{"id":15436,"date":"2014-07-21T03:39:22","date_gmt":"2014-07-21T09:39:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=15436"},"modified":"2026-02-06T20:16:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T02:16:26","slug":"cooling-down-with-views-of-alaska","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/07\/21\/cooling-down-with-views-of-alaska\/","title":{"rendered":"Cooling Down With Views Of Alaska"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SomewhereSomewhere off the coast of Alaska – Last sunset for a period of over two weeks<\/span><\/p>\n

This week the temperatures here in Utah are going to be in the mid to upper 90’s so I was looking for something to visually cool down with and I thought of Alaska.<\/p>\n

During the summer of 2005 I made a trip to Alaska and the Yukon where\u00a0part of\u00a0the journey\u00a0was a cruise and the rest was by land.<\/p>\n

The cruise started in Vancouver, British Columbia\u00a0on a clear, cloudless day and as the ship headed towards Alaska the clouds slowly built up and by the time the sun was setting those clouds lent themselves to a dramatic sunset.<\/p>\n

That sunset was the last one I would see for over two weeks because the days are so long in Alaska during the summer.<\/p>\n

\"CruisingCruising Tracy Arm – View of silt laden water, mountains and clouds<\/span><\/p>\n

I was delighted to sail up Tracy Arm and see the gorgeous blue silt laden waters, tree covered mountains, and low hanging clouds.<\/p>\n

Later in the day I cursed the clouds because they were thick, low, and blocked a lot of the light I had hoped for to photograph my journey.<\/p>\n

Those clouds also made it feel cooler than it actually was but in a polar fleece jacket I felt warm enough. It was July and I could still see snow up high.<\/p>\n

\"Views<\/a>Views of Tracy Arm with mountains and a hanging glacier<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking at this image I can almost feel the cool, fresh air on my skin.<\/p>\n

I saw several seals on the ice, this image shows one on top of the white speck in the water, I wish I had been closer to get a clear shot of the seal but\u00a0I know it was there!<\/p>\n

The clouds hung over the mountains and I could barely make out some of the hanging glaciers.\u00a0 It would be lovely to get back there on a sunnier day.<\/p>\n

\"WaterfallWaterfall and water colored by glacial silt up Tracy Arm, Alaska<\/span><\/p>\n

There were waterfalls everywhere and there were trees and shrubs sprouting out of what appeared to be solid rock. \u00a0The water really\u00a0was this vividly colored from the glacial milk (silt) that flows into it from the waterfalls and glaciers.<\/p>\n

\"DenaliDenali National Park – Polychrome Pass view, Alaska<\/span><\/p>\n

I also visited Denali National Park and traveled by bus as far as the Toklat River and on the way there I was able to photograph this view from Polychrome Pass while a storm was clearing over the distant mountains.<\/p>\n

The rock on the lower left (larger than it appears to be in this image) is a glacial erratic meaning it was carried there by a glacier and it may have originally been from an areas many, many miles away.<\/p>\n

After leaving Anchorage by plane I was flying over Oklahoma and there was turbulent weather below and we were advised to keep our seat belts on. I looked out the window to the storm underneath the plane and thought “That is the darkest, meanest looking storm I think I have ever seen”.<\/p>\n

Then I realized that it was<\/em> night time of course it would be dark<\/em>! I had forgotten what the darkness of night looked like during my time in Alaska<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yes, I felt silly. But I can laugh at myself.<\/p>\n

