Jason Soza Photography » Juneau

Glacier Trek, Juneau, AK, August 2013

admin — Sat, 03 Aug 2013 03:38:22 +0000

I was lucky enough to go on a glacial adventure this weekend with the help of NorthStar Trekking!

Going underneath the Mendenhall Glacier is one thing, but putting on a pair of crampons and checking out all the features on top of it is awesome… as is scaling the face of a frozen slab of ice. In all, the exploring lasted about three hours. Throw in the helicopter rides and perfect weather and well, needless to say, it was a pretty epic afternoon.

Below are just a sampling of the nearly 500 photos I snapped. I did my best to capture the full breadth of the experience, but I would highly recommend making your own way onto the Mendenhall if you can, even if you’re from Juneau and you see it all the time. There’s nothing like it!

On the Ramp

Fly By

Heli

Mendenhall Glacier + Valley

Suicide Falls

Previous Trekker

Blue Water

Yellow Tent

Glacial Pool

Mt. Stroller-White + Mendenhall Glacier

Crampon Walking

Glacial Traverse

Mendenhall Towers + Thunder Mountain

The Blues

Ice Fall

Glacier Waterfall

Watery Blues

Base Camp

Trek 19

Waterfall + Stream

Ice Climbing

Intent Watching

Summit!

Coat Rack

Ascending

Trek 26

Rappeling

Summiting

Glacier Water

The Guide

Landing Zone

Blue Peaks

Deep Blue

Glacial Stream

Valley

Slowly Decaying Leaf

Water Drops

Sunshine + Stroller-White

Returning

REAL Glacier Water

Moulin Bleu

Glacierscape

Rocks

Yellow + Blue

Juneau Airport

Landed

Mt. Bradley (aka Jumbo), Juneau, AK, July 2013

admin — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 03:51:21 +0000

I would say that there’s not much better than hiking up a mountain on a sunny and warm Juneau day, but… Juneau’s pretty awesome that way. No matter what you do on a sunny and warm Juneau day however, you can never go wrong by making your way to the top of a mountain!

Mt. Bradley, otherwise known as Mt. Jumbo, is a 3,337 foot peak on Douglas Island, offering great views of downtown Juneau, the backside of Douglas, the airport area, and pretty much everywhere else.

The trail is about three and a half miles long and up, up, UP. It’s well worth the effort though…

Willow Ptarmigan

Downtown Juneau from Above

Beer + Mountain = Awesome

Seeing Forever

Shadowy Wavy Snowy Abstract

My Own Shadow

Layers and the Chilkats

Admiralty Island

Gastineau Channel

Mountain Harebell

July Snow

Sunset Glow

Fields of Green

"One of these things is not like the other..."

Downtown Scenery

Wildflowers

Through the Trees

Mt. Jumbo

Hiking Down

Lone Tree

Mountain Lillypads

Little Niagara

East Glacier Trail, Juneau, AK, October 2012

admin — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 18:43:51 +0000

The leaves are brown, the air is crisp, and the sky is gray… autumn has definitely arrived in Juneau!

Here are some photos from a weekend hike around East Glacier Trail.

Grassy Rain

Creek Falls

Forest Gnome

Trail Marker

Bridge to Somewhere

9 Leaves

Northern Lights, Juneau, AK, October 2012

admin — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 22:28:37 +0000

It’s been tough to catch the aurora borealis down here lately and today was looking like no exception – stormy weather bringing bouts of torrential rain made it seem very unlikely that Juneau was going to enjoy any of the auroral displays that Anchorage and the rest of the state had gotten to see recently.

However, the northern lights deities decided to give Juneau a break. Arriving home after a late-night hockey game, I noticed that not only had it stopped raining and I could see the stars, I could also see the faint glow of the aurora. Of course, I ran inside, grabbed my camera and tripod, and headed out for a few hours!

Enjoy…

Aurora over Aurora Harbor

Aurora Sky Painting

Egan Drive Fog

Egan Lights and Aurora

Swoosh!

Peek-a-Bee!

admin — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 22:03:56 +0000

I’ve been on a roll with going through my thousands and thousands of old photos and getting rid of duplicates, out-of-focus shots, and just plain bad photos. In doing this, I’ve come across a few photos that I totally must have missed in my post-shoot excitement.

This shot is one of those. I tagged another photo from this set to be published (you can see it here), but I have to be honest – I like this one much more! This little bumblebee looks like she’s trying to be sneaky, eh?

Happy Friday and enjoy!

Outer Point Sunset, Juneau, AK, April 2012

admin — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 20:19:47 +0000

Sunsets in Juneau, when they’re visible and the clouds line themselves up just so, are amazing. So amazing, that if it even looks like a spectacular sunset is possible, people start migrating to the best viewing spots as early as possible so they don’t miss it.

Here’s one such sunset, viewed from Outer Point.

