Video Of The Day: Midnight Sun Shines In Iceland

by Libby Zay on

The “midnight sun” is a natural phenomenon occurring north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle when the sun never fully sets and remains visible 24 hours a day. Since there are no permanent human settlements south of the Antarctic Circle, countries and territories that experience the midnight sun are limited to those crossed by the Arctic Circle, including Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Russia and Iceland, plus Alaska in the United States.

Filmmaker and photographer Joe Capra sought out capturing the midnight sun in Iceland. To make the above film, he traveled solo around the country for 17 days, shooting both day and night. He slept in his car, hiked in the middle of the night and ate whenever he had a moment of free time. When he returned to Los Angeles, he brought with him 38,000 images in total from the trip.

In an interview about the film, Capra told photographer Michael Levy he chose to travel to Iceland in June because the month is a little early for the tourist season, giving him a chance to film when some popular locations are less crowded. More importantly, at this time of year the midnight sun allowed him six or so hours of fantastic “golden light.”

“I am the type of person who does not want to go on vacation and just walk around cities or just lay on the beach all day long,” Capra said. “I like to get out and see and experience the countries I visit. Going alone also allowed me to go where I wanted, when I wanted, and stay at locations as long as I wanted without having to worry about the needs of another person with me,” he continued.

On his Vimeo page, Capra encourages everyone – photographer or not – to visit Iceland. Although Capra is not sure where he’ll go on his next trip, he relayed that he’s researching Patagonia.

Summer Hotspot: Anchorage, Alaska

by Grant Martin on

Summer months in North America open up a whole realm of possibilities for travel into higher latitudes. As the deep frost starts to fade and the rivers pick up speed, Alaska turns into a beautiful respite from the sultry weather in the contiguous 48 states.

Pick any reason to make the journey. The Pacific Northwest air that blankets all of southern Alaska is crisp and clean, a noticeable contrast from the city air in New York and Chicago. The landscape is dramatic with mountains soaring out of the dark blue Pacific, snow capped peaks lining the horizons and dark green conifers rolling through the valleys. Wildlife is everywhere, from the ambling moose wandering the fertile plains to the bears and goats dotting the mountain trails. It’s far enough away to feel like a different country yet is filled with the same old fast food and Walmart standbys that you know and trust at home.

If Alaska enjoyed the same weather year-round as it did in July it would be the nation’s most populous state. Instead, visitors enjoy big open spaces, friendly, relaxed residents and over 650,000 square miles of rugged beautiful landscape free of the hustle and stress of the lower 48. In short, Alaska is a blessing.

Considering these virtues, one would expect that the cost of travel to Alaska would be sky high, but surprisingly, ticket prices don’t go up that much over the summer months. Airfare varies from $450-$750 for passage through the summer months with Anchorage hosting the majority of inexpensive flights (though Fairbanks and Juneau can always surprise you).

The dirty little secret about airfare to Alaska isn’t the cost of the ticket though; it’s the cost of the mileage award. Most airlines batch Alaska in with the rest of North America (as well they should) when they calculate the cost of mileage tickets. This means that an economy ticket between Miami or San Diego and Anchorage can only cost 25,000 miles round trip – the same cost as a flight between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Compare the distance between those two flights and it’s easy to see the value.

[image courtesy Erin Drewitz]

Tsunami powered ghost ship closes in on Canadian shores

by Chris Owen on

When last year’s earthquake and resulting tsunami rocked Japan, the destruction of property and disruption to travel plans were immediate. Minor quakes after the initial tremor did little more damage. But a Japanese squid-fishing boat has been drifting across the Pacific Ocean all year and is now closing in on British Columbia’s north coast.

“It’s been drifting across the Pacific for a year, so it’s pretty beat up,” said marine search coordinator Jeff Olsson of Victoria’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in a Times Colonist article.

The 150-foot tsunami ghost ship was sent out to sea by the weather event and first found drifting right-side-up about 140 nautical miles (260 km) from Cape Saint James on the southern tip of Haida Gwaii, an archipelago on the North Coast of British Columbia. A Canadian Coast Guard plane on a routine surveillance patrol spotted the ship on March 20, causing them to issue a warning to all vessels that the ship is an obstruction to navigation.

“The ghost ship is probably going to be pretty much worthless – nobody’s going to want to have anything to do with it because of the huge costs that are going to be incurred [towing it to shore],” said Gray, senior captain with the Vessel Assist towing company reports the Times Colonist, adding “All that garbage, it’s going to hit Alaska, it’s going to hit B.C. and it’s going to hit Washington.”

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Flickr photo by elmas156

New tour combines flightseeing, kayaking and bear viewing on Alaska’s Admiralty Island

by Libby Zay on

Watch Inside the Fortress on PBS. See more from Nature.

The United States Forest Service recently awarded Above & Beyond Alaska a 10-year permit to operate guided day trips by kayak around Admiralty Island, a highly protected area where an estimated 1,800 brown bears — the largest concentration in the world — roam free. In fact, Admiralty Island has more brown bears than all the lower 48 states combined, causing the native Tlingít people to call the island “Kootznoowoo,” meaning “Fortress of the Bear.”

Although several other outfitters offer bear-viewing opportunities, Above & Beyond Alaska is the only company permitted to offer guided brown bear viewing trips by kayak. This allows travelers access to areas that are hard to reach on foot and also might allow visitors to Admiralty Island a chance to get even closer to the bears (and other wildlife, such as the eagles that are pictured) without disturbing their habitat. Above & Beyond Alaska is certainly living up to their name, and has put together a tour that starts in Juneau with a 25-minute floatplane flight followed by a sea kayak excursion that offers two different viewing experiences: either a rugged trip to Windfall Harbor, where bears can be seen frequenting streams from the kayaks, or a slightly more tame outing to Pack Creek, a popular destination where travelers can spot bears from a viewing tower.

The seven-hour tours will be available May 15 through September 15, with peak season falling between July and August when salmon are spawning. Rates start at $569 per person. For more information on Admiralty Island, see the above video from PBS.

Photo courtesy Above & Beyond Alaska.

25-year-old Dallas Seavey wins 2012 Iditarod

by Kraig Becker on

The 2012 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race came to an exciting end Tuesday evening when 25-year-old Dallas Seavey claimed victory in the 1000-mile race. By crossing the finish line first, he also became the youngest person to ever win the event.

Held annually in Alaska, the Iditarod has become the state’s most popular sporting event. The racers, along with their teams of powerful dogs, begin the race in Anchorage and follow a historical trail all the way to Nome. Back in 1925 that town faced a diphtheria epidemic and mushers raced along the same trail to deliver life-saving medicine in time. The modern day Iditarod commemorates that daring feat and salutes the men and their dogs who risked their lives to save others.

In order to win the event Seavey had to fend off plenty of competition from a tough and experienced field. In the end, he finished an hour ahead of second place musher Aliy Zirkle and while an hour may seem like a large gap, when you consider that the competitors have been racing for ten days straight, you realize that it is actually a narrow margin. Veteran musher Ramey Smyth arrived in Nome in third place after making a late charge to the front of the pack.For Seavey, dog sledding is a family affair. His father Mitch won the event back in 2004 and had a respectable seventh place finish this year. Grandfather Dan raced in the original Iditarod 40 years ago and as of this writing he is holding down the 52nd position in this years race as well. He is still a few days from reaching the finish line where he will undoubtedly give Dallas a proper congratulations.

Over the course of the next few days the last of the competitors will straggle across the finish line in Nome. For a full leaderboard and more information on the race visit Iditarod.com.

[Photo credit: Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News)