Flaming Hillside

I was on the hunt for icebergs. So, very early one August morning, I flew toward the glacial-rimmed basin of Lake George about 45 miles east of Anchorage in the Chugach Mountains. Suddenly, a stunning array of fall vegetation interrupted the mission. As I hovered over a braided river that meandered across a former lake bed, I couldn’t believe the colors were real. It was like the whole hillside was aflame. Moose tracks crisscrossed green brush of the gravel bars, while lichen and dwarf willow glowed in a quickening sunrise made red by wildfire smoke. The mottled channels, tracks and vegetation reminded me of how Alaska’s terrain evolves as ice retreats. An area that once flooded every summer behind a glacier dam was now rebounding with pioneer life.