Archive for the ‘Winter’ Category
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 »
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010
View of Mt Blackburn from the Nugget Creek outhouse, winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Please click on the image to view a larger version of the photo.
Hey Folks,
How’s this for a view from an outhouse? 16 390′ tall Mt. Blackburn towering over the Wrangell mountains. I took a little spring soiree recently over to Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and ventured up the Kuskulana River and Nugget Creek area. I’ll be back there this summer hiking a couple of routes in the area, one of which I did last summer. There is a great public use cabin at Nugget Creek, which I stayed in for the week. The outhouse, which you can see here, looks directly at Mt Blackburn. It’s kind of a nice view to take your mind off things, so to speak.
Unfortunately, I chose a week of cloudy crappy weather, which I meant not a lot of great photo opps for me, but some good skiing and snowshoeing time in the area. Me and my Karhu skis went up the hills, down the hills, up the river, down the river, over the glacier, over the moraine and through the woods. I really enjoyed the trip.
I’ll try to post a little over the next week and catch up a bit; it’s always kinda weird coming back from the quiet of the woods to the social media world of blogs and facebooks and tweets and whatnot. Rather than come back inspired to write, I often come back inspired to “not write” - the quiet and stillness of the northern winter seems to steer me in a direction that is a little more ‘internal‘ and a lot less ‘external‘. It doesn’t do a lot for my blog, but it does a grand job on my soul.
Anyway, I hope you all had a great March, and here’s to spring!
Cheers
Carl
Tags: Alaska, Carl Donohue, Mt Blackburn, outhouse, photos, Winter, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Adventures, Alaska, Backpacking and Hiking, Forests, Landscape features, Mountains, Musings, Skiing, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
Backcountry cross country skiing (XC skiing), Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Please click the image to view a larger version of the photo.
Hey folks,
In honor of my ambitious plan to go skiing tomorrow, tuesday, I thought I’d post this scene from last spring – cross country skiing in Wrangell St. Elias National Park. It seemed like every day for the entire month of April was like this last year, and this is pretty much how I spent each morning – gliding over a nice crust of snow, surrounded by snow-covered mountain ranges, wide open spaces, blue skies and wildness.
I’m enjoying my time in Anchorage this year, but am OH SO wishing I were over in Wrangell – St. Elias National Park again. There is no place quite like it. (more…)
Tags: Alaska, Carl Donohue, cross country, horizontals, Mountains, skier, Skiing, Skolai Images, snow, sports, spring, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Wrangell St. Elias, XC skiing
Posted in Adventures, Alaska, Landscape features, Mountains, Musings, Skiing, Springtime, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | No Comments »
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
Snow covered spruce trees in the boreal forest, Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alaska.
Hey Folks,
This photo from my most recent trip to Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Preserve, over the Xmas- New Year. The note below was penned one beautiful evening last winter, by candlelight in a tiny cabin in the Alaska. There’s nothing quite like the silence and the cold of the boreal forest in an Alaskan winter.
The Paradox of Silence and the Cold
Silence is the aural equivalent of stillness. Both appear related to time, or at least our perception of it. Winter in the north seems to be abundant in both. The northern winter, often so harsh and unrelenting, is also the time when the place becomes still and silent. (more…)
Tags: Alaska, boreal forest, Carl Donohue, Landscape features, scenics, Skolai Images, snow, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Alaska, Forests, Landscape features, Trees, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 5 Comments »
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
Dawn touches Mt Sanford, Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Click the image to see a larger version.
Hey Folks,
After the George Harrison classic song of the same name – Abbey Road is such a great tune. This song is actually the first Beatles tune I ever learned how to play on guitar. it struck me when I learned it how similar it was to a classic song my favorite band at the time, Cream. The song ‘Badge’ has a similar intro-guitar riff. Come to find out that George Harrison actually co-wrote the Cream tune with Eric Clapton, for the Goodbye album, and it was that same song-writing session that produced “Here Comes the Sun” for Abbey Road. On the record, Harrison’s song-writing name was “L’angelo Mysterioso”. Sly devil.
This photo is of Mount Sanford, as the peak reaches high into the cold night air to meet the first light of the coming morning. The light gracefully kisses the mountain top good morning, and comes down to say hello to my cold fingers an hour or so later.
Cheers
Carl
Tags: Alaska, Carl Donohue, dawn, Landscape features, Mount Sanford, Mt Sanford, Sanford, scenics, Skolai Images, sunrise, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Alaska, Landscape features, Mountains, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 2 Comments »
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
Hiking in winter snow along the rim of the Kuskulana Gorge, Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Click the image to see a larger version and just how styling I look in my fat eVent jacket.
Hey Folks,
I thought this might be a good photo to accompany a post plugging my friend Ron Niebrugge’s new site Outdoor Gear Deals. Why? Because I’m looking so p-h-y-n-e in my flash orange jacket that you can clearly see the need for staying on top of fashion, even in the wilderness – ESPECIALLY in the wilderness. A while back some of the outdoor online retailers started running a “Deal of the Day” on their websites to draw traffic – offering some pretty good prices and great deals from time to time. As that marketing strategy has burgeoned, Ron did the world a favor and compiled a webpage that shows a bunch of these “Deals of the Day”. I’m sure he’ll add more sites to the page as time permits.
(more…)
Tags: Alaska, Carl Donohue, equipment, gear, Kuskulana Gorge, outdoors, Ron Niebrugge, sales, snow, Winter, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Adventures, Alaska, Backpacking and Hiking, Miscellaneous, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
Alaska’s Ultimate Bridge to Nowhere – The Gilahina Trestle fades into winter, Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Click for larger version.
Hey Folks,
The Gilahina Trestle, crossing the Gilahina River, was once an impressive structure. Built in 1911 as part of the Copper River and Northwestern Railway (nicknamed “Can’t Run and Never Will”), the Gilahina Trestle was not quite 900′ long, and nearly 100′ high. Rumors say that it took less than 8 days to build, and the first train ran across its length on January 28, 1911. It’s since fallen into some disrepair, as is evident from this image. It’s a rickety ole job, at this point, and walking across it with nearly a foot of snow covering each board was, uhhm, sketchy. But I made it out for a few photos and back in one piece.
The Gilahina Trestle is now listed on the National Historic Register, which means it’ll probably come in for some funding to repair/restore it. (more…)
Tags: Alaska, black and white, bridge, Bridge to Nowhere, Gilahina Trestle, historical, monochromatic, snow, Winter, Wrangel - St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Alaska, Musings, Travel, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 4 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 »
Thursday, October 29th, 2009
A snow covered spruce tree stands in winter, Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska.
Hey Folks,
Today was pretty dreary weather here in Alaska, so I thought I might go with yesterday’s theme of black and white winter landscapes. I shot this lone snow covered spruce tree one afternoon last January. We had a cold spell, with some gorgeous clear days, and not a breath of air moved.
(more…)
Tags: AK, Alaska, black and white, Carl Donohue, images, Landscape features, photos, scenics, snow, spruce tree, stillness, tree, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Abstracts, Alaska, Landscape features, Musings, Trees, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 7 Comments »
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
Hey Folks,
Winter’s right ’round the corner, so I thought I’d post a shot from last winter. High on a mountainside in the Wrangell Mountains the wind had swept the snow into some really cool patterns of ridges and valleys. I loved the curves in this scene, and with some nice dramatic side-lighting right before sunset (around 2:30pm), this scene was cooler than cool. Cooler than being cold, in fact. For scale, you can see a lone spruce tree in the background, shaded by the rising ridge beyond it.
Funnily enough, the temperature up on the hillside was markedly warmer than down at the Shack. Everytime I ventured up on to the mountains, the temperature was noticeably warmer. Folks tell me the inversion is simply because warm air rises and cold air drops, so down into the Kennicott River basin it goes. T (more…)
Tags: Abstracts, AK, Alaska, black and white, Carl Donohue, cold, dramatic, images, patterns, photos, snow, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Abstracts, Adventures, Alaska, Art, Landscape features, Mountains, Skiing, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 6 Comments »
