Archive for the ‘Sunsets’ Category
Sunday, August 1st, 2010
The Beaufort Sea along the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The Arctic Ocean sea ocean, after spring breakup, rests on the beach. Melting permafrost in the bluffs signals warming temperatures. Arctic Ocean, Coastal Plain, ANWR, Alaska. Click for a larger photo.
Hey Folks,
Another photo from our recent trip to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Beaufort Sea. I hiked from our final camp across the coastal plain (well, across part of the plain, not the whole thing) with Steve Weaver hoping to photograph some of the icebergs we’d seen the previous day along the shoreline. Unfortunately, strong southerly winds had blown almost all the ice out to sea, and we were largely thwarted. This patch of ice, however, had been resting on shore, stranded when the tide rolled out, and we made a few images.
Coastlines are such dynamic landscapes, and in the Arctic particularly so. They can change drastically in a day or less, and do so frequently.
This photo was taken around 1:15am .. maybe later. I think Steve and I arrived back at camp around 4:00am, and I went to bed at nearly 5:00am. up at 10:00am-ish to break camp, roll the raft, and wait for a bush plane. We arrived, finally, in Coldfoot, around 5:30pm,(the temp was 90deg F, a start contrast from the Arctic Ocean we’d just left) unpacked the gear from the plane, sorted it and loaded the van, ate dinner, and hit the road, rolling into the Yukon River area stop late at night. Then up early the next morning to drive from there to Anchorage. 36 hours later it was out the door to pick up folks for the next trip to Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Summertime can be like that in Alaska.
I’ve been out to the Beaufort Sea here a number of times, now every time I’ve been so fortunate as to have an absolutely glorious final evening. The wind wasn’t bad at all, the bugs had quieted down, and the expansive vastness of the place really moves me. It’s a fantastic experience, to see such a harsh and rugged environment also be so sensitively fragile; the quiet tundra, the shorebirds, a whisper of air and the glowing rays of the sun, low on the horizon. After the trek back to camp I simply couldn’t go to bed, but sat for nearly 45 minutes by my tent, just watching, listening and enjoying the grace of the Arctic coastal plain. It’s a phenomenal place.
The bluffs on the left of the frame, like Castles Made of Sand, slowly slip into the sea – eventually.
Cheers
Carl
Tags: Alaska, ANWR, Arctic, arctic ocean, beaufort Sea, Carl Donohue, coast, coastal, Landscape features, National, ocean, Refuge, scenics, shoreline, Skolai Images, Wildlife
Posted in ANWR, Adventures, Alaska, Cool stories, Environmental Issues, Landscape features, Musings, Oceans, Rafting, Summertime, Sunsets | 8 Comments »
Saturday, July 24th, 2010
Sunset over the Chitistone Valley and University Peaks. Mount Bona stands in the background. Please click on the thumbnail to view a larger version of the photo.
Hey Folks,
One gorgeous evening, a 2 mile hike (one-way) from camp and some more photos that I had been hoping for some time now to make. Lucky me!
We just trekked from Skolai Pass, in Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve, to ‘Wolverine‘, a landing strip high above the Chitistone Valley, over the relatively popular ‘Goat Trail‘. This is a classic hike, and one I try to make every summer. Before I talk about it further, I’ll qualify what I mean by ‘popular’ here.
Probably not 50 people hike this route each year, more likely 40, at most. Consider, for example, that nearly TWO THOUSAND people venture to hike the entire Appalachian Trail each year, and one starts to see that the word ‘popular‘ is entirely contextual. I only say ‘popular‘ here because so few people hike anywhere else in Wrangell – St. Elias National Park.
We had a real mix of weather on this trip, so I was SUPER lucky to grab such a gorgeous evening here at this location. the clouds dissipated throughout the course of the day, which we spent backpacking across the Goat Trail, a steep sloping scree-sided series of ravines, traversed by a meandering myriad sheep and goat trails; hitting the correct ones makes a huge difference on how easy the traverse is. The ‘wrong’ ones can easily be impassable for people, especially those carrying heavy backpacks. (more…)
Tags: Alaska, Carl Donohue, Chitistone River, Landscape features, Mount Bona, scenics, Sunsets, University Mountains, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Adventures, Alaska, Backpacking and Hiking, Landscape features, Mountains, Sunsets, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 3 Comments »
Monday, July 12th, 2010
A flowing stream and tiny waterfall, near the Marsh Fork River, Brooks Mountain Range, ANWR, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska. Please click the thumbnail to view a larger version of the photo.
