Tag Archives: Wrangell St. Elias

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

Fall Colors in the Taiga

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Fall colors glow in the boreal forest, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

While I’m out trudging around in the cold and wet mountains, you get to sit home and read about it, and still see the pictures!

This photo was from my recent trip to the north side of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, off the Nabesna Road. The weather wasn’t super co-operative for grander landscape images, which was a bummer, as there are certainly some grand landscapes to be had in the area. But the weather was good for more intimate scenes, like this one.

The boreal forest is a real treasure, and hiking through it is always a treat. It’s amazing what one can find sometimes – I’v e found everything from moose racks  and caribou racks  to trekking poles, tent stakes and other trash. But this last trip was a first for me. I found a fully-loaded, good condition large caliber centerfire rifle, with a scope, sitting by a tussock in the forest. I packed it out, and handed it in to the Park Service office, and still haven’t found out exactly what happened as to how the rifle came to be there. Pretty crazy stuff.

Other than my trip was,  as always, too brief. Marred by dismal skies, I was really hoping to get some big shots of Mt Sanford, but the mountain was only rarely visible. The final morning of my trip it was out, but distant clouds to the east blocked the sun’s rays from adorning the peak – total bummer. There is a view of the mountain that I think lends itself to as fine a landscape image of grand mountains as any, but I need to put in more time, apparently, to make it happen.

As for the image above,  I spend so much of the summer hiking and trekking in the alpine areas of the park that I don’t get to spend the hours in the forest that I would like. The forest is a special place, and I always enjoy my time there. In the fall, it comes alive with color, and this year was grand, for sure. The color seemed to peak around the end of August, and only a few days later had  noticeably dropped off. I was lucky to catch it before that happened.

I’ll be back (hopefully) from my next trip with some more landscapes, and then we’ll see what the last 2 weeks of September bring for my trips. At the moment, I’m toying with a few ideas, but haven’t set anything in stone so far. We shall see.

Oh, a side note; this kind of more open boreal forest is often referred to as ‘taiga’, which is a so-called Russian word for ‘little sticks’,  expressing the smallish stature of the spruce trees. However, my Russian friend Sergei tells me that in Russia, the word taiga simply means ‘forest’. We’ll have to explore this controversy further and see wherein the truth lies. In the meantime, here’s a quiz; how many various vegetation species can you see here, and what are they (Mark Vail you go last)?

Cheers

Carl

Beaver, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

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An adult beaver browsing on willow leaves in a pond, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.
Hey Folks,

So this last week I spent on the north side of the park, exploring clouds and rain and drizzle. The glory of fall in Alaska. I found this small beaver  pond, replete with beaver, so I spent a few hours photographing them in their little demesne. The pond was host to a couple of adults, male and female, and their offspring, 3 young kits. It was fascinating to watch them go about their business (mainly eating) for hours on end.

The ole saying ‘busy as a beaver’ could equally hold as ‘hungry as a beaver’; all these critters do is eat, it seems. I watched this male swim to the pond’s shore, clamber out of the water, saunter down the trail, then reappear maybe 10 minutes later with a large willow sapling clenched between his teeth, dragging the branch behind him, as he re-entered the pond, and swam back towards his lodge.

I was super fortunate that he stopped to eat right in front of me, and during the course of his dinner, all of the other beavers came by, at some point, to scrounge a branch or 2 off his sapling. Apparently willow leaves are good eating for a beaver. The ruckus that followed was almost comical, the various assortment of noises being surprisingly diverse.

Cheers

Carl

Grizzly Bear, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska

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A grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) on the tundra in Chitistone Pass, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks

I apologize for the long delays in posting here – it’s been busy this summer, with backpacking trips, and I really haven’t taken the photos I was hoping to, either. Either smoke from numerous wildfires, bad timing, or bad weather have made the summer not a great one for me, photographically, so far. Hopefully that’ll change a little as fall approaches.

