Tag Archives: Landscapes

Mt. Bona and the Russell Glacier

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Mt Bona and Mt Churchill, the Russell Glacier, alpenglow, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

I just got back from a totally awesome trip to Skolai Pass – some great weather, wonderful folks for company, and we all had a killer time in the coolest place in the world – Skolai Pass! This image was taken the first evening, after we backpacked up to Chitistone Pass, walked south to the Russell Glacier, and watched the alpenglow rock Mt Bona (on the right) and Mt Churchill (center).

The rest of the trip I hiked around the area and had a blast. I didn’t hardly shoot anything, of course, because my *#^$$*#^# camera ceased working the following morning. One of the people on the trip was kind enough to let me use his backup camera, which was WAY cool. Thanks Doug!

Always have a backup camera body with you.

Cheers

Carl

Mt Drum and Mt Wrangell Panoramic

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Panoramic photo of Mt Drum and Mt Wrangell, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.
Larger Image.

Hey Folks,

Here’s another shot of the Wrangell Mountains from my recent trip to the north side of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. The 2 main peaks are Mt. Drum towards the right, and the broad based mound of Mt Wrangell on the left. The small cone shaped dome on the left, touching Mt Wrangell, is Mt. Zanetti. This is a panoramic composition, produced by stitching several tighter frames together using Photoshop – a pretty neat little tool that allows a variety of compositional options not as readily available to a standard 35mm SLR. Cool stuff.

On a clear day, there are few grander sites in North America than the Wrangell Mountains. This was taken right at sunset.

Cheers

Carl

Wendell Berry and Guy Tal

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Winter in the Mentasta Mountains, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.

A winter sunset over the Mentasta Mountains, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

“The effort to clarify our sight cannot begin in the society, but only in the eye and in the mind. It is a spiritual quest, not a political function. We each must confront the world alone and learn to see it for ourselves”. So says Wendell Berry, one of my favorite writers, in his book “The Unforeseen Wilderness”. The book, a dearly needed plea to save Kentucky’s Red River Gorge from a nefarious plan to dam it, was written nearly 40 years ago. I haven’t read the book completely yet, as I just bought it this afternoon. But I glanced at it, and this passage caught my attention. Berry continues on:

“the figure of the photographic artist – not the tourist-photographer who goes to a place, bound by his intentions and preconceptions, to record what has already been recorded and what he therefore expects to find, but the photographer who goes into a place in search of the real news of it”.* Continue reading →

Mt. Sanford photo, Wrangell St. Elias

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Mt. Sanford catches dawn light, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s another photo of Mt. Sanford from a recent trip to the north side of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska. The park is basically accessible via 2 roads, one from the west that runs into McCarthy, and the other from the north, that runs south to Nabesna. Generally, I’ve always enjoyed the south side area of the park more, but I think the views along the road are often more impressive on the north side.  On a clear day, the Wrangell Mountains lie to the west and dominate the landscape. Mt. Sanford, pictured here, 16 237′ tall, is a great view. Mt. Wrangell, over 14 000′ tall, is also visible, and even a distant Mt. Blackburn can be seen from the entrance of the park. Continue reading →

Yin Yang Photo #2

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An absract photo, shadow and light, winterm representing yin yang, on snow bank, Wrangell St. Elias National park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

A follow-up to my ‘snowbank’ scene. I’d been reading a bit of eastern philosophy, some of which I really admire, and the yin yang idea resonated strongly with me. It just seems, so clearly, to represent the world; light and shadow, sound and silence, space and solid, energy and matter, left and right, short and tall, love and fear, being and non-being. The philosophy delves much more deeply than those mere examples of its (yin yang) manifestation, but I won’t go into all that at the moment. It’s pretty cool stuff though, check it out. Continue reading →

Snowbank in Black and White

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A snowbank in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, winter, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s an image I made in January. I’d not had a good morning, hoping for some alpenglow on Mount Blackburn, but was thwarted by an unscrupulous cloudbank. But, I figure I may as well enjoy the mountain morning, right? So I wandered around a bit, soaking up the quiet. There’s nothing quite so silent as a winter dawn in Alaska. I found this little snowbank and thought it might by a good photo study, particularly once the sun a crested nearby ridge. Maybe two hours later the sun peaked it’s nose over the ridge south of me, Continue reading →

Wrangell Mountains – Drum, Wrangell, Zanetti and Sanford

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Mt Drum, Mt Wrangell, Mt Zanetti, Mt Sanford, Copper River, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks

Here’s what fifty five thousand feet of mountains looks like. From right to left: Mount Drum (12 010′), Mount Wrangell (14 163′), Mount Zanetti (13 009′), and Mount Sanford (16 237′).  This photo is from the northern edge of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, overlooking the Copper River basin. The Wrangell mountains come to life as the sun sinks beneath the horizon. Here’s another photo I took of these mountains a year ago, from much further south and west.

Cheers

Carl

Twin Lakes, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

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Windblow snow patterns over frozen Twin Lakes, near the Nabesna Road, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

I must admit; I really like shooting the patterns the windblown snow makes on the ground in the winter. They can be some pretty cool patterns. This frozen lake, covered in over 3′ of snow (deeper in some places, with drifts) was a nice place to wander around on and look for images.

The setting sun faded slowly across the lake, and I chased it’s light from shore to shore as it slipped into the night. Continue reading →

Sunset over Kennicott River

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Sunset over Kennicott River, Wrangell-St. Elias, winter, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

A sunset over the Kennicott River. This photo was taken probably  less than 100 yards from the shaq. The day had been cloudy and not too promising, and as I was returning from a ski down the river, the clouds started to break up. So I motored on home, grabbed my camera and headed back over to this spot for the photo.

This is right at the edge of the boreal forest and open riverbed, making a nice blend for the view.

The mountains to the south are the eastern end of the Chugach Mountains.

Winter is simply another world in the park – way too cool.

Cheers

Carl