After a particularly long and cold winter, I was ready for some sunshine and warmth; summer beckoned. And with summer, I’d be heading up to the mountains for some more backcountry travel. Instead of waiting, however, I had a friend fly us up the Nizina River to the Nizina Glacier, so I could take a look at how the area I knew so well in the warmer months.

Other than a few windblown cliff faces, the entire area was set in black and white. Snow still covered everything, with a few black spruce trees and rocky outcrops protruding through its whiteness. Beautiful, beautiful scene.

I have hiked up around the Nizina Area before, and it’s a fascinating place to explore, but I tend to head to other places every summer. I need to take a couple of weeks and really soak this area up some more. It really has a wealth of places to poke around in and get lost for a few days.

An aerial photo of Nizina Glacier and Wrangell Mountains; black and white photo in winter, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska.