Sportsmobile: British Columbia, Yukon, Alaska... July 2008
WARNING: First time poster to Digital Grin:
My wife went on a 5+ week, 8500 mile, excursion into British Columbia, the Yukon, and Alaska this past July on-board our 2007 Sportsmobile 4x4 van.
Having only enough personal resource to document and post this trip to one web location... I chose to to post this report to a forum specific to the make/model of our van... (accessible via link below):
Here are a few random pictures from this report in order to set some expectations...
Top Of The World Highway, our method of travel:
Valdez, Glacier Tour:
Thompson Pass, glacier runoff crossing a remote road.
Alaska Range, scenery:
Dalton Highway, Wild MuskOx:
Prudhoe Bay (the proof):
Atigan Pass, visiting Fox(es):
Haines Alaska Bald Eagle Preserve, Eagle(s):
Hyder Alaska, Bears Fishing:
I hope to dust off a few images from this awesome trip and submit them to the various forums here on Digital Grin.
Note: This report is a long read and is fairly image heavy... but what can I say...other than I want to go back to Alaska and do it all over again as soon as possible! :barb
Thanks for looking...
My wife went on a 5+ week, 8500 mile, excursion into British Columbia, the Yukon, and Alaska this past July on-board our 2007 Sportsmobile 4x4 van.
Having only enough personal resource to document and post this trip to one web location... I chose to to post this report to a forum specific to the make/model of our van... (accessible via link below):
Here are a few random pictures from this report in order to set some expectations...
Top Of The World Highway, our method of travel:
Valdez, Glacier Tour:
Thompson Pass, glacier runoff crossing a remote road.
Alaska Range, scenery:
Dalton Highway, Wild MuskOx:
Prudhoe Bay (the proof):
Atigan Pass, visiting Fox(es):
Haines Alaska Bald Eagle Preserve, Eagle(s):
Hyder Alaska, Bears Fishing:
I hope to dust off a few images from this awesome trip and submit them to the various forums here on Digital Grin.
Note: This report is a long read and is fairly image heavy... but what can I say...other than I want to go back to Alaska and do it all over again as soon as possible! :barb
Thanks for looking...
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Second off, WOW!!!! Great shots
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I just spent over an hour viewing and reading the form you left a link to in your original thread. This was an amazing trip. I strongly encourage you to post more shots from your trip!! The journey forum is designed for just that purpose.
If you (the reader) have not checked out Bruce's link you should really do so (IMO). The photos of the moose, sea otters, eagles and etc are amazing. Also the details of the trip, the maps, the take aways and charts really give you an idea on what it takes to do a trip like this.
Bruce, thanks again for sharing your trip with all of us and welcome to Dgrin!!
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To add a little behind the scenes info to my linked report…
While researching possible routes for our trip, I kept finding images of Moose wading in chest high water and foraging for underwater plant life (usually, with some spectacular backdrop). Even before we left our front porch in Washington State, I told my wife that I was not going to come back home until I had the opportunity to capture such a shot. To that end, we started to spot Moose on the fifth day of our trip as we traveled from Watson Lake, YT to Carmaks, YT while driving along the relatively remote Campbell Highway. I had been fortunate enough to spot one very large bull Moose in just the right photographic situation (light, backdrop, massive rack, etc…). As soon as I had spotted the Moose, I turned off the van (something that we had learned to do while stalking other animals) and I coasted down the road the length of a football field or more. The Moose was not visible from the unpaved gravel road due to the tall thick brush that lined the roadside. I quietly gathered my gear and slowly walked back to the area where I first glimpsed the Moose. As I parted the brush, the Moose was still there, pointed straight at me, and actively foraging the lake bottom only a weak stones throw from where I was standing. I never even had the chance to go for my camera when the Moose picked up on the fact that I was standing there (obscured by brush or not). It froze for a few seconds, focused intently in my direction, and then turned around and wasted little time exiting the lake and then stomping up the heavily wooded hillside trampling small trees and dead branches. It stopped a couple of times to look back for a few seconds… but for the most part he was not sticking around. This same failed stalking story occurred a few more times over the coming days. However, I learned a little more with each failed attempt… and I was ultimately able stalk grazing Moose without immediately spooking them. I never did get the shot that I was after… but I was granted the privilege to sneak up and observe a few of these plant eating giants just go about their business - all from a safe distance of course. Here are a few pics from different stalking episodes where the stalking worked… but the photo’s not so much. The real treat was just observing:
The only bull Moose I was able to capture (wild and unobstructed) was this Moose taken in a slightly more controlled environment (Denali National Park, taken from the park bus):
---Bruce---
My Content Home Base:... McCallum Racing Enterprises
Ha ha! You should come back and spend some time in my back yard. I have a cow and 2 calves that come here every day to eat my mountain ash trees. They really like the berries. And one time I caught them eating the grass clippings from my mulch pile from last summer! I never knew they would eat that!
Great Photos! That Eagle one is incredible! Great timing! Awesome trip!
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Talk about making an entrance!!
Absolutely beautiful images! For a brief moment, I was going to say something about the musk ox image looking a bit over-exposed and cold looking, but then my artistic side thankfully took over and told the rest of my brain to look at the beauty of the shot: It perfectly shows how cold it must be up there, even when the snow isn't on the ground. I love the shot, it's beautiful!
I've included the eagle shot, because I just wanted to see it up twice in the thread. Again, absolutely beautiful!!
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Thanks Lee.
This wild musk ox shot was hurriedly taken about 40 miles south of Deadhorse, Alaska. This subject was part of a larger group of about 15 or so animals and they were on the move and in a big hurry (as far as musk ox go). I was using a 400mm lens with a 2 x extender (shot at f5.6 @ 1/100 sec). The wind was blowing about 30mph, I was totally exposed with no wind break, and I was using a carbon fiber tripod (which was now doubling as a tuning fork). I tried to take a series of repetitive shots to see if could get lucky enough to convey motion with clarity… and while that really did not happen - this specific image turned out to be the cleanest of the bunch.
As for the eagle shot, this image was taken in the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve in Haines, Alaska. I patiently waited for about two hours to capture this image (400mm lens on a tripod, f5.6 @ 1/400 sec). This specific eagle would occasionally stand-up, stretch its legs, and then balance on one leg while putting the other talon out straight out front… as if performing a judo move. It was quite entertaining.
---Bruce---
My Content Home Base:... McCallum Racing Enterprises
Thanks Heather,
The moose were interesting. Out in the more remote/desolate places we visited in both the Yukon and Alaska, the moose were very spooked and they would not hang around long if they sensed that something was watching them (even at significant distance). That being said, my wife splurged on a B&B in Anchorage Alaska... where there was a wild female moose that often frequented the property. As luck would have it, the moose showed up while we were staying there. At one point while standing on a second story balcony, I could have reached down through the railing and tapped the moose on the head. I stood outside for a good hour, moose within 40 feet of me (completely aware that I was there), as I watched this moose graze on trees and shrubs before the neighbors finally went inside and this moose calmly wandered over to their property. This B&B was in a wooded neighborhood and there was plenty of human activity all around.
Here in Washington State, there are groups of Elk that frequent my property throughout the year. In contrast to the one moose we encountered in Anchorage, the Elk are far more skittish and they don’t hang around any one location near as long.
---Bruce---
My Content Home Base:... McCallum Racing Enterprises
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From there we flew out to a remote fishing lodge for a week before returning home.
Your photos are spectacular. I just wish they were larger.