Roadside Encounters

I captured this black bear earlier in the spring as it paused along the Alaska Highway. It was a quiet moment, but I was surprised at the amount of Alcan traffic coming into Alaska overall. Seems my home state these days is on the nation's - even the world's - bucket list. I witnessed caravans of motorhomes and pickup campers; every make, model, and year known to man. Plenty of Uhauls and motorcycles, too.

Of course, that Alcan traffic pales to the dipnet throngs I saw Thursday on the Seward Highway - and the weirdness that comes with California-sized crowds. I was fortunate to miss the "naked guy" in a Cooper Landing pullout who made social media headlines yesterday as he publicly fulfilled his solo sexual desires (a passerby actually posted a picture of the clown in action ). And while waiting in line to pay for parking at the Russian River, I was rear-ended by the inattentive motorist behind me. Driver was from New Hampshire; luckily, no major damage done.

The upside to all of this is that Anchorage this morning seems a little more like the uncrowded, sleepy town I've known since 1966 (that's pre-MacDonald's, pre-oil pipeline, and of course pre-PFD, for perspective's sake). These days, I'll take my peace and solitude where I can affordably find it. For now, I'm content at home, editing photos, and thinking back to quiet moments like this one where, between camper caravans, it was just me and the bear.

— km