For those of you in hot climates I hope these images helped you feel a little cooler if\u00a0only for a moment or two. It worked for me.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Alaska photos as I add them to my galleries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week the temperatures here in Utah are going to be in the mid to upper 90’s so I was looking for something to visually cool down with and I thought of Alaska.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":168658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2609,2612,2610,2611],"tags":[2615,2614,2613,17132,4360,4035,4563,344,2315,2616,15967],"class_list":["post-15436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alaska","category-denali-national-park","category-polychrome-pass","category-tracy-arm","tag-glacial-erratic","tag-glacial-silt","tag-glacier","tag-hanging-glacier","tag-landscape-photography","tag-nature-photography","tag-polychrome-pass","tag-scenery","tag-summer-3","tag-toklat-river","tag-waterfall"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/alaska-sawyer-arm-mia-mcpherson-01020.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-40Y","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":41322,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/08\/25\/celebrating-100-years-of-u-s-national-parks\/","url_meta":{"origin":15436,"position":0},"title":"Celebrating 100 Years of U.S. National Parks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Today marks the Centennial of our National Park Service and entry to our National Parks is free from August 24 through August 28 so that we can all enjoy the celebration.","rel":"","context":"In "Alaska"","block_context":{"text":"Alaska","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/alaska\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Swiftcurrent Lake - Many Glacier","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/glacier-national-park-mia-mcpherson-0581.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/glacier-national-park-mia-mcpherson-0581.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/glacier-national-park-mia-mcpherson-0581.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/glacier-national-park-mia-mcpherson-0581.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8665,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/06\/22\/alaska-basin-journey-in-montana-and-idaho\/","url_meta":{"origin":15436,"position":1},"title":"Alaska Basin Journey In Montana And Idaho","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this week I was enthralled to see the Alaska Basin that straddles Idaho and Montana and winds through Beaverhead National Forest and Targhee National Forest.","rel":"","context":"In "Alaska Basin"","block_context":{"text":"Alaska Basin","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/alaska-basin\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Big sky, wildflowers and firs in the Alaska Basin, Beaverhead National Forest, Beaverhead County, Montana or Targhee National Forest, Fremont County, Idaho","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/alaska-basin-wildflowers-montana-mia-mcpherson-5599.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/alaska-basin-wildflowers-montana-mia-mcpherson-5599.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/alaska-basin-wildflowers-montana-mia-mcpherson-5599.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/alaska-basin-wildflowers-montana-mia-mcpherson-5599.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":44561,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/01\/23\/rough-legged-hawk-on-a-designated-parking-sign\/","url_meta":{"origin":15436,"position":2},"title":"Rough-legged Hawk on a Designated Parking Sign","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Many of the birds here in the Salt Lake Valley find a place to roost in the evening and overnight frost begins to accumulate on their feathers like it did on this Rough-legged Hawk on a parking sign.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rough-legged Hawk on a parking sign, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/rough-legged-hawk-snow-fog-mia-mcpherson-4026.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/rough-legged-hawk-snow-fog-mia-mcpherson-4026.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/rough-legged-hawk-snow-fog-mia-mcpherson-4026.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/rough-legged-hawk-snow-fog-mia-mcpherson-4026.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":110737,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/05\/tracking-tundra-swan-u915-a-story-of-survival\/","url_meta":{"origin":15436,"position":3},"title":"Tracking Tundra Swan U915: A Story of Survival","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 5, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Three days ago I found a collared Tundra Swan in a flock of swans at Bear River MBR. The blue collar caught my eye and I took photos of the swan.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tundra Swan with U915 collar on the marsh of Bear River MBR, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/tundra-swan-adult-banded-u915-blue-collar-white-text-mia-mcpherson-0840.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/tundra-swan-adult-banded-u915-blue-collar-white-text-mia-mcpherson-0840.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/tundra-swan-adult-banded-u915-blue-collar-white-text-mia-mcpherson-0840.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/tundra-swan-adult-banded-u915-blue-collar-white-text-mia-mcpherson-0840.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42885,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/10\/28\/red-breasted-mergansers-are-back-in-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":15436,"position":4},"title":"Red-breasted Mergansers Are Back In Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Red-breasted Mergansers do not breed in Utah, they breed much further north in Alaska, across northern Canada to New Newfoundland and the Great Lakes of Michigan but they do migrate through this area.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Wing flapping Red-breasted Merganser, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/red-breasted-merganser-flapping-mia-mcpherson-6424.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/red-breasted-merganser-flapping-mia-mcpherson-6424.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/red-breasted-merganser-flapping-mia-mcpherson-6424.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/red-breasted-merganser-flapping-mia-mcpherson-6424.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16214,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/10\/20\/juvenile-dark-morph-harlans-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":15436,"position":5},"title":"Juvenile Dark Morph Harlan’s Hawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 20, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Harlan's Hawks are a subspecies of Red-tailed Hawks that breed in Alaska and northern Canada and spend their winters in the northern Great Plains.","rel":"","context":"In "American Coots"","block_context":{"text":"American Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile dark morph Harlan\u2019s Hawk, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-tailed-hawk-harlans-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3760.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-tailed-hawk-harlans-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3760.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-tailed-hawk-harlans-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3760.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-tailed-hawk-harlans-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3760.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}