Alaska Wildlife and Conservation Center

Here is a photo of Hugo and Joan at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (AWCC) just outside of Girdwood, Alaska was taken June 11, 2010. These Grizzly Bears are in captivity but they are not in a zoo; they were all rescued or orphaned therefore, would have died unless they were relocated here. Hugo for instance was found as a cub with many porcupine quills embedded in his face, all alone and left for dead, near Hugo Creek. The AWCC is a cool place for tourists and visitors to see the 'Big Four' of Alaska in one area. The Big Four are: Moose, Caribou, Bear and Dall Sheep; some people include the Grey Wolf as the fifth as well. The AWCC also has Bison (not native to AK), Moose, Caribou (aka reindeer), black tailed deer, black bear, an eagle and muskoxen among other animals as well.

It is clearly not the perfect place to see wildlife, but it is always a for sure find, as they are all enclosed in a fence. But remember it is here or they are dead.

And as everyone knows, bears are super sweet. This day that we were at the AWCC the weather wasn't amazing, it was raining off and on, but we still had a great time. This was during a tour 16 with a group of about 40 people for a 6 day long tour. We have some great people on this trip and the energy level is high, which is sometimes difficult to keep up.

Some Days are better than others

(Donald) Duck and Joanna Williams (6/26/10)
Denali from Talkeetna Lodge 5/28/10 (ish)

These photos are from my first tour of the summer up in Alaska. During this tour there were 28 people in my group and it was a great way to start off the summer as there was great weather, attitudes and energy level. We were on a tour 16, which is also known as the 'Fat Kid Tour,' because we had 3 train legs, which is great and gluttonous. We ate more food than was necessary, but that kept the group in high spirits. And as usual, Denali and Mother Nature always know who has a good attitude and bad, because we all had some amazing vistas of Mount McKinley (Denali). Karma is an important part of every (Alaskan) trip, so I am trying to be a good person.


Here is a photo of a mountain (no name) in the Chugach Mountain range as Jeff (driver RCT) and I drove down to Seward at about 4am. We usually pickup our groups a little earlier, but today we had to be in Seward at the port at 7am, which was a little too early for my blood. I did get some great photos of the Chugach and Kenai Mountains as I came south though.

Mount McKinley is in the back round of this perfectly clear day in Don Sheldon's Amplitheater. This photo was taken on May 20, 2010 on the Ruth Glacier after a landing with K2 Aviation. Don Sheldon was an innovator when it came to aviation in Alaska and throughout his bush pilot career. He made his name helping Bradford Washburn survey Denali (aka Mount McKinley) in the late 1940's for the Boston Museum of Science, by being one of the first pilots to have the nerve to land on a glacier.

To land on a glacier, Sheldon would make a low pass just yards above his projected landing area to check out his runway. This would be done to verify that there was sufficient snow coverage and no crevices were not exposed. Once all looked good, Sheldon would make his final landing.

Besides being one of the innovators of glacier landings Sheldon received recognition for making various rescues in his single engine planes.