Looks like several people are headed the same direction I am Heading. Wife and I are planning 18 days beginning and ending in Denver. Planning in works now. Goals--- Mt. Rushmore, Little Big Horn or just over to Cody Wyoming, still not sure there, then Yellowstone for a couple of days, Teton NP, down to Zion and Bryce Canyon, up to Canyon lands and Arches NP and then return to Denver. I have a Nikon D7000 and some lenses, but am considering renting some I do not have such as a 24-70 f/2.8 and a telephoto, perhaps a 400mm or 500mm. I have the 70-200 f/2.8 already. For those of you who have traveled and photographed the West, which lenses would you suggest. Also does MTShooter rent lenses? Don't know how to contact him directly, so hopefully will get ahold of him through UHH. Thank you all for your suggestions and guidance. Also anything in that circle route that I should not miss? I know I could spend months out west and not see everything that is available, but only have 18 days and then back home to Alaska for a week (50th HS Reunion) before returning to PA.

I used to deliver booze out of Fairbanks down to Skinny Dicks Halfway Inn every month. Worked for a liquor distributor in Fairbanks for about 8 years, and have not thought about that place, or the memories of driving down to Mr. McKinley (at the time) and stops along the way making deliveries. Great time of my life.

As someone who only lived in Alaska 30 years, I always recommended a book called 'The Milepost' to anyone planing to drive around Alaska. It is called the Bible of the North Country. It is full of travel tips and tenth of a mile by tenth of a mile travel on all of Alaska's roads. Anchorage is a big city, like many others, but Mt. Susitna across the inlet from Anchorage (known as the Sleeping Lady) is awesome in the right light. Looking to the north from Anchorage, Mt. Denali (McKinley) can be seen 180 miles away. The highway to Fbks actually comes closer on the south side of the mountain, than the highway in the Park does. If you travel North from Anchorage, stop in Palmer and see the Musk Ox farm. Something you don't see every day. There are also Musk Ox on a farm in Fbks. Heading South from Anchorage, stop at Aleysa (ski slope) and take a ride to the top for some great photo ops. Continue on to Homer and Seward, both of which are amazing places to enjoy. One thing to remember is that 1/5th of the total land mass of the US is located in the State of Alaska. Heading North and driving the old Denali Hwy from Paxon to Cantwell can give you many photo opportunities. Possibilities for Caribou and Moose and small critters like Porcupine, Fox, Pika, Marmot, and if you are lucky maybe black bear or grizzly. Also the roadside streams may have spawning salmon in them at that time of year (and if you enjoy fishing, Grayling, Rainbow, and Arctic Char can be found in about all the steams up that way). In Fbks, and heading down toward Valdez, you will have the Trans-Ak pipeline. Alaska is such an amazing place, just about everywhere you go has awesome photo ops. Trips to the Kenai Fjords out of Seward, or maybe the Sternwheelers in Fbks. are things not to be missed. There is Chena Hot Springs about 50 miles out of Fairbanks that is a something to relax from your travels and enjoy. The time of year for your trip is awesome as the Birch trees will be gold and the wild berries will be ripe. Oh yes, there are also birds, birds, birds. From Bald Eagles, to Puffins, Teal, Ducks, and Geese, as well as maybe Ptarmigan or Ruffed Grouse. Start with The Milepost (available online or at Amazon) and prepare to be amazed at every turn of the road. Have a great adventure.

Thank you all for providing the information I was lacking and concerned about. I do appreciate all your advice.

In preparation for a 'once in a lifetime' type of trip, is it better to carry larger storage cards in the camera (128 GB or 256 GB cards) or more smaller cards. If the larger cards somehow get corrupted then all the photos are lost, but with more smaller cards (32 GB or 64 GB) there is more of a chance of accidentally misplacing them and losing the photos that way. Also my goal is a new Nikon D810 camera and I have no idea how quickly the cards will fill as I have never owned a full frame camera, so am not sure of the right size cards to purchase along with the camera. Currently with my D7000 I normally take between 300-500 photos on my 32 GB cards before I download them to external HDs with my laptop. I am sure these are simple questions for pros, but these are questions on my mind. Thanks for your guidance.

Thank you again for all your advice. What you have done is what I plan to do as well. Two backups (original and copy of photos) and I have time machine for my laptop at present with everything that is on my laptop. I will then store things offsite as well. Thanks again.

