+.ABOUT +.APPALACHIA +.BRITISH.COLUMBIA +.CURRENT.RIVER +.GREAT.SAND.DUNES +.SVALBARD +.TALLGRASS.PRAIRIE +.WRANGELL +.YAMPA.RIVER

WRANGELL – ST . ELIAS

ALASKA

CONSERVATION HISTORY

Wrangell-St. Elias is a vast national park that rises from the ocean all the way up to 18,008 ft. At 13.2 million acres, the park is the same size as Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park, and Switzerland combined. The largest U.S. national park, it equals six Yellowstones, with peaks upon peaks and glaciers after glaciers. Follow any braided river or stream to its source and you will find either a receding, advancing, or tidewater glacier. Students come from all around the world to study geology and glaciology in this National Park.

MY VISIT IN JUNE–JULY 2024

Leaving Chitina, 2 hour long drive on a dirt road takes you deep into the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park to the town of McCarthy, and Kennicott. There I spent the next 2 months working for the Wrangell Mountains Center as their Media Artist. Originally I planned to use this location as my home base so that I could make trips to Denali and Gates of the Artic National Park. Due to wildfires, time, and funds I wasn’t able to make it to those locations.
While in McCarthy, I had the pleasure of photographing the immediate surroundings with the Geology and Glaciology students attending the Wrangell Mountain Center’s programs. We wandered around the surrounding wooded areas of McCarthy, and hiked the Root Glacier a few times. It was wonderful to be able to wake up every morning and see the glaciers shinning in the sunlight.
When not photographing the area, I spent the time creating a presentation on this body of work and planning for the next leg of the trip… Haida Gwaii and Bella Coola.

NOTE: Some of the images below are in Alaska along the road to McCarthy from the Yukon.