Alaska 2004
Chocolate Lily; Fritillaria camschatcensis
Ken and I visited Alaska in June 2004 to celebrate our 24-1/2 wedding anniversary (I don't think we would have seen quite so much if we had gone 6 months later!). This plant is the lead-in for the Alaska site because it required a tremendous amount of effort to find it. I have never worked so hard to see a flower in my life! When we were told it was "just a short way" up the Skyline trail in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge I was anxious do the hike to find it. However, the lady at the Refuge Information desk didn't tell us that the trail went STRAIGHT UP! I found the wilted flowers at about 3/4th mile up the trail. Later, at my cousin's house in Kenai, he told me that the flowers grow in his neighborhood! I found this plant growing across the street on the bank of the Kenai River! When people ask me if the flowers smell like chocolate, my answer is, "Not like it does when it goes in!" The other common name, "Outhouse Lily", is pretty descriptive of their distinctive fecal odor! These stinky flowers are pollinated by flies and beetles. (story)
There were nearly as many dogs on the trail as people going up to Flattop Mountain! I'm checking out another tiny wildflower along the trail. photo by Kenny Light
Alaska Spirea; Spirea beauverdiana
These plants were blooming on Flat Top Mountain in the Chugach Mountains outside Anchorage. Spireas often have an unpleasant odor, which is probably why there are flies on these flowers instead of bees!
I was amazed one morning to look out the window of our room at the bed and breakfast in Seward to see this blanket of fog hanging over Resurrection Bay. In 1964 this tranquil bay was the scene of a tragic and devastating tsunami due to the Good Friday earthquake.
Western Columbine; Aquilegia formosa
These bright red and yellow flowers add a splash of color along the woodland trails. I found these on the Harding Ice Field Trail in Kenai Fjords National Park. I have seen these beautiful flowers blooming in Olympic National Park in Washington.
Portage glacier can be seen in the distance. It is interesting to see the small icebergs floating in the lake. Note the "U" shaped valleys that have been cut by the glaciers.
This photo was taken about 5:00 p.m. as we were flying over the Chugash Mountains on our descent into Anchorage. Note the glaciers, the one in the middle is a tidewater glacier. Glaciers move slowly but constantly, the ice at their base grinds the bedrock into a powder as fine as flour, in fact, it is called "glacier flour".
A Moss gentian with Kenny's finger as scale. This little plant was only 3/4th inch tall!
I was delighted to see these beautiful little white lilies blooming on Flat Top Mountain on June 20. It was our first hike in Alaska.
The Savage River is as far as visitors can drive their personal vehicles in Denali National Park. This was the only day we got to see the spectacular views, 3-1/2 days of the 4 days we were in the park we couldn't see any of this view due to the smoke from the wildfires northeast of Fairbanks.
Exit Glacier's cravasses at Kenai Fjords NP
This glacier is just a small part of the massive Harding Ice Field. Cravasses form because the ice is moving slowly, causing cracks.
has a very narrow range of temperatures that it can live in. The warmth of a human hand will kill it! These interesting little animals eat single-celled algae and pollen grains that get trapped in the ice. This picture was taken at the Portage Glacier Visitors Center.
in the Chugach State Park is a very popular trail among the Anchorage locals and tourists alike. The day we hiked it was the first clear weekend of the summer and it was packed with hikers and mountain bikers! Park rangers closed the parking lot when it filled with 250 cars!
Moss Gentian; Gentiana prostrata
It would be easy to overlook these tiny blue flowers, they are less than an inch tall!
Alpine Azalea; Loiseleuria procumbens
Flat Top Mountain towers above Anchorage offering fabulous views both on the trailsides and far in the distance. We saw 52 different wildflowers on the trail, including these beautiful little Alpine Azaleas. Many alpine wildflowers grow close to the ground. From the higher parts of the trail we could see the snow-capped volcanoes Mts. Spurr, Iliamna, and Redoubt across Cook Inlet, and the Alaska Range.
This sign in Kenai Fjords NP shows how much the Exit Glacier has retreated since 1978. You can't see this and not believe that there is something to global warming!
Exit Glacier at Kenai Fjord NP from the overlook on the Harding Icefield Trail. The glacier has been receeding up the valley over the decades. Many of Alaska's glaciers are suffering the same fate. map...
It may look like an animal has died here and spilled blood, but this is actually a type of red algae that grows in the snow. We saw this at Kenai Fjords National Park.
The view from Flat Top Mountain is worth the long, rocky hike. On a clear day Denali (a.k.a. Mt. McKinley) and Mt. Foraker can be seen from about 250 miles away! Note the two white mountains on the horizon in the middle of this picture, Denali is on the right. "Denali" is the Athabaskan Indian name meaning "The Great One", it is well-named! The white rectangle below the Blueberry Loop trail on the middle hillside is the parking lot for the trail. map...
Alaska Cottongrass; Eriophorum scheuchzeri
The fuzzy white seedheads of these plants are easily spotted along wet areas.
Alpine Hawksbeard; Crepis nana
This tiny wildflower was blooming near the Matanuska Glacier. It is in the Aster Family.
Kris with wildflowers at Kenai Fjords National Park
The wildflowers along the Harding Ice Field trail were quite varied depending on the terrain. I enjoyed seeing these blue Lupines, red Western Columbine and yellow Paintbrush flowers. We were really surprised to be able to wear shorts in Alaska! The area was suffering through a heat wave when we were there, it got up to 90 degrees on the Kenai Peninsula. The locals were miserable!
The blue ice of the Exit glacier in Kenai Fjord National Park.
We later learned that the Skyline Trail is one of the steepest trails on the Kenai Peninsula with an elevation gain of 2000 feet in 3/4 mile! Thank goodness it wasn't wet! The bluish-green color in the upper right corner is a small lake. The purple flowers are Wild Geraniums. We made sure to make a lot of noise by talking or whistling to let our presence be known to any moose or bears that might be nearby.