iPhoto bookmaking review

On Friday, I finally gave my mother her Chanukah present—a 20-page book of photos I took on our cruise and bus tour of Alaska in 2009.  She had printed off all of my blog posts about Alaska as a keepsake, and this seemed like a far better answer. It only took me about 2.5 weeks to [...]

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Here and there

A few great finds on Flickr today. First, this photo by orange plastic catches the Snowpocalypse swirling past the lights that usually shine on the Wrigley Building. Photo geeks should check out the modified ziplock bag that orange plastic used as poor man’s blizzard protection for his camera. Then, check out these amazing photos of Alaskan wildlife.

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Other Alyeska travelers

Cuz in Alaska Rafting.  Probably Mendenhall?

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Lessons learned from a first trip to Alaska

(And I would sail 500 miles, and I would sail 500 more . . .) We left Denali by train, taking a scenic railroad car with a glass top to Fairbanks, our last Alaskan stop.  It was just a place to sleep for us:  We were on an early morning flight back to Seattle and [...]

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Reindeer hot dogs!

I nearly forgot to mention my best new junk food discovery in years—and the highlight of land-based Alaskan cuisine–reindeer hot dogs.  (Also reindeer sausage, which tasted exactly the same to me).  I discovered them first at the concession stand at the Alaska SeaLife Center and later at the concession in Denali National Park.  Boy were [...]

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Last Looks at Denali and the Ranger of the Lost Art

When we got back from the natural history tour, we had only a couple of hours left before the train ride to Fairbanks—and the end of our tour. I used the two hours to do two things:  (1) go to the bookstore to pick up souvenirs, and (2) take one last walk on the trails [...]

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Primrose Ridge

Beautiful!

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Touring the taiga

  The Denali Natural History Tour took us through the boreal forest, or taiga – which we were told repeatedly means “land of little sticks” in Russian. White spruce dominate, and you find lots of low shrubs and berries—blueberries, crowberries, wild rose, and lowbush cranberries.  Other trees include black spruce (in areas with poorly drained soil), [...]

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Denali National Park: Getting Down the Road

  There’s only one road into Denali National Park.  It’s 92 miles long, traveling mostly west from the Visitor’s Center, and, after mile 15, it’s closed to private vehicles.  Based on my experience, I’d say that you should plan to camp somewhere inside the park, to do some off-trail hiking, and to spend at least [...]

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Rangers’ Walking Tours in Denali

Denali National Park is beautiful and wild.  But unlike most parks in the lower 48, it’s a bit of a challenge to immerse yourself in it fully if you aren’t up for off-trail hiking.  There are very few trails, and most of the ones that do exist begin and end not far from the park [...]

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