Showing posts with label Wrangel-St. Elias. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wrangel-St. Elias. Show all posts

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Why spend your leisure bereft of pleasure?

Well back again, probably the only time this week again. I uploaded a new set of photos from the Wrangel-St. Elias/ CRV trip. Probably the most picturesque place I've seen outside the Kenai. The mountains are just looming over you and enormous. Sanford is a beast of a peak at 16,237 and the south face rising 8,000 feet within a mile, while the other side sprawls out immesurably is intense. The other mountains are prime as well.

We hit up Porcupine Creek campground near the glorious city of Slana, population of around 30, and you can see in the pictures, that was the campground which I was standing on the ice bridge. Porcupine Creek was still frozen over a bit and standing on the ice in the middle of June was a bit different. One night, Eric and I hit a trail and bushwhacked up a ridge to the peak of it and could just see for miles over the range.

Then we hit up the Nabesna Road. It brings you down into Wrangel-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Beautiful country. Just gorgeous. I was able to get some really nice shots and took a hike down near a lake.

Back in a while with more.

~Steve

Thursday, May 22, 2008

In a Van...Down by the River....

Ok, we rolled down in a truck and camped, but it was by a river, specifically the Gulkana. Here's what I got...

5/17/2008

Headed down toward Glenallen to do some plots in the region. This is basically my first trip down the Alaskan "highway" system. The views were phenomenal from just about anywhere we turned. We stopped about 15 miles north of Delta Junction to stretch our legs and for me to get a good shot of the Alaskan Range above the Tanana Flood Plain. Push comes to shove, the starter in the truck burns out. We had to push start the old bugger and get her going (thank god it's a stick), and head to the NAPA in Delta Junction. We got the starter, headed out to the UAF Farm (UAF's Ag and Forestry research stations around the state) and Tom and I wrestled to get it changed before we could finish the trip down to Glenallen area and set up camp.

One thing that stuck out was the sheer amount of wildlife we saw on the trip down. Everything from moose to hares. I think the final tally was a cow moose, two caribou, three woodland bison, two porcupine and numerous hares all just along the road. Oh, and a grizzly cub (minor detail). The Bison were off the road just south of Black Rapids Glacier and it was fascinating to see them in the wild, free roaming.

It strikes me speechless how beautiful the scenery is around here. Be it the Alaska, Chugatch, or Wrangel-St. Elias there is always a mountain range in view. It gives a whole new perspective on the 46 high peaks in the park. Since Marcy is 1/4 the size of Denali (Mt. McKinley for those who don't know they changed the name back) its a bit of a different class up here. Until later,

~SPH