ICEBERG LAKE
mini-BACKPACKING
Multi Day
- Backpacking
- Moderate
An adventure through the icy alpine!
Many consider the old lakebed of Iceberg Lake a hiker’s paradise – the views are impressive right from the airstrip, and they just keep getting better the further you hike!
Surrounded by rugged and pointy peaks draped in hanging glaciers, the landscape can seem almost lunar – all rock and ice. Head down to the creek for a stark contrast of the brightly colored vegetation that grows along it’s banks. Bright pink Dwarf Fireweed flowers and Alaska Cotton dot this dreamy landscape as you move up and down the valley.
With plenty of opportunities for scrambling, bagging a peak on this trip is not a problem! Moving camp every other night allows you to gain new views, access to a glacier (we’ll provide the crampons!), and to explore the Chugach Mountain backcountry to your heart’s delight!
- Dramatic glaciated scenery
- Opportunity for glacial exploration and peak-bagging
- Don’t need to wear the heavy backpack every day
- Opportunities for wildlife sightings
- Perfect for beginner backpackers
Trip Details
Trip Length
5 days
Total Mileage
20mi
Total Elevation Gain/Loss
4,400’
Rates
Private Solo
$6,025
Private 2 Participant
$3,525/person
Private 3-6 Participants
$3,040/person
Group
$2,850/person
Group Trip Dates
July 6 – 10, 2025
Aug 3 – 7, 2025 – Photography Course
Private Trips with custom dates are available. Book now or call our Expedition Coordinator to plan your Private Trip today!
The “Alaska Factor”
There is a reason Alaska has such a rugged allure for the lower 48 and beyond: it is still wild! This raw and untamed landscape offers our clients the opportunity to authentically pioneer new territory and have real adventures. Part of embracing the “Alaska Factor” is understanding that things may not always go as planned and expecting the unexpected. Water levels might rise, snow might fall, glaciers may shift and move – the landscape is dynamic and unpredictable is what makes Alaska, Alaska!
All of our trips are customized as they unfold and your guide will fluidly make decisions based on weather, logistics, and group dynamics to maximize each day’s experience. There can be quite a bit of variation, but on each trip we promise a big slice of the real Alaska and authentic adventure!
DAY 0
DAY 1
The long and scenic flight into the backcountry allows you to get a sense of scale for the vast landscapes of Wrangell – St. Elias. After landing on the sands, you’ll carry your gear a little way from the airstrip to set up your camp. Explore the clear, blue pools of the old moraine and walk down to the confluence of the glacial rivers before dinner.
DAY 2
Staged and ready, you can’t wait to get out of your tent in the morning! Every direction you look, a spectacular view opens up, full of color and drama. Today you have the full day to hike and explore this unspoiled wilderness. Take all day to hike South and East to check out the edge of the Tana Glacier and views of spectacular Mt. Miller. After lunch at the glacial lake, hike back to camp for a delicious dinner.
DAY 3
A hearty breakfast fuels you up to pack up camp and don the heavy backpacks again to explore further down the valley. A 3-5 mile hike will bring you to your next campsite, across the valley on the North side. To get here you’ll cross a small glacier and have plenty of time to explore it’s magnificent features – deep crevasses and dark blue moulins! After setting up camp, you’ll have time for a quick stroll around camp to a nearby alpine line before dinner time.
DAY 4
Another beautiful morning greets you in the remote Chugach Mountains and fresh air fills your lungs. Hike North and West through the vast expanses of green tundra and wildflowers or challenge yourself with the goal of tackling a local summit, the hiking options here are varied and offer magnificent scenery. Soaking it all in, you’ll return to camp for a final dinner with the crew.
DAY 5
On your final day, your bush plane pick up has been scheduled for the late afternoon, so you have most of the day to get every bit of wilderness out of your backcountry experience as possible! Pack up your camp and take a slightly different route back to the strip, just in time to hear the buzz of the bush plane overhead. Relax and enjoy the sights for a spectacular 45min flight back to McCarthy!
- Customized trip planning
- Logistics consultation*
- Your professional guide(s) – 4:1 ratio
- Orientation and a Gear Shakedown
- Roundtrip 40min bush flights in and out of the backcountry
- Group gear (bear canisters, cookware, fuel, tents**)
*Upgrade to a Trip Package and have logistics included with your trip!
**We recommend that you bring your own tent if possible
What’s not included?
