Don't panic, this is where the story ends. I survived an evening of -40F and after a solid 2 hours sleep, it was time to get up and get ready for a day travelling up to the Arctic Circle.
Rainer of Alaska Wildlife Guide picked us up bright and early with the promise of a beautiful drive. He did not disappoint. I took hundreds of shots along the Dalton Highway which is the setting for the Discovery show, "Ice Road Truckers".
There isn't a lot to say, so I will keep this one short and stick mostly to photos.
Entering the Dalton Highway
Trees are heavy with snow
Really heavy
Natural, untouched beauty is everywhere
Beauty in the barren landscape
While it is true that we didn't make it to the sign indicating crossing over into the Arctic Circle, the drive was just beautiful. We went from early morning light into the usual everlasting sunrise, to heavy cloud and high wind, to driving snow. During the drive back though, the sky cleared, the sun was out and the clouds disappeared into perfect clear blue. What an experience!
Mountains clouded in the distance
Backlit trees with a sundog visible to the side
And here ends the story of my visit to Alaska.
I was still in town for a couple more days, but they were fairly relaxed and not a lot in the way of photography going on. I may add another part to display my Time-Lapse shots, but .. perhaps not. We shall see.
My future in photography is probably going to evolve in a different direction for a while. I still deeply enjoy landscapes but I have discovered that I enjoy building a shot as well. I don't know where that will lead but I suspect a future blog entry will contain some of those shots.