Stand of spruce on Murphy Dome, looking into the Chatanika Valley.
Above 6000' elevation on the Black Rapids Glacier is typically above the equilibrium line - the extent of the snow line in summer. Almost all of the ice feeding this 40 km long glacier comes from this relatively small 8 km long and 1 km wide stretch. Being up here I find it easy to imagine what it must be like to be on another planet. Everything is covered in snow and ice. Even riddled with cracks, crevasses, bergschrunds it's hard to describe what's frequently called the "Trinity Basin" as anything but pristine.
Rocky and colorful autumn landscape along the Savage River north of the Park Road in Denali National Park. You can get here by way of a spur trail off of the Savage Canyon Loop Trail. Getting to this spot and back adds roughly a mile to the two mile loop (just keep going north on the west side of the footbridge at the end of the loop). Keep going a bit further and you could find some cool waterfalls.
