Have you ever visited a place that was exactly as you had pictured it yet was full of surprises? Alaska was that for me.

Small flowers colonizing a glacier's terminal moraine:



Whales create a bubble net to catch their supper:


Leaves the size of small tables:


Glorious sunsets:


And amazing waterfalls:


Everything was both familiar and surprising. Sure, I'd seen thousands of pictures taken by professional and amateur photographers and read all the travel industry stories, but having the experience was another matter. It's one thing to see a picture of a La Conte glacier, another to sail close to that white wall, hear a sound as if the earth were ripping itself apart, and watch several tons of iceberg calve into the water with a mighty splash. It's one thing to hear about whales -- but watching them close up, and learning to recognize them by their sounds and the shapes and colors of their flukes...

That's Alaska.