The purpose of the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage is "to share, perpetuate and preserve unique Alaska Native cultures, languages, traditions and values through celebration and education." The center is located on a 26 acre wooded site ten miles from downtown Anchorage. It consists of a visitors center for indoor activities and outside exhibits around a central lake named Tiulana which is surrounded by six life-sized Native dwellings illustrating the six Alaskan Native cultures. This photo was taken from the outdoor deck at the visitors center looking across the lake. In front of the lake is the frame of a two person kayak under construction

This photo was taken from the vicinity of the kayak in the preceding picture looking across the lake at the Inupiaq St Lawrence Island Yupik Village exhibit featuring a typical village hut (on right) and two jaw bones from a bowhead whale embedded in the ground forming an arch (center left). In front on the lake are two Alaska natives from the center staff demonstrating one person kayaks that had been built at the center.

Whales are an important part of native Alaskan life. In addition to the bowhead whale jaw bones arch in the preceding picture this photo shows the skeleton of a young gray whale. The whale was only 45 feet long were as adult whales average 70 feet

The Eyak, Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian village display shows the cultures found in southeast Alaska. ith all of the tall rain forest trees as resources, the southern Tlingit carve totem poles for their villages. This picture shows one of the large totem poles carved in a carving shed at the site

The road from Anchorage to Seward initially runs along Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet. Just southeast of Anchorage is Beluga Point. It is a good viewing point for either seeing one of several pods of beluga whales which frequent the area or watching the bore tide come up the arm. Unfortunately neither occurred. However the weather was reasonably good and Mount McKinley (also known as Denali) was visible. The mountain is 170 miles away. Unfortunately there was just enough haze to make for poor telephotos. This is the best of the pictures I took and I still had to Photoshop it extensively to bring out the details. As a side note Turnagain Arm was named by William Bligh of HMS Bounty fame. Bligh served as Captain James Cook's Sailing Master on his final voyage looking for a Northwest Passage. Upon reaching the head of Cook Inlet where Anchorage now stands, Bligh organized a party to travel up the northern Knik Arm. The party determined that the arm led only to a river. a second party was sent up the southern Turnagain Arm. It too returned having discovered only a river. As a result of this frustration the second body of water was given the name "Turn Again".

At the head of Turnagain Arm is the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (AWCC) It provides care for hundreds of injured and/or displaced wild animals. This picture is of a Roosevelt Elk in the AWCC Watchable Wildlife exhibit. Wild Roosevelt Elk in Alaska originated from the transplantation of eight calves captured on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State and moved to one of the Kodiak Islands in 1929. Since it was the middle of July their antlers, which are shed and regrown every year, are covered in velvet.

In another part of the Watchable Wildlife exhibit is a Wood Bison herd. This is a picture of some of them with the Chugach Mountains in the background. They were extinct in Alaska for over 100 years until this herd was brought from the Yukon Territory. The AWCC is part of a wood bison recovery / reintroduction program. Notice the light colored calves in the pictures. Note compared to the Plains Bison most familiar to Americans, the Wood Bison is much heavier than the Plains Bison, a shaggier coat, and smaller horns. It is also on the Canadian Endangered Species list.

The last AWCC Watchable Wildlife picture is of a Black Bear. This was the only bear I saw on the entire trip :(

This picture is the view of the Chugach Mountains from the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. These mountains contain the greatest concentration of glacial ice in Alaska. The warm, moist winter air off the ocean meets these mountains and cools creating some of the highest snowfall in Alaska. The flowers in the foreground are tall fireweed. It was everywhere.

The Seward Highway is designated as a scenic byway by the US Forest Service. This is the view from the Canyon Creek Wayside at Mile 56.7. It overlooks the confluence of Sixmile and Canyon creeks. The picture looks north onto Canyon Creek Valley. The white spot visible at the top of the river bend is an RV and associated camp. Turnagain Arm is just beyond the mountains.

In 1995 the boys and I had taken a wildlife cruise from Seward of Resurrection Bay and it was one of the highlights of that trip. As the boat left Seward harbor marina I took this panoramic picture of the bay. It reveals the main disappointment of this cruise - the sky was overcast and there was not enough light to take good telephotos of the sights or wild life.

Cormorants were a regular sight during the cruse. They are able to dive quite deep for fish because they do not have oil glands too keep their feathers dry. Chinese and Japanese fisherman exploit the bird's fishing abilities To control them, the fishermen put them on a tether and tie a snare near the base of a trained bird's throat. This allows the birds to swallow small fish, but prevents them from swallowing larger fish, which are held in their throat. Once a fish has been caught, the bird is brought back to the boat and the fisherman makes the bird spit the fish up.

Near the mouth of Resurrection Bay Steller Sea Lions were seen resting on the rocks. From early in the spring season until late July, They use rocks like this one to dry off and warm up. The birds flying around in the background are Black-legged Kittiwakes.

At the very mouth of Resurrection Bay was a large Black-legged Kittiwake rookery. These seagulls nest in colonies on cliffs. They are named for their loud, nasal ‘kitti-wake’ call. These birds are coming from and going to their nests in the rocks.

Seavey Kennels, the home of Mitch Seavey the 2013 Iditarod winner, runs an all day "Real Alaska Tour". The first stop on the tour was their kennels. The dogs, each housed in their own plastic drum doghouse, are well cared for and clearly adored their handlers.

This dog could have been a twin for Steven's dog Skyle.

No matter where and why they are whelped, be it to be a pampered show dog destined for Westminster or a working dog destined to run the Iditarod, puppies will be puppies. This is a litter of 3-4 week old puppies. Since puppy socialization is important at this age, visitors are more than welcome to interact with them with the warning to keep them "pointed away" :).

As part of the tour participants received a 1 1/2 mil ride on a training sled. . In the summer the kennel uses a heavy wheeled sled pulled by a team of 14 dogs. This is one of three sled loads went out as part of the tour. When it became clear that a sled was going out the dogs set up an incredible "take me" racket. The moment the sled left, the dogs stopped barking looked around bored, and lay down.

In this picture the sled is departing the kennel. The lead dogs were quite responsive to the mushers commands. I was sitting right in front of him and I could barely hear him, but the dogs had no problem.

Half way through the trip the musher stopped, collected all the cameras and went out front and took pictures of the team and sled for everybody.

After the kennel visit, the tour stopped and had lunch at the Resurrection Roadhouse Restaurant of the Seward Windsong Lodge. The lunch was good and this view out the picture window was magnificent. The next stop, Exit Glacier, is to the left of the mountain in the background. The flowers in the foreground are tall fireweed.

The next stop on the tour was Exit Glacier. It is one of at least 38 glaciers that flow out of the Harding Icefield. It was named in 1968 because it served as the exit for the first recorded crossing of the icefield. It is the only road accessible glacier in the Kenai National. From Exit Glacier Nature Center a moderate trail parallels the Resurrection River up to the glacier. This picture is a panorama of made from almost 20 separate pictures taken from the last observation area on the trail.

Between July and September some 10,000 to 20,000 sockeye salmon swim seven miles up Bear Creek to spawn in Bear Lake. Late in the summer coho salmon join the run. The Bear Creek Weir is used to monitor the migration. All salmon going upstream must pass through this weir where they can be counted and medicated when necessary.

Salmon collect below the weir until it is opened by the monitors so they can count them. By the time we got there, the weir had been open for a while and most of the salmon had passed through. This is one of the few fish that remained downstream.