Southeast Alaska & Inside Passage Pictures, Photos, Photography

The Southeast Alaskan panhandle, usually referred to as simply Southeast, is the northern portion of the Inside Passage. It extends 500 miles from north to south and 100 miles from east to west. The area encompasses 1,000 islands, 15,000 miles of shoreline and thousands of coves and bays. The main cities and ports include Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Haines, and Skagway. It contains Glacier Bay National Park, Misty Fjords National Monument, Admiralty Island National Monument, and the Tongass National Forest.

The Inside Passage is a route for oceangoing vessels along a series of passages between the mainland and the coastal islands. Ships using the route can avoid the bad weather of the North Pacific Ocean. It is heavily travelled by cruise ships, freighters, tugs with tows, fishing boats, and Alaska Marine Highway ferries.

The Tongass National Forest is the largest national forest in the United States at 17 million acres (69,000 square km). It is a temperate rain forest that is home to many species of endangered and rare flora and fauna. It is the largest remaining temperate rainforest on Earth. It is primarily made up of western red cedar, sitka spruce, and western hemlock. Five species of salmon, brown and black bear, and bald eagles abound throughout the forest.

Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness is located about 45 miles south of Juneau and was designated as a wilderness area by the United States Congress in 1980. The area covers 653,179 acres and consists of two deep and narrow fjords, Tracy Arm and Endicott Arm. Both fjords are over 30 miles long and one-fifth of their area is covered in ice. Tracy Arm contains the North and South Sawyer Glaciers and Endicott Arm contains the Dawes Glacier. Arctic terns and pigeon guillemots nest along the cliffs, and harbor seals give birth and nurse their young on the floating icebergs.

The Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve near Haines was created by the State of Alaska in June of 1982. The preserve was established to protect the world's largest concentration of bald eagles and their critical habitat. Bald eagles are attracted to the area by the availability of spawned-out salmon and open waters in late fall and winter.

Some of the best locations for photography in Southeast Alaska and the Inside Passage include the spectacular granite fjords of Misty Fjords National Monument and Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness, the Le Conte Glacier, the Mendenhall Glacier, and the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve.