U.S. - Alaska and Northwest - June 1997

In June 1997, I traveled to Alaska for 6 days, and to Washington and Oregon in the northwest U.S. for 3 more. At that point in my life I had been to the other 49 states, and the trip to Alaska made it 50. Also, I used the opportunity to visit some neighbor friends we knew from a childhood neighborhood many years before. My travels involved a rental car and took me to Anchorage, Fairbanks, Seward, Tanana, and Denali National Park. In the Northwest I visited Seattle, Olympia, and the northern Oregon coast. Despite this being the very early part of June, I encountered some hot weather in interior Alaska: 80s in Fairbanks (Anchorage and Seattle were quite a bit cooler). In Denali Nnational Park there was quite a bit of melting snow visible. During this time of year, it never really seemed to get dark overnight. I saw a moose on the highway southwest of Fairbanks, who was scrambling to get off the highway as my car approached. I also saw grizzly bears in Denali, from the vantage point of the bus tours the National Park Service was running into the park on its harrowing and curvy, but beautiful, main road. I was more than happy to observe these bears from a safe distance and from inside the bus! There were many more animals to be seen in the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage.

Mileage monument in a park in downtown Fairbanks.

Alaska Pipeline visible a few miles outside of Fairbanks. It was impressive to see this up close, but the mosquitoes there were fierce- they would just chew you up alive.

Mileage markers in front of the Alaska Pipeline.

View of Kenai Peninsula mountains from a short cruise leaving out of Seward, Alaska.

Downtown Seward, Alaska.

View looking west toward Anchorage and environs, from a nearby mountain.

Impressive view of 20,320-foot Mt. McKinley (Denali) from the highway linking Anchorage and Fairbanks, somewhere near Talkeetna. This mountain is the highest in North America.

Downtown Fairbanks.

Entrance to Denali National Park.

Alaska Railroad Corporation building in Anchorage.

Grizzly bear in the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage.

View from the Space Needle in Seattle, WA. Mount Rainier was visible on this day, but it unfortunately does not show up well in the photograph.

Seals at the aquarium in Seaside, Oregon.

Pacific Coast scenery in northwest Oregon.

Cape Meares Lighthouse along the Oregon coast.