dj.tigersprout's photoblog
the Slopes of Blueberry Mountain
Posted by dj.tigersprout (New York City, United States) on 9 September 2008 in Landscape & Rural and Portfolio.
sometime on the evening of my arrival into Anaktuvuk i had made up my mind to climb Blueberry Mountain. in fact, i had been obsessed with the large and steep 'hill' in the winter -- i had been captivated by its smooth face and curved dome in addition to the fact that it wasn't that big and it looked easily scalable by foot. i decided to do it the next morning when i got up -- i really had nothing else planned and i just knew i could get some great shots of the valley if i were to get some elevation. i had made a few inquiries about the mountain to find out its name -- and had also asked to see if anyone else had climbed it. turns out -- it was the most frequently climbed 'hill' of all the surrounding mountains of rock... so that settled the matter!
the next morning i set off around 9AM believing that this was going to be an easy and extraordinary climb. i was just astonished by the colors i was seeing -- the reds and yellows called to me from every direction... i was captivated -- maybe even a bit feverish! the landscape was so gentle... there weren't any snakes this far north and i hadn't seen any other sort of animal, not even a bird... so i told myself that there really couldn't be anything to fear. and besides -- the hills looked so smooth and flat... so off i started. it was a gorgeous, partly sunny morning, there were beautiful wispy clouds that clung to the different mountain peaks and drifts of mist and fog that floated just above the ground in places -- it was serene, bright, colorful and very enchanting.
leaving the town was pretty easy, i just walked off one of the dead end streets and began my trek through the low friendly grasses. however, no more than 15 minutes later i had encountered a sort of unexpected problem... the ground wasn't as hard nor as smooth as it had seemed from a distance -- it was more like some sort of semi dry marsh. nearly each step was a step down and in... as my feet would sink 2 or 3 inches into what could only be described as moss growing over wet grassy patches of clay and mud. i wasn't too alarmed as i had chosen to wear my waterproof snow boots... so the wet moisture was hardly the problem, though it did stir some feelings of unease. what if their were large boggy areas? did i need to be careful? what about quick sand? i re-surveyed the landscape, looking for drier harder ground while shaking off some initial feelings of doubt. no one had mentioned any such dangers -- and i had asked some pointed question just to be sure. i committed to continuing -- i wanted some pictures of this valley from up high! i resolutely headed for a higher area thinking that there would be much more solid ground to be found, however, that too ended up being exactly the same -- just with higher reeds. my easy hike had turned into a clump hopping fest of sorts -- three steps out of 5 were right into a sort of shallow sinkhole!
needless to say i wasn't happy with my progress -- but it was so utterly amazing on a visual scale -- and i felt fine really. it would have been close to 45 minutes since i had begun and i didn't want to waste the effort. it couldn't be too much farther away now! i looked back the way i had come, hopping to impress myself with my progress. i quickly realized that i was in some sort of depression in the landscape -- i had sunken out of site of the town without noticing it! an immediate sense of being out of sight of help raised an internal alarm system... would anyone look for me if i didn't return in a few hours? i wasn't so sure, most residents were indoors watching tv or playing video games. i might not get missed until evening! i pondered heading back -- i had already broken a deep sweat, and the burden of having to carry the camera made it challenging to wipe my face and forehead while maintaining any sort of balance. i stopped for a quick breather to recompose myself... i was actually really hot! i took off my beanie and sweatshirt and decided to carry them over my shoulder -- it was just too warm. i headed up over a brief rise scattered with a large natural pile of granite like rocks. happily surprised, i made for the long stretch of rock believing i had found an easy way to make progress. but i quickly found that the rocks were sharp and slippery with lichen! my boots had no traction! paranoid that i could fall and break a leg, i again chose to battle the marshy fields instead! strangely, the mountain seemed even further away then it had been before i started... could that be true?
as if to ease my doubts, the sun came out from behind a cloud bank and it was now very bright. i began thinking that i needed to find a place to stash the clothes i was carrying -- i needed some way to make all of this easier! i was still sweating heavily, even with the warm upper clothing layers having been removed. i plodded on, crossing 2 shallow rivers that gave me a quick reprieve from the aggravatingly soft ground... i splashed carefully over the rocks and stretches of running water and then headed back into the vividly bright foliage. just as i was wishing i had stopped for a drink when crossing the clear waters of the river, i suddenly realized why they called this hill Blueberry Mountain -- everywhere i looked on the ground, there were small, dark, singular berries... everywhere! in fact i was even standing on them...! i moved forward, each step squishing berries -- there were simply millions of them! it was a carpet of berries! i began trying to step around them, not wanting to destroy them unnecessarily, but quickly gave up: there was no way to not squish them!
so many wild berries! so much available fruit! in every direction!! i wished briefly that i had brought a bag to pick them before realizing that i could hardly carry the minimal belongings that i had already. i sat down on a isolated granite stone to cool off. the carpet of foliage stretched in every direction... reds, oranges, yellows, browns... and now the black round dots of blue berries. it was almost overwhelming to be surrounded by so much wild fruit -- who could possibly eat this all? certainly not any person or group of persons! would it all just go to waste? it would be cold quite soon -- would it all just rot away?
it was at some point during this magical moment that my thoughts strayed back to water -- how had i not thought to bring a water bottle with me? i was pretty thirsty... but i didn't want to back track to the river... it was 15 minutes behind me! i decided to hope for another creek or stream -- and looking ahead about 20 minutes walk i thought i could see the tell tale signs of yellow, hip high bushes -- so i happily resolved that there must be water over there. i would just wait it out.
of course, no sooner had i solved the issue of water, my brain had subconsciously solved the previous question -- i now knew who the berries were for: BEARS!!! i suddenly felt very alone and very very vulnerable...
i realized that if was going to keep myself from freaking out i needed a plan!
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Canon EOS REBEL XT
1/100 second
F/6.3
ISO 100
18 mm