Outer Point Trees

Kayakers + Chilkats

Zam the Super Dog

Shaman Island @ Dusk

A Chilkat Sunset

Golden Rays

Twilight @ Outer Point

Treadwell Mining Complex Ruins Vol. 1, Juneau, AK

admin — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 22:51:16 +0000

Central Power Plant and New Office Building

The old Treadwell Mining Complex ruins at Sandy Beach are one of my favorite things to photograph. It’s so easy to take a moment and imagine what it must have been like when Treadwell was operating at full capacity, with some 2,000 mine employees working to crank out tons of gold each day.

Here are some photos of a couple of the first large, recognizable ruins you come across as you head down the trail from its start near the recreational shelters – first, the remains of the Central Power Plant and then what was known as the New Office Building, which served as a temporary hospital after a fire wiped out Douglas and Treadwell in 1937.

In the weeks to come, I hope to post more photos of ruins further down the trail. Stay tuned!

Growth on the Central Power Plant.

Central Power Plant remains.

Creepy Clown

Radiator

New Office Building.

Colorful

fool?!?

Inside the New Office Building.

New Office Building interior.

Graffiti

Salmon Inspiration

Wharf and Warehouse pilings.

Mt. Juneau, Juneau, July 2012

admin — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 23:40:55 +0000

A break in the seemingly constant summer rain here in Juneau meant it was time to ditch work and head up a mountain.

The mountain of choice was Mt. Juneau, topping out at 3,576 feet. I learned a bit of Mt. Juneau trivia from its Wikipedia page, like that it’s been known as Gold Mountain and Bald Mountain in the past and that it receives 300% more rain than downtown Juneau. Crazy.

Not too many photos to share this time, as it was cold, windy, and the next wave of rain was quickly heading in, but snapped a few good ones nonetheless!

Alaska's State Bird, the Willow Ptarmigan

A Flock of Mountain Goats

Juneau from 3,576 Feet

Juneau International Airport and Chilkats

Mountaintop Snacks

Summit Construction

Mt. Juneau Shack

Exhibit: December 2, 2011 @ 2nd Street Heritage Coffee Company

admin — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 21:05:30 +0000

It’s been a long, long time since my last photo exhibit, but I’m proud and very excited to announce that I will have a collection of glacier cave photos on display at the Heritage Coffee Company’s location at 216 2nd Street in downtown Juneau.

The exhibit will open for Gallery Walk, this Friday, December 2nd, and will remain up for the remainder of the month.

If you are interested in purchasing a print you see on the wall, the large rectangular (16×20) and large panoramic (10×30) prints are $60/ea, and the square (12×12) and small panoramic (10×20) prints are $40/ea.

Here’s the official show blurb:

“Beneath the Mendenhall”

Glacier caves are formed when water runs through or under a glacier, the warmth of which melts the glacial ice to form an air-filled cavity. Having the Mendenhall Glacier right in our backyard provides a unique opportunity to discover and explore these deep-blue voids, provided you are willing to take the risks associated with wandering around underneath a massive, constantly shifting slab of ice and snow. This show presents photos taken over two trips to the same glacier cave this summer and highlights the cerulean glow and patterns that make glacier caves so mesmerizing.

So if you’re out and about in the downtown area for Gallery Walk this Friday, stop by the 2nd Street Heritage and say hi!

Mendenhall Glacier Cave, Juneau, AK, October 2011

admin — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 22:00:16 +0000

A crisp, clear October morning turned into another hike out West Glacier Trail to the face of the Mendenhall Glacier, then on and under the glacier for a repeat visit to a glacier cave I was last at this past July. The interior of the cave has opened up and is much wider and taller at points, while the arch at the entrance looks significantly less substantial than it did – I have a feeling that this winter’s snow will be too much weight and it may collapse at some point. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see!

In any case, the cave was just as exhilarating as it was three months ago: the colors, the sound of the water echoing off the walls, the temperature, everything. I definitely noticed that upon exiting the cave, my heart rate was up and I had a bit of an adrenaline rush going! All in all, this was an awesome way to spend a sunny October Sunday.

Hard to stay inside on a Juneau day like this.

Closing in on the Mendenhall Glacier.

Iceberg viking ships!

Standing where the glacier one was.

Looks like fun!

Sunny valley behind Mt. Bullard.

Nondescript ice cave entrance.

Looking into the depths.

The ceiling can be very aurora-like.

Some idea of perspective here. The ceiling was anywhere from 20 feet high at the entrance to less than 4 feet as it got deeper. About 9 or 10 feet here.

Frozen water and rushing water. Oh the juxtaposition.

Ice cave waterfalls.

Ice cave abstraction.

And more abstraction...

Got the blues.

Going towards the light.

End of the tunnel.

Let there be light!

On the glacier looking back towards the valley. Not a usual view.