Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve

Beyond Chitina, Alaska Sept. 3-5, 2016

Mountains and Rivers

Bloggers Note: Except for an occasional duck, I saw none of the wildlife I saw everywhere else in Alaska. Instead I saw hundreds of RV pulling trailers loaded with an incredible variety of all terrain vehicles (ATVs). It was Labor Day Weekend and the start of hunting season in much of Alaska. Wrangell – St. Elias is a National Park – no sport hunting, and a National Preserve – which allows sport hunting. So I believe the wildlife retreated away from the access road; there way no way I was going to follow. Yes, I was scared of hiking in the Preserve and I couldn’t easily determine the boundaries. Luckily the landscape was incredible.

Half a mile outside of Chitina is this entrance to the park. Cars entering the park have the right-of-way.

Those Broad Multi-channel Rivers

And almost immediately you drive across the copper river. But as in Denali, many rivers confuse our eyes. They are a very broad expanse of water and stone. Perhaps we can see a clear channel of the main river flow. But there may be an expanse of stone and small “islands with bushes and small trees.

Like this. Why does it look that way? Think -40°F. Most rivers in the lower 48 states don’t freeze because the moving water prevents ice formation. When rivers do freeze, the ice may be only a few inches thick. But at the temperatures in Alaska, the river water may freeze to the very bottom, forming an ice dam.

Then the river water flow builds up pressure behind these ice dams. In some places the ice dam breaks and the water flows, sometimes in the old channel, sometimes in a new channel.

The river flow divides into small channels and large channels below the ice. In spring when the ice on top melts, these incredible patterns appear.

The channels are different each spring.

I could return next year, stand in the same places, and get completely different river patterns.

Pretty neat way of creating another wonder of nature.

Then generally, where the rock walls are hard and the canyon walls deep, the channels disappear and our river appears.

Beyond the Rivers

There are rivers everywhere. Between the river banks and the mountains life explodes.

The wetlands are the heart of our world for they give birth to the plants and animals that sustain us.

As the water rises, some trees may die.

But many plants survive and flower and give seed.

And ducks swim through the biomass.

Over the years, the plant decay and the wetlands become bogs and then become fields.

Even on Rock!

As the mountain rise above the rivers and fields, they too harbor life. Which burst into the colors of fall.

I found the colors and patterns amazing.

The Mountains

Using a large scale model of the Park, a ranger explains that the coastal mountain range was formed by the meeting of the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. The Pacific Plate slides under the North American Plate forming mountain ranges. The interior mountain ranges were formed by volcanoes. Different kinds of volcanoes form different kinds of mountains.