July 17, 2016

Wickersham Dome, Part 1 (July 13th)

The entrance of the wayside of the trail to Wickersham Dome.
Mile post 27.7 from Fox on Elliott Highway.

We went to hike on Wickersham Dome on Elliott Highway.
The trailhead was much closer than the ones we hiked on Steese Highway.
The trail goes through different environments; bush with a few trees, tundra, bog, wet forest, alpine tundra.
We didn't have the detailed map, so we had no idea which peak was actually Wickersham Dome, but it was pretty amazing hike!
The view from the ridge was great and we encountered a few of lovely animals, too.
We also picked some wild blueberries, which were made into tasty jam/syrup.

自宅から10分ほどの所にあるFoxからSteese HighwayとElliott Highwayという2つのハイウェイが分岐しているんですが、今回は、まだ自分が行ったことのないElliott Highwayの方に出かけてきました。
尾根上の岩場では、再度、ある生き物に出会うことができましたよ。
頂上から見渡せる山並みがきれいでした。


From the trail entrance, we were going up in the bushes with some shorter trees like this.
You can find some blueberry bushes along the trail, 
but most of them were still green there.

Then, we got to the tundra-like area.

We could see the clear cut for the pipeline.

Another hot day with no clouds!

Salix reticulata (Net-leaved Willow, or Snow Willow).

Mushrooms were here and there, 
but I have no idea which ones are edible.

Dryas octopetala (Mountain Avens, Eightpetal Mountain-avens).

Campanula lasiocarpa (Mountain Harebell or Alaska Harebell).

Arctostaphylos alpina (Alpine Bearberry, 
Mountain Bearberry, or Black Bearberry).

Arctostaphylos alpina (Alpine Bearberry, 
Mountain Bearberry, or Black Bearberry). 

After the first tundra-like zone, we entered another bush area.

Aconitum delphiniifolium (Larkspurleaf Monkshood).

After that, another tundra-like area with lower bushes.

Aconitum delphiniifolium (Larkspurleaf Monkshood).
The buds look like some eggs of aliens!

 

Lupinus arcticus ssp. arcticus (Arctic Lupine). 
We saw many leaves of this species at that area
and some flowers were still blooming.

Campanula lasiocarpa (Mountain Harebell or Alaska Harebell).

We were going towards those peaks.

After the second tundra-like field, we entered the wet forest.

 Rubus chamaemorus (Cloudberry).
They seem to like wet place.

After the wet forest, we got to the field closer to the ridge.

On the ridge, there were lots of big rocks.

On the rocks, we found this creature!

Here is another one!

Can you see what it is?

You can see Elliott Highway.

We could see many nice ridges continuing far, far away!


There is another one again on the rock in the center of this picture!

I sneaked up towards the animal...

The answer is....
Marmota caligata (Hoary Marmot).
This one got a ear tag with the number.
Some research must have been going on.

Marmota caligata (Hoary Marmot).

Marmota caligata (Hoary Marmot).
It was so close from me!

2 comments:

てばまる said...

すっかり地元?を楽しんでますね~(^-^)/
大きなネズミ?それともリスの仲間かな?
やはり氷河期時代の残存系の植物が多いみたいですね。
どれも日本でも見られるものとよく似たものが分布しているようで興味深いです。

bioskop said...

てばまるさん、こんにちは。
てばまるさんの尾瀬レポ、見ましたよ。満天の星空…素敵だなぁ。花も本当に多様ですよね。
こっちに来てから、夜、完全に暗くなることがないので、こっちではまだ星を見てません。高尾山もすっかり夏のさかりですね。猫画像の連続にもやられてしましました。(猫もこっちでは見かけてないです。犬を飼ってる人はたくさんいるけど。)

まだ7月なのに、夏が終わりに近づいているのを感じ始めているので、天気がいいと、ここぞとばかりに出かけようとしています。(自分たちにとっての「高尾」的場所とか、「奥多摩」的場所を見つけたいと思って…)

大きなネズミみたいなのは、マーモットっていうげっ歯類の一種です。
耳に、生態調査かなにかのタグがついていました。

オレゴンとかワシントン州の砂漠っぽいところは妙な植物が目立ちましたが、アラスカについてからは、見覚えのあるものが多い印象です。ネットで植物の学名を検索して調べてみたら、日本にもある植物だったっていうことがちょくちょくあります。