Alaska Backpacking - Wrangell - St. Elias National Park

Basecamp hiking trips:

Nizina Glacier Base Camp - 3 days
Skolai Pass Basecamp & Trekking - 4 days
Bremner Mine Base Camp - 4 days
Iceberg Lake Base Camp - 4 days

Easier backpacking trips:

Root Glacier Overnight Adventure - 2 days
Donoho Peak Wilderness Backpacking - 4 days

More rugged backpacking trips:

Upper Chitistone Canyon Backpacking Expedition - 4 days
Glacier and Tundra Backpacking Trek - 5 days

Strenuous - Experience Required:

Hanagita Peak Backpacking - 6 days
Alpine Scrambling Expedition - 8 days
Chitistone Canyon Expedition Adventure - 11 days
Skolai to Nizina Multi-Sport - 12 day

The Donoho Peak Wilderness trip takes Alaska backpacking a step beyond, and allows you to fully experience one of Alaska's true wonders - glaciers. It teaches basic wilderness skills and is an introduction to off-trail, Alaskan-style hiking, mountaineering and glacier trekking. The first two days are spent hiking from the ghost town of Kennecott, first alongside the Root Glacier and then crossing it to camp in the tundra below Donoho Peak. From this western edge of the Root we can take advantage of several options including: trying your hand at ice climbing, climbing 6,696 foot Donoho Peak, exploring a spectacular section of the glacier, or simply hiking through the spruce forest to picnic alongside an alpine lake. We can customize this backpacking trip to incorporate all levels of experience. However, to reach the summit of Donoho Peak, it is helpful to have previous backpacking or mountaineering experience. With the exception of climbing Donoho Peak we'll spend an average of 5-6 hours walking each day. This is one of our most popular trips.

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ULTIMATE ALASKA BACKPACKING ADVENTURE!
The Chitistone Canyon adventure is one of the most spectacular backpacking expeditions in Alaska, if not the world. This superlative hike follows the "Goat Trail", so named by miners making their way to the gold fields of the Interior. This "trail" explores the only pass that bisects the magnificent Wrangell and St. Elias ranges. A short bush plane flight takes us just below the entrance of the Chitistone Canyon, where we begin ten days of hiking through spruce forests and deep canyons the color of the American Southwest. The first days of the expedition are spent in the lower part of the canyon, where the terrain is relatively flat and allows for a gradual breaking in to the physical demands of trekking in Alaska. Backpacking up into the high alpine, a day trip follows each day of moving camp, allowing for the exploration of the tundra covered valleys and remote canyons alongside the trail. (The Upper Chitistone Canyon 4 day hike joins here in the high country). The end of the adventure is spent in silent awe as we cross pristine Chitistone Pass and finish by scrambling out amid glaciers onto the tundra of Skolai Valley. The Chitistone is a moderately difficult trip designed for experienced backpackers who want to go beyond the trail.

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A Basecamp is established in Skolai Valley amid mysterious hills nestled near the terminus of the exotic 7-braided glacial formation of Hole-in-the-Wall basin. Mountains surround us, alpine tundra blazes with the brilliant purple of dwarf Fireweed and the exquisite blue of alpine Forget-me-Nots in the summer, and the piercing red of bear berry and dwarf willow in autumn. From this remote site we can take a day and climb 1500 feet to Chitistone Pass, where we can look deep into the Yukon Territory to the north. Turning east we stare at the western edge of the St. Elias Range towered over by 16,421 foot Mt. Bona. Falling away to the west, the only path between the Wrangell Mountains and the great ice field ranges of the St. Elias, we glimpse the length of the Chitistone Canyon. Having a basecamp allows us to travel with light day packs and enjoy sauntering in the high country. People of all abilities are invited to visit this spectacular backcountry region. No previous experience is necessary, just a desire to experience remote wilderness.

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GLACIAL EXPLORATION!
The tallest of the Wrangell Mountains, 16,390-foot Mt. Blackburn, is the birthplace of the 24-mile long Kennicott Glacier. Its first dozen miles, however, is rock-strewn and impenetrable. To gain access, we simply glide above it, flying into a small hidden valley alongside the Kennicott. Glacial trekking takes backpacking a step further, and, with the aid of crampons, we weave our way higher to our first camp on the thousand-foot deep Kennecott. A second day of hiking up the ice takes us past mysterious formations and azure blue pools on the Gates Glacier, giving access to a camp on verdant green tundra. The Gates Icefall towers above us as we spend a day without heavy packs hiking through wildflower-covered meadows. This quintessential Alaska backpacking route continues over Donoho Pass, a 2,000-foot climb, where we descend to a beautiful waterfall camp. Donning crampons once more, we descend and cross the Root Glacier to end our adventure hiking into the ghost town of Kennecott. Backpacking experience is suggested though no climbing or glacial trekking experience is required. Participants should be in good physical shape and feel strong and stable with a pack on their backs.

