Alaska Photo Collage for 2024

[AK hiker]

 

The adventure season started this spring with a fishing and beach combing trip down the Alaska Peninsula after winter storms had restock the beaches.

 

The glass floats get concentrated along specific beaches and exposed from previous burial after winter storms. First come first served as it has become somewhat popular to collect it is best to be the first one down the beach as there is getting to be less available to salvage as the glass floats are no longer made.

 

Spring rainbow trout

 

Caught on a fly I tied last winter in anticipation of the trip.

 

 

Now to the mountains in June once the snow has melted causing erosion, fresh fossils show up. Here is a combo of ammonite, baculite and Inoceramus clam in the same concretion.

 

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An ammonite about ready to hatch.🐣 

 

A medium sized Pachydiscus ammonite.

 

Kilo locating an old friend. I have posted this ammonite before and it will soon be gone down the mountain as erosion works around the fossil.

 

Inoceramus clam

Kilo after getting a drink. This is where you must be on full alert as rocks and debris can come down at anytime and it is hard to hear with the running water. It is best to have a second person spotting if spending any time in the bottom.

 

 

It is common to see newly exposed ammonites after the snow recedes. This particular exposure is only snow free maybe 4 month of the year.

 

A partial ammonite exposed for pictures.

 

This one was still on the mountain from last year.

 

An other Pachydiscus.

 

A partial heteromorph ammonite in a concretion. Likely Solenoceras sp.

 

Patagiosites alaskensis is identified by the spaced ribs.

 

Another hatchling. The freeze thaw freeze cycles work the concretions over multiple times eventually releasing their treasures.

 

Here it is….

 

Many more concretions for Mother Nature to work on.

 

Kilo on another old friend. This is the largest fossil clam I have seen measuring 26” several years ago when I first saw it.

 

Caribou travel through the area regularly making contour line trails.

 

Summer bring blooming alpine flowers.

This was the first mountain hike I got in of two this summer.

 

Second trip

Kilo with a keeper. 
 

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I brought along a friend that was with me last year when the weather chased us out when thunderstorm built up where I had parked my airplane. This trip the weather cooperated and we had a full afternoon of exploring. 

We both kept an ammonite with the one I collected being a special prize winning invertebrate fossil of the month for August!

Note the upper ammonite has a second ammonite in operculum.

 

 

My friend was strong enough to pack this one out at 65 pounds.

 

Inoceramus clam. This is one of the most common fossils but seldom are they completely intact.

 

 

 

 

Patagiosites alaskensis

 

An uncommon fossil in this marine deposit is this petrified wood.

 

Contemporary Arctic ground squirrel skull.

 

Edited November 13 by AK hiker

[AK hiker]

Ammonite within an ammonite.

Prepared ammonite

August invertebrate fossil of the month.

 

Now to the Brooks Range in August with coral fossil and ptarmigan droppings. Kilo on the hunt for ptarmigan.

 

Kilo with one ptarmigan for dinner and winter killed bull moose skull.

 

Fresh, like 3 to 4 days old wolf killed caribou remains.

 

Shed moose antler.

Kilo with a few corral fossil rocks.

 

A black bear damaged my Cub during the night awakening me from the noise while I was asleep next to the plane.

I was able to field repair and fly home. It required 29 patches to make the plane airworthy again. You could say I was pretty upset and I can assure you the bear will not do this again. 
 

Now off to the Wrangell Mountains sheep hunting.

 

Always on the lookout for fossils found a gastropod. 

 

Some areas of the Wrangell’s fossils are relatively abundant but this glacier valley was not. Look closely and can see the airplane on the far right side of the gravel bar to get an idea of scale.

 

The Cub on a gravel bar tied down while out hunting. This is the same gravel bar as the preceding picture but taken from the lateral glacial moraine.

 

 

Prepared ammonite

August invertebrate fossil of the month.

 

Two Dall sheep rams left to grow bigger.

 

Sheep in the background across the glacier.

 

A group of rams is headed to cliffs for security. 

In the the Nitzotin Mountains to look at another group of rams.

 

An empty valley where there was sheep the day before.

 

A brown bear was there and had run the sheep off.

 

Moved to the Talkeetna Mountains for another back pack hunt.

 

Kicked back after full day hike to watch sheep and enjoy the fall colors in the Talkeetna Mountains 

 

I looked at over 40 rams and left all to grow taking just some pics.

 

Headed home with the view out of each side.

 

Edited November 13 by AK hiker
Completed narrative

[Ludwigia]

Thanks for sharing this with us. Looking forward to more...

[Denis Arcand]

Nice fossiles, thanks for sharing your trip with us, look like a peaceful place.

