Hubbard Gacier calving chunks of ice into Russell Fjord, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Please click on the thumbnail to view a larger version of this photo.

Hey Folks,

Here’s a photo from a trip to southeast Alaska I took, of the Hubbard Glacier calving into Russell Fjord at Gilbert Point, Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Preserve, near Yakutat. To watch a 250′ high wall of ice crash into the ocean is simply awesome. And I mean awesome like ‘inspires awe’ … absolutely jaw-dropping stuff.

The Hubbard Glacier is one of the few advancing glaciers in Alaska right now, as most are retreating under the glare of warming climate; the cycles of glaciers that calve into the sea are also dependent upon dynamics of the sea floor, as well as other complicated elements. The glaciers are often at various stages of a retreat-advance cycle, and the Hubbard is currently advancing. A decade or so ago it actually advanced across the very narrow neck of Russell Fjord, known as Gilbert Point, and blocked off the Fjord – drastically affecting the ecosystem there. The pressure built up in the Fjord eventually pushed back, and the glacier washed out.

It’s an incredible place to sit and watch the absolutely breath-taking power of ice. These sheets of ice crack off the wall and hurtle into the ocean below; it’s pretty intense to witness. As a photographer, you also need to be on your toes, and not get lost in the viewfinder shooting photos. Within seconds of this calving ice, waves careened across the ocean surface toward the boat, and I had to make a rapid retreat. Intense stuff.

I look forward getting back to this area, near Icy Bay, this summer, and shooting this amazing landscape some more. It’s an incredible experience.

Cheers

Carl

Coastal Plain and Brooks Range, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, ANWR, Alaska. Please click on the thumbnail to view a larger version of the photo.

Hey Folks,

I thought’d post a quick promo here for a radio show I’ve been invited to join on lensflare-live. I’ll be talking with Greg Downing and EJ Peiker of naturescapes.net, a fantastic nature photography community and radio show host Dave Warner. The topics for discussion include wilderness and backpacking photography, art, conservation and environmental topics, as well as a discussion of a few images we’ll be presenting on the show.

I’m really talking forward to this conversation. Greg and EJ are photographers I’ve been a fan of for quite some time, and I really am looking forward to talking with them. Dave is a great photographer as well, so the discussion should be a lot of fun. If you have any questions regarding any of these subjects, feel free to join in the conversation online or by calling in. The show is scheduled to be broadcast at 9pm EST, Tuesday, May 4, 2010. You can listen to it here.

After we’ve finished, naturescapes.net will edit the broadcast down, remove all the “ahhh’s” and “uhhmmms” and long periods of silence, and present the discussion as a podcast. I’ll provide a link to there here as it becomes available.

The image above is from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). That seems particularly relevant in light of the horrific Gulf Cust Oil disaster. Hopefully we can learn something of the importance of ecosystems and fragility via this mess.

Please check out the radio show. It should be fun.

Cheers

Carl

A large mature adult grizzly bear male, or boar, approaching, Katmai National Park, Alaska. Click to see a larger version of the photo.

Hey Folks,

Just a quick post to announce that spaces are filling up on the grizzly bear photo tours, scheduled for Fall, 2010. It’s also, perhaps, a good time to say check over the website, and see how you like the recent changes. The Grizzly Bear Photo Tour page is just one of the new additions, and that tour has already had a bunch of inquiries. I don’t want to sound like a car salesman here, so I won’t say ‘book quickly‘, but I do want to say, if you’re thinking about it, it might be worth at least sending a quick email to get your name on the list. That way I can at least put a temporary tentative hold on a space for you.

I’m also excited about a few other trips this summer, including a Mt Jarvis exploratory hike, and a few others you can see listed on the custom trips page.

The ANWR trip is a great float down the Canning River, and we’ve added a great slide show from that trip. Take a look at the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge trip.

The 2010 calendar is up, but it’s already askew – most of the trips after the Canning River trip will be pushed back a day. I just haven’t had time to redo that page yet. That should be done soon.

