2024-09-10, Day 4
An unnamed creek that drains the ice fields surrounding Mount Hoge fans out to reveal the many pathways chosen over the course of hundreds of spring floods as the water readies itself to join the Donjek River which is out of the frame to the right, Kluane National Park, Yukon.
Once the Glacier first came into view, its vast terminus dominated the landscape for miles as we pushed our way southward along the River’s east bank following game trails that bore the signs of Grizzly, Moose, and what were likely Wolf tracks. Though the days remained long, evening began to introduce herself, trailing tresses of lengthening shadow and rich colorful tones. We traveled further than expected on the previous day, so we thought to make camp in a place with a captivating view and stop early enough to allow time to explore the River and the place where the ice arrived at the end of its tortuous and crushing journey.
On the terrain east of the river where we walked, swales filled with sedge and lined with willow ran in narrow strips between heaved, billowing ridges comprised of moraine, cast-off material flung by the immense, sculpting artistry of the mountains themselves. Cresting one of these hills we encountered the scene here, where the ravages of the spring floods presented themselves overtly, leaving no doubt that powerful currents shape this place and give it its life.
After descending through the golden foreground trees and negotiating the cut-bank to gain access to the floodplain, we searched the opposite bench for a place to pitch the tent. Rather than immediately finding anything suitable for the tent, I noticed the print of a Grizzly’s rear foot hardened into the mud - it was more than a foot long (30+ cm) and likely 7-8 inches wide (18-20 cm). Clearly made by a large creature. Just a reminder to make good choices while living amongst dear Ursus, nothing more. We pitched our tent in the elevated meadow above the opposite side of the creek, then hung the food a good distance away off amongst the spruce trees. Finally, we followed the floodplain to the River to find out just what the ice and water had wrought.
I've been a bit tardy catching up with Flickr after the holidays, but I hope to see folks' recent images soon!
Tags: Balsam Poplar Black Spruce Canada Canadian Yukon Donjek Route Donjek Valley Dän Shur Fall Kluane Range Landscape Picea mariana Populus balsamifera Salix Yukon autumn backcountry backpacking clouds fall color flood plain high country mountains wilderness willow
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Following the recent snow, I wanted to witness the alpenglow on Boulder's Flatirons with the new dusting of white for added reflectance. The morning was beautiful, and I managed to get about 15 minutes out of my fingers before the 6 ˚F temperatures got the better of the thin gloves that were required to operate the camera. The National Center for Atmospheric Research is just downslope to my left.
Tags: alpenglow Ponderosa Pine Pinus ponderosa Boulder Flatirons sunrise winter
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2022-08-31, Day 5
Under a setting crescent moon, a wandering braid of Upright Creek separates itself from the main channel and finds its way down a broad meadow on its way to the Moose River, Mount Robson Provincial Park, British Columbia.
The descent from Upright Pass to this valley felt like something of a small miracle. We stood at the apex of the pass and looked down into a vast glacier carved depression, with massive amounts of ice still clinging to the uppermost halls of stone. The lower parts of the depression were forested, and on first inspection, the way forward appeared steep and comprising an incredibly difficult mess of twisted trees and rocks. It would take many hours to navigate the 2 ½ miles to where I thought we might camp, and the time was already past 3:00p in the afternoon. My spirits deflated, and I began to seriously question why I ever thought 4 days of off-trail travel was a good idea.
We began to pick our way down through the wreckage of trees, and it was not long before I saw a curious flat and highly weathered vertically oriented surface on a small diameter downed piece of wood. The maps we carried were produced in the 1990s, and these maps showed no trail from Upright Pass down to the valley below us. However, that flat surface could only have been made by a saw, which strongly suggested a trail once navigated the slope down which we stared, albeit how many decades ago we could only guess. Short, cool summers and long, cold winters with plenty of snow means decomposition proceeds slowly. Maybe that cut was made in the 1970s? The 1950s? The only thing that was clear was that a faint trail was discernible, and we continued to find the cut surfaces belying the work of some long disbanded crew of trail builders as we proceeded steeply down slope. The euphoria we both felt at the discovery of this long-lost right-of-way was immense, and it was an interesting indication of how much the uncertainty and difficulty of the previous four trail-less days had weighed upon us.
The cut logs and the old route were capricious, sometimes obvious and sometimes disappearing, but always trending downward and keeping somewhat near the stream that carried the glaciers away. We managed to follow the trail to the bottom of the slope and the head of the valley shown in this photo. At this point, there was a confluence with another stream coming in from a different short valley to the north and we lost all traces of trail amongst innumerable braided channels running overland and amongst the trees for over a ¼ of a mile. Wandering amongst the trees and wading through the abundant shallow water, we found occasional dry patches of ground and evidence of long-gone horse camps.
My first thought was to walk to the side of the meadow on the right in this image, and hopefully find dry ground near the toe-slope. I thought to push onward and find a spot to camp near a lake I had seen while planning the route. As it turned out, this was a poor idea, and it was not long before we found ourselves navigating piles of logs thoughtfully arranged by numerous avalanches over years past. Jumping down from one log I discovered I had incautiously plunged myself into a patch of nettles growing under some other, larger-leaved plants. Welts grew on the backsides of my hands and it was abundantly clear that horse packers had never navigated this side of the valley. We turned around and headed back to a horse camp we had seen some 30 minutes prior, and when we arrived, my friend wisely counseled that we should stay put for the night, and search for trail and find our way out of the valley on the morrow. As if to agree, the sun, moon, and clouds conspired together to create an enchanting display as we ate and nursed our tired feet. The sleeping bags called persistently as the light faded.
Tags: British Columbia Canada Landscape Mount Robson Provincial Park Northern Rockies Rocky Mountains backcountry backpacking clouds crepuscular crepuscular light crescent moon evening evening light high country high elevation magic hour moon moonset mountains sky sunset wilderness
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The morning sun rises above the plains and the City of Boulder. The meteorology instruments at the adjacent NCAR building indicated an air temperature of 6 ˚F, which is a bit at odds with the warm light.
Tags: Colorado Boulder sunrise clouds snow winter Ponderosa Pine sunstar Pinus ponderosa
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The Full Crow Moon traverses the Belt of Venus just before sunrise as it makes its way down toward the Flatirons near Boulder, Colorado. This moon is also referred to as the Full Worm Moon, due to increased subterranean activity of these little critters at this time of year, but I like the sound of 'crow' a little better.
Having missed the previous month's eclipse of the Full Snow Moon due to cloud cover, I noticed the forecast called for clear skies this month, so I immediately began prevaricating. Would it be better to try somewhere further afield I've never been, and set the alarm quite early? Or, would it be preferable to catch a little more sleep and record a different angle and season from a more familiar and nearby vantage? Work being what it has been of late, I opted for the latter. So while the mutt busied himself scrabbling around in the dirt trying to find rodents safely ensconced under a nearby large rock, I watched the light creep into the sky over the place I call home.
Technical notes: I've aimed to re-create the scene as I experienced it, and because I used an 80mm focal length for the mountains, the moon appeared rather smaller than it seemed in real life. I therefore used a somewhat longer focal length and a second exposure for the moon, and blended the exposures manually.
Tags: Belt of Venus Boulder Boulder County Colorado Flatiron formation Flatirons cattle cows crow moon dawn full moon livestock moon moonset morning morning light mountains sunrise worm moon United States US
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