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| Flower gardens line the banks of the Fraser River in Quesnel, B.C. 8/24.
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| I dunno, maybe I should have used this picture of Lake Lavoie. 8/26.
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| Fireweed (purple flowers) is one of the first plants to grow back where there has been fire. And almost every town up north has a street or two named for them. Near Vanderhoof, B.C. 8/27.
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| Mud Lake, northern B.C. 8/28.
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| Mural. Whitehorse, YT. 8/30.
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| "Whitehoarse" (In case I ever decide to add Canadian provinces & territories to my State-capitols project ...) Whitehorse. 8/30.
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| Evidence of previous fires - and new forest growth - can be seen in many places up north. Along the highway from Whitehorse to Dawson City, Yukon. 8/31.
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| Old-tyme buildings and dirt roads in Dawson City (home of the 1898 gold rush). 8/31.
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| Acres and acres of tailings - the leftover crushed rock from gold-mining operations - line the highway outside Dawson City. 8/31.
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| Gold Dredge #4, in operation as late as the 1950s, stands along the Klondike River. Dawson City. 8/31.
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| Fall colors in the tundra along the Top of the World Highway, Yukon. 9/1.
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| Every car in the north has an electric cord hanging out of the front — so on cold winter nights you can plug in the block heater under your engine that keeps your oil from freezing. Fairbanks 9/2.
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| Odds are good the gas in your tank passed thru the Alaska pipeline. The things sticking up in the air are radiators to keep the trusses cool; otherwise heat from the oil - which is warmed to help keep it flowing - would soften the permafrost just below the ground. Inset: Pipeline art. Near Fairbanks 9/3.
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| Denali Park dusk (the guy perched on top of his RV is looking for moose). 9/7.
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| Can never get enough aurora pictures. Denali Park, 9/7.
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| View an aurora animation!! (Shockwave required; you may be prompted to install). The sequence compresses just over five minutes of northern lights action into 16 seconds (about 20x). Hope you agree it was worth standing around the Alaska cold at 2 o'clock in the morning.
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| The Alaska state bird is neither the bald eagle nor (despite to what keychains sold in tourist shops will tell you) the mosquito; it's the ptarmigan. See its white feet & belly? As ptarmigans molt in the fall they replace all of their brown feathers with pure white to help them hide from predators in the snow. Denali Park, 9/7.
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| Denali Park, 9/7.
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| Not all wild animals appreciate having their picture taken. Denali Park, 9/7.
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| Denali reflected in a pond about 20 miles south of the park entrance; soaked my sandaled feet slogging thru a marsh to get this shot. Cantwell, AK, 9/7.
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| From the Denali flightseeing tour. I'm facinated by this view 'cuz it looks like we're low over some frozen highway — instead of over a glacier flowing 10,000 feet up in the mountains. 9/8.
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| Waiting for the bike path to clear. Anchorage. 9/9.
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| Dall sheep graze among the rocks above the Seward highway, a few miles south of Anchorage. 9/11.
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| Depending on your elevation in Denali Park you could see lovely fall colors ...
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| ... or a wintry pond on the same day! (9/15).
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| Another pic of our pal Boo-Boo. Denali Park, 9/16.
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| Mark G along Strelna Creek (Dixie Pass hike). 9/19.
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| Mark enjoys the snow in Wrangell-St. Elias (9/19) and the cinnamon buns in Seward (9/23).
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| View from the bow (Seward wildlife cruise). 9/23.
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| More fall colors ...
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| ... and yet more near the Exit Glacier. 9/24.
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| Bed and breakfast on the Homer spit (if you get tired of looking at the glacier, look the other way for a sanctuary full of sea otters & migrating waterfowl). 9/28.
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| Horse & rider along Bishop's Beach, Homer. 9/30.
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| Any objections to one more pic of that Kenai sunset? 9/30.
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| Almost looks like New England at the Gull Rock trailhead, near Hope, AK. 10/2.
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| The world's northern-most basketball court (the Inuit luuuuuuuv basketball). Barrow. 10/5.
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| Remember the tale of the Yukon hawk that led me to Pickhandle Lake? I lied, I did get one shot of him. 10/8.
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| Dine-in convenience at the Skagway hostel. 10/11.
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| Three different birds I met along the way. From left: Loon, Steller Jay, and ... I only ever heard of this fellow being referred to as a "camp robber," for they will visit your campsite, often in small groups, and attempt to shake you down for snacks.
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| I love the fact that the Yukon has to have two tourist slogans, one in English and one in French (the French caption reads, "North with a capital 'N'"; I guess the phrase "True North" doesn't translate). 10/11.
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| Traffic control on the cheap. Teslin, Yukon. 10/11.
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| The Inside Passage. 10/15.
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| Mother and child reunion. Vancouver Island. 10/16.
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