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ALASKA BACKPACKING & RAFTING MEGA ADVENTURE 

Traverse some of the most impressive terrain the Wrangell-St. Elias has to offer! Our bush plane flight to Skolai Pass shadows our route; up the Nizina River Canyon, over the Nizina and Rohn Glaciers, skirting Rohn Ridge and crossing the Frederika Glacier, to finally land in the alpine tundra of Skolai Valley. Surrounded by hanging glaciers and alpine peaks, we cross fast flowing rivers, hike timeless glaciers, climb rocky ridges, and descend to the source of the Nizina River. After 8 days, we change from land to water travel, silently floating beneath towering rock walls weeping with thousand foot waterfalls. At our take-out we'll rendezvous with our bush plane for the flight back to McCarthy. Back in town, you can ease your re-entry with a therapeutic sweat in our wood-fired sauna.

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Rugged, trailless wilderness swallows us as we embark from a small gold mining outpost in the remote Chugach Mountains of Alaska. Backpacking from the Bremner Mine, which is nestled in an alpine pass between the Chitina and Bremner Rivers, we will climb west to an alpine lake and our first challenge - finding a descent route. With the use of ropes, we descend rocky sections and then scramble along alpine glaciers until we finally access the tundra valleys of the tributaries of the Klu River. We take day hikes to explore pyramid-shaped Hanagita Peak. Our goal is the upper Klu River, an unexplored region, where we will seek out an airfield for our rendezvous with our flight back to civilization. Due to the difficult terrain, extensive backpacking experience is required, but not climbing expertise. One should feel comfortable hiking long days with a pack weighing 45-60 lbs. and have a good sense of balance and a desire for challenge.

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ALASKA BACKPACKING ADVENTURE TOUR!
Formed from the innumerable alpine glaciers of the Regal Mountain massif, the Nizina Glacier flows due south, bisecting the backbone of the Wrangell and St. Elias Mountains. From the McCarthy airstrip, a 2-person bush plane soars eastward towards the Nizina River, ascends past limestone cliffs twisted into dramatic mosaics, and glides to a gentle landing alongside the terminus of the Nizina Glacier. The terrain is a combination of gentle, flat river-bar dotted with balsam poplar and fireweed, and rock-strewn glacier moraine. Our day hikes cover gravely plains, thousand-foot deep glacier ice, beaver ponds, and abrupt riverbanks. Panoramas of Regal Mountain, Hole-in-the-Wall Peaks, and an enormous calving ice cliff will be the rewards of the daylong excursions. No backpacking experience is necessary to enjoy this base camp adventure, and since the airstrip we fly into is at low elevation, this trekking region is open from early June through September.

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BASE CAMP ADVENTURE!
The Bremner Mine is a 40-minute bush plane flight south of McCarthy, and is nestled in an alpine pass between the Chitina and Bremner Rivers. Designated the Bremner Historic District, this abandoned gold mine provides a unique glimpse into what it must have been like to be part of the great "gold rush" to Alaska a century ago. Completely surrounded by craggy peaks, hanging valleys, and verdant green tundra, the "camp" is a wonderful jumping off point for day hikes. The old bunkhouse allows us to create a kitchen protected from the weather…and what a great place to sit and scope the surrounding slopes for grizzly and Dall sheep. Our day hikes head out in any direction, south down Golconda Creek to scamper to ridges for panoramic views of the Bagley Icefield, or north towards Monahan Creek and the shores of a sky-blue alpine lake, giving way to views of the high Wrangells. No camping experience is needed. People of all abilities are invited to visit this remote wilderness.

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Our Alpine Scrambling Expedition is designed for backpackers who wish to incorporate some easy Alaskan summits in their adventure. The climbing is non-technical, but still offers the opportunity to learn and practice basic climbing skills and techniques. We rove the high country of the Chugach Mountains, its numerous summits offering a wide range of terrain types. We'll utilize bush aircraft to gain access to the area, then backpack into higher country using glaciers and moraines as our "trails". Rugged peaks in the six to seven thousand foot range, some of them still unclimbed, rim the nameless valleys that we explore. On clear days the possibility of awe inspiring views will awaken the climbing spirit in all of us as we scamper from peak to peak all the while looking for new vistas of the mountains and tundra beyond.

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A secluded basecamp is established near Iceberg Lake, beneath the hanging glaciers that timelessly slide off the rocky peaks overhead. You will be surrounded by high alpine peaks adorned in glacial ice with lush alpine benches at their feet. From our camp we can take a day to climb one of the smaller peaks in the area, explore the lake side while giant blocks of ice float around aimlessly, or go in search of one of many pristine alpine lakes that dot this landscape. If we walk to the far end of the lake and head up the ridge, we may be rewarded with awe-inspiring views of the peaks that surround the Bagley Icefield – largest sub polar icefield in the world. The grandeur of this landscape is difficult to describe, but impossible to forget. Having a basecamp allows us to travel with light day packs and enjoy wandering through the high country. People of all abilities are invited to visit this spectacular backcountry region. No previous experience is necessary, just a desire to experience remote wilderness.

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