The Face of Jarvis

Mt Jarvis and its glaciated face, covered under a fresh snowfall, in black and white photo. Wrangell Mountains, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska.

Fresh snow covers the eastern face of Mt. Jarvis

A memorable trip up to Mt. Jarvis and the area I call the Jarvis Plateau, on the northeast side of the Wrangell Mountains. memorable for a few reasons.

One, a really cool couple from Chicago joined me on the trip, and they were a bunch of fun. Two, it’s always a treat to visit this area and to fly with Kirk Ellis from Nabesna. Three, we got dumped on with a 18″ of snow on our 3rd night camping up on the plateau. Four, I got sick in the middle of that night, with diarrhea and nausea like I hadn’t see in a LONG time. Diarrhea on any backpacking trip is an ordeal, but in the middle of a blizzard at 7500′ in Alaska, it’s more than memorable.

So after I recovered; well, recovered enough to enjoy myself again, the storm cleared and we were treated, and I mean really treated, to a spectacular sight. The entire eastern face of Mt. Jarvis, dripping with snow, was just breath taking. Absolutely astounding. We photographed that mountain more times in the next 2 mornings than the mountain has probably ever been photographed. I shot some really nice images in great warm light, and the colors were absolutely very intense, but I also really enjoy the subtler tones in this one.

It’s a striking mountain, and to be so close to such a face is a really powerful experience. Even when you have a bad case of strep throat bacteria lodged in your stomach!

Mt Jarvis and its glaciated face, covered under a fresh snowfall; a black and white photo. Wrangell Mountains, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska.

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