Category Archives: Travel

Travel photos, tourism and tourists, adventure and exotic photos.

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, 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

The Tana Glacier, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

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Small blue tarn on the Tana Glacier, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s another image from the Tana Glacier – this one from our afternoon hiking around on the ice. We kinda found this little blue tarn by accident – I hadn’t seen it from the air, and didn’t see it at all until I nearly walked right into it. I hiked over this little crest and right beneath me is this incredible blue pond. I took a few images here, but it was drizzling rain most of the time, so I moved on up the glacier towards an ice cave I had seen from afar. In hindsight, I wish I’d spent more time at the tarn – the colors and patterns to be had were infinite.

Glaciers really are a pot pourri for a photographer – they offer such an array of compositions, from close intimate abstract shots of patterns and colors to wider, expansive landscapes. They’re cool to shoot (now that’s a good pun! 🙂 ) from the air, and they’re great to shoot from on foot. This was my first time on the Tana Glacier, and it’s funny how each glacier has his/her own personality – they’re tons of fun. But it can also be dangerous to explore them, so if you head out in glacier country, be careful.

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

Tana Glacier, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska

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Broken calving ice at the terminus of the Tana Glacier, near the Bagley Icefield, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s another aerial photo I took, right before we landed at Ross Green Lake. This is the terminus of the Tana Glacier. It used to be possible to hike from Ross Green Lake, east of here (to the left) across the glacier, and around to Iceberg Lake. As you can see from this photo, the Tana Glacier has become an array of crevasses – not something one can easily, or safely, hike across. The route hasn’t been hiked in a few years. I wish I had an opportunity this trip to explore it a little more, and possibly find a new route across. It looked to me, from the air, like it was possible slightly to the north of here, but I can’t say without hiking it first, or at least a good look from the ground – from the air, in a place as vast as this, perspective is everything, and things are often not as they appear to be; the scale is so hard to gauge.

I like the story this photo tells – of the place of ice and water on rock, and how this stuff works. Look at the rock in the foreground, and the debris surrounding it, torn, cracked, splintered and shattered by power of the ice and a little gravity. In the background, you can clearly see a medial moraine, running down between the seam of 2 glaciers that run together off the great Bagley Icefield to create the Tana Glacier.

I did get to hike, one afternoon, down from our camp to the Tana Glacier and walk around it a bit. it’s amazing being on the ice. I’ll post some photos from that hike later.

Cheers

Carl

Fall Color, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.

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fall color near Tana River, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s a second post for today. I’m trying to see if I’ve fixed a few things that have suddenly been messing with my blog – darn pesky hackers! So here goes:

I just finished a trip to Ross Green Lake, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park – we basecamped near the lake, and spent our days exploring the valley, the nearby Tana Glacier, and photographing the fall colors.

The weather wasn’t the best – a day in the rain on a chunk of ice that’s part of the largest non-polar ice field in the world is a rough gig.

But we did have a good time.

This image is of a small valley that runs down to the Tana River valley, show from the plane as we flew to Ross Green Lake. I hadn’t even landed for our trip and I already got some nice photos. Flying around Wrangell-St. Elias National Park is a real treat, and I’m fortunate that I get to do it as often as I do. It’s simply amazing to view from the air.

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 →