Safety & Wildlife

A backpacking guide, bear spray and a wolverine in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Essential safety information for Alaska backcountry travel. Learn about bear encounters, wildlife behavior, river crossings, weather considerations, and how to stay safe in remote wilderness.

Safety in Alaska’s wilderness requires knowledge and preparation. Learn from experienced guides about bear encounters, wildlife behavior, river crossings, and the judgment calls that keep you safe in remote terrain.

Female puma, or cougar and her cubs on a ridge in Patagonia, Chile.

Cougar, Puma, Mountain Lion: It’s All the Same Cat

Cougar, puma, mountain lion, panther, catamount, painter. That’s six names for the same animal, and there are at least 40 more. Puma concolor has the largest range of any wild land mammal in the Western Hemisphere, and every culture that encountered it named it something different. Here’s the real story behind the names, the genetics that collapsed 32 supposed subspecies into six, and what this cat actually does across two continents.

Puma mother and 2 cubs, Patagonia, Chile photo tour.

Pumas, Penguins, and the Rewilding Paradox

In the mid-2000s I spent four months living in Futaleufu, Chile, working with a rafting and kayaking company, guiding, and doing photography; eating a LOT of carne asada. I spent a lot of time in the Andes backcountry around there. Never saw any pumas then. Not a track, not a kill, not a flash of […]

humpback whale breaching Prince William Sound Alaska.

Bubble-Net Feeding: How Humpback Whales Hunt Together in Alaska

You hear it before you see it. A hiss of air breaking the surface, then a ring of bubbles appears, 25 yards across, expanding outward in a near-perfect circle. The water inside the ring goes dark. Shadows rise. Boom. The surface explodes. Mouths the size of pickup trucks burst upward through the center of the […]

Camped on Malaspina Glacier looking at Mt. St. Elias, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Glacier Hiking for Backpacking Trips in Alaska

We run backpacking trips. Lots of them. We spend a lot of time on ice. A LOT of time. Over the years, collectively, the guides at Expeditions Alaska have clocked hundreds of miles walking, camping, relaxing, and exploring, on ice. It’s such a big part of what we do, glacier travel is an integral part […]

Female brown bear chasing salmon in the shallows of Hallo Bay, Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska.

Black, Polar, and Grizzly Bear Claws

Bear claws reveal how each species makes its living. Black bear claws are curved climbing hooks. Polar bear claws are surprisingly short, built for gripping seals on ice. Grizzly claws are massive digging tools, stretching up to 4.5 inches. Coastal brown bears have the longest claws of all, reaching 6 inches.

Backpacking in Gates of the Arctic National Park.

Weather in Alaska

One of the most common questions we get, every trip, every year, every month, is “What to pack?”

We provide all guests with a ton of info on packing. People often look for a shortcut and then want to “hope for the best”. “Will I be OK with … ” is usually really a question of “I don’t want to bring xyzzy”.

Polar bear photo weight of a polar bear, Alaska.

How big is a polar bear?

Large adult male polar bears can weigh over 1400lbs. Seriously? How big? We’ve all heard polar bears are the largest terrestrial carnivore, right? We’ll side-step the rather silly idea of labelling Ursus maritimus (Sea bear), a marine mammal, as a “land-based carnivore” for the moment. Instead consider the point behind it. Polar bears are the […]

Featured

Photo Tours

What We Do

Where We Go

Portfolios

Tours

Safety & Wildlife