Alaska

AlaskaPhotographed by Jair (Yair) Moreshet 2007

Music: Handel, Water Music Suite No. 3 in G major

Fairbanks, Alaska, the “last frontier”, the “land of the midnight sun”. The time of the day in this photo could be anything since when it was taken, daylight extended around the clock. Due to the extra daylight hours many flowers here are gigantic, more than in tropical regions.

The Fairbanks area: A typical single family home on the local river, built of heavy logs with windows of 3 or 4 panes / layers. A private light aircraft is very common in Alaska (more than in any other state), since most of the roads are blocked during the winter and the rivers are frozen as well.

The huge Trans-Alaskan pipeline carries 20% of the US oil consumption. Since the freshly pumped oil is hot, major sections of the pipeline run above the surface to minimize interference with natural environment, where a bit deeper under the surface soil stays frozen year round (“permafrost”).

Denali National Park by the visitors’ village

A helicopter ride to the Yanert Glacier area within the vastness of Denali National Park.

Landing on the Yanert Glacier in Denali National Park

The blue color is produced by the ice crystal formed under heavy pressure of historic upper layers over thousands of years.

On the luxury train running in between Denali and Anchorage

On the train: Denali viewed through the window

Juneau is in Southeast Alaska, where a beautiful fabric of waterways and land form an archipelago. Moving in between communities in this area is typically by water, and tours are typically by cruises running in between Juneau and Ketchikan. Here we boarded our small cruise ship.

Skagway, Alaska, our cruise's first stop: A spectacular excursion on the White Pass & Yukon Route railroad built in the Alaska Gold Rush era 1898-1900 (and is a designated International Civil Engineering Landmark).

The colorful town of Skagway. In the Gold Rush era, this small town sported no less than 60 brothels…

Admiring nature in silence while cruising slowly at Glacier Bay National Park

Sitka, Alaska: Native worshippers in a Sunday service at the Russian Orthodox Church. Sitka was the colonial center of “Russian America” (Alaska) before Russia sold the territory to the USA.

Sitka, Alaska: (This photo didn’t move here just by mistake from my tropical collections…) The region has heavy annual precipitation, the highest in North America.

Sitka: Trees grow here fast and tall which may explain in part the Totem Poles in the native culture here and along the North West Coast. As opposed to the other churches, the Russian Orthodox missionaries didn’t insist that the natives completely abandon their prior culture, including Totem Poles.

Sitka: A monument in the form of a boat, painted with native art which, like in the case of Totem Poles, includes icons of wild life common to the area: Eagle, Raven, Killer Whale, etc. Fishing is both traditionally and currently the main part of the economy.

The Tracy Arm (Fjord like): Advancing slowly and cautiously in silence between the ice floats toward the Sawyer Glacier.

Eagles are very common to the area and so is obviously ice... but here is an eagle resting on the tip of the tip of the iceberg… (In the original photo it is possible to zoom in for further details.)

Watching whales while cruising at Stephens Passage / Frederick Sound.

The thriving Norwegian fishing community of Petersburg, Alaska (the USA): Local children demonstrating Norwegian culture in costumes and folk dance.

The small isolated native marine community of Metlakatla is the only “native reservation” in Alaska. They are dedicated today to the revival and preservation of their own specific native culture after having to abandon it at the time as required by their own beloved Christian missionary.

Metlakatla, Alaska: Native dance performance. Wooden masks are another prominent cultural element here and along the North West Coast.

Metlakatla, Alaska: The native regalia here carry a big native icon of an Eagle, a Raven, a Killer Whale, or a Wolf -- the names of the 4 clans (chamulas) of the tribe. By tradition, marriage is permitted only between different clans, which eases a bit their concern about intermarriages within their tiny community.

Ketchikan, Alaska: A typical traditional housing of the coastal native tribes of the North West. The house consists of a single huge room that includes an open fire. It hosts a complete clan (chamula) of many individual families (with no privacy).

Ketchikan, Alaska, has the very highest annual precipitation in North America and it shows in their collection of Totem Poles which is the richest, as well…

Ketchikan, Alaska: This colorful Creek Street was known in the Alaska Gold Rush era as the town’s “red light” district. Salmon also come here up the stream back from their long ocean journey to mate…