The Wandering Photographer

Merry Christmas to All

Photo Friday: There’s that Missing M*A*S*H Unit, it Relocated to Alaska

While visiting Kennecott Alaska back in 2000 I was able to get wondrous landscape shots almost everywhere we went (you can see other images from the trip here and here).  Everything is not mountain vistas however.  Alaska does seem to have the problem of folks abandoning their vehicles in the most remote spots.

Nikon N90s, Fujichrome Provia 100, Lens & Exposure Unrecorded

While wandering around the edges of the town of McCarthy, AK we came upon a picturesque river and decided to make some images.  Walking along the river I saw this abandoned, very old, military ambulance (look close to see it).  Not a very pretty picture but it did make me wonder how and why it got there.  After all we were in a town with a population of 42 and the nearest hospital is hundreds of miles away.

This is a mystery I’ll never solve but I’m glad I got the shot to keep me wondering.

Thanks to Debbie of Delicious Baby for organizing Photo Friday and spreading such wonderful images across the Web.

© 2009 Tim Marks all rights reserved

Small Boat Cruise to Alaska

Back in 2000 when we decided to head to Alaska on vacation we decided that we wanted to spit our time between a cruise and a land portion.  (You can see pix from part of the land portion here.)  We began looking at “small ship” cruise lines as we didn’t want to be lost amongst thousands of other travelers.  A number of companies with 70 – 100 passenger ships looked interesting and I was about to call one of them when I came across the web site for Discovery Voyages. 

Dean Rand captains the MV Discovery on 5 and 6 day cruises in Prince William Sound.  The MV discovery has a passenger capacity of 12, that’s right I said 12.  The six cabins on the 65 foot boat are small but the cruise and the experience of Prince William Sound are well worth it.  The food is wonderful and the scenery is breathtaking.  It is admittedly a cruise for people who like people.

Each day we would take the zodiacs ashore and explore the wild surroundings of the sound.  From Icebergs to waterfalls we explored them all.

The view from the deck of the boat was magnificent and the view from land was often even better.  Wildlife that we saw included humpback whales, orcas, sea otters and black bears, all seen right from the deck of the boat.  The orcas were so close my moderate telephoto lens was too long to capture the large mammal's face.

If you want a real adventure consider a cruise on a small boat, a really small boat!  It is the best way to see Alaska.

© Tim Marks all rights reserved