McCarthy Archives ~ Page 2 of 3 ~ Rambling ranger

January 8, 2021January 8, 2021

Favorite Images of 2020 – A Year in Review

This week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge is all about sharing some of our favorite images from 2020. I have a lot of favorites, so for this post, I’ll stick to photos I have not yet published in this blog.

It’s been a rough year. I won’t deny it. 2020 was rife with difficulties, angst, despair, and uncertainty for me. It’s been surreal and dystopian for me, just as it has been for many others. But mixed in with all the challenges were many moments filled with beauty, gratitude, love, and appreciation. I even got some traveling in before things got crazy.

Gold Point, NV — Broke down and falling apart in 2020

I started the year housesitting in New Mexico. I spent a little time hanging out with the birds at Bosque del Apache before heading west to Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona.

Petrified Forest National Park — Petrified Forest is a photographer’s wonderland.

February was the calm before the storm. I landed a dream housesit, 6 weeks in Mendocino County, California, home of redwoods and fabulous wild beaches. I’ve been doing a lot of housesitting the last 3 winters, taking full advantage of my opportunities to explore all the wonders of the West. This one was the best housesit ever. I cherished every day.

Navarro Beach, California — Sunset on a wild Mendo beach

The homeowners came back a week early due to fears about Covid. I decided to stick with my original plan and camp out in the desert for the spring. I made an end run to the Sierras to avoid California’s urban areas, where the very first cases were being reported.

Yosemite National Park — Stormy day in Yosemite

I thought I had a good plan – to stay isolated and healthy and still enjoy the flowers. Then they started to close all the public lands. I ended up in lockdown in Las Vegas. This was especially surreal for me, a woman who had scrupulously avoided urban areas her entire adult life.

Death Valley National Park — Desert Sunrise

I was desperate for a touch of nature. The parks in town were too tame and too crowded. I found my wildland fix in some of the wastelands on the edge of town, the neglected and desperate dumping grounds in the desert where people abandon old tires, refrigerators, possibly bodies ( after all, this IS Vegas we’re talking about here). I tried to look past the graffiti-covered rocks and bags of garbage, cherishing the brilliant wildflowers growing there that thrived despite the abuse of the landscape. They were lifesavers for me, helping to ground me when I was overcome with despair.

The most important lifesaver, though, was friendship. This pandemic really helped me realize that I was loved and that people cared about me, at a time when I needed that support most.

Russian Gulch State Park, CA — I’m thankful for my friends.

I headed north again in mid-April. I wasn’t sure of my destination. Some of the public lands were opening up. At least I could get out of the city. I’d been warned that my summer job was canceled due to Covid and I was torn between going north to Alaska, where I had a home and a community but no prospects for employment, or staying south where there was at least some possibility of finding work.

Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, CA — Hanging out in the redwoods

I interviewed with Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park in northern California and spent a couple of weeks camping in northern California and southern Oregon, waiting to hear whether or not I’d landed the job. While waiting, I got a call from my boss in Alaska. There WAS a job for me! I could go home!

Favorite Images of 2020 — I love summer in Alaska!

Summer was subdued but a wonderful respite. One thing 2020 has certainly taught me has been to appreciate every day, every moment because tomorrow is not promised. I am incredibly grateful for all the good in my life. Words cannot express how grateful I am for my home, my friends, my family, my community, and the wonderful life I’ve been fortunate enough to live.

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park — I really appreciate my home – and my view!

With fall I faced the uncertainty and angst again. Should I go south where I would be more likely to find work, or stay in Alaska, where I have a safety net of friends? I hate the cold and dark, but I felt travel was irresponsible and the political chain of events I could foresee that is playing out now tipped the scales. I decided to stay.

Denali Highway — The future is still a little foggy…

It hasn’t been easy. I thought I’d landed a job, even filled out the hiring paperwork, then saw it canceled due to Covid. Lodging options I’d lined up fell through twice. SAD syndrome struck, and I’ve had my moments of doubt and despair.