[jpc]

excellent year end report.  

 

[Jaybot]

Very enjoyable trip report!  AK certainly is a beautiful place when it is not snow covered and nearly always dark.

Oh, and awesome ammonites!

[AK hiker]

18 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

Thanks for sharing this with us. Looking forward to more...

You are welcome. It takes me multiple edits to get these reports done correctly working from an iPad but worth it when done.

 

14 hours ago, Denis Arcand said:

Nice fossiles, thanks for sharing your trip with us, look like a peaceful place.

Also welcome, I enjoy getting out and sharing the trips. 

9 hours ago, jpc said:

excellent year end report.  

 

Thanks @jpc, back seat available when you come up.

 

Just now, Jaybot said:

Very enjoyable trip report!  AK certainly is a beautiful place when it is not snow covered and nearly always dark.

Oh, and awesome ammonites!

Agreed ammonites are awesome, they  are my favorites fossil. It is certainly winter here now with the lake ice in front of my place solid I have been riding the studded fat tire bike on the lake system here for a week with the dog along for exercise.

Edited November 13 by AK hiker

[Coco]

Hi,

 

You have some great adventures and I thank you for sharing them with us.

 

2 hours ago, AK hiker said:

I have been riding the studded fat tire bike on the lake system here for a week with the dog along for exercise.

So it really exists ! At home when we have snow and ice, I laugh and tell my friends to put studded tires on their bikes, and I make everyone laugh ! I didn’t know that somewhere in the world people had this !

 

Coco

[jpc]

9 hours ago, Coco said:

 

So it really exists ! At home when we have snow and ice, I laugh and tell my friends to put studded tires on their bikes, and I make everyone laugh ! I didn’t know that somewhere in the world people had this !

 

Coco

I made my own studded snow tires for my bike a few decades ago.  It works very well.  Before that I used to fall over on ice and snow all the time.  Studs fixed that.  Unfortunately, I have now stopped riding....  (still have the studded tire, but not the bike). 

 

[AK hiker]

@CocoThe ice is now 6”/15cm thick here now so great surface to ride on. Like JP mentioned studs are mandatory or you will not be vertical for very long. 
 

Kilo with harness and tug line on fat tire bike.  When I ride on a road she is hitched for safety or ride on packed snow machine trail she will be hitched up to give me a boost. 

Edited November 13 by AK hiker

[Coco]

Hi,

 

I don’t know if the translator is doing his job. On your bike, I see crampons. I was talking about nail tires, the nail being a metal spike. Is there a metal spike protruding from each stud ? It seems to me that yes because the snow seems to cling in the middle of each crampon. Right ?

 

Coco

Edited November 14 by Coco

[jpc]

allo coco... to aid in translation.... the Studs mentioned are the metal pieces protruding from the tire.  Crampons, in English, suggest a similar thing but hat you add to your shoes for mountaineering.  If you add chains to your car tires you are using Tire Chains. 

 

If this is unclear, PM me. 

 

  

[AK hiker]

 

@Coco Sometimes a picture makes the explanation more clear. These are the stubs I was referring to. Similar to what would be in a winter car tire for better traction while driving on snow and ice commonly used where I live this time of year.

[Coco]

Hi,

 

Thanks @JPC and @AK hiker Good pics ! I’ve never seen this on bike tires! It’s great !

 

Coco

[Sjfriend]

Great report sir! Flying and camping in Alaska can prove exciting. On top of the fossils, I love the floats and antlers. I only got out twice to my local site this year. 

[AK hiker]

11 hours ago, Sjfriend said:

Great report sir! Flying and camping in Alaska can prove exciting. On top of the fossils, I love the floats and antlers. I only got out twice to my local site this year. 

Steve,

Thanks, I also got down to the SW corner of WY in June visiting two Green River Formation pits to go "fishing". I am also working on regulation change for fossil collecting on state lands to make it similar to how fossils are managed on federal BLM lands. The proposed regulations have been advanced to the Dept of Law for the state for review. I have not seen them yet so so will see how that develops.

Cheers,

Bob 

[Sjfriend]

10 hours ago, AK hiker said:

Steve,

Thanks, I also got down to the SW corner of WY in June visiting two Green River Formation pits to go "fishing". I am also working on regulation change for fossil collecting on state lands to make it similar to how fossils are managed on federal BLM lands. The proposed regulations have been advanced to the Dept of Law for the state for review. I have not seen them yet so so will see how that develops.

Cheers,

Bob 

Good luck with the regulations. Now if we were only allowed to keep public land mammoth stuff. I'm hoping someday to do the Wyoming fishing trip myself. 

[NoahH]

Cool pictures!