Hey Folks,

Happy New Year, and all the best for the coming new year.

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

Here’s a short trip review of a trip we did this previous summer. Skolai to Wolverine, a favorite route for just about everyone who’s done it. We did this trip in 2007 in late July, early August, and had a blast. Allowing extra days to spend on route gave us the leeway to make some shorter days, with less time carrying heavy packs, and more time eating good food, enjoying the lingering sunsets, and dayhiking and exploring the region. We hiked up to Hole in the Wall on our first afternoon, where we saw and photographed a family of White-tailed ptarmigans, along with some Dall sheep. Hole in the Wall is one of the first places most visitors get to be up close with a glacier, so it’s always a treat. We had a late lunch up in the hanging valley, and moseyed back down to camp in the early evening. The following day we hiked over to Chittistone Pass, where we set up and camp and did a short walk around that area. (more…)

Hey Folks,

Just a quick note to anyone out there to say we wish you all the Happiest of Holidays, and all the best to you and yours for the coming year.

Warmest Regards

Carl and Alaskan Alpine Treks

Hey Folks,

Happy Solstice!

The longest night of the year, and the shortest day of the year. Here in Anchorage, Alaska that means sunup around 10:30am and sunset around 3:30pm. And darkness. So for now, the days will start getting longer, though colder. Winter Solstice is December 21, and summer solstice, the longest day of the year, is June 21. Equinox is March 21 and Sept 21, both days when, technically, everywhere on the planet gets the same amount of day and night. I’m not sure it works out exactly to be that way, but that’s the theory behind it, anyway.

So, for the shortest day of the year, I’ll make it a short post.

Happy solstice, folks.

Cheers

Carl

PS – the photo is from Kennicott Glacier, near McCarthy, Wrangell – St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

I just thought I’d post a quick note here and let you know of the updates recently done to the website. We’ve made a few aesthetic additions to the site, hopefully making a little more enjoyable for you to browse around. The first thing you might like to see is the automated slide show I did from the Images of the Month for 2007. Also, the Eye of the Beholder and the For the Eye galleries were both tweaked, giving you the option of an automated slideshow presentation, or, if you have a slower internet connection, the older, regular html pages are still available.

I put a small slide show on the home page, and added a slide show of images from part of the Bremner to Tebay trip. Check that out for sure!

We also made a few minor changes here and there, and will be finishing up some of the other odds and ends while we’re at it. If you see any glaring errors, feel free to drop us a line and we’ll get on it.

Also, you might want to look over at Skolai Images and look at some of the updates there. In particular is a nice slide show of images from Wrangell – St. Elias Natiional Park. And if you really want to look at a lot of photos from the park, check out the Wrangell – St. Elias Stock Photos page.

Well, that’s about it for now. I hope you enjoy the new stuff on the site. Oh, and the picture here is my friend Santiago Ibanez, from Peru, smokin’ on a surf wave on the Baker River, or Rio Baker, in Patagonia, Chile. The Baker River is an incredible river, and we had a fantastic trip there in April 2007.Thanks, and all the best.

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks

Here’s a photo from fall in Wrangell – St. Elias National Park. This is a shot of sunrise over the infamous Kuskulana Bridge and Kuskulana Gorge. The gorge is 280 feet deep, and nearly 600 feet wide. The bridge was originally built in 1911 to allow the Kennecott Mining Corporation access to the lucrative Copper Mines by the Kennicott glacier. It’s been rebuilt and strengthened a lot, but it’s still pretty crazy to see it. This is on the McCarthy Road, at mile 17. We always stop on the way and walk out on the bridge, take some pictures, etc. It’s a cool welcome to the park, for sure. In fall, the river level drops down markedly from the summer high water, and it also becomes much cleaner, with less glacial silt in it. It’s amazing how quickly the Kuskulana River goes from being a raging dirty glacial river to a smaller clear stream in early september. Sometimes a few days makes a world of difference.

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

As I’m updating the website, I’m redoing the Image of the Month pages, and won’t be writing content on the old (now deleted) pages – so I’m going to transfer some of the past notes I’ve written on the image of the month pages to the blog, that way it’s all in one place, searchable, and much better organized. Here’s another piece I wrote a while back about backpacking and photography. Some of the issues are how to pack camera gear, how to keep camera gear weight down, the hassles of digital cameras, and how to ‘get your shots’. (more…)

Hey Folks,

I thought I might write a small post here about my favorite National Park, Wrangell – St. Elias National Park. Though it’s the largest national park in North America, and possibly the most impressive as well, it’s relatively little visited; many people have never even heard the words Wangell – St. Elias National Park. the park gets (as of 2007) less than 40 000 visitors a year. Denali National Park gets close to a million, and parks in the Lower 48 states such as the Smokies or Yellowstone get in the vicinity of 10 million.

Wrangell St. Elias National Park is nearly times larger than Yellowstone National park, at 14 million acres of wild, remote, gorgeous country. Established as a National Park in 1980, the area was proclaimed a World Heritage Site in 1979. Together with Glacier Bay National Park, Wrangell St. Elias adjoins (more…)

Hey Folks

Another question I get asked a lot has to do with rain gear. What’s appropriate, what’s necessary, what’s not OK, what works, what doesn’t, etc? I think rain gear is another of those things where many people can make do with less. I wouldn’t, of course, advise anyone to venture out under-prepared. But, I would say that spending more money on higher end gear isn’t necessarily something you need to do. I’ve used a number of different shells, from lighter weight jackets like the Marmot Precip to heavier (and way pricier) Gore-Tex XCR shells by Arc’Teryx. Whilst I will admit the Arc’Teryx stuff is awesome, I think it’s more than most people need. (more…)