Requests and Asking for gear information

October 18th, 2021 by Carl D

Hey Folks,

Supper under a tarp, Denali Natilonal Park backpacking trip, Alaska.
Supper under a tarp, Denali National Park backpacking trip, Alaska.

This is a post you might be able to use regardless what you’re wondering about (we’re all wondering about something, right?). One of the things I see most common when I cruise around the web at different forums, blogs, websites, check my email, etc, etc is requests for information about gear. Whether it be camera gear, ski gear, backpacking gear, rafting gear, paddling gear, biking gear, mountaineering gear, whatever. So many people post requests for information about gear choices without offering much, if any, idea on their intended use.

Backpacking Gear Questions

Example; “I’m looking for a good pair of hiking boots for the winter”. This kind of request is, in most forums, useless. before offering any kind of recommendation at all, I’d need to know more information. A lot more information. What kind of hiking? On trail/off trail? Winter where? Alaska, or Florida? Hiking, as in dayhiking, or backpacking trips? You wanna go backpacking in Denali National Park? Or Gates of the Arctic? And on and on. Without even discussing the nuance of individual fit. style, taste, etc (particularly important with boots), it’s about impossible to really offer any useful information to the request.

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What is the Wild

October 15th, 2021 by Carl D
Black bear stares through the forest, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee.
Black bear stares through the forest, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee.

Hey Folks,

We live in a world defined by our own constructs. The rules we learn and abide are our own, the maps we follow are our own, the stories we learn are own. The way we see the world is through the eyes of our culture. At times, it provides a miraculous view; I can’t imagine my life without the music of Stevie Wonder to keep me company, or the writings of Thoreau, or the photography of Frans Lanting. Those are the parameters of our civilized lives, and they serve us usefully much of the time.

But what of those parameters not laid out for us by other people? What if I want to see the forest through the eyes of the bear?

The easiest way to experience a bit of what the wild was like is to go into a great forest at night alone.  Sit quietly for awhile.  Something very old will return. – Jack Turner

Challenge yourself to experience the world beyond the models we’ve constructed for it to fit inside.

Cheers

Carl

Offtrail backpacking in Alaska

October 13th, 2021 by Carl D
Offtrail backpacking in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park Alaska.
Backpacking off-trail in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Hey Folks

Offtrail backpacking

It doesn’t mean what you might think it means.

What do we mean, here in Alaska, when we say “offtrail’?

Well, what we mean is “no trail”. It’s not the same thing as backpacking through the mountains for a few days on a nice trail, hitting the open alpine terrain where the trail disperses and you flit over the green alpine grasses the von Trapps.

When we talk about “offtrail backpacking” travel we mean when the terrain is challenging, you have no trail. We mean when the terrain is easy, there is no trail. We mean when the terrain gets really, really hard and downright nasty, we have no trail.

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Mt Sanford and the Sanford Plateau – IOM Oct 2021

October 8th, 2021 by Carl D
Backpacking backcountry campsite and view of Mt. Sanford in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park nad Preserve, Alaska.
A View from camp. Mt. Sanford.

Hey Folks,

Here’s one from a couple season ago. Rhane led a great trip up around the Sanford Plateau area, got some great weather, and just crushed it. What a cool place to be on days like this.

I could sit and stare at mountains like Mt. Sanford all day long.

On the right hand side of the pic you see the upper reaches of the Sanford Glacier, which forms the Sanford River, flowing in to the legendary Copper River and on to the Gulf of Alaska.

Not a bad place to pitch a tent.

Cheers

Carl

What’s a good daily mileage for an Alaska backpacking trip?

September 30th, 2021 by Carl D
Backpacking distances in Alaska, how far, how hard. Lake Clark National Park backpacking trip, Alaska.
How far =/= how hard.

Hey Folks,

There is no generic answer to this most-frequently asked question for Alaska backpacking trips. Obviously your fitness, your pack weight, your group, etc, all heavily impact the distance you’ll cover each day. More than that, the terrain itself will determine how far and how fast you travel.

Not just the gradient and uphill/downhill stuff. Those things clearly are important. However, here in Alaska, hiking in places Denali National Park, or Gates of the Arctic or Wrangell-St. Elias National Park or even the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the most common determinant, and most profound one, is the terrain itself. The footing. What are you walking over? What are you walking THROUGH? Heavy, dense alder will slow you down way, way way more than you imagine. Add thickets of Devil’s Club inside that and you’ll be moving very slowly. You might make 3/4mile an hour. Maybe. Even on flat terrain.

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How big does my backpack need to be?

September 20th, 2021 by Carl D
Backpacking trip in gates of the arctic national park Alaska.
Rachel T backpacking Gates of the Arctic, summer 2021.

Hey Folks

One of the questions we invariably get for Alaska backpacking trips is “what size backpack do I need?” It’s one of those both critical questions to ask and also an impossible question to answer. I’ll try to explain why below.

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Brown bears fighting – IOM Sep 2021

September 3rd, 2021 by Carl D
Brown bear males fighting Hallo bay, Katmai National Park.
Brown bear males fighting Hallo bay, Katmai National Park.

Hey Folks

From our Alaska Brown Bears and Coastal Wildlife Photo Tour in July this summer. We were super blessed with some amazing weather for the duration of the trip, and some really, really great bear photography experiences.

From our time in Kukak Bay photographing various different bears on a whale carcass to great experiences with a couple of different sows and spring cubs (both triplets and quadruplets), the highlight was definitely this evening with excellent moments watching brown bears chasing salmon, bears fighting and some simply gorgeous light. Good times.

Hallo Bay can be such a golden place. Spectacular location, amazing bears, it can provide super nice light and some truly special moments for photographers and nature lovers.

We had ventured out to the water towards the late evening, after some nice hours on the grass flats with a sow and her 4 cubs. The tide was going out, fish running in, and right after we made our way to the beach, the bears started coming out.

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Mt Jarvis and Copper Glacier – IOM, Aug 2021

July 21st, 2021 by Carl D
Mt Jarvis and Copper Glacier, Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alaska.
The north face of Jarvis

Hey Folks

Here’s an image from a new trip we ran this past month. Looking up the Copper Glacier at the North face of Mount Jarvis, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.

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Polar bear cub in snow – IOM June 2021

June 1st, 2021 by Carl D
Curious polar bear cub in snow. ANWR, Alaska.
Curious polar bear cub in snow.

Hey Folks,

June is here so time for another image of the month. This one from a few years ago. We had a great time photographing this young polar bear cub. He was very curious, far more so than his sibling and always gave us some attention. Great for photography. And a nice cover of fresh snow doesn’t hurt either!

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Backpack the Malaspina Glacier

May 11th, 2021 by Carl D
The Lost Coast on our Malaspina Glacier trek

Hey Folks,

Super stoked to head back down to the Malaspina Glacier this fall. Rhane and myself are going to be leading this adventure. Sept 7 – 17. See the link above for details, it’s all there, but ….

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Expeditions Alaska
Visit the wild