Flaming Autumn

Years ago, I was part of an effort to protect the clear-water Agulowak River in Wood Tikchik State Park in Western Alaska. At the time, it surprised me that a mere four-mile long river had drawn enough use and international fame to require protection. Well, the river in this photo is the opposite. It is also a four-mile long river. It is high volume. Unlike most big rivers, it did not get that way by draining a lot of country or collecting many tributaries. In fact, it has a single source: the Lake George Glacier. And unlike the Agulowak, less than a handful of people have ever floated it. About 40 miles west of Anchorage and accessible only by air, it would require difficult logistics for a mere hour of floating. Its short life is almost as ephemeral as the burst of autumn colors reflected on its surface. To make this image, I waded into the river with hip boots, gingerly set up my tripod and camera securely on the rocky bottom, and used a 50-second exposure to lend the water a sense of calm. Note the splashes of color from lichens and plants that live above tree line some 1,500 feet up the mountainside in the distance.