Two years ago, I spent a few weeks in the Yukon territories a bit later in the year then I did this time around. We decided to go back up there a month earlier this time round to make sure that we caught the full expression of the fall colors. Because the seasons are shorter, the further north you go the earlier the fall season starts, much earlier than in the southern climes.

Yukon Territories, Sunset Reflections

This can be advantageous to the photographer wanting to extend this season of maximum autumn colors by heading as far north as possible prior to the leaves turning and slowly traveling south over a period of weeks following the seasons transitions. Using this technique, we managed to be in the middle of the autumn season continuously for more than two and a half months.

Driving the Denali Highway, Alaska

Early in August we left our home driving north, planning to be in Alaska just before the season change, exploring many of the more interesting roads before hand to get a lay of the land ahead of time. That way we would have a fair idea where to be once the colors started to manifest. This year so far was looking fairly wet, with most of the days being overcast with rain or snow depending on your altitude. It was a challenge to get that warm dramatic lighting that I usually quest in the early morning and late evenings due to the consistent cloud cover.

Huge erratic boulder in Denali National Park, Alaska

But being in the northern latitudes the sun does not necessarily set for long, if at all, crawling along the horizon for hours at a time, creating many hours of “long light”, and increasing the likelihood of capturing some dramatic light streaming through a hole in the clouds over that span of time.

As we embarked on our travels north, we were met with a consistent dreary rainfall, making photography difficult to impossible, depending on our enthusiasm of the moment. Mostly we were determined to get as far north as possible, and to drive our way into good weather. Despite the rain, it was hard to not appreciate the phenomenal power and drama of the Rocky Mountains here at our doorstep.

Dramatic lighting in Canada’s Rocky Mountain National Park

“Storm Summit”, Mount Ishbel, Banff, Alberta.

Having left later in the day it was apparent that we would not be getting all the way to the Jasper township this evening, and maybe this was a great time to give the roof top tent a full trial in the pounding rain at the side of the road.

Debbie and Tim ready to go with a roof top tent

I am thinking at this time “we better to find out where the possible leaks might be ahead of time before ending up in the middle of no-where-ville northern Canada”, being that this rooftop tent was second hand and not fully weather tested. This way repairs or modifications could be made with the availability of local hardware stores close at hand. As it turns out the tent is well designed and in good traveling shape, so the rain was held at bay all night long, leaving us comfy in our down comforter but wondering what would be the easiest method of peeing without descending the ladder. Hmm things that don’t occur to you until the time is nigh. Turns out the best method was to desist from drinking liquids long before heading to the sack. There was no way to make the descent down the ladder pleasant, at any time during the night!

“Luminous Deep”