Trip Overview

This epic photo tour begins in Fairbanks, in the heart of Alaska’s interior. We’ll  hit the road the morning to drive south from Fairbanks into the Alaska Range. Fairbanks is a few hours north of our destination by car, but it’s a beautiful, winding drive through boreal forest-covered hills and along big, glacial rivers. Along the way, we will keep our eyes peeled for wildlife and landscape compositions as we drive.

At the community of Delta Junction, we will turn due south, the Alaska Range looming closer. The views grow bigger with each passing mile until we reach the mountains themselves. In the core of the range, we’ll find our home for two nights at a remote lodge.

With a full day to explore in the Alaska Range and enjoy the wild country surrounding the lodge, there will opportunities to hike, and of course make images of nearby mountains like Rainbow Ridge, Summit Lake, the Gulkana Glacier, and eastern Denali Highway. We will spend the bulk of the day outdoors, enjoying our surroundings. The extended morning and evening hours mean long hours of beautiful light, and we will make the most of them.

From the Alaska Range, we will continue south into the Copper River basin. As we descend, following the Gulkana River, the forests again grow dense, and distant views of the Wrangell Mountains appear to the southeast. By early afternoon, we’ll drive up Thompson Pass, one of the most dramatic stretches of road in Alaska. At the top, we will stop at Worthington Glacier, where we can get up close to the ice, and melt-water lake below. Another 30 miles will put us in the coastal, fishing town of Valdez where we will spend three nights.

On one of our two days in Valdez, we’ll take an all-day boat trip out to the nearby tidewater glaciers, where with some luck, we can watch ice calving and crash into the water below. Calving glaciers or not, there will certainly be wildlife. Stops at nesting bird colonies assure great opportunities for bird photography, and Humpback Whales, seals, otters, and even orcas are also likely.

The second day in Valdez is set aside for explorations. The landscape is so dramatic and variable that it’s important to have an unscheduled opportunity to hike and explore and search out the best compositions we can. From tumbling waterfalls to glaciers, to wildflower meadows and rugged coastline, there are limitless options. Between shoots, we can walk the small town, visit the local museum, or amble the harbor where fisherman will be returning with the day’s catch.

We’ll depart Valdez, not in the car, but aboard the Alaska State Ferry. Over the course of the day, we’ll cross almost the whole of Prince William Sound between Valdez and Whittier. To call the voyage scenic is an understatement, as blue water, and big mountains surround us on all sides.

In Whittier, we will drive through the famous Whittier tunnel and out the other side, into what feels like a different world. Whittier is only an hour from Anchorage, but we’ll be turning our wheels south toward the town of Seward, where we will stay for two nights.

Our full day in Seward will be spent aboard a small, six-passenger boat. The perfect platform to photograph the abundant marine life, tidewater glaciers, icebergs, whales, seals, and otters of Resurrection Bay and Kenai Fjords National Park. In the evening, we’ll have time to photograph at Exit Glacier, walking the two-mile round-trip to the glacier overlook, where the blue ice of the glacier is just a stone’s throw away.

On our final day, we’ll take our time getting back to Anchorage. In the morning, we can visit the Alaska Sealife Center, a research and conservation facility, before heading north back up the Kenai Peninsula. After stops for a picnic lunch and wildflower photography at Turnagain Pass, we will arrive in the ski town of Girdwood. There we will ride the tram to the top of the mountain where we’ll have a final dinner at the famous Seven Glaciers Restaurant. Excellent food, a truly remarkable wine list, and even better views make for a perfect wrap-up for our journey across Alaska! (Assuming, of course, you can keep your hands off your camera long enough to eat.)

After dinner, we’ll head back to Anchorage, arriving in the city at about 8 pm.