Worthington Glacier, Thompson Pass

Yesterday, George and I celebrated Independence Day at Thompson Pass, marveling at the diversity of Alpine flora there. Pictured here is the Worthington Glacier, one of many in Alaska in a state of retreat. The massiveness of glaciers, and of the landscape itself, is nearly impossible to capture in photographs or to express in words. Some of these glaciers are hundreds of feet thick. Last week on my flight over Mt. McKinley, we landed on the Ruth Glacier at an elevation of about 5500 feet. The pilot commented that most climbers carry ropes 300 feet in length, because that is the depth of the average glacial crevasse fall! George resembled a Mountain Goat (Dall Sheep) as we botanized the tundra, putting in a solid 6 hours in the pass. While we saw many fascinating flowering plants and ferns of the Alpine, if there was one plant that stole the show, it had to be the Spring Beauty, Claytonia sarmentosa. Strikingly resembling our native species, C. caroliniana and C. virginiana, except that the flowers at 3/4 " appeared to be on steroids!