Category Archives: Travel

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

Hubbard Glacier photo and Disenchantment Bay, Alaska

Disenchantment Bay and the Hubbard Glacier, near Yakutat, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

So ya can’t go to Yakutat without a trip up to get some Hubbard Glacier photos. I wanted to do a flight-seeing trip to shoot this glacier, but the light wasn’t that great. And when the light was great, I was out at the beach. I need to get back down there and shoot some stuff of this glacier from the air to complement the images I got from lower down.

The Hubbard is one of the most visited glaciers in Wrangell-St. Elias – you can’t really do a book on Wrangell-St. Elias National Park without at least some photos from the Hubbard Glacier.
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Pebbles on the beach, Yakutat, Alaska

Rocks and pebbles on Point Carrew, near Cannon beach, outside Yakutat, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s a look at some of the pebbles and stones washed up on the beach at Point Carrew, a famous surfing beach near Yakutat.

On a clear day, the view from here across Disenchantment Bay towards the Malaspina Glacier and Mt. St. Elias is second to none! On this evening, clouds to the northwest meant the view was stifled – I could see the pyramid like peak of St. Elias poking out above the clouds, but it wasn’t such a great photo.

I liked this little collection of pebbles and rocks.

Cheers

Carl

Beach near Yakutat, Tongass National Forest, Alaska

Sandy beach at sunset, Tongass National Forest, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

I do enjoy the beach. Especially late in the day. This was after I’d returned from the debacle at Icy Bay and was wondering what I’d do with the rest of my time – I wasn’t scheduled to return back to Anchorage for a week, so I tooled around at the beach for a while – that’s usually a pretty good option, I reckon. Especially on days like this.

Cheers

Carl

Mount Saint Elias from Icy Bay, Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alaska

Mount Saint Elias from Icy Bay, Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

After paddling back from the island I wrote about the other day, the light got warmer. The lupine weren’t as impressive back in this area, but still pretty cool. My tent wasn’t quite as close as this photo implies, but this was pretty much the view out my tent door for the night. Suh-weet!

Cheers

Carl

Mt. St. Elias photo, Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alaska

Mt. St. Elias and a field of lupine, Icy Bay, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s another image, pre-bear, from Icy Bay. This afternoon I paddled my still inflated kayak over to this little island and hung out. Beautiful spot for a rest. The lupine just COVERED the island, it was really cool how much more intense the lupine ere on the island than everywhere else.

They were awesome.

As the afternoon grew, a big storm seemed to be kicking up to the southwest, and I grew concerned about being stuck and not making it back to camp – the boat is not really made for a paddle in rough water.

So I packed up and headed back .. sure enough, the storm abated, and the evening grew calmer than ever, and I really wished I’d stayed out to catch some warmer light. But sometimes one takes what one gets.

This is another view of Mt. St. Elias from the Taan Fjord, Icy Bay, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.

Cheers

Carl

Clearcutting, Tongass National Forest photos, Alaska

Clearcuts in the Tongass National Forest, Alaska (aerial photo)

Hey Folks,

One reason I really looked forward to getting down to this area was to see the Tongass National Forest. The Tongass is one of the last great forests remaining in the US, and probably the great temperate rainforest of the world (along with the forests of Pumalin and surrounding area, central Patagonia, Chile). I’ll try to write more on the Tongass as I get time.

What this shows is why the expectation is that someone will soon rename the forest, “Tong National Forest” – as clear-cutting and intensive logging continue to literally tear the ass out of the forest.

This kind of stuff is SO destructive, and heartbreaking to see.

Fortunately, much of the clear-cutting is no longer undertaken, and the older cut areas have started to grow back – but to regenerate an ancient forest and all its glory takes centuries.

Cheers

Carl

Lupine, Tongass National Forest photo, Alaska

Lupine, wildflowers, Tongass National Forest, Yakutat, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

This image I actually took before I got to Icy Bay. I arrived in Yakutat on a cold, drizzly afternoon, and spent the night on Cannon Beach, just outside town, before flying in to Icy Bay the following morning.

I wanted some images of the Tongass National Forest while I was in the area, so I spent a few hours combing the beach and the wandering the old ancient forest there. It’s unbelievable. What a powerful place!

Lupine are probably my favorite flower – but I spend most of the summer in the high alpine country of Wrangell-St. Elias, and the flowers there aren’t quite as awesome as the ones on the lush coastal areas. So it was a treat to shoot some of these flowers down here. You’ll see a few more lupine images if you pop in here over the next 2 weeks.

Cheers

Carl