see a bald eagle on the rooftop of a building near the docks in Juneau. I, of course, took way too many pictures of the eagle on the roof, on a light post, flying overhead, in really bad light. Little did I know that in the Juneau area Bald Eagles are about as common as ravens are, which is very common. I was delighted to get this shot a couple of days later of an eagle in a more natural setting than a rooftop.  More photos coming soon!