Sunset Over Mount Foraker from Lake Marie Lodge, Alaska
Mount Foraker: Sunset over the Alaska Range
When the Fish Aren't Biting, the Mountains Stand Tall
A Bad Fishing Trip Turns into a Photographic Triumph
Back in 1995, I started what became an annual pilgrimage to Alaska. That first trip was with a good friend, and we brought along our 15-year-old sons for an unforgettable wilderness experience. Over the years, we cycled between fly fishing for sport in Western Alaska and making dedicated supply runs to places like Sitka to fill our freezers with salmon and halibut to last until the following summer. Almost every journey was a resounding success, but every long-running tradition hits a snag eventually.
One particular year, we booked a stay at Lake Marie Lodge. Like most remote backcountry destinations in the state, getting there meant packing into a small bush plane and flying out over miles of roadless wilderness. The lodge was picturesque, but it had one glaring problem: there were simply no fish. After three days of casting into empty waters while morale plummeted around the lodge, my friend and I decided to take control of the situation. We radioed a bush plane to haul us out, flew back to civilization, and redirected down to the Kenai Peninsula to catch the late run of Coho salmon. That pivot saved the trip, and we ultimately went home with boxes full of fish.
Capturing Alaska's Second Tallest Peak
While the fishing at Lake Marie was an absolute bust, the scenery was anything but. The lodge sat in a location with front-row views of the highest peaks in North America. On the single clear day of our stay, Denali showed its massive face. But it was during one specific evening happy hour—while the rest of the group sat grumbling into their drinks about the lack of salmon—that the light transformed. Mount Foraker, rising to a staggering 17,400 feet as the second highest peak in the Alaska Range, caught the last warm glow of sunset above a heavy layer of rolling low clouds.
Mount Foraker sits just 23 miles southwest of Denali within Denali National Park. Named in 1899 after U.S. Senator Joseph B. Foraker, the mountain is known in the indigenous Dena'ina language as Sultana, meaning "the woman," or Sultana-Xel, referencing its status as the female counterpart to Denali. Its sheer topographic prominence rises dramatically over the Yentna River valley below, making it one of the most striking giant massifs on the continent despite playing second fiddle to its neighbor, Mt. Denali.
Composition and the Light of the Alaska Range
From a photographic perspective, moments like this are why you always keep your camera gear close, even during downtime. The scene offered a classic multi-layered mountain landscape composition: dense Alaskan spruce treetops anchoring the bottom frame, a massive blanket of taiga forest in the middle ground, low-lying cloud cover hugging the ridge, and the icy summit of Foraker bathed in golden light against a dusk sky. While everyone else remembered Lake Marie Lodge for the empty hooks, I walked away with my favorite memory of the Alaska Range!
Explore More of My Adventures
When a backcountry Alaskan fishing trip yielded zero fish, a dramatic sunset over Mount Foraker proved that keeping a camera nearby turns any bad day into a photographic triumph. Read the full story behind capturing Alaska's second tallest peak from Lake Marie Lodge.