Category Archives: Backpacking and Hiking

Trekking, hiking, backpacking, camping, and all things to do with walking in the backcountry.

Delicate Arch – Alaska-style?

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photo of a hiker atop an ice arch on the Sanford Glacier, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s an image from our first afternoon on the Sanford Glacier – well, on the moraine section of the glacier. We arrive at the landing strip, donned raingear to ward off the ever-present drizzle, and set off up the valley. Before long, we found a place to camp, setup camp, had a nap (always a critical part of a day’s hiking), and then we hiked up the valley to the moraine, and explored that a little. Right before we got on the moraine we saw a grizzly bear, maybe 75 yards away. The bear reared up on its hind legs, took a look at our intimidating crew, and then dropped to all fours and raced off into the brush. Good bear!

After hiking around the glacier a while, we found this arch, which was really cool. Of course, we didn’t have cameras with us, so we made sure the following day to take a short detour off our route up to this arch for some images. I’m glad we did, what a cool place this is. What’s really cool is that it changes on such a scale that it could well not be around next year. I hope it is, but I’m sure we’ll find something else equally as interesting if not. Such seems to be the way of glaciers.

I convinced Dan “Two Plates” Kelly to head up on the bridge of the glacier for a photo-opp. Dan’s never one to shy away from such a chance to shine, and he posed nicely for this. I’ll post another image soon of his brother, Steve “Don’t Dude Me” also at this arch, from below.

Cheers

Carl

The Sanford River, Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alaska

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The Sanford River drainage, sunset, Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

I just returned from a week on the Sanford Plateau. This is the view north from camp on our second evening. One of the few nice evenings we had – more rain, more wind, more clouds, more wind, and then crazy insane winds that nearly drove us off the range. Nearly. I was really hoping to get some nice stuff of the big mountains visible from up here, but the weather didn’t co-operate like I hoped it might. Such seems to be the summer. We had an AWESOME trip though, and thanks to Sergei, Steven, Daniel, Kevin and Wendell 🙂 – awesome folks, awesome fun, awesome times. And best of luck with Daniel who’s about to head off to MIT for his first year of college – I’ve never met an MIT person before – I’m still kind of in shock.

More to come over the next few days – while I’ll be gone leading a trip from Bremner Mines to Tebay Lakes in Wrangell -St. Elias National Park until the 20th – so I’ll schedule a few posts for while I’m gone. Pray for sunshine.

Cheers

Carl

Too cold for off-shore drilling

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Testing the waters of the arctic ocean, ANWR, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Some of you may have read my recent piece on the proposals to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. You can read it here.

For those of you who aren’t aware, another hot issue with proposals to drill is the off-shore sites, in the arctic ocean. We were keen to explore this possibility as well, as the testing we did on the coastal plain really showed how magical this arctic oil is. However, howling winds and chilly temperatures proved that off-shore drilling simply isn’t possible.

Any deeper than this in the arctic ocean and nothing would be the same afterward.

So we said “No”, to off-shore drilling.

Cheers

Carl

Climbing in the Brooks Range, Alaska

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Climbing on the Pipeline, Brooks Mountain Range, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

I just got back from a trip to Skolai Pass, in Wrangell-St. Elias, and we got SLAMMED by the weather. It was so ugly, I couldn’t help but feel bad for the people on the trip. I didn’t even take my camera out of the backpack the whole week. So I don’t have any images from this trip. That’s a first for me. Instead, I’ll post some more images from previous trips, including this one from our highly vaunted ANWR Drilling Trip earlier this month. I’m not going to say that this climbing around was my idea – and far be it for me to snitch, but I think you can tell from the looks of the 2 people with me that it was their responsibility – they literally forced me onto this pipeline for the photo. 🙂 🙂

Erika and Bob were great folks, and we had an excellent trip to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Cheers

Carl

Flute on the coastal plain, ANWR, Alaska

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Hiker playing a traditional Native American Indian Flute on the coastal plain of ANWR, Alaska

Hey Folks,

One evening I set out from camp to find a nice place to play the flute. This little pond was really cool, there weren’t too many bugs, and it had a peaceful reverie about it that I enjoyed. I ended up playing for an hour or more here. See what I mean – this coastal plain isn’t all as ugly and revolting as some people would have us believe.

Cheers

Carl

The Golden Oil of ANWR – it’s over!

