hey Folks,

Here’s one of the few images I took on this recent trip – the weather wasn’t too great for photography, much as it hasn’t been all summer long. We started our hike with drizzly, cloudy socked in skies and and cold damp air. The weather improved a little over the 8 days, but never for long. The rain and cold threatened pretty much constantly. This particular morning the skies were partially clear, but by lunch time the clouds ad rolled in and the blue skies gone. I was hoping to get at least something from this area, because it’s such a great scene. The broad alpine valleys really appeal to me, the expansive Alaskan landscape feels so welcoming to walk through. This was taken right from our little kitchen area, and the fall colors were great. The evening before was dreary, though the damp air really made the colors pop a little more.

This was taken just east of Bremner Mines, in the Monahan Creek drainage, on our trek from Iceberg Lake to Bremner Mines.

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

Here’s an image made near the end of our hike from Bremner Mines to Tebay Lakes – this one from the crest of a ridge above Tebay Lakes, to the south, looking north over the Little Bremner River, which runs just west of Upper Tebay Lake.

This will be my last post from this trip until I return from my Iceberg Lake to Bremner Trip. I should be back on the 2nd of Sept. Until then, be well.

Cheers

Carl

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

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