Kennicott Glacier, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.
Last week I made a quick trip out to the the Copper River Valley, Glennallen area which is the gateway to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. I was out there to give a commencement speech at my old High School. It was a great experience – really a lot of fun. It appeared the whole town was in attendance supporting the 16 seniors, that is one of the great things about small towns.
A few people have asked about my speech so I thought I would share it here. This was a draft version from a few days before – I changed a few things on the fly, but it pretty much follows what I said. Now admittedly, if you did not grow up in interior Alaska, the first half of the speech won’t be too applicable and you may want to jump down to the second half. Here it is: [click to continue…]
Mount Drum, Wrangell-St Elias National Park, Alaska.
This was at sunset Monday night – seeing this mountain always brings back fond memories. I would often see this mountain on my drive between home and school, and it always looked different.
At just over 12,000 feet, it really isn’t that tall. What makes it impressive is the vertical relief. It rises over 11,000 feet from the banks of the Copper River where I’m standing to the summit.
I had a short, but very fun trip out to Glennallen. I think the commencement speech went well, and I was able to briefly see all kinds of old friends. I also saw a surprising amount of wildlife including a beautiful fox and a mink – but didn’t get any photos of those guys.
Erie Mine with Root Glacier, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska
Can you imagine living in the bunk house in this amazing location! And this was well before the days of Gore-tex, polypropolene and bunny boots.
I grew up along the border to the amazing Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. I’m really excited to be returning to my home town early next week – get this for a wonderful honor, I’m returning to give the commencement speech at my high school. I am really excited, and have been working hard on my speech. I mention this in part to share my excitement, and in part to say I probably won’t be posting anything on the blog here again until later next week.
Aerial of Regal Mountain, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.
It has been a while since I have spent any time in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. My summer is shaping up to be a busy one, but I’m really hoping to get out that way at least for a bit, maybe this fall.
This area will always have special meaning to me as I grew up nearby and within sight of the amazing Wrangell Mountains of which this is just a small part.
Mt Drum, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.
I picked up a magazine assignment to photograph a fisherman in Cordova. I’m thrilled, because the timing perfectly correspondes with the amazing shorebird migration. We had a wonderful time here last year, but weren’t sure if we were going to return this year - this made that decision easy!
We normally travel to Cordova via the Alaska State Ferry from Whittier, but the road to Whittier was closed thanks to a landslide. This forced us to make the long drive around to Valdez just to catch the ferry. That’s ok, it is a beautiful drive! We timed it so that we would pass through Glennallen right at sunset Sunday night so the we could photograph the Wrangell Mountains. Sunset wasn’t anything special, but the mountains sure are!
I mentioned yesterday that the buildings at Kennicott aren’t actually mine buildings but a copper mill. The Erie Mine is actually one of the mines that fed that mill. [click to continue…]
The Kennecott Mill is one of the most famous attractions in the Wrangell-St Elias National Park and I must say it won’t disappoint! [click to continue…]
Many of the historic buildings in the town of McCarthy, Alaska have been restored and are in use today. [click to continue…]
Of the two roads into the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, the McCarthy Road is definitely the most popular – and for a few good reasons. For one, the road itself is more interesting and exciting. I think you can see that in today’s photo. This is where the road crosses a one lane bridge 238 feet above the Kuskulana River. This bridge is actually an old railroad bridge built back in 1910 in order to haul copper from the Kennicott Mines That leads me to another reason this road is popular; the history of the area, in particular, the mine and mill buildings in Kenecott and McCarthy. Finally, the McCarthy Road brings you closer to and provides better views and access to the dramatic Wrangell Mountains. [click to continue…]
Mt. Sanford in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska as seen from the Nabesna Road. [click to continue…]
I had to walk back and grab this shot because I thought it summed up the Nabesna Road conditions perfectly. [click to continue…]
The photos I have been posting over the last few days during my little weather detour, along with today’s photo, are all from The Wrangell St. Elias National Park, in Alaska. [click to continue…]
How much snow do you get is another frequent question from visitors to Alaska. Growing up in the interior, we never saw much snow, maybe 3 to 5 feet. On the coast here in Seward we can get a lot of snow, and just a few miles out the road they usually get much more. About 10 years ago we set a record here in town with 18 feet! [click to continue…]
Weird things happen during extreme cold. Some you may have heard about, others you may not have. [click to continue…]
How cold does it get? How much snow do you get? What is it like in the winter? What about the darkness? These have to be the most asked questions by visitors to Alaska each summer, and ones I will try to also answer here over the next couple of days. Funny, I was asking people the opposite questions in Arizona recently. [click to continue…]
