The fog of Hatcher Pass 07/13/11

PrezwoodzPrezwoodz Registered Users Posts: 1,147 Major grins
edited August 5, 2011 in Journeys
John (coldclimb), Tracy and I decided to take a trip to Hatcher Pass here in Alaska and ended up in the fog. Instead of climbing we were motivated to take pictures and ...boulder? I am not really a boulderer so it was fun to get out and see just how weak of a boulderer I really am. Good for training I suppose!

The first boulder we came to was a nice overhanging boulder on a formation called the Monolith.
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Everything had a certain magical quality thanks to the mist.
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I found a golem in the fog.
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Tracy taking a break to contemplate the light.
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We found another boulder with a route I could actually do! This was a nice thing since most of the routes so far I was unsuccessful.
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Everything felt as though I was climbing out of a dream where the world beyond didn't exist. That which we cannot see we must picture with imagination.
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Being climbers in Alaska you must be prepared to climb in the rain, or if need be, an entire waterfall.
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And then launch off of whatever looks fun.
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If you are lucky then you have someone who loves you beyond anything and is willing to catch you no matter what. John appears to be that lucky.
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The water was a beautiful glacial blue.
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We found a small boulder cave and decided to found out what kind of routes we could muster. There is in fact an offwidth odd corner in this for those that like the wide.
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John managed to thank Tracy for catching him earlier.
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John went into the wide and it was an interesting venture to say the least. The horizon is straight on this photo.
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As John was climbing I heard Tracy say "Oh no!!" It turns out Johns wallet took a jump from his pocket and continued its way down through the rocks. As John was looking in the hole he said I need a light does anyone have a light? We both said no but that I could keep clicking my flash to create bursts. Then we hear this light grinding noise. Miles from anyone John had found a lighter in a rock cave under boulders...and it worked! He continued his search and then we left the cave.
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We passed the Lane hut on the way by.
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And all the life of the tundra welcomed us.
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We were never alone.
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Thanks for looking!
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Comments

  • Deano955Deano955 Registered Users Posts: 50 Big grins
    edited July 18, 2011
    Lucky John!
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    Baldy owns my free time
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  • ValerieJeanValerieJean Registered Users Posts: 47 Big grins
    edited July 26, 2011
    Oh my gosh, I am SO envious. What fun!! I loooooove all of these shots so much, especially where John is jumping into Tracy's arms, best jump photo ever. Just too cool.
    I never question what to do, it tells me what to do. The photographs make themselves with my help. ~Ruth Bernhard
  • Curt BowenCurt Bowen Registered Users Posts: 2 Beginner grinner
    edited August 2, 2011
    What was in the blue water? Any real caves or just rock boulder chokes?
  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited August 2, 2011
    Wow. bowdown.gif
  • PhotoDavid78PhotoDavid78 Registered Users Posts: 939 Major grins
    edited August 5, 2011
    Love the whole set but especially the groundhog
    David Weiss | Canon 5D Mark III | FujiFilm XT-4 | iPhone
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  • ChrisJChrisJ Registered Users Posts: 2,164 Major grins
    edited August 5, 2011
    These are great! Good as it is, I think this one could be incredibly stunning with a blue sky and some nice clouds: IMG4727-3-S.jpg
    Chris
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