Planetary Twilight

Jupiter and Venus shining bright after sunset as twilight takes over on a cold, cold night on Murphy Dome. The "blue hour" lasts a very long time in the interior of Alaska for most of the fall, winter, and spring.

Sea Otters

Sea Otters on an iceberg in Columbia Bay.

Leaves

Near Ammonoosuc Falls in New Hampshire.

August - Mt. Shand

The south face of Mt. Shand (12,660 feet, 3859 meters) in the Alaska Range. That's about a mile of vertical, exposed rock.

Seeing the Light

Spruce forest, low sun, ice fog. Suggested Prints: 5"x10" or 10"x20" Metal

Under the Ice

July - The Columbia Glacier

And many, many icebergs. Prince William Sound - Alaska.

Wildflower Stream

We stumbled on this really beautiful stream up above the Canwell Glacier in the Alaska Range. It's too bad that it turned out to not get us where we wanted to go, but it was a nice distraction.

Ammonia Leaching and Donoho

The ammonia leaching plant at the Kennecott mine in the Wrangell St. Elias National Park. Donoho Peak is towering over it on the right, the icefall flanks of Mt. Blackburn lurk in the background.

Suspended

Rocks on the surface of College Glacier.

Sea Lions

Glacier Island near College Fjord

Winter "Sunrise"

Taken at 12:30 in the afternoon one fine December morning. Around the winter solstice we don't see the Sun from our house. It stays just below the base of the trees. There is enough light that we do get some fine "tree glow" for a few hours though.

Snowshoe Hare

Cat spotted this snowshoe hare while we were on a walk today, so I took some photos of it.

Glacier Basin

Mountains covered in ice and a dusting of fresh snow in the Trinity Basin, high up in the Alaska Range.

Ice Wall

Little Grebe Family

Horned Grebes at Peat Ponds. Goldstream Valley - Fairbanks, Alaska.

Reflected Birch

Narrow slits of golden light.

Columbia Glacier

Columbia Glacier from Columbia Bay (Prince William Sound) in the Chugach Mountains.

Canwell Cascade

Waterfall into a channel on the Canwell Glacier in the Alaska Range.

Mountains, glaciers, and moraines

Evening light hitting peaks in the Alaska Range. Black Rapids Glacier

The Road Home

A small moraine on the Black Rapids Glacier in the Alaska Range.

Black Rapids

Water running on the surface of the Black Rapids Glacier glistens in the evening light shortly before sunset.

Gabriel Icefall

Gulkana Glacier - Alaska Range

Aurora Borealis

Northern lights over boreal forest in Fairbanks, Alaska

Great Horned Owl

Through the channel

Remnants of an ice cave on the Castner Glacier. Now it's just a giant arch.

Caribou Prance

Falls

Beautiful water - Prince William Sound

Corona

Fang Mountain

Looking over some open holes in the Savage River toward Fang Mountain.

Autumn in Denali National Park

Mountains south of the Park Road in Denali National Park and Preserve. "Rivers" of yellow wind through the red foliage and "lakes" of green spruce dot the hillsides. I have yet to find a place that I would prefer to be in autumn, even though the season here is incredibly short. The splendid colors only hang around for about a week before the deciduous leaves fall, followed shortly by the snow.

Ballaine Reflection After Sunset

Silhouetted boreal forest and reflection at Ballaine Lake - Fairbanks, Alaska

New View

Aurora borealis from our front deck. Fairbanks, Alaska.

Grizzly Bear - Denali National Park

The brown bear paused from eating soapberries to look around before returning to the river. I can't believe how beautiful, almost human, it's eyes were. This really wrapped up a fantastic bus trip into Denali National Park.

Iceberg

A lone iceberg in Prince William Sound near Glacier Island and the Columbia Glacier.

Northern Lights Spiral

Northern lights spiral

Autumn's Winter

An early snowfall fell in September of 2013 in Fairbanks. The foliage was just coming into peak and the oranges and yellows were beautifully covered in a bit of white. I would not mind if snow fell every year on autumn leaves.

Cold Morning

Supraglacial stream on the Canwell Glacier. We had a beautiful hike in, then it started raining. When we woke up there was a dusting of snow on the tent and the air was crisp.

Ice Texture

Great detail in ice near the Sanctuary River in Denali National Park & Preserve.

Waterfalls into the Sound

Here are more waterfalls into Prince William Sound near Valdez.

Rainbow

A bright rainbow in the Donnelly Flats just north of the Alaska Range.

Harbor Seal

Harbor Seal on an iceberg in Columbia Bay.

Eating With Mom

Moose grazing in the water - Chena Hot Springs State Recreation Area

Ptarmigan

In mixed winter/summer plumage. Denali National Park

August - cow moose

Evening meal time in Denali National Park. I took over 30 photos of this mama and her calf feeding on willows, and then the calf nursing right in the middle of the Park road.

Spruce and Birch

Mid-afternoon light hits the treetops in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Dall Sheep Climbing

Dall sheep near the Polychrome Overlook in Denali National Park & Preserve.

Columnar Ice Crystals and Hoarfrost

Columnar ice crystals in a glacier cave - Castner Glacier.

Toughing it Out

I woke up and it was -35° F at the house. The redpolls managed to devour two whole feeders worth of seed yesterday, and they are on track to do it again today. Lucky for them, it looks like today is the last cold day in the forecast - we're looking at possible temperatures over 60° [F] warmer! And Spring is right around the corner!

It's A Twister!

Aurora borealis over the Chena hills from the Angel Rocks Trail. Chena River Recreation Area, Alaska

Goldstream Valley Aurora

Watching the aurora down in the Goldstream Valley. Lights from the homes on the hill, some purple at high altitudes, brilliant night!

