Alaska Native Heritage Center

Alaska Native Heritage Center

Alaska Page

Stunning Alaska: Wilderness and Wildlife

The photos below are from a vacation I took to Alaska from May 15 to May 31, 1996.

Creek Street in Ketchikan, AK. This is the historic district in one of the southern most fishing villages in Alaska.

A Tlingit Indian Clan House.

Iceberg beached at low tide. This was at the entrance to the fjord made by Le Conte Glacier.

Le Conte Bay, glassy water reflects surrounding mountains.

Harbor Seals sunning themselves on an iceberg.

Le Conte Glacier, flowing down from the mountains and making icebergs where it hits the sea. The boat the Sheltered Seas (on which I was standing) broke ice to get to this point, about 2 miles from the face of the glacier.

Humpback Whale Tail.

Humpback Whale Tail. Note the white pattern on the underside, the pattern is different for each whale and can be used for itentifying individual animals.

Humpack Whale Back and Dorsal Fin.

Breaching Humpback Whale. This whale has most of its body out of the water (photo quality is not very good due to the distance from the animal...sorry).

"Flipper Flapping". This is the same whale as in the above photo, but he is on his back waving his flippers in the air, an uncommon behavior.

Blue Iceberg in Tracy Arm Fjord.

Close-up of above iceberg.

Waterfall in Tracy Arm. The green color of the sea water is caused by the freshwater river laden with silt flowing underneath the salt water. The river originates from underneath the glacier at the end of the fjord.

More Harbor Seals sunning themselves on icebergs.

Sea Otters in the water.

An Alaskan Sunset.

Bald Eagle carrying freshly caught fish, sitting on an ice covered lake between Fairbanks and Chena Hot Springs, AK.

Grizzly Bear Mother with 3 Yearling Cubs.

Hoary Marmot in Denali National Park. This animal is related to Ground Hogs and Woodchucks.

Dall Sheep in Denali National Park.

Caribou in Denali National Park.

Base Camp (at about 7200 ft altitute) for Mountaineers on Mt. McKinley (the highest peak in North America).

Foregrouond: Kim Gould, one of my traveling companions. Background: South Summit of Mt. McKinley, Highest Point in North America.

Glacial Crevasse, seen from small plane, over 300 ft. deep.

Meltwater Lake on top of Ruth Glacier. Blue color is from the blue ice underneath the lake.

All the photos on this page are © copyright 1996 by Elinor Gates.