Favorite Photos of 2020 — This image is my visual impression of 2020 – wacked -out, scattered, lost and direction-less – but with many beautiful moments, too.

But once again, the love of my friends is pulling me through. I know I’m not alone and that many of us are struggling. I’m doing much better than I was a month ago and I feel hopeful about whatever the future will bring.

Favorite Photos 2020 — We’re in this together.

I think about the lessons that 2020 has taught me. Lessons about kindness and compassion. Lessons about appreciation and gratitude. Lessons about being present in the moment. 2020 has made me realize how much I love and cherish all the wonderful people in my life. I try not to take so much for granted these days.

There have been many moments of great beauty for me this past year, despite the craziness and uncertainty. All the same, I’m happy to see the end of 2020. I hope we all find better days ahead.

Palmer, AK — The sun has finally set on 2020.

June 28, 2020

A Quiet Moment

I’d like to share a quiet moment I recently had on the McCarthy Road. I was chasing rainbows, looking for them, knowing the light was right. Trees blocked my first glimpse, but if I could make it to the pond before it faded…

I caught the tail end for just a few seconds before the shower came back and blocked the sun.

Rainbow on the McCarthy Road — Caught the last glimpse

Usually, this spot is all about the birds. It’s a favored Trumpeter Swan nesting place most years. But this year it’s the flowers.

I was hunting for orchids. They love that moist mossy patch of roadside. I hoped I’d get lucky and spot one or two. What I found was a whole hill just covered with them. (I wished I’d brought a better close-up lense.)

The Roundleaf Orchids were my favorites. I guess you might say the Roundleaf Orchid is a quiet flower. Like some people I know. Tiny belly flowers, easy to overlook, but if you really focus on them, a priceless treasure.

There were other flowers, too, over a dozen different varieties. Not big fields like a Mojave Desert superbloom, but scattered here and there through the grasses and the willows.

But I guess it wasn’t a quiet moment after all. A symphony of birdsong filled the air. It was more of a peaceful moment.

What was quiet was the road. I stopped for at least 20 minutes and not another car came by going either direction. On solstice weekend!

It reminded me of the old days, before the rest of the world discovered McCarthy, when it was never-never land.

Sparrow's Egg Orchids — The hillside was covered with orchids!

It’s pretty quiet in McCarthy so far this season. There are a few visitors, mostly fellow Alaskans, but no crowds. I like that. It’s the tiny silver lining in the increasingly black cloud of our present-day reality.

But this quiet moment definitely feels like the calm before the storm. Travel restrictions have been lifted. The 4th of July will bring a huge influx of visitors.

A Quiet Moment — Sparrow’s Egg and Roundleaf Orchids

Alaskan villages are haunted by the specter of the last epidemic, the 1918 flu epidemic. Alaska was one of the places hardest hit by that scourge. It completely wiped out entire villages. And it wasn’t the first wave that got ’em, it was the second.

The first wave hasn’t even hit here yet. It could happen again. We’re very far from medical care.

McCarthy, Alaska — Quiet days in McCarthy

But this is also a town with an economy based entirely on tourism. What is the balance between economic survival and the lives of others in your community? That is the question that our village, along with the rest of the nation, is wrestling with now. Even in a community as remote and close-knit as ours, neighbor is pitted against neighbor in this struggle between economic prosperity and keeping people safe.

Personally, I feel that the lives of my friends and neighbors are priceless, much more priceless than that beautiful roundleaf orchid. They’re worth taking a few precautions for, making a few sacrifices.

If you love McCarthy, maybe for this year’s Fourth of July you might consider giving us a pass and recreating closer to home. If you must come out, do your best to keep us safe. Avoid the crowds. Keep socially distant. Please, please wear a mask. It’s not about politics, it’s about being considerate to others and not passing on a deadly disease that you’re not aware you’re carrying. It’s about keeping all of us here for each other for just a little while longer. Take a quiet moment and think about our community, which like that orchid, is so beautiful but so very fragile.

