hey Folks,
Another image from my evening with some sun.
Cheers
Carl
Sunset over Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska
5 Replies
Category Archives: Backpacking and Hiking
Backpacker sliding on snow
Hey Folks,
Here’s our Russian Dynamo, Sveta, sliding down a snowy slope on Day 2 of our trek from Bremner Mines to Tebay Lakes, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. The first slide she took wasn’t quite as intentional as this one, which made it a little more stressful, but later in the day she was all over this one. I think 4 out of the 6 people on the trip slid down this slope – a pleasant change from walking with a heavy backpack. The slope wasn’t quite steep enough to really get going fast, but it was fun nonetheless.
Just to give you an idea how dynamic the Alaskan weather is, the next morning we were swimming in a pond just down the valley from here – it changes fast. Continue reading
Hiking in snow
Hey Folks,
Here’s Sergei, also known as ‘Borat’. We ascended this pass on day 2 of our trip, in good weather, fortunately, and I scarpered ahead of some members of the group to grab a few photos. One of the few times I was close to the front of the group – it was a great group of hikers. Sergei acquired 2 nicknames this year – ‘Borat’, initially, because his Russian accent is almost a perfect rendition of the film character – his second nickname came a little later in the trip – Day 3, I believe. We’ll talk about that one on another post.
We had some great weather on this particular day, it cleared up nicely, and the hiking was superb – not too hot, but not raining. On this hike we went through 4 high alpine mountain passes, each of which was quite a slog. The first 2 were snow-covered, but the last 2 were snow free. This one had a nice glacier on both sides of the pass, which made good walking. The terminal moraine at the end of each glacier was a little more treacherous.
Cheers
Carl
Backpacking in the snow
Hey Folks,
Just back in from a GREAT hike – Bremner Mines, in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, to Tebay Lakes. We had an amazing time, and loved nearly every second of the trip. We started a little hesitantly – our flight in to the backcountry was a day late, due to inclement weather, and when we arrived, things hadn’t seemed to be on the improve. We hit a good hail storm within 10 minutes of landing and heading off – so rather than ‘tent it’, we stayed the first night in a little bunkhouse cabin near the old mines, currently occupied by the Park Service archaeologist, Barbara, a delightful and knowledgeable lady who made our night a treat. The next morning the weather was marginally better, and by the time we hit the first pass, close to lunch, we’d already hiked through a small snow storm. Here’s the view of the group at the pass, Jodee, Geoff, Svetlana, Mike and Sergei, from left to right. I think they’re wondering ‘what the hell are we doing up here’, before we set off down the steep snowy slope – an adventure, for sure.
All up, the trip was fantastic, the scenery incredible, the hiking a good challenge, and the group wonderful – everyone really chipped in and made this a memorable hike.
I’ll post some more over the next week or so.
Cheers
Carl
Mt Drum, Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alaska
Hey Folks,
A gallery of Mt Drums photos here.
Here’s the follow up to the post of 2 days ago. I walked about 100 yards up the ridge from the pond, and found this Alaska Cotton Grass field, which made a nice foreground for the mountain, to me. The timber of the light had changed so much in just a minute or 2. I snapped a few photos here, and before I knew it, the peak started to dim. A cloud behind me blocked the rising sun’s rays, and within a few more minutes, the peak no longer glowed. Bummer. I lay on the tundra for a while, hoping for some more light, but by the time the light started to shine on the snow-capped Mt. Drum again, the warmth was gone, and a cold morning light wasn’t so great for photos – this tired cold puppy headed back to his tent for some rest.
I should be back from my Bremner – Tebay trip tomorrow, and will try to post something late tomorrow evening when I get in.
Here’s another image of this same scene:
Cheers
Carl
Mount Drum photos, Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alaska
Hey Folks,
So here’s Mount Drum at 4:40am. A far better sight than I am at that time in the morning, trust me!
I got up and headed out early, but not early enough to catch the color in the sky around 4:15 – the clouds glowed a fiery pink, and I was still putting layer after layer of clothes on. It was pretty chilly this morning. I shot this photo of Mount Drum maybe 50 yards from out little kitchen – the unusually heavy rainfall left a number of small ponds and pondlets scattered across the high tundra, giving me something as a foreground for this photo.
I took a few quick compositions, then headed across the tundra for something else as a foreground, and it was amazing how much the light changed in a few short minutes.
Mount Drum photos is typically shot from the north face, or the southwest face – we were a little east of it here, and the high peak caught the morning rays nicely.
Cheers
Carl
Tent and Mt Drum, Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alaska
Hey Folks,
So here’s another image from the fabled ‘night of the forgotten camera’ – I turned around, and shot Kevin’s tent as he sat inside and read – well, he told me he was reading, but I never saw a book, just the headlamp – I’m not sure he wasn’t just turning on the lamp to make us think he was reading. The mountain in the background is Mt Drum, this was one of the few opportunities we got to see it, as clouds covered the sky most of the time. Prtty sweet view out a tent though, eh?
Cheers
Carl
Camping by Mt Sanford, Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alaska
Hey Folks,
So I got back right on time – the last glows of the evening were just dwindling down, and I arrived back at the ‘house’ and grabbed my camera, and set up this shot. 10 minutes earlier and the color in the sky was gorgeous. 25 minutes earlier and the mountain was on fire. Zanetti and Wrangell, further south, were even more spectacular. As per usual, my impeccable timing got me a drab sky and no great light.
Cheers
Carl
Hiking on the Sanford Plateau, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska
Hey Folks,
Here’s a motley crew – the 3 Rascals. Left to Right, Sergei “Borat” Egorov, Steve “Don’t Dude Me” New and Dan “Two Plates” Kelly – only Kevin “Kayfer” Kelly escaped my lens on this shot – I think he was further up the ridge looking for a bear. We dayhiked from camp this particular day, and got back in time for a great supper and sunset over the mountains, alpenglow and all – of course, I wasn’t able to shoot any of that, as I was off on another hike, with Two Plates, looking for the rain pants he’d accidentally left behind on the hike up near a waterfall. We found them and headed back to camp, where my camera lay sitting under the tarp, neatly, where I’d left it – always leave your camera behind when you head out near sunset for a hike, that’s one of my Golden Rules. We had awesome alpenglow on Mt Sanford, Mt Wrangell and Mt Zanetti, all over 13 500′, and yours truly was walking around the tundra without his camera. I really do a great job, eh?
Cheers
Carl
Hiking Sanford Glacier, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska
Hey Folks,
Here’s Steve “Don’t Dude Me” New – posing in front of the Arch. Every so often a rock or three would fall from the bridge in the background, and crash down onto the ice below – pretty awesome stuff. We enjoyed the glacier and moraine, but the hiking is tough on that terrain. Fortunately we didn’t have to hike too far across the rocks and ice – and the moraine made the river crossing WAY simpler than it would otherwise have been.
Cheers
Carl