Archive for May, 2008
Wednesday, May 28th, 2008
Hey Folks
It’s getting to that time of year (again) when the blog slows down? Why? Because I’m not gunna be away from the computer. I’ve been catching up a bunch of keywording and editing, and so forth, from the winter, which is a poor way to spend the spring. Here’s a photo from a month or so ago, when the northern lights were rockin’. They came on just as sunset faded – kinda of like a double-header at the movie cinema, although I can’t think of a movie that is a awesome to watch – maybe “Crash”. The lights dimmed not too long after this, before it got really dark, and I thought the show was over. They came back out again around 2am, and I was fortunate to get up and get some more images, one of which I posted here a month ago.
I’ll be slowing down a lot with posts over the summer, as I’ve got a full schedule booked, which I’m super excited about. I’ll try to get a trip report done for each trip between trips, but don’t want to make any promises. In the meantime, take care of yourselves, and drop in from time to time and see what’s new here.
Cheers
Carl
Posted in Alaska, Northern Lights, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 7 Comments »
Thursday, May 22nd, 2008
Hey Folks,
Here’s an image I shot a few weeks back, of a ridgeline of Steamboat Hills – their real name is Hanagita Hills, but everyone I know calls them Steamboat Hills. I converted the image to black and white on the computer, using Photoshop.
Cheers
Carl
Posted in Abstract Photos, Alaska, Landscapes, Travel, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 5 Comments »
Saturday, May 17th, 2008
Hey Folks,
I just saw this article on CNN’s website. From the first paragraph, ‘President Bush said Saturday that the Saudis’ modest increase in oil production “doesn’t solve our problem,” ‘ – The whole tone of the article is an acknowledgement that such a relatively small increase in oil supply, for the US, is meaningless. This increase could bring gas online to the American market almost immediately. At the same time, the current US administration is arguing for the opening of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas extraction. The US Govt’s own studies yield a mean peak in oil supply from the Refuge of under 900 000 barrels a day. That peak would arrive about 10-12 years AFTER the oil supply came online – and the oil is expected to take 10-15 years to come online after any legislation allowing drilling their might be passed. In other words, it is expected, under optimal conditions, to be 25 years before that peak in supply is reached. So if the Govt decides next year to open the Refuge to drilling (fortunately the US Senate just voted it down, again, for this year), we could hope for fewer than 900 000 barrels a day to come forth in the year 2033.
The second point about this is that one of the lines being touted most strongly for drilling in the Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): (more…)
Posted in Alaska, ANWR, Environmental Issues, News, Rants, Travel, Wildlife | 5 Comments »
Saturday, May 17th, 2008
Hey Folks,
Here’s an image from last September – I was basecamped in Skolai Pass, and one morning had some nice light to shoot a variety of images. Skolai is an amazing place with a variety of photographic subjects that is seemingly without end. Wildflowers can be amazing there, landscapes as grand as the immense Russell Glacier and Mt Bona and Mt Churchill, 16 550′ high Mt Bona, and 15 638′ high Mt Churchill towering in the background, ice patterns and crevasses in the glacier, lakes, waterfalls, streams and cascades, shorebirds, raptors, songbirds, and mammals ranging in size from tiny voles and arctic ground squirrels to foxes, marmots, Dall sheep, caribou and grizzlies. I’ve even see wolf tracks along the air strip up there. Hole in the Wall is a massive escarpment of peaks similar to Moraine Lake, only bigger and Hole in the Wall feels more primordial, with no trees, the moraine and glacier are still intact, rather than the revegetated montane alpine country and the deep blue lake of Wenkchemna. Hole in the Wall has 7 peaks, rather than 10, and they stand almost sentinel like over Skolai Pass. (more…)
Posted in Adventures, Alaska, Backpacking and Hiking, Landscapes, Photography, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 4 Comments »
Thursday, May 15th, 2008
Hey Folks,
Here’s another image from Chile, the Futaleufu River. This rapid is called ‘Casa de Piedra’, which translates in English as ‘House of Rock’. See that big huge boulder smack in the middle of the river? The one with 4 small trees growing on top of it. THAT’S the rock. It’s huge – I’ll try to dig up an image that might give a sense of scale here – the rock is easily bigger than a regular house – a huge boulder that crashed down to the valley floor centuries ago, and now resides in the Futaleufu River.