This is a grizzly bear that I’ve observed in the Skolai Pass the last few years – I saw him as a younger, immature or subadult, in 2007, again last year and this year back in July. Continue reading →

Hoary Marmot Photo

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Hoary Marmot, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks

Last week I spent the week up at Skolai Pass, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska. After years of hoping to photograph a marmot in the park, and having seen many of them but never actually managing to photograph one, I found this guy, right by where we camped. I made a number of nice images of him, but this one I like the most. The pink flowers in the foreground are called Pink Plumes.

I’ll be out in the backcountry again this week, hiking from Iceberg Lake to Bremner Mines. I’ll post again when I return.

Cheers

Carl

Name these mountains

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Hey Folks,

A short, easy quiz. Name these 2 peaks. I’ll give you a hint – this was taken on my recent hike over the Sanford Plateau. I’ll be back to check in on you when I return from my trip to Skolai Pass.

Cheers

Carl

Moose Rack, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska

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A hiker, Natalie, sits with a moose rack and skull, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

I ran across what is easily the biggest moose rack I’ve ever come across in the woods a few days ago. I was on the last leg of a hike in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, from the Sanford River drainage over the Sanford Plateau, and down to the Dadina River. Natalie (pictured) and I were sauntering through the forest, along the Dadina River when I spotted this rack, not far from the game trail we were walking along. This was one BIG bull moose – I don’t know what happened to the grand old fella, but he’s bones now. He must’ve been a pretty awesome creature back in the day. There are a number of wolves in the area, and grizzly bears as well, and I’m sure he fed them well, along with the myriad other carnivores in the region – wolverine, fox, marten, gulls, ravens, eagles, etc. What a treat it must’ve been for them when he passed, and what a treat it would’ve been to see him walking through the forest beforehand. RIP, great bull.

Some of you might remember I did this hike last summer, and we found this awesome natural ice arch on the Sanford Glacier. Sad to say, the arch has had its day. We hiked up the moraine and crested the ridge right before the arch, only to see a huge gaping gap between the 2 side walls – no bridge at all. Ironically, a couple who were up there the week prior to our trip said the arch was still there, so we only missed it by a few days. It seems the arch collapsed under glacial movement, not melting, as the left side of the gap is noticeably higher than it used to be – in fact, the wall ascends away from the gap, where it used to descend. So I’m pretty sure pressure from the glacier caused the collapse of the arch, not melting – though melting may have been a contributing factor, as the summer has been hot, hot hot so far. Except, of course, for the day we hiked up to the now gone arch – it rained like a sonuvagun that day – so no pics of the fallen arch. I should’ve taken a picture, instead, of me, drenched to the bone, in my failed (and now history) Marmot Precip raingear. The jacket and pants had done their time and now are beyond redemption. Fortunately, it didn’t rain again for the rest of the trip until the final night, when I was tucked away in my very dry tent. I should’ve known better than to carry my old gear, but I thought it might still work reasonably well. Alas, it didn’t and I got a soaking. Toughened me up though.

Heading out tomorrow for a week at Skolai Pass. Woo hoo. I’ll try to schedule another post while I’m away, from this last trip, but it’s hard – summer’s the time for hiking, not blogging.

Cheers

Carl

Bull Moose, Long Lake

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Bull Moose (Alces alces) shaking water from antlers, in a lake, springtime, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s a quick one while I’m hiking. I saw this bull moose a few times this spring, feeding on the aquatic plants that grow on the lake bed this time of year. Quite a rack for early June. He’ll be quite a sought after moose come this fall when the subsistence hunters look around Wrangell-St. Elias National Park for their winter meat. As much as I like for my friends to eat well, I hope nobody gets this guy.

Cheers

Carl

Half Moon, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska

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Waxing gibbous moon, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Summer solstice just passed us by, so I thought I’d post the only solar image I have – a Waxing gibbous moon, just after the half moon, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska, from this past spring. I was really hoping to spend summer solstice up on the same ridge that I spent winter solstice, but wasn’t able to swing it, as I had to scurry back in to Anchorage to prepare for a trip, which I’m currently on. I’ll post one more photo from the spring while I’m gone, and then try to get some images up from my present trip. I’ll try (I mean that, REALLY try) to keep some regular posts going, but this time of year is it hard to do so.

Cheers

Carl