A Photographer’s Perspective

We all know the expression “it’s the journey, not the destination”, and yet we write mostly about where we stay, not how we got there.

In our life on the road, Linda is the primary driver and, if I’m going to be totally honest, the only driver and I’m perfectly fine with that. As a photographer, this gives me an opportunity to see and capture the wonderful world outside our IMAX-sized window. Having said that, I’ve actually rarely used photographs like these because they are either blurred or are just uninteresting shots of a highway. This changed dramatically on our way through British Columbia to our ultimate destination: Alaska.

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We are traveling with our friends, Bill and Kelly and, because they have a GPS that works in Canada, they are taking the lead. This is a novelty for me because their fifth wheel has become the subject of many of my recent images and gives a perfect sense of scale against the vast landscape.

For the most part, traveling from the Canadian border to Dawson Creek felt like familiar territory. We are both spoiled being from Seattle and the beauty of the Pacific Northwest sets the bar pretty high. Linda kept saying “I still don’t feel like we are in the wild yet” and it was true. Landscapes were peppered with small towns and large cities. One visitors center blended into another.

Dawson Creek is like arriving at Base Camp preparing to summit Mount Everest. Everyone gathers there to shop and make ready for the journey and, although they are strangers, you feel a kinship with them nonetheless. We saw fifth wheels, motorhomes, campers, you name it and we made a pretty good assumption that they were all on their way to the great state of Alaska. I felt excited knowing this was the beginning of the Alaska Highway and, really, the true beginning of our own odyssey.

We decided to travel from Dawson Creek to Muncho Lake even though it was going to be a long and tiring drive. Every blog we read had mentioned the incredible vistas and wildlife at every turn. After Fort Nelson, they said, you will wear out the word “wow”.

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The weather was dramatic for our trip. There was rain, sun and hail. I was in my element because the clouds were making big bold statements and the sunlight poked its way through and lit up the landscape like searchlights. I couldn’t keep my finger off the shutter. The light was changing every second and Bill and Kelly’s rig was center stage against a magnificent backdrop of rolling hills, winding roads and snow-capped mountains. We saw bears, moose, caribou and porcupines and our hearts were pounding with every sighting. I was scrambling from window to window, getting a major workout. I didn’t even care about where we were going, at that moment, it was truly all about the journey.

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As the day wore on, the abundant bug guts and raindrops on the windshield made shooting a serious challenge, I still managed to record our epic trip in the way I experienced it from where I sat.

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We are now safely tucked in at a campground by Muncho Lake Provincial Park and the view is, again, magnificent. It’s hard to believe that we are still at the very beginning of this spectacular journey.


UP NEXT: Long day’s journey into the wild.


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20 Comments

  1. Jodee Gravel

    Love those "worn out wow" drives, and this one is seriously incredible! Great post, and as always spectacular photos. That IMAX window is one of the reasons we're so happy we got a Class A over every other option – if you're going to see the country, then SEE the country!! I was going to mention your super-clean glass 🙂 So excited for this adventure of yours. For Linda, it looks like a sweet drive thus far.

  3. JB

    If it is vast wilderness that you looking for, don't just whirl through the Yukon or you will miss most of it. Of our two trips to Alaska, Dawson City and the rest of the Yukon were our favourites.

  4. Molly and Bob

    Thanks for bringing back those wonderful feelings when seeing "what's 'round the next bend" en route to Alaska. Muncho Lake was a jewel along the way. It's going to be fun seeing it again through your lens! Thank you! Have an amazing adventure!

  13. Steven n' Linda

    British Columbia, Yukon and Alaska are overwhelming in their size. We have to be judicious about where we want to concentrate our time, particularly from a photographic point of view. We will hopefully return to visit all the places we missed at another time. For now, we are enjoying every minute and like the pace we have going 🙂 I'm glad to hear you have also had a chance to experience this great place.

  14. Steven n' Linda

    Thank you! No matter how much we read up on this trip, there is no substitute for actually being here. As fun as it is to capture photographs, they barely come close to the real thing. Although they'll certainly bring back memories of one of the highlights of our fulltiming life.

  16. Steven n' Linda

    Thanks Jodee! We are lucky to be so simpatico in this life. Linda loves to drive and I love my drive-by shooting 🙂 I try to clean our IMAX screen soon after arriving at a place. In a way, it's like another lens I have to take care of. I'm glad you guys are following along our adventures.

  19. Steven n' Linda

    Oh no, that's unfortunate. We already have some cracks in ours but are hoping my McGyver tape job will keep it all together until we get back to the states 🙂 I'm glad you are enjoying our stories and photos.

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