Mount McKinley, Denali National Park, Alaska

View of Mount McKinley (20,320 ft) on a rare clear summer day from Stony Dome at mile 62 of the Park Road in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska, United States. Stoney Dome is the first opportunity along the Park Road to see a full view of Mt. McKinley (also known as Denali).

Image information:

Time/Date: 10:12 AM on July 12, 2010

Location: Stony Dome, Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska, United States

Camera Gear:

Nikon D300 Camera Body

Nikkor AF-S DX 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED Zoom Lens

B+W 77mm Slim Circular Polarizer Filter

SanDisk Extreme III CompactFlash Card

Camera Settings:

Lens Focal Length: 44mm

Shutter Speed 1/200

Aperture: f/8.0

ISO: 200

Eklutna Glacier Repeat Photography

On a recent trip to the Serenity Falls Public Use Hut in Chugach State Park, Alaska, I rephotographed several images of Eklutna Glacier taken in 1915 by U.S. Geological Survey geologist Steven Reid Capps. Below is one of the 1915 USGS photos.

The S.R. Capps image shows the 1915 terminus and unvegetated outwash plain of Eklutna Glacier near the Serenity Falls area of the West Fork Eklutna River. Image credit: S.R. Capps/U.S. Geological Survey.

Below is the image that I took on July 31, 2010 from a location near where Capps made his image in 1915.

My 2010 image shows that the Eklutna Glacier has retreated over a mile up the valley and dense vegetation has colonized the former moraine and outwash plain. A small portion of the glacier is still visible in the distance in front of Peril Peak (elevation 7,040 feet).

Alaska Glacier Change Eklutna Glacier - Images by Ron Karpilo

Please feel free to contact me [ron (at) karpilo dot com] if you have any questions or comments.

Documenting Alaska Glacier Change

In 2003, I began documenting changes in Alaska's glaciers using repeat photography. The glacier change projects have been a combination of collaboration with the National Park Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, and independent work. The majority of the projects consist of finding historic images of glaciers located in places such as Glacier Bay and Denali National Parks and then trying to find the exact location where the original photographer took the photo and making a modern image from the same location. Below is a repeat image I made in 2003 of an 1899 image of Muir Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska.

In this image (taken on September 11, 2003), I'm holding a copy of an 1899 photo of Muir Glacier in Glacier Bay, Alaska taken by geologist Grove Karl Gilbert during the Harriman Alaska Expedition. During the 104 years between the images, Muir Glacier has retreated approximately 25 miles.

Please feel free to contact me [ron (at) karpilo dot com] if you have any questions.