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posted: July 31st, 2016 |
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This page begins with June 23rd and our "solstice" outing to Eagle Summit to watch the Midnight Sun not set! This page goes from the start of the trip until about 2:50 PM. There were SO MANY flowers and such wonderful scenery that we were shocked and amazed! Click on any thumbnail to begin.
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| Begin June 23rd |
On the morning of June 23rd we decided, kind of on the spur of the moment due to the beautiful weather after several days of rain, that we'd take a trip out the Steese Highway and try to get to Eagle Summit. At Milepost 8.4 there is a Trans-Alaska Pipeline Viewpoint and we stopped there so that Kazuya could see it. The first shot in this row shows the pipeline and me. The second photo shows a sign beside a retired pig. The third shot shows a current pig, not the retired one.
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 June23rd_001 _PipeLineRC |
 June23rd_004 _PipeLineRC |
 June23rd_003 _PipeLineRC |
The three shots in this row were also taken at the pipeline viewpoint. The first shot shows Pyrola asarifolia, the second shot shows a cranberry plant and the third shot shows another shot of Pyrola asarifolia.
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 June23_03_SteeseHwy _Pyrola_asarifoliaRC |
 June23rd_005_Pipe Line_CranberryRC |
 June23rd_006_PipeLine _PyrolaAsarifoliaRC |
Okay, now we are continuing out the Steese Highway. The first shot shows a shot around the Chatanika Area. The second shot shows a fireweed in bloom and the third shot again shows scenery in the Chatanika Area.
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 June23rd_010 _ChatanikaRC |
 June23_04_Steese Hwy_FireweedRC |
 June23rd_011 _ChatanikaRC |
The first shot in this row is zoomed in a bit from the previous shot. The second shot shows a Iris setosa at 31.6 mile pond. The third shot just shows 31.6 mile pond.
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 June23rd_012 _ChatanikaRC |
 June23rd_016_Chatanika _IrisSetosaRC |
 June23_10_SteeseHwy _31_6MilePondRC |
In the first shot the outlined area shows the next photo. The second photo row shows the outlined area of the first photo and the third shot shows the Chatanika River.
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 June23_06_07_Steese Hwy_SceneryRC |
 June23_07_Steese Hwy_SceneryRC |
 June23rd_018 _ChatanikaRiverRC |
Here is another scenic shot in which you can see the Chatanika River. The second shot shows the Steese Highway, which is nicely paved for the first 81.3 miles. The third image is a two-shot panorama in which you can again see the Chatanika River.
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 June23rd_019_ ChatanikaRiverRC |
 June23rd_022 _SteeseHWYRC |
 June23rd_035_036_ Panorama_SteeseHWYRC |
In the first photo in this row you can see the Davidson Ditch, a 90 mile (140 km) conduit built in the 1920s to supply water to gold mining dredges in central Alaska. It was the first large-scale pipeline construction project in Alaska, and lessons learned in its construction were applied to the building of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. It is eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, but has not been listed due to a lack of information. Despite this, the remains of the conduit are partially protected by its inclusion in the White Mountains National Recreation Area. (Google it if you would like more information). The second and third shots show cotton grass Eriophorum vaginatum along the highway.
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 June23rd_042_ DavidsonDitchRC |
 June23rd_048_SteeseHWY _EriophorumVaginatumRC |
 June23rd_050_SteeseHWY _EriophorumVaginatumRC |
The first photo in this row was taken at Milepost 75. The second photo shows the Highway Maintenance Facility right at about the end of the pavement, at Milepost 81.3. The third shot shows that we are now on a good gravel highway.
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 June23rd_067_ SteeseHWY_SmRC |
 June23rd_077_ SteeseHWYRC |
 June23rd_079_ SteeseHWYRC |
We stopped at Twelvemile Summit, which is at Milepost 85.5. The elevation is 3,190 feet (972 m) here. We could see lots of flowers and wanted to get a closer look. So, in first position is a Dryas octopetala, in second position is a Kalmia procumbens and in third position is a Minuartia macrocarpa! WOW!
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 June23rd_081_Twelvemile Summit_DryasOctopetalaRC |
 June23rd_083_Twelvemile Summit_KalmiaProcumbensRC |
 June23rd_087_Twelvemile Summit_MinuartiaMacrocarpaRC |
In this row is another Dryas octopetala, a Rhododendron tomentosum and then a plant/flower which we could not identify.
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 June23rd_089_Twelvemile Summit_DryasOctopetalaRC |
 June23rd_091_Twelvemile Summit_RhododendronTomentosumRC |
 June23rd_095_ TwelvemileSummitRC |
In this row is another scenic shot, a shot of an Anemone narcissiflora and then another scenic shot with the next photo outlined.
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 June23rd_099_ TwelvemileSummitRC |
 June23rd_096_Twelvemile Summit_AnemoneNarcissifloraRC |
 June23_14_15_Overlay_Steese Hwy_TwelveMile_SceneryRC |
The first photo here shows the area which was outlined in the previous photo and then the outlined area in this photo shows the area of the next photo. The third shot shows me searching the ground for plants/flowers.