Hey Folks,
Wow – what a great trip we just had in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR); I rafted the Marsh Fork and the Canning River, through the Brooks Mountain Range and across the coastal plain to the Beaufort Sea, the Arctic Ocean, with a great group of folks. This photo was taken the first night of our trip, just a short hike from our camp on the Marsh Fork. It was pretty late, maybe around 1am or so, I can’t recall exactly.
The trip was fantastic, thanks to some great weather, very few mosquitoes, good food and a really, really great group of folks. I wish had more time to write about the trip, and post a few more photos, but I just got back in last night and am leaving tomorrow morning for an 8 day backpacking trip in Wrangell – St. Elias National Park. Until then, I hope you like this photo of the Brooks Range, ANWR.
Cheers
Carl
Tags: Alaska, ANWR, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Brooks mountain range, Brooks Mountains, Carl Donohue, Landscape features, scenics
Posted in ANWR, Alaska, Landscape features, Mountains, Rivers, Sunsets | 5 Comments »
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010
Dwarf Fireweed on an alpine hillside and a fiery sunset in the Chugach Mountains, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. The latin or scientific name for Dwarf Fireweed is Epilobium latifolium and it is classified in the Evening-Primrose Family, or Onagraceae. Please click on the thumbnail to view a larger version of the photo.
Hey Folks,
Here’s an image I took several years ago on a backpacking trek through the eastern Chugach mountains in Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Preserve. I finally got around to processing it today. The image is a compilation of 4 separate exposures, blended together manually in Photoshop.
This is from a backpacking trip we do from Iceberg Lake to Bremner Mines in Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Preserve. It’s a spectacular trek, and a real favorite of mine. Last summer, 2009, one participant did the trek with me for his 2nd time. We cross 2 glaciers, traverse 4 high alpine passes, and camp in some of the prettiest spots I’ve ever been to.
Summer’s approaching quickly and I’m looking forward to trudging around the mountains again. I’ll be heading over to Wrangell – St. Elias National Park this week to do some exploring, some photography and soak up some of the big mountain country. As such, I’ll be gone for a while, but hope to have some new photos to post when I return, with some stories to accompany them. Following this next few weeks I’m heading up to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for 2 weeks on the Canning River. Then it’s back to Wrangell – St. Elias for the rest of the summer, before 2 weeks in Katmai National Park in fall to photograph the great grizzly bear. That should be an amazing 2 weeks, for sure. (more…)
Tags: Alaska, Chugach, Dwarf Fireweed, Landscape features, scenics, Sunsets, verticals, wildflowers, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Adventures, Alaska, Backpacking and Hiking, Cool stories, Flowers, Landscape features, Mountains, Sunsets, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 2 Comments »
Friday, April 9th, 2010
Winter snow covers Kennicott Glacier and alpenglow catches the peaks of the Wrangell Mountains and Stairway Icefall, Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Please click on the photo to view a larger version of the image.
Hey Folks,
The Wrangell Mountains in winter. Alpenglow catches the eastern edge of the range. This view is looking up the Kennicott Glacier. At right is the edge of Bonanza Ridge, Jumbo, Then Stairway Icefall, Donohue Peak just left of center, and the Ahtna Peaks behind that to the left.
Winter’s finally wrapping itself up here in the north; it lingers much as the sun’s final rays cling to these high peaks at days end. Spring makes it’s way north slowly, and and is completely diurnal for now. The days, growing longer weekly, yield. But the night belongs to the winter, the cold, dark silence of the quiet time.
This is the first real “view” I ever had in Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Preserve, all those years ago when I first ventured north on a backpacking adventure. I’d taken a bus from Fairbanks south, and the weather wasn’t so great; not raining, but overcast. I didn’t really have any idea of the scale of the landscape I was amongst at the time. The bus dropped me off on the highway, at the Edgerton Cutoff, and I hitch-hiked from there in to McCarthy (about 90 miles). That was an adventure in itself, maybe I’ll recount it another time. (more…)
Tags: Alaska, Carl Donohue, Donoho Peak, Kennicott Glacier, Landscape features, photos, scenics, Stairway Icefall, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Alaska, Glaciers, Landscape features, Mountains, Musings, Sunsets, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 1 Comment »
Thursday, February 25th, 2010
A bald eagle headshot, silhouetted against a glowing sunset, Kachemak Bay, Homer, Alaska. Click the image to view a larger version of the photo.
