Category Archives: People

Photos of people, travelling, at home, exercising, families, adults, children.

Lance Mackey – Iditarod Champion

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Iditarod Champion, Lance Mackey, racing off at the start of Iditarod 2009

Hey Folks,

It’s that crazy time of the year again – Iditarod 2009. The ceremonial start of the race was held this morning, downtown Anchorage, and the weather was perfect – perfect for me, not so perfect for the dogs. The dogs like it colder than I do, strangely enough – but they’re probably working harder. This photo is Lance Mackey, winner of the last 2 Iditarod races, and a favorite for this year as well. Unfortunately I’ll be in the backcountry and not following the race too closely, but I’ll try to check in and see how the race shape up. It’d be way cool if Lance makes it 3 in a row.

Cheers

Carl

UPDATE: Lance passed in Sep 2022. RIP to the great man.

Snowboarding days

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Snowboarder in Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alaska

hey Folks,

Well, “about time”, I’m sure you’re saying. I know I am. Sorry for the long-ish delay in posts here. I’ve been pressed for time the last few times I got to check my email, and then, out of nowhere, my internet people (the neighbors) have taken off for warmer climes. I usually ski over to their place once or twice a week and check email, etc, for the princely sum of about 7 bucks an hour,, and then ski home. Well, they’re gone for 6 weeks, so it’s a hassle. instead of a 3/4 mile trip, one-way, it’s about 5 miles. And then it’s a guess as to whether or not the internet service is actually working over there. Such is life in a cabin in the Alaska woods, I suppose. Continue reading →

Rebecca – or is it Deb?

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Rebecca’s Ponytail

hey Folks,

Anyone see Napoleon Dynamite? Do you remember Deb, the girl with ponytail on the side? 5th picture down on this page; we convinced Rebecca on our Iceberg Lake to Bremner Mines trip to wear her hair on the side too – she wasn’t convinced it would look so good, but as usual, the guide knew best. Whaddaya think?

Cheers

Carl

Hiking Harry’s Gulch, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

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Sveta hiking Harry’s Gulch, on the Bremner - Tebay Lakes backpacking trip, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s another image from the Harry’s Gulch section of the Bremner Mines to Tebay Lakes trip we did in August. This is Svetlana, or Sveta, as she hiked past me on the ridgeline. We decided a little further on that we were a tad high, and the sidehilling was a little slow, so we descended to easier walking down along the valley floor. A good decision, but I’m sure glad we spent time up high too – great views back east through the Chugach Mountains. Continue reading →

Bandaid

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band aid in the backcountry, Alaska.

So you see here how to treat life-threatening wounds in the backcountry – with a band aid …. NOT!!!

🙂

Sergei’s new nickname on this trip is ‘bandaid’ – for any ailment, broken skin or not, he requested, and was given, bandaids. For a small cut on his thumb, a bandaid. For a blister, a bandaid. For a headache, a bandaid. For a sinus infection, a bandaid. For hunger, bandaids.

Bandaid will be coming back in 2009 for another trip, and I’m sure Johnson & Johnson are glad to hear that. 🙂

Cheers

Carl

Hiking in the Tongass National Forest, Alaska

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Hiking in the Tongass National Forest, near Yakutat, Alaska.

Hey Folks,
Well, this image isn’t from the Bremner to Tebay trek. Just a little break. This was from my trip down to Yakutat and the Tongass National Forest in June. Hiking in the forest is such a treat, especially in an ancient one like the Tongass. The mood of the place is simply awesome. I was a hundred yards from the Pacific Ocean here, yet the forest completely enveloped me, and it didn’t feel at all like a hike near the ocean to me.

The Tongass National Forest is a beautiful forest, and a national treasure. I hate to see the damage being done to it by industrial logging, and hope protections are put in place ASAP to help preserve what remains of this beautiful place.

Cheers

Carl

Backpacker sliding on snow

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Hiker sliding down snowy slope in Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

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

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Hiking in snow in Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

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

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Backpackers stop in a snowy pass, near Bremner Mines, Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

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

Mount Drum photos, Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alaska

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Mount Drum and alpenglow, 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