The Untouched Beauty of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

The Untouched Beauty of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Today we are visiting a vast and remote park in the state of Alaska. The park is bigger than the country of Switzerland. It is six times the size of Yellowstone. In fact, it is the largest national park in America.

Its name is Wrangell-St. Elias.

Do not worry if you have not heard of America’s biggest national park. Most Americans do not know its name.

But Wrangell-St. Elias contains some of North America’s largest glaciers² and volcanoes. It also is home to nine of the highest mountains in America.

The park extends more than 5.3 million hectares. Four mountain ranges come together here, including the Wrangell Mountains and the St. Elias Mountains. The Wrangell Mountains cover much of the park. They were formed over the last 5 million years from volcanic³ activity. The St. Elias Mountains stretch into Canada’s Yukon Territory.

The Chugach Mountains cover the southern part of the park. The Alaskan Mountain Range forms some of the huge park’s northern boundary.

The mountain landscape is wild. Much of it is also difficult to reach. Private companies offer “flightseeing” tours on planes and helicopters. From high above, visitors witness Wrangell-St. Elias’s beauty.

A world of water

Rivers and glaciers help tell the story of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. These rivers, with names like Copper⁴, Chitina, Chisana, and Chitistone, come from the park’s many glaciers. They wind through land carved out by other huge glaciers long ago. The Copper, the largest river of them all, flows into the Gulf⁵ of Alaska. Other rivers take a more dramatic path. The Chitistone River becomes Chitistone Falls, a 91-meter-tall waterfall that drops over a steep wall.

Glaciers cover almost 13,000 square kilometers of the park. In summer months the park’s rivers carry their meltwater. It is filled with tiny pieces of sand, stone and other materials. A buildup of this sediment⁶ forces the rivers to flow through new channels. This causes the riverbeds to twist and turn. From up above, these rivers can look like braided hair.

One of the park’s most striking places is the Hubbard Glacier¹. It is the longest tidewater glacier in North America. A tidewater glacier is one that begins in a mountain valley and flows all the way to a body of water. The Hubbard Glacier is 120 kilometers long and nearly 10 kilometers wide. It begins on the 6,000-meter-tall Mount Logan in Canada’s Yukon Territory. It ends in the waters of a place called Disenchantment Bay.

Hubbard was named in 1890 after Gardiner Hubbard, the first president of the National Geographic⁷ Society.

The massive glacier is only getting bigger. Unlike most glaciers, Hubbard is thickening and extending. Other glaciers face melting caused by increasing temperatures. But experts say Hubbard reacts in an opposite way to climate change.

As the Earth’s temperature rises, the area around Wrangell-St. Elias gets more snow and rain. Scientists say this snow and rain is what permits the glacier to grow.

Sometimes, very fast growth causes huge pieces of ice to break apart from the glacier. Scientists call this “calving.” The ice creates a thunderous sound as it breaks and falls into the water.

Hubbard Glacier’s size, beauty, and “calving” activity have made it popular with park visitors. Large boats travel through Disenchantment Bay, taking passengers close to the glacier.

Wrangell-St. Elias’ system of glaciers and rivers help support animal life in the park. The park’s Dall sheep may be the most famous animal residents. Alaska’s Dall sheep are the world’s northernmost wild sheep population.

About 13,000 Dall sheep live within the park’s borders. Visitors can look for their white bodies and huge brown horns near rocky mountainsides.

Visitors might also see black bears, brown bears, moose and caribou⁸. Caribou are large North American reindeer⁹ with huge, wide antlers. Along the coast seals and sea lions lie in the ice and splash in the water.

Visiting the park

Wrangell-St. Elias became a national park in 1980. The park’s main visitor’s center is about 300 kilometers east of Anchorage. The long drive to get to the park is an adventure itself. The trip includes roadside views of mountains, glaciers, waterfalls, and lakes.

Its distant location makes it one of America's least-visited national parks. About 75,000 people visit Wrangell-St. Elias each year. By comparison, parks like Yosemite and Yellowstone get about 3 million visitors each year.

Visitors can experience the park’s pristine¹⁰ nature as well as its historical areas. The Athabascan people lived in the area thousands of years ago. The park includes sites of their villages and hunting areas.

The park also has many historical structures and buildings. The National Park Service says the structures represent periods of exploration, mining and transportation.

One historical place is called Kennecott Mill Town. The picturesque¹¹ town tells a story of westward¹² expansion and discovery.

Miners processed nearly $200 million worth of copper at Kennecott Mines between 1911 and 1938.

Many of the buildings that remain in the town have been empty for 60 years. Some are in disrepair. The National Park Service works with the local community to restore and preserve them.

Some visitors stay at Kennecott during their trip to Wrangell-St. Elias. The family-owned Kennecott Glacier Lodge¹³ provides beautiful views of the surrounding glacial mountains. It also gives visitors a chance to try exciting outdoor activities like glacier hiking or ice climbing.

Some visitors choose to sleep in the wild outdoors. Private campsites are located in many areas of the park. Some visitors set out on long hikes in the park’s backcountry area.

Whatever way you visit, the immense and untouched beauty of Wrangell St. Elias National Park is guaranteed to awe¹⁴.

Words in This Story

vast -adj. very great in size, amount, or extent

remote - adj. far away from other people, houses, cities, etc.

range - n. a series of mountains or hills in a line

boundary - n. something (such as a river or fence) that shows where an area ends and another area begins

landscape -n. an area of land that has a certain quality or appearance

dramatic - adj. sudden and extreme

twist - v. to bend or turn (something) in order to change its shape

braided - adj. formed with three or more parts woven together

thunderous -adj. making a loud noise like the sound of thun

antlers -n. the horn of a deer or similar animal

pristine -adj. not changed by people : left in its natural state

picturesque -adj. very pretty or charming

preserve -v. to keep (something) in its original state or in good condition

awe -v. to fill someone with a strong feeling of wonder or respect

1 glacier   

n.冰川，冰河

参考例句：

• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。
• The upper surface of glacier is riven by crevasses.冰川的上表面已裂成冰隙。

2 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

3 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

4 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

5 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

6 sediment   

n.沉淀，沉渣，沉积(物)

参考例句：

• The sediment settled and the water was clear.杂质沉淀后，水变清了。
• Sediment begins to choke the channel's opening.沉积物开始淤塞河道口。

7 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

8 caribou   

n.北美驯鹿

参考例句：

• Afar off he heard the squawking of caribou calves.他听到远处有一群小驯鹿尖叫的声音。
• The Eskimos played soccer on ice and used balls filled with caribou hair and grass.爱斯基摩人在冰上踢球，他们用的是驯鹿的毛发和草填充成的球。

9 reindeer   

n.驯鹿

参考例句：

• The herd of reindeer was being trailed by a pack of wolves.那群驯鹿被一只狼群寻踪追赶上来。
• The life of the Reindeer men was a frontier life.驯鹿时代人的生活是一种边区生活。

10 pristine   

adj.原来的，古时的，原始的，纯净的，无垢的

参考例句：

• He wiped his fingers on his pristine handkerchief.他用他那块洁净的手帕擦手指。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。

11 picturesque   

adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的

参考例句：

• You can see the picturesque shores beside the river.在河边你可以看到景色如画的两岸。
• That was a picturesque phrase.那是一个形象化的说法。

12 westward   

n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西

参考例句：

• We live on the westward slope of the hill.我们住在这座山的西山坡。
• Explore westward or wherever.向西或到什么别的地方去勘探。

13 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

14 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。