Can you see the Whale’s tail? The large glacier on the upper left is the Tokositna, the other large glacier is the Ruth. Backside Glacier and lake are where the Ruth makes a hard left around the great granite spires of the Ruth Gorge.
Finally prepping for my next trip into the Alaska Range. Returning to the central Alaska Range, not too far from my March, Kahiltna Glacier trip. I will be landing on Backside Lake, the terminal moraine lake of the Backside Glacier. I plan to trek over to the Tokositna for a few days, heading up glacier towards the base of Mount Huntington. Then return and a spend a few more days on Backside Glacier and possibly the Ruth Glacier. I will also be doing some guiding with Alaska Range Project sponsor Alaska Alpine Adventures on the tail end of the trip.
This area is locally known as the Whale’s Tail. A unique area of rolling tundra in-between the Ruth and Tokositna Glaciers.
In partnership with Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation and with guidance from mountain legend and scientist Roman Dial, I will be contributing to two different scientific projects. I will be collecting water samples on the Backside Glacier, the terminal outlet water from the glacier, Backside Lake and down stream from the lake. I will also be searching for ice worms on the Backside and Tokositna Glaciers.
We had a really late, cold spring here in south-central Alaska, followed by a record warm June! I have no idea what the conditions will be like or the snow level, which will determine how far up the glaciers I will get. The Backside Lake just opened up last week.
I will bringing my two lens system, the Nikon 24-70 and the 70-200 f4. The body will be the D800E. I will also have my good old Gitzo Mountaineer with my trusty old Linhoff Head.
The Alaska Range Project 