Photography, Travel

Above the Clouds at Denali Base Camp

52 Week Photo Challenge June

Full Frame, a home on medium for fine photography, has recently begun hosting a “52 Week Photo Challenge,” and many incredible photographers have been jumping in to share their works of art. I invite you to check it out. I have been in awe of many of the submissions.

Each month, Rodrigo S-C poses a topic for each week. The responses are, oftentimes, wildly imaginative and truly beautiful. This is my first submission to the collection

23. Hello from… Where have you been?

The top photo is my answer to this question. One of the highlights of all of my years of travels was being able to take a small airplane up to Denali Base Camp and to land on the glacier.

It would be impossible to express the intensity of awe I felt during this journey. There are just no words to explain what it felt like to me to float above the clouds, sweeping past tumbles of ice and stone swept down the mountainside by glacial forces so old and powerful that it boggles my mind.

To see a glacier, moving at an imperceptible pace, carving out the very earth, is to experience a touch of the hand of the goddess at work.

24. Old. Like dirt.

Or ice — these tiny pockets of ice are so highly compressed that they shimmer like little jewels in the sunlight. The whole world glows with a blue hue when you are up so high and surrounded by blankets of snow. But these icy patches shimmer with a blue that I can only compare to Caribbean waters.

25. New To Me. Introduce me.

I think that the highest elevation I have ever experienced was at Lake Titicaca, in Peru (12,507 feet). And last year, we hiked down into the Haleakala Crater in Maui (you can read about that here), the rim of which is 10,023 feet above sea level.

The peak of Denali, the highest mountain in North America, stands at 20,310 feet above sea level. Most of the time, the top of the mountain is lost in the clouds. But base camp, despite its extreme environment, is only 7,200 feet high.

But the rare air, the frigid conditions and the fragility of existence up there was something new to me.

26. I see Red. Interpret that as you will.

Well, our little red airplane was certainly a pretty contrast to the fields of ice and snow. At first, I was trying to capture photos without the wing in it. But I soon realized that the wing added to the whole picture. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was painted red to make it more visible in case something went wrong up there.

Thank you Rodrigo S-C for hosting this challenge.

I look forward to seeing what every one comes up with for August.

Erika Burkhalter is a yogi, neurophilosopher, cat-mom, photographer, and lover of travel and nature, spreading her love and amazement for Mother Earth’s glories, one photo, poem, or story at a time. (MS Neuropsychology, MA Yoga Studies).

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Photos and story ©Erika Burkhalter. All rights reserved.