My 10 Favorite Shots Of 2018

 

I’m officially making it a tradition: here are my 10 favorite Alaska images from 2018, in no particular order. Thanks for following my photography adventures in 2018—I look forward to taking many new shots in 2019!

1. Devils Thumb Aurora

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I camped overnight on a mountain ridge with a couple friends to catch the aurora over this rock outcropping in the Alaska Range called Devils Thumb. The aurora danced for a few hours that night as we watched from a couple thousand feet above the Richardson Highway. Read my blog post about this adventure.

2. Canwell Glacier Cave

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This ice cave has been around for several years now hidden in the moraine of Canwell Glacier. It has become increasingly difficult to access over time but it never disappoints. The ice near the entrance is a beautiful translucent aquamarine color and the cave extends into total darkness after several twists and turns. Read more about my trip to this ice cave here.

3. Torchlight Aurora

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Campfires are a great way to light the foreground in an aurora shot on a moonless night, but there’s no wood to burn on most of Alaska’s mountainous terrain (tree line is roughly 3000 feet in Alaska) so I carried supplies to make a torch on top of Donnelly Dome for this shot. I would like to try a shot like this again on a more rugged mountain. Read more about this adventure here.

4. Pass To Wood River

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The highlight of my summer was hiking nearly 130 miles from Black Rapids to Healy across the eastern Alaska Range. This is my favorite shot from the trip because you can tell we’re in the middle of a rugged, off-trail backcountry expedition by studying the details and terrain without any narrative. Read about this traverse here.

5. Twenty Below Doghouse Portrait

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I loved how the light was catching this sled dog’s face framed by the doghouse opening on this frigid morning in Interior Alaska. The frozen dog spit helps convey how cold it was at the time, nearly twenty degrees (°F) below zero.

6. Eastern Alaska Range Sunrise

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I’ve taken many selfie shots on a timer like this one but I don’t think I’ve ever looked so awesome. I hiked up a mountain ridge overnight to catch this 3 a.m. sunrise in the eastern Alaska Range near Black Rapids, and after sunrise I hiked all the way to the ridgeline above the Jarvis Glacier canyon. Hands down my favorite day spent in the mountains last summer. Read more about this adventure here.

7. Onemile Creek Frozen Waterfall

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I made a couple trips to this frozen waterfall in the spring. A little scrambling will get you behind the ice, which glows like an electric blue curtain. Read about this waterfall here.

8. Pioneer Peak Sunrise With Denali

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I hiked overnight along the Pioneer Peak-Austin Helmers Trail for this sunrise shot of Pioneer Peak with Denali in the background. I mainly wanted to hike the trail, but I planned this shot in Google Earth beforehand and it came out fairly nice. It says “Palmer, Alaska” without being too obvious.

9. Hidden Alpine Lake

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There’s a trail on the Kenail Peninsula that doesn’t see much traffic even though it leads to beautiful views in no time. My brother and I made an excursion from the trail to visit this pristine alpine lake and another two lakes feeding it from above. We had just hiked the Reed Lakes Trail in Hatcher Pass which was flooded with people, so it was nice to have scenery like this all to ourselves.

10. Donnelly Lake Reflection

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I camped overnight at Donnelly Lake to shoot the aurora and wound up with relatively calm water the next morning, which made for some nice reflection shots of the Hayes Range. This wasn’t the sharpest reflection I photographed but it features my tent, which hints that this isn’t Wonder Lake or Reflection Pond in Denali National Park, though the terrain might look similar.

Click here to see my favorite images from 2017.

 

Canwell Glacier Ice Tunnel

 
Details and reflections in the wall of the Canwell Glacier ice tunnel.

Details and reflections in the wall of the Canwell Glacier ice tunnel.

A large meltwater canyon twists down the rugged moraine of Canwell Glacier and the frigid stream that rushes through it in the summer has carved an impressive tunnel beneath the surface of the glacier. I found the tunnel by chance four years ago and have visited it every winter since. The entrance has morphed considerably over time, but the interior is better insulated and has remained mostly recognizable from one winter to the next. 

On my first trip to the tunnel this winter I brought along my friends Forrest and Nigal. Orange and pink clouds were rolling over the mountains when we parked beside Miller Creek shortly after sunrise, and the cold breeze promised the approach would not be very enjoyable. My skis sank several inches into the fresh snow as I skinned up the creek while my companions sank about a foot in their snowshoes. After a couple miles of strenuous trail breaking the glacier came into view and the wind began blowing directly in our faces. The frost on my eyelashes felt like glue trying to hold my eyelids shut. 