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 June23_15_17_Overlay_Steese Hwy_TwelveMile_SceneryRC |
 June23_17_SteeseHwy _TwelveMile_SceneryRC |
 June23rd_102_ TwelvemileSummitRC |
Here are two shots of Arnica lessingii and then a shot of Castilleja hyperborea.
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 June23rd_105_Twelvemile Summit_ArnicaLessingiiRC |
 June23rd_106_Twelvemile Summit_ArnicaLessingiiRC |
 June23rd_107_Twelvemile Summit_CastillejaHyperboreaRC |
Here are two more shots of Castilleja hyperborea and then a bright blue Campanula lasiocarpa.
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 June23rd_108_Twelvemile Summit_CastillejaHyperboreaRC |
 June23rd_112_Twelvemile Summit_CastillejaHyperboreaRC |
 June23rd_116_Twelvemile Summit_CampanulaLasiocarpaRC |
In first place here is a Pedicularis labradorica and that is followed by two shots of Parrya nudicaulis, which is a pink color which is impossible to capture digitally.
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 June23rd_117_Twelvemile Summit_PedicularisLabradoricaRC |
 June23rd_121_Twelvemile Summit_ParryaNudicaulisRC |
 June23rd_123_Twelvemile Summit_ParryaNudicaulisRC |
All three shots in this row show Dodecatheon frigidum - Shooting Star. This is such an amazingly beautiful flower that you'll see several photos of it before you get to the end of this adventure!
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 June23rd_125_Twelvemile Summit_DodecatheonFrigidumRC |
 June23rd_127_Twelvemile Summit_DodecatheonFrigidumRC |
 June23rd_127Part_Twelvemile Summit_DodecatheonFrigidumRC |
In the first shot in this row is Kazuya hiking along searching for flowers. In second position is another shot of that same unknown plant as above. In third position is a nice specimen of Minuartia macrocarpa.
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 June23_20_SteeseHwy _TwelveMile_SceneryRC |
 June23_33_SteeseHwy _TwelveMile_UnknownRC |
 June23_25_SteeseHwy_Twelve Mile_Minuartia_macrocarpaRC |
Okay, we are now leaving the Twelvemile Summit Wayside and continuing on. The next two shots show scenery along the highway.
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 June23rd_128_ TwelvemileSummitRC |
 June23rd_130 _SteeseHWYRC |
 June23rd_132 _SteeseHWYRC |
Here are three more scenic shots along the Steese Highway. Note the way the highway stretches out in front of us in the center shot.
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 June23rd_133 _SteeseHWYRC |
 June23rd_138 _SteeseHWYRC |
 June23rd_153 _SteeseHWYRC |
Okay, we've now gotten to Eagle Summit and we are stopped for the day! The Eagle Summit Wayside is at Milepost 107.1. The second shot shows an Anemone narcissiflora and the third shot shows a Bistorta plumosa.
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 June23rd_160 _EagleSummitRC |
 June23rd_164_EagleSummit _AnemoneNarcissifloraRC |
 June23rd_167_EagleSummit _BistortaPlumosaRC |
The first two shots in this row show Polemonium caeruleum ssp. villosum, a species which we did not see many specimens of. The third shot shows a Papaver macounii (Macoun's Poppy).
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 June23rd_170_EagleSummit_ PolemoniumCaeruleumSspVillosumRC |
 June23rd_171_EagleSummit_ PolemoniumCaeruleumSspVillosumRC |
 June23rd_174_EagleSummit_ PapaverMacouniiRC |
In first and third position are two more shots of Papaver macounii and in center position is an example of Pedicularis oederi.
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 June23rd_175_EagleSummit_ PapaverMacouniiRC |
 June23rd_177_EagleSummit _PedicularisOederiRC |
 June23rd_181_EagleSummit_ PapaverMacouniiRC |
Here is another shot of Parrya nudicaulis and again you will note that the delicate pinkish color of it just doesn't show in digital photographs. In the second and third photos are shots of Lagotis minor (Little weaselsnout). This is a flower/plant which we were really hoping that we would be able to find here. This genus is one which we also have found in Japan on the mountains and HERE is a link to an adventure where we were specifically looking for this species in the Hakuba Mountains in Japan. HERE is another link to a really amazing shot of the Japanese species (Lagotis glauca) of it.
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 June23rd_182_EagleSummit _ParryaNudicaulisRC |
 June23rd_187_EagleSummit _LagotisMinorRC |
 June23rd_183_EagleSummit _LagotisMinorRC |
In the first and third positions in this row are shots of Pedicularis langsdorfii and in the center is a shot of an Astragalus umbellatus.
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 June23rd_191_EagleSummit _PedicularisLangsdorfiiRC |
 June23rd_197_EagleSummit _AstragalusUmbellatusRC |
 June23rd_195_EagleSummit _PedicularisLangsdorfiiRC |
All three images in this row show examples of Dodecatheon frigidum - Shooting Star, a flower which we really love. That means that you should expect to see even more shots of it!
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 June23rd_198_EagleSummit _DodecatheonFrigidumRC |
 June23rd_199_EagleSummit _DodecatheonFrigidumRC |
 June23rd_201Part_Eagle Summit_DodecatheonFrigidumRC |
| End Page 1, but June 23rd Continues on Page 2 |
| Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this page. Now, please go on to Page 2 for the continuation of this amazing solstice adventure. |
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