Hey Folks

Well, I’m here in Anchorage, after a long trip, and glad to be here. Anchorage is such a cool town, and I look forward to getting to know it a bit better. With all the time I’ve spent in Alaska over the years, I’ve not spent much of that time in Anchorage, and so don’t know too much about it. I do know that traffic is a hassle, as I was reminded yesterday afternoon when I arrived. Nothing like Atlanta, of course, but too much traffic all the same. After spending nearly the last 3 weeks in the car, but almost NONE of that dealing with traffic, it’s always a bit of a shock when I pull into town here and hit traffic again. I’ll probably be a few days here, getting situated, then heading out and back to the Wrangells for some hiking and photography. Did I mention before that I’m super-excited about this project?

Here’s another of my shots of Mt. Sanford. This mountain is awesome, and I really want to spend some more time in this area of the park and shoot it some more. I already have a few backpacking trips in mind that I want to do, as well as a few day hikes in the area that I’m keen to check out. I’d also love to get a little canoe and paddle around on these lakes that dot this vast basin, and just tool around exploring the area. And, as always, hope for good light and clear skies! Yesterday morning, when I shot this photo, there was that one big cloud bank up above the peak, which both added some color but also got in the way of a clear view of the peak.

This lake is not Rock Lake, where my last posted photo was from, but is off the road a ways. I was up late the previous evening, hit the sack around 2:00am, then awoke around 3.00am, got my gear together, and headed over to this scene, which i had scouted earlier. A good thing, because that scouting trip had shown me a I would need waders here, as the edge of lake is marshy and I knew I’d be in the water to shoot this view. Well, I arrived maybe 30 minutes before the alpen glow hit the mountain, and it was absolutely amazing, sitting beside this lake, just watching and listening to the place. There were a number of birds in and around the lake, and listening to their calls as the morning unfolded was a beautiful experience. I wish I’d had a nice cup of coffee as well, but nonetheless, I managed to stay away and actually really dig the morning. A little fog rolled in, and as you can tell from the photo, there was an ever-so-slight breeze, hence the not so perfect reflection.

Anyway, I had an amazing morning, and didn’t head back to camp for a couple of hours, at which time I got a couple more hours sleep, then packed up, sans breakfast, and hit the road for the final drive in to Anchorage. What a gorgeous morning!

Cheers

Carl