After reaching the glacier we began climbing up and down over the hilly moraine until we stood looking at the tunnel entrance from above. It was guarded by steep walls of snow, so we were forced to circle around to it via a gentler slope. Forrest scrambled down into a new ice cave adjacent to the tunnel and took a look around, but Nigal and I were content to skip it. The three of us then shimmied up the final hill and gazed down at the aquamarine ice curving into darkness below.

Descending to the ice tunnel entrance in the moraine of Canwell Glacier.

Descending to the ice tunnel entrance in the moraine of Canwell Glacier.

I descended into the tunnel and dumped my skis next to a small hole in the rocky debris covering the tunnel floor. The hole led to a "secondary" tunnel which joined with the "primary" tunnel a short distance downstream. We walked down the primary tunnel to the "confluence", then switched on our headlamps and ducked along the dark secondary tunnel until our progress was stopped by a wall of ice glowing a dim translucent blue in front of us. We saw daylight shining through the hole where I left my skis, and I imagine that daylight will be replaced by a waterfall in the summer.

The Canwell Glacier ice tunnel entrance. The hole leading to the "secondary" tunnel is obvious at the bottom of the snow slope.

The Canwell Glacier ice tunnel entrance. The hole leading to the "secondary" tunnel is obvious at the bottom of the snow slope.

We waltzed along the ice floor back to the confluence where the tunnel opens into a ballroom-sized "cavern". A tiny bit of daylight reflects indirectly off the ice into the cavern, but it isn't enough to see without a headlamp. Even with a headlamp, though, walking on the uneven floor looking for the continuation of the tunnel is quite disorienting and conjures to mind every monster movie I've ever seen.  

In the "cavern" portion of the Canwell Glacier ice tunnel. The bluish light is daylight.

In the "cavern" portion of the Canwell Glacier ice tunnel. The bluish light is daylight.

We found the path ahead and continued following the tunnel as it curved back and forth into total darkness. The hiss of running water echoed downstream and it grew louder the farther we walked as though we were approaching a roaring waterfall. The source turned out to be a small stream escaping from under the ice floor and cascading over rocks, which we carefully hopped across to avoid getting our feet wet. The floor of the tunnel switched to rocks and we rounded one more curve before the ceiling lowered and we were reduced to walking "Gollum-style". The ceiling quickly lowered even further and we decided crawling over the rocks on the floor wasn't worth the effort to find out how much farther the tunnel extended.     

Near the end of the tunnel it felt quite warm, perhaps slightly above freezing. I photographed some of the interesting features using our headlamps for lighting but had to fight condensation on the lens. Perhaps the most interesting thing we found was a patch of icicles oriented horizontally on the floor, like frozen fingers reaching out of the ground at our feet. 

Strange icicle formations on the floor of the Canwell Glacier ice tunnel.

Strange icicle formations on the floor of the Canwell Glacier ice tunnel.

We paused in the cavern for lunch on the way back to the entrance. That is, I paused to take some pictures while my starving companions decided it was as good a place as any to eat. Forrest munched on Pringles, Nigal ate cold Spaghettios out of the can, and I ate a mostly frozen Snickers. Having adjusted to the darkness, my eyes recoiled in pain when I glanced at the bright daylight shining through the gaping tunnel entrance, like stepping out of a movie theater after catching a matinee. A couple hours had gone by and the day had warmed up, but it still felt cold in the shade near the front of the tunnel. My friends were a bit antsy to get moving but I probably spent another half-hour messing around with the camera before we left.  

Peering out the entrance of the Canwell Glacier ice tunnel.

Peering out the entrance of the Canwell Glacier ice tunnel.

On our return to the highway the wind had died down and the sun was shining. By the time we left the glacier moraine I had become uncomfortably warm, so I unzipped my jacket and took my gloves off. The trail we set earlier pointed directly toward towering Mt. Shand as we retraced it in the opposite direction, and our tired legs were thankful they didn't have to break trail again. With the mountains burning a hypnotizing orange and the shadows quickly overtaking Miller Creek, a cow moose crossed the creek about a hundred yards behind me and the snow reached the moose's chest as it struggled to reach the other side. We arrived at the highway before sunset without having seen a sign of another person all day. 

Nigal retraces the snowshoe track across a steep section of Canwell Glacier on the way back to the Richardson Highway.

Nigal retraces the snowshoe track across a steep section of Canwell Glacier on the way back to the Richardson Highway.

I've seen several other ice caves and tunnels come and go on Canwell Glacier, but I suspect this ice tunnel will continue to survive for a while longer. I'll be back next winter to find out.

For tips on photographing ice caves, read my post How to Photograph An Ice Cave.
Interested in visiting or photographing an ice cave? I offer guided winter tours. More information.