Alaska rewarded us with incredible nature and wildlife. We have posted a few pictures of two of our favorite stops: Katmai and Denali National Park. At each location, timing and patience were key to capturing the beauty and the power of the subjects.

At Katmai, we spent 5 days surrounded by grizzly bears. Strict rules need to be followed so that neither bears nor humans get injured. One story in particular comes to mind to describe the power of these bears. A fisherman was casually fly fishing at the mouth of the Brooks River. In this habitat, one has to watch his back for unexpected encounters. As you probably guessed, a young grizzly male was lurking and frightened the fisherman by catching the hooked salmon barely before the fish was out of the water. I had a chance to talk to the fisherman the following day and asked him if he was fishing again. His answer was: "I didn't believe that grizzlies run so fast. In any case, you can borrow my poles as I am done fishing for a while!". His saving grace was the angle of attack the bear took to get to the fish.

Denali is known for the Big Five animals (bears, wolves, moose, dall sheeps, caribou). We were fortunate to spot all of them at a distance (aka sometimes just "dots" across the tundra). Even more inspiring is the crowning jewel of North America's highest peak (Mount McKinley), rising 20,320 feet above sea level. Statistics show that the Alaska Range clears up only 30% of the time. And after 4 days of clouds and rains we got our window of opportunity. At 8PM, we got a glimpse of the summit. A few hours later, the entire range was cloudless for the 11:30PM sunset. The magic lasted til sunrise at 4AM and then the mountain hide itself in her traditional attire. A few hours of hiking got us these wonderful views.

I hope you'll enjoy this Alaska sample. Feel free to let us know which two pictures are your favorites.

Cheers ...