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oil in ANWR

Hey Folks,

By now, you’ve all heard the rumors, I’m sure. How the massive oil fields, despoiling the pristine earth lying deep beneath the frozen, barren tundra of the lonely coastal plains of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (known by its acronym ANWR), could save our planet. How, if only those whacko enviro-freaks, who are bent on ruining the lives of countless hard-working patriotic Americans, have consistently and ruthlessly undertaken to bully the American Congress and the oil industry into submission, and not allow the oil and natural gas that is currently being wasted underground to be extracted and delivered to gas stations across America.

I’m sure you’ve read the facts, and seen how, if the estimated 10 billion barrels of ANWR oil could be drilled and refined, gasoline prices at the pump would plummet; but not just the gas prices, Continue reading →

Icy Bay, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska

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Swimming in Icy Bay, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

I think I’m going to title my first book, ‘From One Disaster to Another’.

I got back, safe and sound, from my most recent trip to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, but somewhat earlier than planned. I’ll tell it to you over a few posts, starting here.

I flew from Anchorage to Yakutat, a small town down on the coast, in northern South East Alaska. I was aiming to go from there to Icy Bay, an inlet on the Gulf of Alaska, and one of the few areas where the park touches the coast. I’d heard bits and pieces about the bay over the years, but knew very little about it. Everyone who’d been simply said ‘Oh, you GOTTA go to Icy Bay’. I’ve always been one to do as I was told, so, in time, I headed for Icy Bay. Continue reading →

Hole in the Wall, Skolai Pass, Wrangell St. Elias National Park

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Ice and snow form a glacier on one of the peaks at Hole in the Wall, Skolai Pass, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s an image from last September – I was basecamped in Skolai Pass, and one morning had some nice light to shoot a variety of images.

Skolai is an amazing place with a variety of photographic subjects that is seemingly without end. Wildflowers can be amazing there, landscapes as grand as the immense Russell Glacier and Mt Bona and Mt Churchill, 16 550′ high Mt Bona, and 15 638′ high Mt Churchill towering in the background, ice patterns and crevasses in the glacier, lakes, waterfalls, streams and cascades, shorebirds, raptors, songbirds, and mammals ranging in size from tiny voles and arctic ground squirrels to foxes, marmots, Dall sheep, caribou and grizzlies.

I’ve even see wolf tracks along the air strip up there.

Hole in the Wall is a massive escarpment of peaks similar to Moraine Lake, only bigger and Hole in the Wall feels more primordial, with no trees, the moraine and glacier are still intact, rather than the revegetated montane alpine country and the deep blue lake of Wenkchemna. Hole in the Wall has 7 peaks, rather than 10, and they stand almost sentinel like over Skolai Pass. Continue reading →

Footprints in the snow

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footprints in the snow, winter, Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s a photo I took a little over a month back, of Long Lake, off the McCarthy Rd. You can see what happens if you get to close here; the last photographer obviously tried a little too hard to push the boundaries.

This lake freeze over, except for this small outflow at the western end of the lake, and another small section on the northside of the lake, where a spring bubbles into the lake, and keeps the surface from freezing.

That section is a spawning ground for salmon all through the winter, even into April, and is one of the latest spawning areas in Alaska. The winter spawn is an important food source for a lot of animals in the area, including lynx, wolves, wolverines, raven, mink, marten, foxes and coyotes and more.

Won’t be long now until the lake thaws and the waterfowl settle in. Loons nest here every summer, so I hope I’ll get to photograph some of them soon enough.

Cheers

Carl

Wilderness First Aid

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Rescuer stabilizing patients head and neck in a medical simulation, Anchorage, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

The last 10 days have been pretty busy, as I’ve been doing the Wilderness First Responder course (note to self: don’t let your certifications lapse in the future).

One of the primary goals of the course is to teach participants basic life support in backcountry and wilderness settings.

Here my friend Lisa is holding her patient’s head stable to protect the patient (Jason) from spine injury.

Both hands on the head, holding it still and steady, are critical. You can see in this simulation Lisa, with help from her other rescuer, has the patient warm and dry in a sleeping bag, on a foam pad to help insulate him.

Jason was found lying in the pool you can see near his feet.

Lisa and Taylor did a safety drag, where the spine is immobilized and Jason was dragged out of the water, on to the pad, they cut his wet clothes off, rolled him onto his side, placed a sleeping bag under him, rolled him back down and zipped up the bag.

In no time at all, he was dry and warm.

That’s a HUGE deal, as any treatment in this situation is going to (in all probability) be a minimum of several hours, and hypothermia will most likely set in.

Hypothermia can affect people even when the ambient temperature is 65?F (18.3? C) – so for someone with a possible major injury, lying flat on the ground for a short period of time even in mild weather can easily induce hypothermia.

Get the patient dry, off the ground, and in a bag.

Cheers

Carl