Alaska fall colors, on the ground? (Anchorage, Fairbanks: closing, moving, trees)

[echo7tango]

I’m an L48-er planning a multi-week road trip to Alaska. Hopefully next year, if the covid situation clears up. I plan to drive from San Francisco to Fairbanks, Denali, Skagway, and other Alaska destinations.

Are the pictures in this article colors from fall, or are they from spring? https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/alas...ent=nlbuttonB1

To my eye they look like spring wildflower blooms, not fall colors. As an L48-er I’m used to fall colors being up high in the trees, not down low on the ground as it appears in the pictures.

Thanks in advance!

[AKStafford]

Originally Posted by echo7tango

Are the pictures in this article colors from fall, or are they from spring? https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/alas...ent=nlbuttonB1

Yep, those are fall colors on the tundra.

[echo7tango]

Originally Posted by AKStafford

Yep, those are fall colors on the tundra.

Beautiful! Thank you. I'm still figuring out when to do my road trip, and each season brings its own beauty, whether flora or fauna, or both. And of course, covid is the main constraint right now.

Good to know, thanks again @AKStafford.

[Parnassia]

Originally Posted by echo7tango

Beautiful! Thank you. I'm still figuring out when to do my road trip, and each season brings its own beauty, whether flora or fauna, or both. And of course, covid is the main constraint right now.

Good to know, thanks again @AKStafford.

I tend to prefer road tripping in AK in early fall, but where I'm planning to go matters. The summer bugs tend to be less bothersome, waterfowl are flocking up and moving around more, big iconic wildlife species are fat and glossy from summer foraging, antlers have grown back, and fall colors are coming in. The angle of the sun is lower which helps intensify color photography. Obviously trees like birch, willow, and cottonwood are turning, but many ground hugging tundra plants turn brilliant colors in fall; bear berry and other berries, saxifrages, dwarf birch and willow, fireweed, other perennial forbs, grasses and sedges, all set off by various lichens. You might be lucky and catch the first new snow on mountain peaks too. Still the weather is king...you could see nothing but low clouds, fog, and rain instead of mountains, the aurora, and sunny colors on hillsides. One other consideration for fall trips...tourist destinations and services are closing down for the year.

[nordwulf]

This was September 14th in Denali NP this year. Some of the park was a bit yellow/brown but there was some nice color as well. Pretty amazing road trip from September 12-22, these are just a few pictures. Very quiet in many places as well but that probably had to do with the pandemic.

I have been to the north of Quebec province in summer and bugs really drove me crazy. I imagine the same in Alaska in summer and one of the reasons I went in September. Weather was pretty good with just a few days of rain. Even a nice sunny day in Kenai Fjords NP.





The yellows and greens in the rest of Alaska was pretty nice.



Kenai peninsula was still pretty green on September 16-18th.



Lots of yellows on the way from Anchorage to Valdez on the 20th-21st.

[echo7tango]

^^^ Nice pictures and nice colors, @nordwulf.

[alaskaflyer]

https://www.city-data.com/forum/58992413-post40.html

[Northrick]

Nice!

[Quantumly]

Beautiful!

[riceme]

Very nice!