One page I’m SUPER-PROUD of is the testimonials page: a sampling of comments received via our feedback form. I’m proud of this not so much because of the too-kind words these great people have had to say about Alaskan Alpine Treks, but because of how strongly those testimonials speak of the quality of people that come up here and venture into the backcountry. One of the things I love most about this gig is the great people that are a part of it. There’s something about the great Alaskan backcountry that draws cool (I mean REALLY cool) people, and it’s a treat and honor to get the opportunity to show them around some of my favorite places here. Thanks to everyone for years of great times and classic, memorable adventures. Thank you.

If you see any glitches, typos, etc, in the website, please let me know. I’m still in the process of updating the image galleries, so they’ll be incorporated as they get completed.

If you’re a Social Media-type, you might also want to join the Alaskan Alpine Treks Group page on Facebook, and/or become  ‘fan’ on this page. If you like the Twitter and tweeting, catch all the posts by following Alaskan Alpine Treks on Twitter.

All the best to everyone for their planned (and unplanned) 2010 backpacking trips, photo tours and outdoors adventures. Stay safe, and have fun. I can’t wait!

Cheers

Carl

Mountain Avens and Dwarf Fireweed, Hole in the Wall, Skolai Pass, Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Click the image to view a larger version.

Hey Folks,

It’s always nice when a magazine editor wants your photo for their story, and you get published. But it’s WAY nicer when you get published in a magazine you enjoy, read and value. This image posted here is in the current edition of backpacker magazine, page 65 – full page vertical, which is nice. The image accompanies an article on backpacking “the Goat Trail”, in Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Preserve. This was the first route I ever hiked in Wrangell – St. Elias, and definitely a favorite of mine, so having my image chosen to accompany the story represents much more than just another published photo and a check to me.

It’s also cool for me because a few of my friends are published in the same edition of the magazine. It’d be remiss of me not to mention Bret Edge, Jon Cornforth and Ron Niebrugge, all of whom are photographers I admire. This month’s edition (March, 2010) is features some great backpacking trips in Alaska and the Rockies, so there’s a wealth of great photos out there that could work for these articles; thanks to backpacker magazine for considering and selecting mine, and great choices on the others, as well.

A little on the image; I took this photo on a trip to Skolai Pass in 2004. We’d camped in the area for a few days, had some unbelievable weather, and I really wanted to get up in to this area, called Hole in the Wall, for some nice evening light. I’d led the group was guiding up to the area earlier in the day, had a great hike, got back to camp in the early evening, had a big dinner, and then asked if anyone wanted to head back up for some photography. Everyone else was kinda happy to stay at camp, but they were adamant that I should go shoot my photos as well; I can’t tell you how cool it is to guide people who are so accommodating on a backcountry trip.

So I grabbed my camera (a nikon N90s, film camera), and headed up to Hole in the Wall. The light got better and better the further I walked. I had a pretty good idea of exactly which composition I wanted, and had my little 24mm prime lens already mounted on the camera body (I SOOOOO miss that lens, sold it a few years ago).

I used a Singh Ray graduated neutral density filter to help balance the light differential between the warm direct light on the peaks and the shaded foreground. Stopping to F22 gave me the depth of field I want to render everything sharp, foreground to background.

This area is one of my favorite places anywhere, and I go back to Skolai Pass every year. I’ve hiked the Goat Trail an inordinate number of times, and it never ceases to amaze me; it’s a grand landscape that no matter how many times I visit, I can never really “see” it all. I grew to love the place so much I named my photography business and website after it. You can see why I say this sale means a lot to me; not just as a sale, and not just because it’s such a cool publication as backpacker, but also because this photo means so much to me. I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks.

Cheers

Carl

hey Folks,

Just a quick post before I disappear for a couple of weeks. The blog will slow down even more the next few months, as I’m too busy hiking and photographing to get much posting done, but I’ll try to update it from time to time.

Anyway, here’s a photo I took a few days ago, when I was lucky enough to find a few Great Horned Owl fledglings, just learning to fly, and not far from their nest. The light wasn’t so great, but these little guys were SO cute! I’ll probably not run into them again as they’ve gained their wings and are heading off on their own before too long. I’m about to head off for a trip for 2 weeks, then heading up to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for 2 weeks, which I can’t WAIT to do, so in the meantime, have fun, stay safe, and enjoy the mountains.

Cheers

Carl