Morning Mist

In 2007 my family and I visited northern Alaska, with the southern part of our trip starting at Fairbanks. Our journey took us north along the Dalton Highway, a 414-mile dirt road that cuts off from the Elliott Highway. Out stopover was planned at the town of Wiseman, located at mile-marker 188, nearly the midpoint of the Dalton stretch. On our first morning in the area we arrived at the Coldfoot airport for a charter flight in a de Havilland Beaver.

The flight took us north, just at sunrise, over the majestic and tundra-filled Gates of the Arctic National Park. Gates of the Arctic is the northernmost and second largest national park within the United States. The Beaver cruised from ridge to ridge over huge, gaping valleys to Anaktuvuk Pass, then flew a 180-degree turn back to the east, directly into the sunrise. As we made that turn I glanced out to catch this majestic view of morning mist filling the canyons below.

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