4000 Feet Above the Sea

While flying home one September evening after a 300-mile day of airborne photography, I crossed over a rugged and almost inaccessible basin within the Neacola Mountains. It was still and calm, dimming with the day’s last light, beneath brilliant skies dappled with glowing clouds. Not fully explored even now, the Neacolas are the most northern reach of the Aleutian Range, about 150 miles southwest of Anchorage. With difficult approaches and no marquee peaks to attract attention, this basin remains a spiritual place rarely visited by people.