Hey Folks,
2 new trips on the website for 2018, and more to come.
The first one is one Rhane guided in 2017 for us as an exploratory trip, in Lake Clark National Park. We’re offering custom trips to Lake Clark National Park this year, either basecamp trips where we camp, hike and packraft for a week, or a 4-6 day backpack trip through the heart of the Alaska Range in this classic Alaska walk.
Another year winds down. And so it’s time to put together a short post of our Photo tour photos from the year.
They’re not really “Favorites” any more than a selection of images from the year. Some of my favorites have already been posted here and here.
And so … here they are
Click on any of the images to see a larger version.
If you want to browse over our bear photo tours and bear camps, see the similarities and differences all in one place, take a look here.
We’ll start with a northern lights image. This one was taken on an absolutely incredible night last March. Absolutely incredible.
Cold. The wind was howling, and we were up on a high ridge. Tripods hit the ground. But it was SO worth it. Just awesome.
Tonight we have some rather ugly news. Sadly, I present to you that portion of the US Tax Bill passed by the US Senate tonight that seriously threatens a place very dear to me. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR, as it’s casually called.
Click to read it and weep.
“The Secretary shall issue any rights-of-mayor easements across the Coastal Plain for the exploration, development, production or transportation necessary to carry out this section”.
Sad times.
Continue reading…
Wow, November is here already. Here’s an image from our Canning River Rafting trip in the ANWR this past summer. This year we took group of 6 people out in the refuge for 12 days, with 2 rafts, tons of food and we all had a blast. Fun trip, a great mix of people, and nice weather.
And because I didn’t get a chance to keep up with the blog too much this past summer (it’s many, many long stories), I’ll add a couple images from this trip for you here as well. Be sure to click the images to see a larger view.
The Marsh Fork is such a beautiful section of river, that gorgeous turquoise water is SO inviting.
Welcome back to the blog. It’s been a long, busy and somewhat crazy season. More on all that later.
Here’s a photo of the Tyndall Glacier from our first trip, way back in June, when Rhane and I guided a Sea Kayaking trip in Icy Bay, before a week hiking and packrafting on the Lost Coast. Good times.
The trip was a blast. Saw a wolverine right by camp, had a nice batch of weather, great camping, great food, and some awesome, awesome kayaking.
The Tyndall Glacier was in the news a good bit recently (2015). A landslide right by the toe of the glacier (out of frame on the left of your view) dumped many, many tons of debris into the Taan Fjord and on top of the glacier. A Tsunami several hundred feet high resulted, scouring the fjord and completely redrawing the landscape. It was amazing to get back to the area and view some of the carnage. I’ll write a review of that for you later. Incredible what power that wave wrought.
Kageet Point, where we used to camp is gone. Well, the landing strip there is gone. So there’s no more camping there for now. Instead, on this trip, we camped a little north of there on another small point, about one-third of the way up the bay toward Tyndall Glacier, north from Kageet Point. Spectacular views of Mount St. Elias and the kayaking there was just sublime.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens with Kageet Point down the road and whether it becomes a place we can return to via bush plane or not.
The glaciers of this area are a dynamic process. Climate change is a big impact on the region. Glaciers are always retreating and advancing and back and forth, but not quite so much as they seem to be at the moment.
Look for more coming blog posts here over the next few months. The season has wound down a bit, and I’ve time to catch my breath and update the blog. until then, enjoy the view.
On this trip we spent the day right up around the toe of the Tyndall Glacier. We were able to paddle amongst the lots of brash ice and thousands of small floating icebergs. And then we did two awesome hikes, from either side of the bay. This really is one of my favorite spots in the park.
As always, I would suggest you take a look at our sea kayaking guide if you’re interested in this great sport. It’s a lot of fun. Nice way to see some incredible places.
Travel safe.
Cheers
Carl
A nice short video of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from We Are The Arctic a grassroots coalition whose mission is to raise awareness for and protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Excellent cinematography that highlights the beauty and the wildness of this special place.
It’s always a treat to return to the refuge. Our 2017 trips to ANWR are full but we’re open to helping you plan a custom trip or scheduling a rafting trip for 2018.
Cheers
Carl
Hey Folks,
But what’s a weeklong hike?
Hiking trips in Alaska are a little bit different to hiking elsewhere. Alaska itself is a little bit different.
It’s bigger. Wilder. Harder.
. More correctly, I’d suggest that hiking in Alaska is substantially harder than what you’re used to.
That is the ultimate caveat to this question. What are the best weeklong hikes in Alaska?
Well, best for who? My buddy Todd did a weeklong hike last year in the Alaska Range and he covered 185 miles. So a weeklong hike for a ridiculously fit, ultra light speed freak is probably not going to be the best weeklong hike for you. Or for me.
We’ll look at 5 days hiking time. There’s every possibility you’re going to need at least a day travel either side of the hike getting to and from your AK destination to your trail head. And if your hiking trip involves a bush flight, or two, that could easily be more.
So here are a few of the best hikes or hiking areas for a week long hiking trip in Alaska.
Continue reading…
This isn’t your typical gear review. It’s more my commentary on rain gear and the failings of waterproof breathable rain gear.
I’ve bought and worn dozens of rain jackets over the years. Literally, dozens of them. Right now on the rack beside me as I type this I can count 11 rain jackets. Eleven.
Rain gear is an essential item of our backpacking gear list. I backpack with it. Top and Bottom.
It’s a bit ridiculous. I have everything from my old Aussie Dryzabone to my most recent Outdoor Research Goretex jacket I bought last year. Whatever your jacket, chances are good I’ve owned at least one of those.
And none of them, I mean none of them, work like I want them to. In fact, it’s fair to say none of them work like they did when I first bought them. They work well. Some, amazingly well. For a while. Then they start to fail.
Continue reading…
Large adult male polar bears can weigh over 1400lbs.
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 largest predator on land. This begs the question “just how big are polar bears?”
That’s a tough question to answer, for a number of reasons.
What does “big” mean? How tall? How heavy? What’s the volume?
Generally animals are measured by weight. Largely because weight can be such a good indicator of health and particularly population health. So we’ll consider the question (for now) of “How heavy is a polar bear?”.
Continue reading…
Hey Folks,
I’ve written on the topic of trekking poles in the past. Every year I receive a lot of questions about the use of trekking poles in Alaska. Nothing’s changed. Use them.
The image above illustrates how useful they can be. Backpacking up or down steep terrain like this, often on very little or no trail, with a heavy pack on your back is challenging. Surprisingly, harder still, for most folks, is hiking across the side of a hill like this. Having that pole on your side to lean in to the hill is a big help.
A lot of folks hiking in the lower 48 don’t use them, and I understand that, for sure. The trail systems there are (generally) so good that I don’t think trekking poles hold quite the same benefit there, even though still useful.
Up here, however, it’s a different matter (so I now provide trekking poles for all our Alaska backcountry trips if you don’t have them or don’t want to deal with packing yours up here).
Continue reading…
