Fresh snow, Alaska Range, Fall, Denali National Park, Alaska
Alaska
Fresh snow on the upper slopes of the Alaska Range marks the end of summer and the onset of fall in Denali National Park, with spruce forest in the foreground running up toward the lower flanks of the range. Late August and September in Denali routinely get a first snow line well before the tundra color has peaked, and the contrast between green spruce, colored tundra, and fresh white snow is part of the signature look of the park at that time of year.
The boreal forest on the valley floor is mostly black spruce, with some white spruce on better-drained ground. Both species grow very slowly at this latitude, and a mature stand here is typically much older than it looks.
Alaska Range and spruce forest, Denali National Park, Alaska. Photo © copyright by Carl Donohue.
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