Alaska Outdoors

(A bumblebee probes a flower of self-heal (Courtesy Photo / Deana Barajas)

On the Trails: Interesting and overlooked summer flowers

We may neglect some lesser lights that are interesting in their own right.

 

Humpback whales roll with pectoral fins above the water, just outside Tenakee Inlet on July 18. (Courtesy Photo / Kenneth Gill, gillfoto)

Wild Shots: Photos of Mother Nature in Alaska

Reader-submitted photos of Southeast Alaska.

 

Neal Brown in 1967, holding his newborn son Kris. Brown accepts the Roger Smith Lifetime Achievement award in 2016 from Geophysical Institute director Bob McCoy. Brown in 2021, on an outing in New Hampshire with his dog Molly. Courtesy Photos / Kris Brown, Geophysical Institute, Becky Lees)

Alaska Science Forum: Neal Brown leaves legacy of learning and laughing

Brown never lost his child-like wonder about the world.

 

Fireweed flowers have narrow, dark pink sepals between the wide, paler-pink petals, possibly making an added attraction. (Courtesy Photo / Kerry Howard)

On the Trails: The making of a flower

Pistils at dawn.

Fireweed flowers have narrow, dark pink sepals between the wide, paler-pink petals, possibly making an added attraction. (Courtesy Photo / Kerry Howard)
Ben Gaglioti cuts into a dead Alaska yellow cedar tree near La Perouse Glacier in Southeast Alaska. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: The majesty and mystery of Alaska yellow cedar

‘One of the most enigmatic trees in Alaska’

Ben Gaglioti cuts into a dead Alaska yellow cedar tree near La Perouse Glacier in Southeast Alaska. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)
Eaglecrest Ski Area is working to improve its lower Nordic trails, hardening them to provide a better base for grooming equipment during the winter season, among other improvements this summer. (Courtesy photo / Charlie Herrington)

Eaglecrest uses summer to make widespread improvements

The ski area is making improvements for both summer and winter activities.

Eaglecrest Ski Area is working to improve its lower Nordic trails, hardening them to provide a better base for grooming equipment during the winter season, among other improvements this summer. (Courtesy photo / Charlie Herrington)
Tree trunks that La Perouse Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve ran over in the 19th century. (Courtesy Photo/ Ned Rozell)

Visit to glacier begins with wildlife encounter

Many bears, fallingf blue ice and a first taste of peanut butter for a thumb-sized bird.

Tree trunks that La Perouse Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve ran over in the 19th century. (Courtesy Photo/ Ned Rozell)
Lisa Stengel of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, weighs a halibut on Monday, July 12, 2021, at Coal Point Seafoods in Homer, Alaska, that she caught with a pole spear while free diving in Kachemak Bay. If verified, the 71.4-pound halibut would be the International Underwater Spearfishing Association world record for a Pacific halibut caught be a woman using a pole spear. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Florida woman sets record for halibut caught with a pole spear.

Stengel speared big halibut while free diving in Kachemak Bay.

Lisa Stengel of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, weighs a halibut on Monday, July 12, 2021, at Coal Point Seafoods in Homer, Alaska, that she caught with a pole spear while free diving in Kachemak Bay. If verified, the 71.4-pound halibut would be the International Underwater Spearfishing Association world record for a Pacific halibut caught be a woman using a pole spear. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Colorful pinesap stems rise up, flower buds still pendant; the plant lacks chlorophyll and depends on other plants for nutrition. (Courtesy Photo / Kathy Hocker)

On the Trails: No problem finding at least 3 interesting things on this trip

The sights and sounds on the Boy Scout/Crow Point Trail.

Colorful pinesap stems rise up, flower buds still pendant; the plant lacks chlorophyll and depends on other plants for nutrition. (Courtesy Photo / Kathy Hocker)
Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell The crest of summer warmth is near in Alaska. Many locales in the Last Frontier have their temperature peak in July.

Alaska Science Forum: The peak of summer warmth is near

Alaska is about to make a left turn toward winter.

Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell The crest of summer warmth is near in Alaska. Many locales in the Last Frontier have their temperature peak in July.
Backpackers often want seclusion and peace, but with a trail comes company and the perception of too many people. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)

I Went to the Woods: Can 2 things be true?

I want people to get outside and be heathy. But not where I’m going.

Backpackers often want seclusion and peace, but with a trail comes company and the perception of too many people. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)
Cooley’s buttercup is one of the early flowers to bloom on Mount Roberts. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)

On the Trails: Summer comes in Juneau

What a difference those 10 days made!

Cooley’s buttercup is one of the early flowers to bloom on Mount Roberts. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)
This photo shows wild flowers at Eagle Beach. (Courtesy Photo / Kenneth Gill, gillfoto)

Wild Shots: Photos of Mother Nature in Alaska

Reader-submitted photos of Southeast Alaska.

This photo shows wild flowers at Eagle Beach. (Courtesy Photo / Kenneth Gill, gillfoto)
This photo shows a musk ox in summer 2021 at UAF’s Robert White Large Animal Research Station in Fairbanks. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: The muskox’s odyssey from Greenland to Alaska

Have you herd?

This photo shows a musk ox in summer 2021 at UAF’s Robert White Large Animal Research Station in Fairbanks. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)
This photo shows the sunset from Garnet Ledge, in Alaska. (Courtesy Photo / Mary Catharine Martin)

SalmonState: A trip on the Stikine

By Mary Catharine Martin Each year, my partner, Bjorn, and I take a river trip. Parenthood (we have a 2-year-old and a 5-month-old) has also… Continue reading

This photo shows the sunset from Garnet Ledge, in Alaska. (Courtesy Photo / Mary Catharine Martin)
A bear cub perches high in a cottonwood tree.(Courtesy Photo / Kerry Howard)

On the Trails: Seeing bears and woodpeckers in the trees

Furry bears, hairy woodpeckers.

A bear cub perches high in a cottonwood tree.(Courtesy Photo / Kerry Howard)
Courtesy Photo / Ben Gaglioti A “ghost forest” exposed as La Perouse Glacier in Southeast Alaska retreated. In the past, the glacier ran over the rainforest trees. Two people are also in the photo.

Alaska Science Forum: A trip to a ghost forest of Southeast Alaska

“I am excited to see this wild country.”

Courtesy Photo / Ben Gaglioti A “ghost forest” exposed as La Perouse Glacier in Southeast Alaska retreated. In the past, the glacier ran over the rainforest trees. Two people are also in the photo.
Artist and UAF professor emeritus Kes Woodward in a stand of exotic trees on the Fairbanks campus. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: Visit to an exotic tree plantation in Alaska

The two-acre exotic tree plantation is part of a much-larger “boreal arboretum” on the UAF campus.

Artist and UAF professor emeritus Kes Woodward in a stand of exotic trees on the Fairbanks campus. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)
I have flies with barbell eyes, jig heads, cone heads, bead heads and no heads. I have flies with stinger hooks that trail and long-shanked salmon hooks that don’t. I have red, pink, salmon, fuchsia, cerise, purple, orange, flesh, green, olive, chartreuse, white and black flies made of feathers, chenille, hackle, marabou, flashabou and silicone. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)

I Went to the Woods: One good fish

Three is the magic number.

I have flies with barbell eyes, jig heads, cone heads, bead heads and no heads. I have flies with stinger hooks that trail and long-shanked salmon hooks that don’t. I have red, pink, salmon, fuchsia, cerise, purple, orange, flesh, green, olive, chartreuse, white and black flies made of feathers, chenille, hackle, marabou, flashabou and silicone. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)
A male western tanager’s red color comes by a different pathway than the yellow, although both are carotenoid pigments. (Courtesy Photo / Kerry Howard)

On the Trails: On tanagers and silverweed

We live near the northern limit of the western tanager range.

A male western tanager’s red color comes by a different pathway than the yellow, although both are carotenoid pigments. (Courtesy Photo / Kerry Howard)