Mother/Daughter team reflect

A fantastic flight into the backcountry of the park marks the start of this awesome adventure. We fly over the Nizina glacier and check out the icebergs floating in the lake at its terminus before dropping into beautiful Skolai Pass to begin our backpacking adventure.

We made a change to the itinerary this year to allow more time to explore Skolai Pass before heading on to the Chitistone valley. This gives us time to get up close and personal with the dramatic Russell Glacier. From here we head up to the stuning Chitistone Pass where we have a very good chance of spotting Dall sheep and caribou. We continue on following the old route of the Goat Trail through dramatic terrain that will have you snapping pictures at every turn. The Goat Trail was built by miners to gain access to the gold fields in the Chisana region. In many places the path is hard to follow but we will be glad to have it as we travel through a section of steep scree slopes.

The traditional route on this backpacking trek is to drop down to the river after the scree slopes and then hike to Glacier Creek. But instead of descending to the Chitistone River, we remain in the high country for the entire trek.

Crossing the scree slopes

This option also avoids the more difficult stream crossings of the lower route and allows us to hike through the Hasen Creek basin where you can almost count on seeing some of the many mountain goats that inhabit the area.

From here we will have two options depending on how much time and energy we have. We can either take a two day loop around the huge mesa or the more direct route that takes the short way around. The longer route is well worth it if we have the time.

Finding a place to camp will not be a problem, though we might have a hard time selecting from the numerous scenic spots all around. People who take this trip are stunned by the drama of the country through which this route traverses. This is a great alaska trekking adventure through awesome wilderness.

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