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907.350.3710 |
December, 2009 |
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Our Trips
Photo of the Month
Over the shoulder of Andrus Peak on the Pyramid Peak route. |
Greetings from Trek Alaska! Hope everyone survived another Thanksgiving holiday with a minimum of fuss. Soon we'll all be hip deep in Christmas festivities so I had to squeeze in a newsletter between the holidays.
We decided it was time to get on Facebook with a Trek Alaska page - www.facebook.com/TrekAlaska! We already have a bunch of photos posted and more to come. There are also a few videos with more on the way. There is a discussions section where you can make comments about your trek or ask questions about anything related to Wrangell-St. Elias Park, McCarthy or our trips. Or just post a comment to the Wall or a photo of your own adventures. This is a different page than my personal page so if you are already signed up as a friend you need to become a fan of the Trek Alaska page. If you want to keep in touch with what's happening with Trek Alaska click on the link to become a fan. We just launched the page and are looking forward to participation from all of our friends and anyone interested in Alaska and Wrangell-St. Elias Park. See you online!
In the Spotlight: The Seven Pass Trek
This trek is a perennial favorite and probably the most popular route we do. We helped pioneer this route years ago. One of the things that makes this route such a hit is the sheer diversity of terrain - every day offers something different. The trek begins in the Iceberg Lake valley where the plane sets down on the sand near the edge of Iceberg Lake. Iceberg is a glacially dammed lake that periodically drains. So you may find it full of floating bergs, or drained with huge chunks of ice strained on the sand. Either way it's worth a bit of exploring before heading up the valley. Soon we encounter the first of two glaciers on the route. Actually depending on the choices we make along the way, there could be 2 or 3 glaciers. The Iceberg Lake valley has always been a good place to spot bears, especially along the north ridge. After crossing the Bremner glacier we leave the world of ice behind and head up a lush, green valley. But crossing the second of three ridges takes us through a rocky pass so stark that it seems almost lunar in its bareness - except for the patch of tundra where we set our camp. And then it's back down into a green valley again. This route is always changing and I think of it as the perfect Alaskan backcountry sampler - it has a bit of everything. The last campsite is one of my favorites in the park, near the shores of what I call Golden Pond. In the late summer when the colors are already shifting, the reindeer lichen takes on a golden and minty green cast. And if you do this route in mid August you get the extra treat of fresh blueberries along the way.
Picking Your Perfect Trek I love chatting on the phone with people about their Alaska plans and helping them select the trip that's just right for their experience level and offers just the amount of challenge they want without exceeding their comfort zone. If you've never done an Alaskan backcountry trek, then realize that it's going to be notch or two up from what you've done elsewhere. For example, one of the most common questions about a trek is - how many miles do we cover? I always tell people that it's not the mileage, it's the terrain that counts. If you're hiking on a nice trail in the Sierras then doing 10 miles in a day would be pretty easy. But in Alaska that might easily be from two or even three days of travel depending on the terrain. So when you look at the trip stats don't judge a trek by its mileage. Sometimes people take a "bring it on, I want the most challenging trek you have!" sort of attitude. That's great, but challenge is relative and what might be a moderate route on a groomed trail can become a serious challenge when it's all off trail. So a moderate route in Alaska might be closer to a strenuous route on a trail. To help put our range of treks into perspective here is a rough comparison of how they line up on the strenuously scale. How difficult a given trip feels depends a lot on how good your conditioning is, but this will rank them in relative order of effort required. Some trips appear in multiple categories because those trips can be done in more than one way. That's especially true of base camp and loop trips. There is a trek for all abilities, it's just a matter of picking the best match for you.
For the most part, if you are in good physical condition then you'll do fine on most of our trips through the moderate/strenuous zone. The treks categorized as strenuous are a bit more challenging. And then the Skyscraper trek is in a category of its own. We help you to select just the right amount of challenge. We can match you up with the best fit whether you want a mellow base camp or a major adventure. For more on any of these trips click on the links to see the detail page or give us a call. 907.350.3710 Summer seems far away with Christmas only weeks away. But our most popular trips fill up early so start thinking about reservations now. What better gift to give yourself than an Alaskan wilderness adventure. Well that's it for now. See you next month... and next year. Till then.. happy trails!
Trek Alaska |
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