Prepare yourself for Alaska, the Land of the Midnight Sun: a place where glaciers crackle in mysterious fjords; where bears, wolves and bald eagles animate miles of majestic, thick, seemingly impenetrable forests; whales, porpoises, otters and sea lions grace an astonishing coastline.
After flying into Anchorage, we travel to our first campsite in time for an evening orientation along the Turnagain Arm, where we witness the second highest tides in the world. Here we prepare for our first adventure, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. Six times the size of Yellowstone, this natural wonder is the largest park in the country. We spend our first five days hiking toward the glaciers north of Mt. Blackburn and Mt. Wrangell. The glaciers, like rivers of slow-moving ice, enable us to see geology in progress. The vastness of the world before us is hard to comprehend. Countless peaks fill the horizon amid glaciers that wrap and curl endlessly. Humbled by their grandeur, we abandon any urge to learn their names and instead settle back to appreciate their beauty.
The next day we move to Whittier where we load our gear into tandem sea kayaks in the glacial waters of Prince William Sound and paddle off towards Blackstone Bay. As we weave in and out of floating ice mounds, we are overwhelmed with the remarkable tidewater and dripping glaciers. Surrounded by Chugach National Forest, Decision Point is our first destination. With 15,000-square miles of countless bays and islands, lush rainforest, towering mountains, spectacular glaciers, and over 2,500 miles of rugged coast, this is the ideal place to explore by sea kayak. Camped on a small beach, we behold the magnificent Lawrence, Blackstone and Beloit Glaciers. Paddling through bobbing icebergs, the overwhelming beauty of Blackstone Bay builds with each stroke. Sheer rock walls echo cracks of thunder as glaciers calve into the Sound. Like Eskimo kayakers before us, we silently approach harbor seals resting on ice floes and witness 500-foot waterfalls cascading down the icy cliffs.
After exploring the Sound, we’re off to the Talkeetna Mountains, where we spend 19 days in the wilderness — hiking mountains, climbing glaciers and rafting rivers. For seven of those days, we hike along the Chickaloon River to the Talkeetna Pass where a bush plane greets us with a fresh supply of food and gear for our five-day ice and snow mountaineering course on the Talkeetna Glacier. By the light of the midnight sun, we learn the skills needed to negotiate the glacier: ice climbing, crampon techniques, self-arrest, crevasse rescue and glacial navigation. We put these skills to good use as we ascend an unnamed peak, then hike through the Talkeetna Mountains. After assessing weather and river conditions, we travel by land to the shores of the Talkeetna River.
After a day of paddling through the braided branches of the Talkeetna River, glancing up side streams for glimpses of grizzlies and king salmon, we arrive at our first rapid, a Class V rapid called "Entrance Exam." Once we pass this test, another is upon us, the "Toilet Bowl" — and, with a name like that, we take the time to stop and plan our approach. After “flushing through,” we take a short break before approaching "Sluice Box Rapids," a vertical slot that constricts the river into a surging froth of whitewater for eighteen wild continuous miles through steep rock walls.
We end our journey where it began in Anchorage and conclude our voyage with a feast as we lean back, relax and marvel at our accomplishments.
| AGES |
DAYS
|
TUITION |
DATES |
ARRIVE/DEPART |
| 15–19 |
39 |
5,995 |
6/27/10–8/04/10
|
Anchorage, AK
|
