Click here to see the complete photograph: Harbour Mist by Miggy Wild
In February, member Paul Brewerton gave a presentation on his trip made with his wife to ‘Alaska and the Yukon’. Starting with a boat trip and sunrise at 4.30am up the Prince William Sound, we were treated to fascinating photographs of Orca killer whales, sea otter, humpbacked whale, sea lions, seals, Horned Puffin, and beautiful blue-hued ice floes. Further along was the Drunken Forest, made up of the four main species of trees growing there in spite of the permafrost – Black Spruce, larch, willow and aspen. Places visited/seen along the way were the Alcan Highway, Carcross Town, White Pass Railway, the railyard terminus at Skagway, with its old and impressive black and red engines, the Klondike Gold Fields Mine, the Chillkoot Pass and then on to the Yukon River.
Passing the Five Finger Rapids, wonderful autumn colours were seen in the Alaska Rift Valley. From Midnight Dome, the boat moved along to Dawson City, the former capital city of Yukon (now Whitehorse), then to Bonanza Creek where the great gold rush started. Diamond Tooth Gertie’s Saloon was an interesting sight, with colourfully dressed can-can dancers, as was the river crossing on the Yukon Ferry. We were shown an oil pipeline from Prudoe Bay to Valdiz, which is resistant to seismic shock due to its zig-zag design, and some fascinating images of Iditerod dogs and their breeding kennels, a Chum salmon smoke house, and a stunning Chief’s mink, beaver and ermine coat (valued at some US$80,000!). From the train from Fairbanks to Anchorage, Paul and his wife alighted at snow-dusted Denali National Park. Mt. Denali, formerly Mt. McKinley, is the highest mountain in N. America, standing at 20,368 ft asl. There, they saw moose, snow, ptarmigan changing into winter plumage, eagles, and bears!
This was a well-recorded trip with photographs showing the breath-taking beauty and vastness of the Alaskan landscape, accompanied by charming images of the wildlife there, all of which delighted Paul’s audience.
The Society’s next Club Night is on 1 March, when Robert Harvey will give a presentation on ‘By The Sea: The Wild Edge of Britain”. The Workshops on 15 February, “Basic Computing for Photographers” (Windows based), will be led by John Prentice, and on 15 March, “Table-top Photography”, will be led by member Martyn Pearse. All meetings start at 7.30pm, and are held in the Cartwright Hotel, Aynho. Everyone is most welcome to attend, so please come along and meet us all.
Wendy Meagher
www.addphoto.co.uk