For me, summer is a time of chaos, long hours, travel, and moments of serenity found in nature. These are a sampling of images that tell a story of the first half of my summer field season. As a geologist for the State of Alaska I was fortunate to explore the Western Alaska Range’s Styx River and Kuskokwim  River regions by foot and by helicopter. There really is no better way to see the state. We were based out of the historic Rainy Pass Lodge, one of the oldest lodges in the state and also one of the first checkpoints on the iconic Iditarod dog sled race.

glassy puntilla lake

Long exposure of puntilla lake

4th of July fireworks at Rainy Pass Lodge

Volleyball at Rainy Pass Lodge

Float plane taking off out of Puntilla lake

Radio repeaters and solar setup

Rainy Pass Lodge looking South

Glacial lake swimming

Solo morning traverse

Any sheep?

Never ending mountains

Brightly colored slope

The beckoning slope

Ridge worker

The ponderer

Alpine flowers

Sun spot

Tight landing

Helicopter fieldwork

Glacier recession

Foggy morning