Some local pictures

Well, my wife had a doctors appointment today and while I was out in the car bored and waiting I thought I would snap a few photos and share em on here. These are between Wasilla and Palmer at the Hospital. Just so you know this particular area gets allot of wind and doesnt usually have much snow, just so you know the whole state does have snow unlike in these pictures haha.














There are 2 mountain ranges in these pictures, just at different angles. And sorry most of them were taken from inside the car, we had winds up to around 70mph and the wind chill was more then I felt like dealing with to get the pictures lol.

What part of AK is that in?
I've been to Fairbanks before, as well as about 100 or so miles south, my uncle homesteads up Bear Creek, pretty much in between Healy and Nenana.

South Central.

This is between Wasilla and Palmer, about 30 minutes north of Anchorage and roughly 300 miles south of Fairbanks. If you leave fairbanks on the Parks hwy and drive aaaaalll the way down to the end it stops just outside of Wasilla then you can either head north on the Glenn hwy and go all the way back up to Glenn Allen or south to Anchorage. I live in what they call the Mat-Su valley, there are 2 main valleys that come together the Matanuska and Susitna Valleys, these pics were taken in the Matanuska valley on the tail end where the 2 join together. Its like a wind tunnel through there so Palmer and Wasilla both dont get to much snow because the wind blows it away haha. I live farther up north so I still have plenty of snow. Actually I was going to get some pictures of Mnt.Mckinnley but it was to dark by the time I got home. I was going to take some on the way but we were in a hurry. From where I live (roughly 100-150 miles away ) On a good clear day I can see Mnt.McKinnley from the town I live in if your on any kind of a hill or have a good strait shot, its a huge mountain. If its clear again out tomarrow I will try to get some pictures of Mnt.McKinnley.

It's beautiful, but COLD-looking! Brrrrrr!

haha, actually it warmed up to like 40f today and at my house it fealt warm (it may sound wierd but it does haha) but over there by palmer with the wind ripping it was friggen cold as...well you get the point lol.

Here are some from summer time.

First is my Dipnetting trip, had 67 salmon on the beach when we were done between me and my friend in the picture. It was COLD that morning, Yes I wore sandals the whole time too lol. These were taken up the creek up by where you park, how ever to get to the good fishing you have to walk or float down to the mouth which is VERY muddy. The mud is actually made up of glacier silt, and if your not familiar with that its like super fine sand. It can create a vacume as you slowly sink and if you are not careful and cannot get help at times you cant get out by yourself. To give you an idea how bad it was 10-15 years ago there was a couple out by anchorage using ATVs, the women got stuck and sunk up to her waist. They flew in a helicopter and tied a rope to her and tried to pull her out, without going into detail only the top half of her came out. It can be bad stuff. I have found how ever that if you are barefoot you can usually get out much easier since the silt cant grab your bare skin as well so I go in sandals till I hit the silt then take them off and go barefoot lol. Even around here I get looked at like im nuts by the locals.

The warmest It got this day was about 55f and was down into the low 40s that morning. My feet were COOOOOLD lol but after words we ( pretty much I caught most of them hehe) hauled back up 67 salmon, mostly Red salmon with a few silvers and 1 pink. I hate pinks but the 5ft guill net tore up his guill to much I couldnt release him so he went into my "smoked salmon" pile that got smoked right after we got done. Spent 3 hours fishing, and over 5 cleaning and packing lol.







These are in anchorage, again these ones were taken inside the car. We were on the go and was a sudden urge I had to take pictures lol.







These ones were taken from Wasilla, again most in the car. When these were taken I was riding with friends or family and I was bored lol.









The summer pics were taken around the end of May, by then the temps are usually up to high 60s low 70s. May sound cold but up here the air is dry and those temperatures actually feel pretty warm, especially when the sun is out.

Alaska is the type of place where if your not into outdoors and would rather play video games or go hang out at the mall then its not for you. But if you are into hiking and fishing and hunting and or even photography its the place to be in my opinion. I grew up here so I may be a little bias lol but In my opinion still the most beautiful place I have been yet.

Any way hope you enjoy the pictures. As the year progresses I plan on getting more that are better quality though.

O and im the guy on the right side on the first pics, I had only had 1 hour of sleep and had been fishing or getting ready and was covered in fish slime and blood lol. I normally dont look that much of a mess haha.

grr NOT the guy on the right guy on the left.... doh, camo shirt in jean shorts.

I've been to Mckinley before. Cool place to be.

I've always thought like Alaska would be a good place to visit. My mom lived there for a short time when she was like 3 years old because my grandpa was in the coast guard. They have a lot of pictures from their year spent living there, and the scenery is sooooo beautiful.....

That is my dream vacation. Of all the places in the world to travel to one of the first places I'd want to visit is Alaska. Thanks so much for sharing your pictures with us. I truly enjoyed them.

Have any Moose pictures?!

Great pictures, thanks for sharing! It's so much nicer to see photos from members than stock photography, I may never see Alaska with my own eyes so getting there through your lens is the next best thing!

oooooohhh myyy <333 im sooo jelous!! i am moving to alaska when im older!! my favorite state ever,, alaskas my life hahah beautiful pics,,

Allalaskan said:

haha, actually it warmed up to like 40f today and at my house it fealt warm (it may sound wierd but it does haha) but over there by palmer with the wind ripping it was friggen cold as...well you get the point lol.

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Na, doesn't sound weird at all . I spent 20 years in northeastern Oregon, up in the mountains, so I know all about winter cold, snow, and most of all, that bone-chilling, neverending WIND! Right now, we're in western Oregon, and it's been in the 30s for dog knows how long, now. Definitely not the norm for this place. On days when it manages to get to the "average" temp of 45 for this time of year, it feels almost toasty .

The one thing I love most about Alaska is the fishing. I've never been there, but I have friends who lived/live there, and when they went/go salmon fishing, they occasionally send us some that they've canned. I LOVE it. I love fresh salmon, smoked salmon, canned salmon (at least the stuff my friends sometimes send), etc. You get the picture.

Believe it or not, your climate sounds much like the one in eastern Oregon where I spent 20 years. Dry, windy, cold as ice in the winter, and warm in the summer. I imagine the only difference is that your mountains are taller, and our summers could get terribly hot for days on end (we're talking in the 100's). It was beautiful there (and still is , but I like seeing green things all year long (besides conifers! LOL!), and much prefer the milder climate of western Oregon. Indeed, my goal is to eventually end up living at the coast. I LOVE that climate.

I have another friend who lives in Juneau. I don't think I could--she says that there are no roads into or out of there--everyone comes and goes by plane if they want to go anywhere besides in-town. I think I would feel totally isolated and cut off in a place like that.

So I've come to the conclusion that Alaska is an incredibly beautiful state, but because of climate and isolation, not somewhere I'd ever like to live. Doesn't mean I don't LOVE seeing photos, though .

Irish Eyes, im sure you know already but Juneau is the state capital. They are actually warmer then I am because they are farther south then us but from what I hear they get allot more rain then we do. There are quite a few towns and small villages that are fly in only. I live off the main hwy system so I can go all over the place haha.

And yes the fishing is awsome!!!! That is my favorite thing to do. When we moved to Texas for a short time I went fishing with some buddies down there but it didnt compare to fishing up here to me. King salmon are my favorite, they put up a good fight and are great smoked or grilled.

And Jessicat, I dont have any of moose right now. I have a cow (female moose) that comes in the yard with her 2 calves every now and then to eat the Siberian pea bush out front and I have been waiting for her now for a few days so I can get some pictures haha. Its just a matter of time before she or another moose comes into the yard again. I see them all the time except during hunting season haha.

Its hard to tell just yet if I will be able to get any pictures of McKinley or not, the suns not all the way up yet so I cant tell yet if its going to be clear enough but in a little bit I will drive down the road aways up on the hill and see if I can get a clear shot of it. One thing about the winters up here is we have low sunlight and in the summer, well theres a reason they call it land of the midnight sun Atm its 10:01 am and he sun is almost up but not yet, and it will be going down around 3:30 and be dark out by 5:00pm. Some people have problems with it others dont. The pictures I took yesterday of the mountains were taken at about 3:30 pm to give you an idea. Thats why some of the mountains had a pink tone to them was because the sun was setting.

Home!! Oh it makes me so home sick. I really miss those snowy mountains.

I think we might have some moose pictures somewhere, I'll see if I can find them and scan them to the computer to share. I remember we had a young (maybe a year old?) moose that used to come into our yard. One day he was on our front porch with his nose pressed against the sliding glass door.

I have absolutely no problem sleeping during daylight hours. My husband has to have the windows covered with thick curtains and even then he wakes up not long after the sun has come up. If it gets to bright he can't sleep. And in the winter, the darkness doesn't bother me either. After you've been there for a while the long days or short nights (depending on the season) just feels normal.

Give me a little bit And I will have more pics posted from my trip to Glenn Allen yesterday. I still have to upload them to my photo bucket.

These were taken Yesterday On my trip to Glenn Allen. The first few pictures are of Matanuska Glacier. And it is ALOT bigger then it looks, its not just the white, the "brown" or "dirt looking" hills around it are also part of the glacier, just covered in silt which is made from the glacier moving and grinding down the rock.