Thank you, Patti of Pilotfish, for this Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. I’m a day late and a dollar short due to connectivity issues, but better late than never.

March 26, 2020

Rivers of the Wrangells

Amy of The World is a Book chose “A River Runs Through It” as this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, so I thought I would showcase the Copper River and its tributaries, rivers running through the Wrangell Mountains. I live deep in the heart of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. I’m surrounded by rivers. I cross 2 rivers just to get home when I reach the end of the McCarthy Road!

Not all of these rivers are called rivers. In Alaska, some rivers are only creeks, and many creeks are big enough that they should be considered rivers. McCarthy Creek is definitely one of these.

Rivers of the Wrangells — Kayakers on McCarthy Creek

McCarthy Creek runs into the Kennicott River, the river that separates McCarthy and Kennicott from the rest of the road system in Alaska.

If you drive the McCarthy Road, one of the rivers you cross is the Gilahina. The Gilahina is a bit unusual for this region because it is not a glacial stream but a clear stream, created by snowmelt instead of glacier melt. It is also one of those rivers that might more accurately be called a creek.

Most rivers in the Wrangells are glacial streams. Glacial streams carry heavy loads of debris and silt that block the flow of the water, constantly changing its course. River beds are very wide to accommodate these changes, creating a pattern called braided streams.

Wonder why so many Alaskan rivers end in na? Na means river in Athabaskan! All these streams I’ve mentioned flow into the Chitina River. Chitina means “Copper River” in the language of the Ahtna people, an Athabaskan tribe. The Chitina River is THE major tributary of the Copper River. It carries much more water than the main branch of the river. This is because it drains the southern slope of the Wrangells and the northern slopes of the Chugach Mountains within the park. The northern slopes of the Wrangells, the watershed of the Copper above the confluence, are in the rainshadow and do not receive as much precipitation.

The Chitina joins the Copper River at the town of Chitina. The Copper River is one of the world’s most important wild rivers, running nearly its entire length through a vast wilderness. It’s the tenth-largest river in North America. It carries one of the greatest silt loads of any river in the world.

All that silt has built the Copper River delta at the mouth of the river, the largest contiguous wetland on the entire Pacific Coast. This area is vitally important to birds. It’s an important stop on the Pacific Flyway, one of the continent’s main migration routes. The entire world population of western sandpipers and dunlins stop here on their northern migration. The delta also harbors the world’s largest population of Trumpeter Swans.

The Copper River is also home to the best salmon in the world, Copper River Reds.

The rivers of the Wrangells are all frozen now, but breakup will be here before we know it. Cheers to the mighty Copper River and all its tributaries!

February 26, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #85 Treasure Hunt

For this week’s lens-artists challenge, Tina of Travels and Trifles has presented us with a treasure hunt.

Challenge Items: Sunrise and/or sunset, Something cold and/or hot, a bird, a dog, a funny sign, a bicycle, a seascape and/or mountain landscape, a rainbow, a church, a musical instrument, a boat, a plane, a waterfall

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge — Mendocino Sunrise

I just shot this sunrise from the porch of the place I’m housesitting this month in Mendocino County.

Russian Gulch State Park — A waterfall near Mendocino

Extra Credit Items: An expressive portrait of one or more people, a very unusual place, knitting or sewing, a fish, an animal you don’t normally see, a bucket, a hammer, a street performer, a double rainbow, multiple challenge items in a single image.

Wrangell Mountains — The view from my front porch

For extra credit I thought I would include this view from my front porch back home in McCarthy. Rainbow, mountain landscape, something cold (glaciers).

Here are a few more –

Sunset, seascape and boat (or at least the remains of one!)

Getting ready for the slow bike race McCarthy 4th of July

Bicycles, dog and a very unusual place – at least I think McCarthy qualifies as a very unusual place! McCarthy is where good dogs go to heaven, and sometimes it’s hard to take a picture in town WITHOUT a dog in it!

