Panorama Base Camp 8000 ft, Alaska Photo by Barry Epstein
Airplane on Glacier, Alaska Photo by Barry Epstein
Sunflower, Talkeetna, Alaska Photo by Barry Epstein
Alaska Mountain Range, Alaska Photo by Barry Epstein
moose on the side of the road. At the end of the road we entered the single lane Whittier Tunnel- the longest combined rail and highway tunnel in North America. After an amazing boat cruise on a rare sunny day, we got close and personal with two tidal glaciers and saw numerous and quite spectacular alpine glaciers.
We were told to keep an eye out for beluga whales in the Cook Inlet on our drive along the Seward Highway from Whittier Northeast towards Anchorage. They said that the whales follow the salmon that comes in with the tide in the early evening. Although we didn’ t see any whales during the hour drive at dusk, we did watch several surfers that were literally riding the waves of the incoming tide as it swiftly moved in from the ocean around Turnagain Arm. We did, however, bypass Anchorage and drove directly North to the very the very fertile Matanuska Valley with an overnight stay in the town of Palmer. About mid morning, we got a call from the Air Taxi in Talkeetna to tell us to drive up the 2 hours right now as there was a break in the clouds and we were scheduled to fly into the Alaskan Mountain Range and land on a glacier. We were so excited to hear this news as we had planned to stay two nights in Talkeetna with the hope of getting to see the mountains.
After driving due north to Talkeetna, a small town with spectacular views of the Alaska Range including Mount McKinley, we hopped on a flight-seeing tour. This was a thrilling escapade as we were flown in a small bush plane
BARRY STEVEN EPSTEIN- PhotoAutobiography DRAFT 131 of 156