Denali HWY @en
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Denali Highway again…
Mino arrivée sans encombre comme prévu le 6 août, je pensais que nous irions vers le sud découvrir la péninsule du Kenai. Les prévisions météos très pluvieuses pour cette région nous ont fait changer d’avis. Nous sommes ainsi retournés au Hatcher Pass d’abord, puis le long de la Denali Highway où le soleil devait être plus présent…
1. Jolies fleurs de la toundra alpine…
2. … où cohabitent quantité de plantes basses…
3. … parfois fleuries.
4. Belle vue depuis un sommet au dessus de notre campement au Hatcher Pass.
5. Le soir suivant, à l’extrémité est de la Denali HWY.
6. Petit lac avec une lumière matinale assez grise…
7. Miroir…
8. En marchant vers un sommet alentours, une jolie fleur bleu pétrole.
9. Depuis en haut, la vue vers le nord est splendide.
10. Quantité de petits lacs parsèment la toundra.
11. Le lendemain, nous marchons plus de trente kilomètres pour découvrir le Sevenmile Lake, retiré et sauvage.
12. Coincé entre deux plis montagneux, il s’étire sur une bonne dizaine de kilomètres.
13. Rafraîchissement..! 😉
14. Sur le chemin du retour, petit panoramique du Glacier Lake qui joue le miroir à nuages.
15. Plus loin, quelques autres gouilles sans nom sous un ciel d’averses.
16. VivaLaVida sur la Denali HWY.
17. Une ondée passagère un peu plus loin…
18. En empruntant la Maclaren Road, une piste latérale quasi inutilisée, nous apercevons Monsieur Castor.
19. Intrigué par la présence de VivaLaVida, il s’approche pour voir si cet intrus en veut à son territoire. Il tapera quelques grands coups de queue pour nous faire comprendre qu’ici, c’est chez lui !
20. Nous trouvons un campement avec une vue plongeante sur la Maclaren River…
21. … qui méandre dans la plaine.
Suite à venir bientôt… 😉
East Denali HighWay & Valdez (AK)
The Denali Highway is definitely not a highway, it was in poor condition and it took me almost the full day to drive the seventy remaining miles of dirt.
1. Glacial plains make the rivers meander.
2. During my lunch stop, I first saw the mother ptarmigan…
3. … then some of its progeny. Two months after birth, they have grown and are about half their adult size.
4. Wide glacial valleys offer great views.
5. Getaway on a side track.
6. There to, there is nice flowers.
7. Near the East Junction, the view opens on the Alaska Range.
8. A weather opening allows me to see off one of the highest mountains in that range, Mount Hayes, which rises to over 13,800 feet above sea level.
9. Light patch…
10. Clouds arrive…
11. Boondocking on a hill in the tundra.
12. Given the bad weather announced, I continued the road to Valdez. The road ends here!
13. The mouth of Valdez Glacier Stream is a real birdhouse for bald eagles! I observed more than thirty of those, awesome! Here is one that comes…
14. … and lands not too far on a hunting spot. I crawled 300 yards in the mud to get closer… 😀
15. Returning, I see fresh grizzly tracks.
I talked to a local who stopped to see VivaLaVida and he tells me that this place is frequented by many grizzlies, especially late in the day for a good reason. This place is close to a salmon hatchery. And as you probably know, after a 4-year cycle, to reproduce, salmons return to their birthplace. Here, they try to go upstream in a nearby river but are blocked by a waterfall and remains between the bay and the waterfall. While this is only the beginning of the breeding season, there were already thousands of salmons crowded into this little river and bears have understood that it’s easy to catch food up here to make their required reserves for hibernation.
So I decided to wait a moment and I was lucky… 😉
16. A male probably 4-5 years old arrived on the scene and catched a first salmon without waiting!
17. He repeated the operation 6-7 times, not leaving much to the seagulls quickly ready to steal the remains. It was funny to see the bear trying to scare thoses when they came to close. 😀
18. I’m only about 12 yards away and enjoy the spectacle!
19.
The grizzly is not the only one to take advantage of the opportunity; This sea lion is also hunting. He catched about 12 salmons in about half an hour!
20. Eyes still dazzled by this show, I went to sleep at the bottom of the glacier.
21. The rain fell again, moisture was probably at 100%, giving an atmosphere of rainforest…
22. To complete this update, a small iceberg rather aesthetic in layers of mist…
Way back from Valdez and McCarthy Road to come in a few days.
Thank you again to follow us with as much fidelity! 😉
Clearwater Mountains (Alaska)
As in Yukon, there are very few roads in Alaska. Planing to visit Denali National Park after the arrival of Mino who will travel with me some weeka since August 6th, I drove the Denali Highway that connects Cantwell to Paxson. From there, I could access the Clearwater Range, accessible through two long and bumpy old mining roads.
1. The tree limit is still at about 2,200 feet elevation here, over it’s the tundra with many lakes and ponds…
2. But there is life despite the hard climate…
3. Denali Highway.
4. Taïga…
5. VLV plunges in the mountains on an old mining track.
6. Caribou in full moult, to far unfortunately.
7. Yes, it is there I’m going! 😀
8. Mosses and lichens sometimes have bright colors.
9. The sky is quite heavy by time…
10. … but sometimes some rays pierce.
11. Rivers are beautiful…
12. … but sometimes overflow!
13. VLV will travel more than 500 yards without seeing where he puts the wheels ..! 😀 And will wet the bumper as some places were quite deep…
14. Meanders in the plain…
15. Above, the river forms splendid marsh.
16. And I’m Lucky to get some light…
17. Late afternoon atmosphere near de small pass where I slept.
18. Lupines in early morning light…
19. This valley end is really gorgeous.
Vivalavida then left the Clearwater Range and went further on Denali Highway to the east. Coming Soon…
D5 Creation