Plane, mountain landscape, and something cold

Maybe it’s not really a funny sign, but it is a bit unusual – and it gives you a good idea of just what kind of a place McCarthy is.

Alaska wildlife — Another view from my front porch…

Here are some animals you don’t normally see walking up to your front porch, but one day I did. I was baking date-apple bread for a potluck and I guess it just smelled too good to resist!

My last image is a sunset in someplace hot, far, far away from my home in McCarthy.

January 1, 2020

My Favorite Unpublished Photos of 2019

Happy New Year! Patti of Pilotfish has presented us with a delightful yet difficult challenge this week -Favorite Photos of 2019. How do you choose? It isn’t easy.

I got distracted a lot as I browsed through thousands of photos, with an image catching my eye and sending me into a memory. Focus, Di, focus! Don’t go down that rabbit hole! Is it really one of your 10 best of the year?

In the end, I couldn’t do it. I could narrow it down to 40 or so, but 10? Impossible!

So I took a page from NatGeo’s book. I COULD narrow it down to my favorite 10 unpublished photos of the year, ones that for one reason or another had not made it onto a blog post.

I’ll do this directionally. I’ll start in the northwest and make my way down towards the southeast.

Matanuska Valley, Alaska

I had an early morning doctor’s appointment. However, it was a 7-hour drive from my home in remote rural Alaska to the doctor’s office. So I left after work, drove part way, slept in the back of my truck, and continued on my way just before the crack of dawn. My reward was a beautiful sunrise over the Matanuska River, one of the most spectacular sunrises I’ve ever seen. My photos don’t do it justice, but here’s my best shot at it.

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

We have some really big mountains in the Wrangells. In fact, Wrangell-St. Elias has more mountains over 14,500 feet than anywhere else in North America. Furthermore, unlike Colorado’s 14-ers, Alaska’s mountains start from a lot closer to sea level! They are REALLY big mountains. I like this image because you get an impression of just how big they really are.

Stone Mountain Provincial Park, British Columbia

My favorite day when I drive the Al-Can Highway is the day I drive through Stone Mountain and Muncho Lake Provincial Parks. They are both home to the somewhat rare and beautiful Stone Sheep, and if I’m lucky I might see one. This year I was able to shoot this environmental portrait of a ram doing what Stone Sheep do best, climbing cliffs.

Electra Road near Jackson, CA

Although I’m usually raving about the wildflowers in the desert, by the time April rolls around you’ll find fantastic wildflowers in the Sierra foothills, too. That’s where I captured this image of a swallowtail butterfly sipping nectar from a flower.

My favorite unpublished photo of 2019 — The Mighty Ocean

Point Pinos, California

I think this is my new favorite photo of 2019. I don’t know why I never noticed it before. I was trying to capture the power and fury of a winter storm on the Pacific coast. Big waves. I can watch them all day.

Piedras Blancas, California

One of my favorite photographic experiences of 2019 was watching the elephant seals at Piedras Blancas. It was a true wildlife drama, with hundreds of seals birthing, mating and fighting just yards away from their human voyeurs. As I watched, the seals struck me as some of the most ill-tempered animals I’d ever seen, always fighting and arguing – all of them, not just the bulls. Mating, in most cases, seemed exceptionally harsh and brutal. This couple was the exception. They seemed, dare I say it, actually content and peaceful with each other! I tried to capture that feeling.

Joshua Tree National Park

If you follow my blog at all, you know that no roundup of my favorite photos of 2019 would be complete without at least one closeup of a desert wildflower. I love getting up all close and personal with cactus blossoms. They’re exquisite. I found this one in Joshua Tree National Park.

Anza Borrego State Park, California

Because my little Toyota truck is only 2 wheel drive, sometimes my dispersed camping options are somewhat limited. I find myself returning to one particular campsite in Anza Borrego again and again. But even though flowers are going crazy in the rest of the park, there are usually very few or no flowers in my favorite canyon. This year was different. This year, my camping canyon was one of the park’s wildflower hotspots. I took this photo from the hill behind my camp.