Ptarmigan

Sitting in the brush under some willows at Polychrome Pass.

Magical Forest

The aurora borealis dances over a boreal forest in Fairbanks, Alaska. Blog: http://lwpetersen.com/photo-blog/week-northern-lights-wouldnt-quit/

Surface Streams

On the Worthington Glacier in the Chugach Mountains.

Face-Off

A young Dall Sheep stares down two Gyr Falcons that just disturbed his grazing at Polychrome Pass in Denali National Park & Preserve

Dall Ram

On Mt. Margaret near the Savage River.

Go vertical

Then northern sky just erupted behind those smaller structures in the band. This was the best early morning aurora I've ever seen!

Caribou Running

Beautiful Valdez

Steller Sea Lions

Backyard Aurora

The northern lights just a few yards away from our cabin.

New stream

On the Black Rapids Glacier in the Eastern Alaska Range. Eventually the slushy blue streaks in the snow from a few days before this gave way to water channels in the ice beneath the surface. Sometimes they find old channels from previous years, sometimes they don't. In the summer of 2014 we spent two weeks camped on the glacier and had to cross many of these streams. It was still early in the melt season which meant that there weren't any moulins yet to drain the water for the surface. This meant that to get across the glacier we had to jump over many of these streams, a handful of which were quite wide. My knees would often be swollen and sore at the end of the day. I was always more comfortable jumping to my dominant, right leg, but when I didn't mix it up I paid for it later. I started jumping all the small streams to my left leg, and only to my right if there were consequences for missing a jump.

Bubbles in ice

Methane bubbles trapped in the ice on Smith Lake - Fairbanks, Alaska.

September - The view from US Creek Road

Taken during a late autumn drive into the White Mountains of the Alaska Interior for a dayhike. The White Mountain Recreation Area is incredibly remote, but littered with trails for hiking, snow machining, and skiing. Bordered by the Steese and Elliot Highways the rest of the 1 million acre rec area must be accessed by a handful of mining roads and by trail.

Forest View

Granite Tors

Walking across the tussock-filled tundra, every once in a while we would kick up a flock of swallows. This was taken as we were walking back to our campsite after wandering around the ridge for a while. What a wonderful way to end a long day of hiking! The Granite Tors is a really awesome place; a 15 mile loop trail that is accessed from Chena Hot Springs Road.

McGinnis Peak - Fresh Snow

In the short summer, water scours the glacier surface creating a ripple-like surface on the ice going down-glacier. At the end of the season, when the first major snow falls the rough surface becomes once again smooth. This was taken at the end of the day when I could really see the shadows from those ripples. It kind of looks like little waves on the glacier.

Auroral Corona

Not a minute after that eruption on the horizon this auroral corona danced overhead and seemed to last for a really long time. Usually only appearing for a few seconds, I think I had about a minute of shooting this one. In the center you might be able to make out the big dipper, but the stars were pretty dim compared to the northern lights that night!

Sedge darner

A male sedge darner (Aeshna juncea) on bird vetch (Vicia cracca). Vetch is an incredibly invasive plant species in the Alaska Interior. It's kind of pretty, but it chokes all native plants, including tree saplings and spreads like crazy. The dragonfly is just pretty, enjoy it!

Mountains and Glaciers in the Alaska Range

In the last year I've spent a little over a month on the Black Rapids Glacier in the Alaska Range. This was by far the best weather day I had - it's too bad we were just flying and not camping, because it was perfect! A foot of fresh snow and blue skies. Waiting for ski season.

Beneath the Ice

Hoarfrost and columnar ice on the ceiling of a glacier cave under the Castner Glacier.

Silent Taiga

Snow-covered spruce on the UAF trails near Ballaine Lake.

Eagles

At the Solomon Gulch Hatchery in Valdez, Alaska.

Spruce

Stand of spruce on Murphy Dome, looking into the Chatanika Valley.

Always So Many Streams

There were quite a few large streams to cross on the Black Rapids Glacier this year with absolutely no englacial drainage to help calm the water at the surface. At least they are pretty to look at. The channel here was quite a bit deeper and wider than it looked and this little island of ice with the precariously balanced boulder proved to be a useful crossing point.

Sea Lion Yoga

Steller Sea Lions rest in the outflow at Solomon Gulch into Port Valdez.

June - Ice and Water

Surface stream near a moraine on the Black Rapids Glacier in the Alaska Range.

Moose

I had the sneaking suspicion that I was being watched . . . Wandering around the Alaska Dog Musher's Association trails, in part of Creamer's Field. Fairbanks, Alaska.

Meadows Over Exit Glacier

The higher you go on the Harding Icefield Trail, the better the views seem to get. It's a long way down to the crevassed Exit Glacier. Kenai Fjords National Park.

Fear

Juvenile bald eagle breaking up the seagull party on the water.

Dall Sheep

Dall sheep grazing near Polychrome Pass in Denali National Park & Preserve.

Caribou

Near the Primrose region in Denali National Park.

Dall Ram

Dall Ram on Mt. Margaret in Denali National Park

Hoary Marmot

Near Polychrome Pass in Denali National Park

Castner Glacier Ice

Dead ice along an old moraine from the Castner Glacier in the Delta Range - Eastern Alaska Range

Caribou in Fall Colors

Near Stony Hill in Denali National Park & Preserve.

Bright Moon and Aurora Borealis

Aurora shining in the bright moonlight over a snowy spruce forest in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Sea Otters

Columbia Bay

Melt

Waterfalls along a cliffside looking up at the Worthington Glacier

Dall Sheep

Dall sheep between Polychrome Pass and East Fork in Denali National Park.

Eagle Tug-Of-War