Category Archives: Fall

Winter’s here

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Lakina river, early winter, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

I’m winding down my short stay here in McCarthy, prepping for the winter. I’ve painted half the inside of the cabin, chopped a bunch of wood, and done a few other odds and ends. I also scouted out a few photo opportunities for this winter, though I didn’t get to shoot much this last few weeks.

We got a solid dumping of snow almost a week ago, and most of it is still packed on the ground – the temps have hovered around 40 deg most days, so there’s not much melting. As I write this, a few lonely snow flakes drift down from the clouds – and from the looks of things, another snow storm is not far away.

I’ll be heading back towards Anchorage in the next few days, where I’ll stay for a while to do website updates, photo editing, other office work, etc – it’s a tedious time at the end of summer. Once I get that stuff tended to, I’ll stock up on food and supplies, and return to the cabin for the winter. I’m keen to venture a little further afield this year, explore the place in more detail, and try to get some good winter shots. I think I’m a bit better prepped this year, and have a better idea of how this all works. We’ll see.

The summer is now gone, too quickly, as always. They say fall has just begun, but I’m pretty sure it’s gone too – unless by ‘fall’ they mean ‘snowfall’ – my car outside is slowly getting a nice covering of the white stuff. As always, I’m already thinking about tentative plans for next summer. I don’t know yet exactly what they’ll entail (hence ‘tentative’) but at this point, I’m fairly certain they’ll include a good deal of me wandering around the mountains of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, looking for some sunshine.

Cheers

Carl

Sunset over the Alaska Range, Alaska

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sunset over the Alaska Range, Alaska.

hey Folks,

Here’s an old image I dug up last night .. going through some old files for editing. I shot it a couple of years ago, returning from a trip to Denali National Park one fall. The sky began to clear up late in the afternoon, and I was driving back towards Anchorage. A week or so in the park with clouds and rain and on my way home, a sunset! I pulled over to the side of the road, wandered off into the woods, got completely SOAKED in this marshy area, and set up my gear near this Dward Birch (Betula pumila or Betula borealis), glowing orange in late autumn colors, and the clouds began to catch the last of the day’s rays. Then i walked back to my truck, and got my feet even more wet.

Cheers

Carl

Dwarf Birch and Thompson Ridge, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska

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Dwarf Birch in fall color and Thompson Ridge, Ross Green Lake at sunset, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

hey Folks,

Here’s another photo from the nice evening we got at Ross Green Lake. As the last of the light faded, I headed up over this small ridge to this patch of dwarf birch that I had found earlier in the afternoon. The red brush is the Dwarf Birch (Betula borealis) – a spectacular bush in the fall – it’s pretty hard to hike through, though – not much fun at all. But how it redeems itself in the fall – what a beautiful plant. Now if only we can do something about that alder. 🙂

In case you didn’t see the earlier post, this is Ross Green Lake and Thompson Ridge in the background.

Cheers

Carl

Fall in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

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fall colors near Ross Green Lake, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s another from my ‘sunny afternoon’. The sky started to clear around 10am, and by mid-afternoon, it was beautiful. I was hiking up the valley, east, trying to get some nice views, and maybe find a nice location to shoot sunset images from. I did find some spots, but it was in vain, of course, because yet another storm came rolling in from the west, and the light waned. Pesky clouds!

This image is looking west, towards the Tana River and Tana Glacier. You can see the edge of the sand dunes in the background, just behind that ridge, before you get to the winding, meandering river bed.

Cheers

Carl

Aspens, Ross Green Lake, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

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Aspens, fall color, Thompson Ridge, Ross Green Lake, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s another image from the one evening we got any light. This was just after some clouds rolled in and began to block out the sun again. A few minutes after I took this image there was no light left on the peaks. The peaks are part of Thompson Ridge. Thompson Ridge is named after J.B. Thompson, a prospector who crossed the area on foot in 1906. There is a pass west of here, outside the park across the Copper River, called Thompson Pass, that’s pretty well known – it’s on the highway system.

This little patch of aspen in the foreground were really cool. We didn’t see any other trees in the area at all, except for one small white spruce across the valley, maybe a mile away. And here, on the edge of Ross Green Lake, is this stand of aspen. A few minutes earlier they’d been basking in gorgeous warm light, and then those nefarious clouds came a-rollin’ in! Bah!

Cheers

Carl

Willow, part 2

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Willow bush, turning orange, fall colors, Wrangel - St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s another willow I wanted to shoot from the first time I saw it. The color was really unique on this one – there were 2 other willow maybe 30 yards from it, both the typical yellow. This one had this cool orangey color to it that I really liked. Not only were they same species, but they are the same plant – their roots connect under the sand. Willow are pretty hardy, and the only plant here in the sand dunes that could get higher than about 1′ tall – and some of these willows were 20′ tall. That says a bit, IMO, if they can grow 20 times higher than any other plant in the same region.

If you don’t think they’re a hardy plant – I can tell you from experience that hiking through a thicket willows will change your mind on that one pretty quickly. 🙂

Cheers

Carl

Willow, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska

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Willow bush, fall colors, sand dunes, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s another from the Tana River sand dunes. We were basecamped in the area, day hiking up, down, and around the region. Every morning we’d walk right past this little willow bush to our kitchen, and then back again to our camp. Every night we’d do the same. I kept thinking “I gotta shoot that bush, it’s SO cool”. One afteroon I did – I wish I could’ve got a little higher, to get a little more separation between the top of the bush and the shrubs in the background, but this was all I could manage.

Cheers

Carl

Fall colors, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska

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Fall colors in the alpine tundra, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

hey Folks,

Here’s another photo from the recent trip – some nice all colors right by camp. What’s wild is 10 yards from where I took this scene we were shooting the ripples in the sand dunes in a desolate, dry terrain. This Alaska landscape sho do get crazy.

I’m going to be out for a while, so will upload some scheduled posts, and reply to comments, etc, as I’m able. I’ll try to drop in every so often and let you know what I’m up to – right now, I don’t really have any idea of what that will involve, other than trying to stay warm, and out of the rain.

Cheers

Carl

Thompson Ridge, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

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Sand Dunes, fall colors, Thompson Ridge, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

hey Folks,

Here’s one of the few images I’ve made this summer with blue sky! This particular afternoon we got a little light, and I hiked and photographed as much as I could. Of course, by the time the light started to get really warm, low cloud rolled in from the southwest and all went flat again.

I like this scene, with the sand dunes undulating beneath the spires of Thompson Ridge. Ross Green Lake lies between the green willow-covered ridge in the middle ground and the jagged crags of Thompson Ridge beyond.

Cheers

Carl

Fall colors, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.

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Fall colors, autumn color, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s another image from the recent trip to Ross Green Lake. This one from down on the riverbed, looking across the sand dunes toward the ridge to the north-east and the rich fall colors there. The myriad different tones and colors on display were enticing – unfortunately the brush is not quite as welcoming to walk through as it is inviting to do so.

Fall is over way too quickly here in Alaska (like summer) and I’m keen to get back to the park and capture some more photos of the great fall colors this year.

Cheers

Carl