Thank You very much for your advice. I will check out Crash Plan as I know nothing about it. I do not have a lot of photos to back up at this time, but the library is beginning to grow (only about 26,000 at this time) I am planning to make copies of photos that are important and are from film days and then back those up to external HD's and off site as a just in case as well. Many of those photos are irreplaceable. I lost my youngest daughter 2 years ago and never want to lose the photos i have of her. Some are digital and some are film. Also photos of my parents and my wife's parents are on film and need to be saved as well. Thank You again for taking the time to guide me on this educational adventure.

OK lots of info to enlighten me. Thank You very much. So my thoughts of what a RAID system was for was completely wrong. It is backup but not storage. So let me know if this is a wrong thought process. Perhaps two external 4 TB HD's and a 3rd 4TB external HD that can be rotated with say #1 external HD and stored in a firesafe. Also offsite storage. Now all I use for photography at this time is Lightroom and Final Cut ProX. I have Lightroom and Photoshop downloaded from the 'cloud' and currently store all my photos on 2 4TB external HD's attached to my laptop (which is why I want a desktop iMac). Based on my current thought process, if I add one more 4TB External, I could rotate them for external storage. Also you recommend offsite storage and you listed one I had never heard of, and I also saw Carbonite which I have heard of. All I am looking to make sure I do not lose is photos and video's I have created. I am not a gamer and only use computers for photography and email and for information, like what I have gained from you. Based on your expertise, am I looking at this right or is there something I am missing?

Thank you for your info. I now know a lot more than I did. As I understand it now, the RAID system will back up the computer but an additional backup should be used for storing Data (Photos). I hope this is right.

I about to purchase a new computer system. The system will start with a new iMac and new external storage systems. I have never owned a RAID system and have no experience with one. The question I have is: Which is better, a RAID 1 system or two independent external HD's? I know the RAID 1 system has hot swappable HD's and thought that way I could swap the system out every couple of weeks or so, but was told that if I do that, the off site storage disk, when put back into the RAID system, would be reformatted and all the info would be lost. Also I was told that the disk that is removed, can only be read by the RAID system it came from, so if that system goes down in its entirety, any external storage is totally useless anyhow. So if that is true, is it better to have a RAID system, or two independent external HD's? Thank you in advance for your guidance.

I copied your suggested route. I am headed to Alaska in May for my 50th HS Reunion, and from there will head to the Pacific NW for 3 weeks or so to take my wife through the National Parks from Colorado to Montana to Washington and down to Northern California. We will do Southern California when we head down to LA and pick up Rt. 66 and cover the protein we did not get to last year up to Missouri or perhaps do it all back to Chicago as we had so much fun on the Northern portion we might just do it again. Thanks for your suggested route. I have not been out in that area since the late 50's, and then a little of it on my way to Alaska in 73 from PA. Wife has never been out West to the parks, although in 84 we drove out kids home to Alaska from PA but turned north to Canada in Montana, not quite to the park area of the Pacific NW. I have driven the AlCan Hwy 13 times, but always on a time schedule that did not let me enjoy the trip. Looking forward to next May and going back to Alaska. Have not been home in 8 years.

One of my Grandfathers, my Father, my Older Brother, myself, my Nephew, and 2 of my Nieces are all veterans of either WWI, WWII, Korea, Viet Nam era, Afghanistan and Iraq. It is not just a tradition, but an honor to have relatives and siblings who are Vets. To all Veterans, in all branches of the service, past, present, and future, Thank you for your service, no matter how large or small as it all matters.
I wish it was a requirement for the Commander in Chief to have at least one tour of military service, but as of now, that is not a requirement.

When it absolutely positively has to get there overnight....... :)

My wife and I just went for a drive through the South and spent an night in Tupelo MS (Where Elvis was born) and then went up to Memphis (BBQ & Blues) and then over to Nashville and Graceland. Having never been there, it was not what I was expecting. Not as grandiose as I thought it would be, but still well worth the visit. In my humble opinion, he had one of the greatest voices of the time. I still love his music, and although he was 'The Man' of the time, he gave back to the community all the time. The last instrument he played, just moments before he passed away was his piano. His music is still fantastic to listen to and although he never received a 'Grammy' for his pop / rock & roll music, he did for his gospel music. Fantastic voice.

Fantastic to watch. For me though, I would never get out of a perfectly good airplane for any reason. :-)