Stopping to Smell the... Blueberries

NorthernFocus

Everyone always talks about the fall colors in New England and on the Blue Ridge Parkway. And Colorodans love the golden groves of quaking aspen. Well we have our brief but colorful fall in Alaska too. The birch and aspen take on their golden hue while the understory and the tundra plants all turn red. It's just as colorful as elsewhere but much of it is on the ground in small bushes rather than overhead in trees.

The Denali Highway (not the park) is a 135mi. gravel road that runs between the towns of Paxon and Cantwell and connects the two main highways in the state. The road is closed to vehicles most of the winter. There aren't many roads in Alaska so this is one of the few places where you can use a vehicle to reach pretty remote territory.

We took a drive down a portion of the road this past Sunday to enjoy the fall colors, walk the dogs, and add a few berries to the larder. As indicated in the thread title, we took a little time to look at the little things along the way.

Nikon D200
Nikkor 105 VR macro and Nikkor 55-200 VR







When you stop picking berries and look around you, it looks like this:

swintonphoto

Wow, you are right - what spectacular colors. I have always wanted to visit Alaska. You make it even more tempting!
Lovely shots.

summerz

Beautiful.

NorthernFocus

Thanks for the comments. Johathan, if you can find your way up here it's worth the trip. I recommend June or September. If you're into snow then anytime from October through April works. Still snow around in May but it's getting kind of funky.

leaforte

The contrast of the MTS and MDWS in the last shot are spectacular.

Tango

nice

Awais Yaqub

Want to jump in there wow
when ever i see images like these i feel like i am flying and diving in there

NorthernFocus

Glad you folks enjoyed the images. They are woefully inadequate representations of the real thing. Nature is truly amazing and in Alaska she simply can't be ignored. It is very humbling to be a photographer up here. Heck it's humbling to be a human here...

Prezwoodz

Very nice set of images! John and I were just up climbing in Hatcher Pass yesterday and the blueberriers were everywhere. We had to keep faking injuries to stop and eat them. We mentioned taking pictures but we were to busy eating them all up! I am glad someone got some pictures

jthomas

Thanks for posting these. My wife and I drove the Denali Highway on July 18th and 19th. It's amazing to see the changes in just a few weeks. It seems like yesterday!

Lake Lady

These are simply beautiful. Down here in SW Georgia (USA), we have lovely color but it is more subtle.

NorthernFocus

Thanks for looking, folks. Glad you enjoyed.

coldclimb

They taste just as good as they look too! :D:D