Tucson, Arizona

There’s a reason Arizona is famous for its sunsets. Just sayin’.

Well, I had a hard time picking my favorite. And I find it hard to be objective. Each image is colored by the experience that accompanied it.

How about you? Which one is your favorite? Let me know in the comments.

July 3, 2019November 4, 2020

A McCarthy Fourth of July

If you spend Fourth of July in McCarthy you might think you walked into an old Norman Rockwell painting. Ohhhh…on second thought, Norman Rockwell probably wouldn’t approve of ALL the floats in the McCarthy parade!

LGBT Float, McCarthy Fourth of JUly — 2017 LGBTQ float, McCarthy 4th of July

The day starts with a pancake breakfast at the Old Hardware Store, a benefit for the McCarthy-Kennicott Historical Museum. Afterwards, the morning is mellow, spent taking care of essential chores,walking around greeting old friends and maybe stopping at The Potato for a coffee and to get your face painted.

The Parade

Then precisely at 12 noon the festivities start with a solo rendition of the national anthem, followed by the parade, led by a marching band. A variety of fun, eclectic and original floats follow, most representing a local business.

McCarthy River Tours & Outfitters float — The floats are fun!

But anyone can join the McCarthy parade. There’s a kid’s float and usually a truck or a few 4-wheelers waving flags and decorated with red, white and blue bunting.

Smokey the Bear makes an appearance, and the volunteer fire department cools down the crowds.

McCarthy-Kennicott Volunteer Fire Department — Cooling off the crowd

Kids scramble for handfuls of candy tossed out from half a dozen floats.

Now, McCarthy is a TEENY town, so the parade is not very long, about a dozen floats altogether. But that’s okay, because the folks here make up in enthusiasm and creativity for their lack of numbers. The parade goes around the block twice, so it’s not so short after all. There are judges and every float wins a prize. In McCarthy there are no losers. Everyone is a winner!

Portrait of a rhubarbarian — Watch out, Rhubarbarians are runnin’ wild!

The Games

That’s just the beginning of the fun. There are contests for everyone, young and old. There are footraces and silly games like Egg Tossing and Watermelon Seed Spitting. There’s a Pie Eating contest, a Slow Bike Race and a Tug Of War.

Of course, dogs are everywhere. McCarthy IS the place where good dogs go to heaven. The dogs especially like the Pie Eating Contest and the Egg Toss.

Pie Eating Contest, McCarthy 4th of July — The Pie Eating contest can get messy!

In between the games, it’s time for a silent auction, where local businesses and residents donate trips, services, and crafts to raise money for the museum.

At the grill behind the McCarthy Lodge you’ll find those age-old holiday favorites, barbecue and watermelon. There’s always a long, long line for ice cream at the Mercantile.

Ice Cream Float! Get your ice cream at the Merc!

Things slow down a little in the late afternoon. People drift off for a siesta, a dip in the swimming hole, a visit to the ghost town of Kennecott, or a hike in the beautiful Wrangell Mountains. But it picks up again in the evening when the rhythm of banjo notes from a bluegrass band start drifting through the air.

65+ Tug-o-War, McCarthy 4th of July — 65 and older Battle of the Sexes Tug-o-War – the women won!

Fireworks, such an important part of the Fourth in many places, need dark skies to really stand out. It just doesn’t get that dark in early July when you’re in the Land of the Midnight Sun. Besides, with tinder dry conditions in the surrounding forests, sometimes it just may not be the best idea to shoot flames off into the sky. If it’s rained recently, though, a lot of folks will head on down to Glacier View Campground to down a brew and watch the fireworks at midnight.

If you’re looking for more fun than a dozen fancy firework displays, though, you just might want to try a McCarthy 4^th of July.

Tag: McCarthy

Favorite Images of 2020 – A Year in Review

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A Quiet Moment

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Rivers of the Wrangells

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #85 Treasure Hunt

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