Casa de Piedra is a Class V rapid, and a really technical run. Guides would often not let some guests run the river, if they weren’t strong enough paddlers – once you enter the rapid, from just upstream and to the left of the rock (which would be ‘river right’, facing downstream), it’s a non-stop run for over 200 yards of holes and waves and pour-overs. Usually we’d stop a few miles upstream, and decide who wanted to go on, and if they were up to it. If we cold round up a boat full of people, they’d consolidate into one or 2 rafts, and head off downstream. The last few miles were pretty sweet whitewater, with Más o Menos (‘More or Less), a huge wave train of Class IV and V water, some smaller rapids, and then Casa – the wickedest rapid on the lower (more…)
Posted in Adventures, Chile, Landscapes, News, Travel | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008
Hey Folks,
I’m sure you’ve heard of the volcano eruption in Chile this last week – down at Chaiten, a massive eruption has devastated the towns of Chaiten and nearby Futaleufu – ash up to 12 inches deep covers much of Futaleufu. Geologists say the volcano hasn’t erupted in nearly 10 000 years. The volcano is still erupting, a week after the initial explosion, and wind is carrying the ash and dust east and over the town of Futaleufu. The poor little coastal town of Chaiten has been totally rocked, and Futaleufu is hurting – so far all but a few people have left town. A National Geographic vulcanologist has said this particular type or eruption is the worst kind, and could easily continue for months. (more…)
Posted in Chile, Landscapes, News, Travel | 5 Comments »
Monday, May 12th, 2008
Hey Folks,
Here’s one of the young trumpeter swans I shot the other day on the ice in Wrangell – St. Elias National Park. There were 2 adults and 2 youngsters in tow, last years young, I imagine. As the waters open up the adults will nest and hopefully raise some more cygnets this year. This yearling was trying to get a drink of water from the meltwater of top of the ice.
Cheers
Carl
Posted in Alaska, Birds, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 2 Comments »
Friday, May 9th, 2008
Hey Folks,
Here’s a photo I took a little over a month back, of Long Lake, off the McCarthy Rd. You can see what happens if you get to close here; the last photographer obviously tried a little too hard to push the boundaries. This lake freeze over, except for this small outflow at the western end of the lake, and another small section on the northside of the lake, where a spring bubbles into the lake, and keeps the surface from freezing. That section is a spawning ground for salmon all through the winter, even into April, and is one of the latest spawning areas in Alaska. The winter spawn is an important food source for a lot of animals in the area, including lynx, wolves, wolverines, raven, mink, marten, foxes and coyotes and more.
Won’t be long now until the lake thaws and the waterfowl settle in. Loons nest here every summer, so I hope I’ll get to photograph some of them soon enough.
Cheers
Carl
Posted in Adventures, Alaska, Backpacking and Hiking, Landscapes, People, Travel, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 2 Comments »
Thursday, May 8th, 2008
Hey Folks,
Well, it seems those pesky wolves are in the news up here yet again. This time it’s not the F&WS and their infinite wisdom declaring a population to be ‘experimental’, or a bunch of anti-wolf people shooting wolves from airplanes. This time, the news is about the National Park Service tracking down a wolf in Denali National Park, anesthetizing the animal, and removing a snare from its neck. You can read more about the story (the pictures are pretty gross, don’t visit these links if you might be upset by some nasty wounds on a wolf) here and the update here. Basically, 2 wolves had been trapped this past winter, and escaped, but with the snares on their necks. The snares dug in deep, and caused some ugly wounds. The park service, getting ready for the opening of the park and influx on countless visitors, has no interest in having a bunch of tourists see wolves in this condition, so they’ve been hunting high and low for these 2 wolves, to try to remove the snares. (more…)
Posted in Alaska, Denali National Park, Environmental Issues, News, Wildlife, Wolves | 5 Comments »
Wednesday, May 7th, 2008
Hey Folks,
The last 10 days have been pretty busy, as I’ve been doing the Wilderness First Responder course (note to self: don’t let your certifications lapse in the future). One of the primary goals of the course is to teach participants basic life support in backcountry and wilderness settings. Here my friend Lisa is holding her patient’s head stable to protect the patient (Jason) from spine injury. Both hands on the head, holding it still and steady, are critical. You can see in this simulation Lisa, with help from her other rescuer, has the patient warm and dry in a sleeping bag, on a foam pad to help insulate him. Jason was found lying in the pool you can see near his feet. Lisa and Taylor did a safety drag, where the spine is immobilized and Jason was dragged out of the water, on to the pad, they cut his wet clothes off, rolled him onto his side, placed a sleeping bag under him, rolled him back down and zipped up the bag. In no time at all, he was dry and warm. That’s a HUGE deal, as any treatment in this situation is going to (in all probability) be a minimum of several hours, and hypothermia will most likely set in. Hypothermia can affect people even when the ambient temperature is 65˚F (18.3˚ C) – so for someone with a possible major injury, lying flat on the ground for a short period of time even in mild weather can easily induce hypothermia. Get the patient dry, off the ground, and in a bag.
Cheers
Carl
Posted in Adventures, Alaska, Anchorage, Backpacking and Hiking, Environmental Issues, People | 1 Comment »