Hey Folks,
I read a great blog on art yesterday, by Paul Grecian. The subject was a play on the aural equivalent of the old adage, ‘if a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it does it make a sound’. Paul takes the viewpoint that art is a human pursuit, and exists only when it has a human audience. “If there is no human to perceive it and translate the experience into an emotion, then there is no art” - I’m not so sure I subscribe to that idea, for a number of reasons.
I think art is a verb; art is something we do. The results of that process might be nice to look at, or not, or nice to listen to, but the essence of art is creating. The act of creating is where art lies, not the products of that process. And we are not at all the sole creators. An American Tree Sparrow calling the tune of the alpine country is as artful as Joshua Bell playing a Beethoven concerto. The dance of the Japanese Red Crowned Crane is glorious. A Bower bird’s building her nest? The song of the wolf pack over the frozen night air is as spell-binding as Aretha or Stevie on a good day, no? What distinguishes human art from the performances of our fellow creatures, other than our own ability (and endeavours) to relate to it?
Art is essentially play. (more…)
Tags: Alaska, Art, bald eagle, Birds, Carl Donohue, humans, nature, silhouette, Skolai Images, Wildlife
Posted in Abstracts, Alaska, Art, Birds, Musings, Photography, Sunsets | 13 Comments »
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
Winter landscape of sunset over Mt. Wrangell and the Copper River Basin. Mount Wrangell, Mount Zanetti and snow covered boreal forest of the Copper River Basin, Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Click the image to view larger version.
Hey Folks,
“We had a remarkable sunset one day last November .. It was such a light as we could not have imagined a moment before, and the air also was so warm and serene that nothing was wanting to make a paradise of that meadow. When we reflected that this was not a solitary phenomenon, never to happen again, but that it would happen forever and ever an infinite number of evenings, and cheer and reassure the latest child that walked there, it was more glorious still.
The sun sets on some retired meadow, where no house is visible, with all the glory and splendor that it lavishes on cities, and, perchance, as it has never set before, …. so pure and bright a light, …. so softly and serenely bright, I thought I had never bathed in such a golden flood, without a ripple or murmur to it.” – Henry David Thoreau, “Walking”.
For those of you perhaps unfamiliar with this essay, my advice is to read it carefully; those who’ve read it previously will do well to re-read the piece; it’s a classic. (more…)
Tags: Alaska, alpenglow, Carl Donohue, Copper River, Landscape features, Mount Wrangell, Mt Wrangell, national parks, scenics, Sunsets, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Alaska, Forests, Landscape features, Mountains, Musings, Reviews, Sunsets, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 6 Comments »
Friday, September 18th, 2009
Hey Folks,
Here’s another in the long line of ‘Name That Mountain’ posts. I’ll give you a hint; it’s huge. Really, really, really big. Bigger than Mt. Blackburn. Bigger than Mt Foraker. Bigger than Mt St. Elias. Quite a massif. The mountain is NOT in Wrangell – St. Elias National Park, but the photo was taken from inside Wrangell – St. Elias National Park.
I’ll be gone as of today (friday, the 18th), and will be back in October. I’ll post more about that trip later .. check back in a week or so for a scheduled post that’s a mustelid .. way cool.
After that, well, we’ll see what the next 2 weeks brings.
Cheers
Carl
Tags: AK, Alaska, Canada, Carl Donohue, images, Landscape features, Logan, Mount Logan, Mountains, Mt Logan, photos, scenics, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Aerial Photos, Alaska, Canada, Landscape features, Mountains, Sunsets, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park, Yukon Territory | 8 Comments »
Monday, May 25th, 2009
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
Tags: Alaska, Carl Donohue, images, Landscape features, Mount Drum, Mount Wrangell, Mountains, national parks, panoramics, photos, scenery, scenes, scenics, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Alaska, Landscape features, Mountains, Sunsets, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
hey folks,
I’ll be out for a while now, and won’t be able to post for a bit – maybe a week or 2, I think. In the meantime, here’s a photo from the Kuskulana Bridge over the Kuskulana River, taken back in the winter one evening. This is the bridge on which my van broke down the previous winter, the beginning of a time that lives in infamy.
Til I see ya again, be well.
Cheers
Carl
Posted in Alaska, Forests, Landscape features, Mountains, Sunsets, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 2 Comments »
