Alaska, North America

20 Photos of Beautiful Alaska

Alaska is one of those places where almost every place you look, you can find beauty. I just returned to the real world from three months in Alaska and thought I would share these 20 photos of beautiful Alaska with you.

20 Photos of Beautiful Alaska

Before I go on, I will tell you that we spent the three months working on our cabin and didn’t do much in the way of exploring or activities. Also, due to COVID, we thought spending most of our time in the woods would be better that spending it around a lot of other people. I tell you this because you won’t see many photos of places you normally see in pictures of Alaska.

Wildflowers

Alaska is a place full of wildflowers, which is something I was very surprised by the first time I visited. It’s so cold in the winter that I didn’t think about flowers surviving to bloom in the summer. I was so wrong. There are flowers that I have never seen anywhere else.

This first flower is called Coltfoot and it looks like a ball of cotton to me. What do you think? It’s really pretty to see in person.

20 Photos of Beautiful Alaska

These sweet flowers are called Churning Bells and were found near our cabin. I love the different colors they come in.

20 Photos of Beautiful Alaska

These flowers are Fireweed (the purple flower) and Chinese Yarrow (the white flower). My daughter dried the Chinese Yarrow to make tea from the flowers and a poultice out of the stems and leaves.

20 Photos of Beautiful Alaska

The Wild Iris is so bright and vibrant. I found these when we went to Fairbanks one day, so we had to stop for a picture.

20 Photos of Beautiful Alaska

Another picture of the Fireweed. Probably one of the prettiest weeds out there. Alaskans say when the flowers reach the top, there are six more weeks of summer. I watched them pretty closely and I can say that it’s pretty true. We tried Fireweed jam this summer and it was really good.

20 Photos of Beautiful Alaska

Bistorta Officinalis flower is such an unusual and pretty flower to me. It seems like it is just a whole bunch of small flowers cramming together. That’s probably a good idea in Alaska. Even in summer, it can get pretty chilly. Notice the bee doing his work.

20 Photos of Beautiful Alaska

Alaska, where even the weeds are pretty.

Santa Claus House

I’m not sure these next three are photos of beautiful Alaska exactly, but they are fun just the same. There is a town called North Pole next to Fairbanks. In this town is Santa Claus House, a Christmas shop with a whole lot of Alaska made Christmas items.

20 Photos of Beautiful Alaska

Some days of the week Santa is even in the shop to have your picture taken with him. Visit their website to determine which days he is in the store before you go.

20 Photos of Beautiful Alaska

While you are visiting, be sure to check out the reindeer next to the shop. I didn’t get any decent pictures of them this year, but they are fun to see.

20 Photos of Beautiful Alaska

Rivers and Streams

I had to take a drive to Palmer, about 4 hours from our cabin, one day to pick something up. Normally that would be a bummer, but in Alaska during the summer, not so much. It’s a way to see even more beauty.

This is the Nenana River, which meanders its way through the interior of Alaska. There’s so many places to stop and photograph the river. You can even white water raft of the river, but in a different area than this.

20 Photos of Beautiful Alaska

This is me, on my first day at our cabin, just walking by the creek that runs next to our property. I have a bug net on because the mosquitos in June and early July are a thing of nightmares. Another thing I never thought about until I spent my first June in Alaska. How do they even survive the winter? I don’t know, but they are terrible.

20 Photos of Beautiful Alaska

I love this bridge and area. It’s called Hurricane Gulch and I have to stop any time I go over it. The bridge spans Hurricane Creek, way down under the bridge. The area is very picturesque and photogenic.

20 Photos of Beautiful Alaska

Mountains

I took this photo on one of the trails by Hurricane Gulch. Isn’t the view amazing? I think it is. These are the kinds of views I just can’t get enough of on my travels through Alaska.

20 Photos of Beautiful Alaska

Denali National Park is close to our cabin and one of our favorite places to visit. There are so many views like the one below and wildlife in abundance. I wrote a post about the Denali Road Lottery, complete with photos of the wildlife and views you can read.

20 Photos of Beautiful Alaska

Other Photos of Beautiful Alaska

Alaska has loads of wild berries throughout the state. One of the berries we have near our cabin are wild blueberries. They are so good. We picked so many of them and I even made a cobbler and some jam with them.

20 Photos of Beautiful Alaska

 

20 Photos of Beautiful Alaska

Look at the mama duck and her babies. She rounded them up and took them across the street a few minutes after I took this picture. She was very careful. Aren’t they adorable?

20 Photos of Beautiful Alaska

This is a road north of Fairbanks that I loved driving on. I was actually trying to find a specific house among all the amazingly beautiful scenery.

20 Photos of Beautiful Alaska

This was one of the last photos I took before we left Alaska. Fall was showing off all of her colors so we pulled over and snapped this picture.

20 Photos of Beautiful Alaska

Finally, I thought I would share the progress on our cabin. We cut the first tree in 2013 and have worked for 2-4 weeks most summers since then, with this summer being 3 months. It’s been a lot of hard work, but it’s so worth it. If you’re interested in seeing any other pictures, check out our Alaska Cabin Build Facebook page. There are loads of pictures there.

Have you been to Alaska or is it on your bucket list? Check out some other Alaska posts on this blog to help plan your trip. Hopefully these 20 photos of beautiful Alaska helped you decide that you really must visit.

20 Photos of Beautiful Alaska

20 Photos of Beautiful Alaska

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  • Kavita Favelle September 30, 2020 at 8:47 am

    I visited Alaska during my childhood (several decades ago) and still think back to the scenery, so your beautiful photos have really rekindled my urge to make a return trip. We particularly loved the lakes and rivers, and the beautiful mountain scenery, and the profusion of flowers in the summer.

  • Nicole Anderson September 30, 2020 at 6:13 pm

    Having been lucky enough to explore parts of Alaska by land and cruise ship, I fully appreciate how beautiful this magnificent state is. You are so fortunate to have a property so close to Denali National Park for all the gorgeous nature scenery that surrounds you. I just love the photos you have shared here. I don’t think anyone would fail to appreciate how fabulous Alaska is for its immense beauty.

  • Krista October 1, 2020 at 2:44 pm

    I’ve always seen photos of Alaska and really wanted to visit this state. The views of the mountains in your photos look so pretty! And I love the Santa Claus House too, it adds a bit of cuteness to the area!

  • Harshita October 2, 2020 at 5:28 am

    Such a beautiful photo diary of Alaska! The Santa Claus house is so cute. I loved the streams and mountains, absolutely beautiful and so picturesque. Oh and those blueberries, they look so good and nothing better than picking and eating fresh ones! Alaska has been on my list for quite a while so hoping to make it there someday soon.