- Gratuities
- Personal camping and hiking gear
- Logistics
You’ll need to be in McCarthy the day before your trip begins for an Orientation and Gear Shakedown. You’ll meet your guide, grab group gear and make sure you are fully prepared to go into the backcountry.
Please account for a full day for travel both to and from McCarthy and the next Alaskan destination. We don’t recommend leaving McCarthy the last day of your trip as this cuts significantly into your last backcountry day and usually makes for a very hectic drive.
Check out our Transportation Page to learn how to get to and from McCarthy. Check out our Lodging Page for lodging recommendations in the area.
Trip Package
If you are planning your trip +2 months before your trip start date, upgrade to a Trip Package! A Trip Package will include transportation to/from McCarthy, local lodging, and any other local activities you’re interested in. We charge a non-refundable $50 Trip Package fee per person for this service.
This is a Moderate Backpacking Trip 
Please keep in mind that there is no truly “easy” hiking terrain in the Wrangells and often the coolest places require a little extra effort to get to. On our Moderate Trips, you will be off-trail trail for the majority of the trip, traversing some combination of rocky slopes, squishy and spongey tundra, and/or slick glacial ice in crampons – all of it uneven, most of it hilly and some of it brushy. On these trips, you will cover 5-8mi/day with up to 1500’ of elevation gain/loss while carrying your own gear along with a portion of the group gear. You will be camping in the rugged wilderness with no manmade shelters, toilets, or really any type of development. We recommend physical training in preparation for Moderate trips These trips are great options for experienced car campers and beginner backpackers, although we always recommend as much prior experience as possible.
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FAQ
All the pictures and descriptions sound amazing! How do I know what’s right for me? Here are some things to think about when selecting a trip:
What is my #1 goal for this adventure? Do I want to relax and get away from a hectic schedule? Do I want to push myself on an epic and athletically challenging journey? Create life-long memories with my family or partner? Learn skills from the experts and grow my scope as a mountain athlete? See new landscapes and experience Alaska’s unique glaciated terrain?
What are my interests? Birding, animals, photography, geology, wildflowers, journaling, athleticism, spirituality, art, technical climbing, etc.
Will this trip be part of a bigger Alaska trip? Where else am I going and what else will I see? Our glaciated terrain, history, high-altitude peaks, and vast backcountry wilderness are what set us apart from other areas in Alaska.
What am I comfortable with at my current level of knowledge, experience, and physical and mental ability? Alaska is bigger and tougher than anything in the lower 48 and it’s a great place to push yourself, but you want to be realistic and make sure you have a good foundation to build upon if reaching for higher heights.
We pride ourselves on cooking healthy and delicious meals even under the most adverse conditions! Your exact menu will depend on the trip, your guide, and the dietary preferences/restrictions you list in your Trip Application. No matter what kind of cook your guide is at home, all our guides are well-trained backcountry chefs and use time-tested recipes from our proprietary cookbook for their trips. We carry a plentiful and varied stock of ingredients and most meals are prepared from scratch (allowing for easy substitutions, additions or subtractions of ingredients). We onlyt use pre-packed freeze-dried meals on summit pushes on our mountaineering expeditions.
On our backpacking and basecamp trips, you can expect 3 meals a day, plus snacks of your choice. Breakfasts and dinners are usually hot meals and lunches are served cold. On mountaineering trips lunches consist of a variety of snacks as it can be hard to organize group meals while on a rope team.
We use a combination of fresh, dehydrated, and freeze-dried ingredients to make our delicious meals, however on longer backpacking and mountaineering trips your guides will use more freeze-dried foods than fresh foods to keep pack weights as low as possible. On our rafting trips, we cook full multi-course meals with fresh ingredients and enjoy hot and cold breakfasts, cold lunches and hot dinners.
Meals for most trips start with Lunch on the first day and end with Lunch on the last day. *
*If you are signed up for a Custom Trip Package with us, it may include more meals. Check with us if you’re not sure. Mountaineering trips also include meals in McCarthy before and after the backcountry expedition.
We understand that you may have luggage or things you don’t want to bring into the backcountry with you so we have a designated area at our headquarters where your guide will label and store your stuff while you’re out. This area is not locked, however, we have never had any issues with loss or damage. If you have a small item of great value that you are particularly nervous about, we may be able to store it in our office for you – just ask your guide.
On the Chitina River, Copper River, Source to Sea, or Custom Trips with different start and end points, any luggage you leave behind with us will be brought out to meet you at the end of the trip.
