Kvichak River photos
by Erin McKittrick
other Pebble Mine region photos

These photos are from the Kvichak River segment of my month-long, 450+ mile Trek through the Pebble Mine watersheds

The Pebble Mine project is a controversial proposal by Northern Dynasty Minerals to build one of the largest gold and copper mines in the world, in southwest Alaska, near Lake Iliamna. Northern Dynasty has not yet applied for permits, but their current proposal involves both a large open pit and an underground mine, as well as removal of the water from the headwaters of Upper Talarik Creek and the Koktuli River ( important fish habitats). The site sits at the headwaters of two major Bristol Bay drainages ( Nushagak and Kvichak), and potentially poses a large threat to the region's salmon. This proposal has become a major political issue in Alaska, pitting pro-mining forces against local native villages and commercial and sport fishermen.

Pictures and other files are provided free for download for non-profit use only. Please credit the photographer (Erin McKittrick). For commercial use, please contact me at mckittre at gmail dot com. My photographs of the Pebble Mine area have been published in Alaska and Fly Fisherman magazines, the Bristol Bay Times, as well as by the Renewable Resources Coalition, the Wilderness Society, the Alaska Conservation Foundation, and other environmental groupss.

Click here for Word file with captions, and jpg file showing picture locations.

2229 - Cabin in the mists across a grassy marsh on the lower Kvichak River.

2231 - Tom walking along gravel left by storms along the lower Kvichak River.

2234 - Swans taking off from a marsh along the lower Kvichak River.

2240 - Tom relaxing among our strewn food bags, contemplating the crossing of the marsh.

2243 - Lupines in the marsh along the lower Kvichak River.

2250 - Tom exhausted in a marsh of cotton grass, along the lower Kvichak River.

2252 - Sandhill crane walking through the cotton grass.

2254 - Sandhill crane taking off from a cotton grass hill.

2257 - Cotton grass fields along the lower Kvichak River.

2258 - Sandhill crane's head peeking up from a field of cotton grass.

2261 - Pair of sandhill cranes in the cotton grass.

2263 - Cotton grass tussock.

2272 - Sandhill crane walking on the tundra.

2274 - Sandhill crane gliding over the tundra along the lower Kvichak River.

2284 - Sunlit cloudberry leaves.

2297 - Cooking fire on the edge of a tundra lake.

2302 - Tundra lake under puffy clouds along the lower Kvichak River.

2306 - Blue skies over the tundra along the lower Kvichak River.

2307 - Lonely spruce in the tundra.

2314 - Alaska state flower: the 55 gallon drum.

2317 - Sunlight through the brush along the lower Kvichak River.

2327 - Tom getting water from a marsh pond, along the lower Kvichak River.

2332 - Marsh pond.

2339 - Leaf-camoflaged moth on the dwarf birch.

2343 - Cloud of mosquitos hovering over a bush at sunset.

2346 - My shadow on the evening tundra.

2348 - Collapsed cabin above the Kvichak River.

2353 - Tom collecting water from a beaver pond above the Kvichak River.

2354 - Beaver pond above the Kvichak River.

2357 - Looking along a grassy beaver dam above the Kvichak River

2359 - Beaver dam in the marshy grassland along the Kvichak River.

2368 - Driven insane by the mosquitos, Erin resorts to wearing the tarp as a head net.

2371 - A muddy slough along the Kvichak River, which got us stuck for two hours following its winding banks.

2374 - Looking through the trees to a slough along the Kveichak River.

2379 - Cotton grass, dwarf birch, and other marsh plants.

2382 - Cotton grass glows in the evening light.

2388 - The forest casts long shadows over the marshland near the Kvichak River.

2390 - The evening also brings a thick cloud of moquitos around Tom's head.

2391 - The last rays of sun highlight the white poofs of a cotton grass meadow.

2392 - Mist rises from a tundra lake at sunrise, near the Kvichak River.

2418 - Wide dusty road in Levelock village.

2419 - The Levelock International Airport.

2421 - Levelock's real airport.

2425 - Tom fishing a bone out of Levelock Creek.

2426 - Wildflower growing beside Levelock Creek.

2437 - Wildflower peering from a tangle of grass, near Levelock.

2448 - Sunset over the spruce forest, near Levelock.

2449 - Sunset over the cotton grass, near Levelock.

2463 - Lupines growing on a sandy bluff of Kvichak River.

2475 - Erin peering out of the alders along the Kvichak River.

2477- Ripples in the mud along the Kvichak River.

2483 - Walking through the tidal grasses along the Kvichak River.

2487 - Tides run far up the Kvichak River, and tidal plants grow along with them.

2491 - Ferrying across the Kvichak River in an Alpacka raft, looking for better walking on the other side.

2510 - Sandhill cranes silhouetted against the evening sky.

2514 - Last glimpse of sun between the clouds.

2516 - Erin studying the map and the view from the "exposed rock hills" near the Kvichak River.

2519 - Daisy-like flower on the tundra (undersaturated).

2528 - White tundra wildflower.

2534 - Lichen-covered rock on the tundra.

2535 - Crinkly black lichens.

2541 - Moose skull on a tundra hill, looking out towards the Kvichak River.

2547 - Teeth on a weathering moose skull.

2549 - Tom posing with the moose skull.

2558 - Erin walking across the tundra, with a "stop Pebble Mine" button on her backpack.

2563 - Small lakes are scattered across the tundra near the Kvichak River.

2566 - Daisy-like tundra flower.

2568 - Pair of daisy-like tundra flowers.

2570 - Iris in the marshes along the Kvichak River.

2571 - Dogwood flowers.

2572 - Tundra lake near the Kvichak River.

2580 - Blue wildflower near the Kvichak River.

2588 - Hig wading across a creek feeding into the Kvichak River.

2594 - Tom walking through the grasses along the upper Kvichak River.

2595 - Water droplets on salad vetch.

2596 - Water droplets on salad vetch.

2605 - Hig hiking through colorful grasses along the upper Kvichak River.

2617 - Hig ferrying Tom across an even deeper creek feeding into the Kvichak River.

2621 - Mosquito on fleece.

2622 - Flower fallen on a leaf.

2627 - Trash bag Tom fishing on the upper Kvichak River.

2635 - Tom lounging in the Sportsman's Lodge, on the upper Kvichak River.

2638 - All of us lounging in the Sportsman's Lodge, on the upper Kvichak River.

2641- Tom distressed by a cloud of mosquitos, along the upper Kvichak River.

2649 - Any tiny gap lets thousands of mosquitos into our tarp at night.

2651 - Erin and Tom looking both ways for traffic in Igiugig village

2652 - Igiugig welcome sign.

2653 - Igiugig residents cleaning salmon on the bank of the Kvichak River.

2661 - Paddling across the head of the Kvichak River on Lake Iliamna, Igiugig in the background.