Photographer Jeff Schultz shares the story from his journey in Lake Clark National Park scouting for a place to hold Alaskan bear photo tours.
Explore glacial lakes and towering peaks Getting to Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, a roadless wilderness of 3 million acres accessible only by boat or plane, is a camera-worthy adventure. Located in the southern portion of the Alaska Range to the west of Cook Inlet, the park features tumbling glaciers and towering peaks. It’s a short hop, flying 100 miles southwest from Anchorage over forbidding terrain before dropping into the small town of Port Alsworth within the park. From there, you can take a bush plane to get you wherever you want to go, with pick up and drop off itineraries that are easy and reliable to schedule on your own or with a reputable guide or outfitter. Along the way, you’ll have a birds-eye view of the Chigmit Mountains, a range created by centuries of geological chaos where volcanoes like Iliamna and Redoubt vent regularly, as well as…
I slept well, but then again, A Secret Service agent stood just outside. The agent wasn’t there because of me, but rather guarded former President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalyn, who were in the cabin next door. The president was here to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, better known as ANILCA. Carter had signed the law in 1980 and set aside some 104 million acres for parks and wildlife refuges in the most sweeping conservation legislation in the world. At the time, there were protest marches in Anchorage, and Carter had been hung in effigy. After a round of public appearances, the president and his contingent flew west to Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. The National Park Service planned to show the president an ANILCA park and treat him to some fly fishing. As the park superintendent, I played host. We…
A lone bear stakes out his fishing territory beneath Brooks Falls in Katmai. Photo by Michelle Theall. Alaska’s eight designated national parks cover over 41 million acres. For scale, that’s twice the size of all of the Lower 48 national parks—from Death Valley to Big Bend—added together. National parks are considered the crown jewels of each state—important enough to be protected for all—and Alaska is no exception. It just, well, has a bigger crown. Alaska is romanticized and revered for its wildness, its vast and forbidding landscapes, and its almost mythic number of creatures. The diverse flora and fauna here exist among famous mountains, but also unnamed and unclimbed peaks and salmon-rich rivers and remote streams. There’s a reason these areas are protected: their wild beauty and wonder represent the best Alaska and, thus, our country, has to offer. Visiting all of the parks requires some logistical gymnastics—ideally broken down…
Visitors can see everything from bears and murres to sand dunes and salmon.
[by David Shaw]
It’s Denali National Park’s fault I live in Alaska. Fourteen years ago, I accepted a position as a field biologist, banding birds at the far end of the park’s only road. For two months I awoke every clear morning to a view of Denali itself, the Great One rising 20,320 feet into thin air. I was hooked, and have been here ever since.
New book details iconic Alaskan The Handcrafted Life of Dick Proenneke (written by Monroe Robinson and published by Lost Art Press, 2021) is a lavish book that should be subtitled: “The Bible of Wilderness Cabin Craft,” a must-reference for every rural and wilderness dweller or dreamer. Dick Proenneke’s life and legacy, documented in his book, One Man’s Wilderness, and subsequent documentaries, is a vivid testament to the wilderness lifestyle. For 19 summers, Monroe Robinson and his wife, Kay, acted as caretakers for Proenneke’s Twin Lakes cabin. They studied, recorded, and documented the construction and tools Proenneke used in building his cabin, cache, furniture, and implements. Dick Proenneke in the Dutch door he built in 1968. Robinson came to Alaska in 1968 and soon established himself as a log craftsman and cabinet maker of the highest order, building for former Gov. Jay Hammond and others. Robinson met Proenneke in 1982 unaware…
Congratulations to our 2022 photo contest winners. Each image tells a story or captures a slice of Alaska’s unique beauty, adventure, or way of life. This year, we’ve included photographers’ Instagram names so you can follow them online to see even more of their explorations around Alaska and beyond. We hope you enjoy these colorful images from around the Great Land. Grand Prize Winner JENNIFER SMITH @jfogle02 Look for this image on the cover of our February Issue of Alaska Magazine. Ice Bear: “Blessed with an early winter and a late salmon run, a Kodiak brown bear finds itself encased in ice. The ice around this young sow’s face makes the perfect heart shape.” Categories Alaska Life: Representing Alaskans and/or their way of life, traditions, culture, or authentic “only in Alaska” moments. CLOSE-UPS: Showing the close-up details of anything Alaskan, from nature to people to urban constructs. Scenic: Emphasizing the…
Michelle Theall shares a few images from places she’s visited often in Alaska and the story behind each photo.
Willie Hensley, instrumental in the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, revisits the important and historic path to ANCSA.
The bears noticed our absence during the pandemic and took the opportunity to throw a party, with some bruins behaving better than others.
