Before every summer in the past decade, I made up a tentative schedule where I crammed in as many different backpacking trips as physically possible. Then I invited all my friends and acquaintances, and strangers I met along the way, to join me on whatever they could squeeze into their schedules. I also led numerous trips for various outdoor groups: Mountaineering Club of Alaska, Chugach Gem and Mineral Society, Alaska Native Plant Society. The result was a wonderful sequence of productive summers where lots of folks got out and explored wilderness Alaska. This year I'll do it again, with some repeat trips into my favorite areas, as well as new explorations.
If you are interested in joining me on a trip or two, please contact me by telephone at (907) 333-8766 (which from January to April is voice mail ONLY, since I'm traveling out of state), or send an EMail to "curvn @ HotMail·com". Please contact me as early as possible. After the end of April, I will be out on trips one after another and thus difficult to reach. All trips are FREE of charge, except for shared transportation costs. All dates are subject to change at any time, usually due to availability of participants, but sometimes (rarely) because of extreme weather conditions. You must be self-sufficient and feel comfortable in the wilderness, whether alone or with others.
And NO, I will NOT carry ANY of your gear! Shared gear being an exception, of course. If you can't handle the weight of your own gear, don't plan to go on my trips! There are plenty of expensive guided trips to choose from where you only have to hike a few yards off road, with guides eagerly waiting to take your money, cook your meals and carry or transport your gear. If I wanted to guide for money, I would be one of those guides, this would be a business for me, and I would spend half my summer on the phone promoting my trips or at the bank depositing my money. Instead, I'd rather spend most of my summers actually getting out in the wilderness and experiencing it.
Only limited experience is required. Someone who is willing to learn more about backpacking in Alaska is preferred over those who already know it all. The weather in Alaska is unforgiving; hypothermia is a real and constant threat. It could rain for the entire duration of any trip; it could snow at any time. I try to avoid areas where mosquitos are at their peak, but there's no guarantee. Hiking may involve crossing flat open tundra or traversing steep hillsides. Trails are usually nonexistent, but there are mining roads in some areas. Most trips are in primitive wilderness areas where cell phones are totally useless. All are in bear country; both black and brown (grizzly) are common.
I caution that most of these trips are rated as either difficult or strenuous. You must be in excellent shape, fully able to carry and use all of your gear. I hike only moderately fast, but I make long distances by hiking long hours. My style is to hike quickly to get into an area, then once there take time to smell the roses. This means reaching the final destination is an important part of the trip; stopping halfway would preclude accomplishment of the goal. The trips go into some of the most beautiful wild and little known areas in the state, but most without requiring an airplane for access. Normally, we will see wildlife, wildflowers, interesting geology, and incredible scenery.
I must emphasize that I do NOT work as a hired guide. I lead these trips because I'm going there anyway, and it's usually safer and more fun backpacking with others than alone. Since I receive no pay as a guide, I have no guide insurance and cannot be held responsible for the safety of others. If you cannot be fully responsible for your own food, gear, and safety, please don't go on my trips. My philosophy is that wilderness is an incredible place worthy of exploring, and leads us to a perspective where we realize our own insignificance. If you share my love for the outdoors or my appreciation of natural history (flora, fauna, fossils), please join me on one or more of my trips.
Please don't underestimate the quality of these wilderness excursion adventures. They are free because I want them to be free, not because they are lacking in value. Similar trips offered by local guides or through NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) cost at least $100/day (with group sizes often ten or more). Some national organizations (such as the Sierra Club) charge around $300/day (and group sizes may be even larger). The arctic tundra is fragile and cannot support the abuse of such large groups. I believe in low impact backpacking; my group size limit is usually four persons. Not to mention, the chance of seeing wildlife decreases as group size increases.
I've led trips into the wilderness of Alaska for over eighteen years now, and I've learned a few lessons that have altered the way I go about accepting participants. For the most part, the past trips have been tremendously successful, entertaining and fun, for myself and all who joined me. But there have been several rare, unpleasant situations which I'd hope to avoid in the future, if possible. I'll describe the situations in case anyone thinks they personally would be a good candidate for repeating one of those unfortunate episodes. If one of the descriptions strikes home, please take my advice and pick some other guide to sign up with instead of ruining one on my trips.
At first I asked for experienced backpackers; but then I found that I only attracted those who thought they knew everything already and scared away those who were flexible and make the best participants. So if you feel you don't have anything more to learn about Alaskan backpacking and don't want to take any advice but would rather be hiking on your own, please go alone. For some of the areas I visit, we may be gone a week or two and never see another human during the entire trip. If that bothers you, and you can't be comfortable in a remote area with just the small group you're with, then take my advice and find a larger group to tag along with, or stay closer to town.
Usually I have people join me on their vacation--which is fine in itself. But some of these people feel that, since it's their vacation, they want to take it easy and be lazy and live in luxury. These people like to stay in their tent all day and don't like to hike any more then absolutely necessary. A few years ago, in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, there were some people who wanted to spend sixteen hours a day in their tent, either sleeping or reading John Muir books about the Alaskan wilderness that they could have been experiencing in person if they had actually gotten out of their tents! If a luxury tour is what you want, please pay and join one; don't go with me on my economy trips!
Now here are some final notes which I wish I wouldn't have to mention at all. Two of these concern items NOT to bring, in case it wasn't obvious from their absence from my gear list: umbrellas and cell phones. Umbrellas may work in an urban setting, where it doesn't matter if our hands are busy and our feet get soaked; but they are inadequate for the wilderness, being not nearly as dependable as a good set of raingear (which does NOT include ponchos or GoreTex jackets). Cell phones, which don't even work in many parts of Anchorage, are totally useless when off the grid--so don't bother to bring them along at all! However, there IS one exception--satellite phones. They work just about anywhere, but can have problems in narrow canyons and are useless with dead batteries.
Last but not least, here's some information about weather and forecasting. It has been demonstrated that weather patterns are fractal in nature, and thus cannot be reliably predicted very far in advance. Increased measurement accuracy helps, but only to some degree. In Alaska, the general trends are usually fairly accurate, but remember that every mountain and every glacier alters the local weather to some degree. For my trips, don't bother listening to the weather forecast--just be prepared for rain or sun at any time. I've seen many trips canceled or postponed because the forecast called for bad weather, only to find it was a perfect day. And I've seen days when the forecast was sunny and calm, but the clear skies quickly deteriorated into a miserable storm, maybe only in a single valley.
Just to give you an idea of what kind of interest I usually draw on my trips, I'll give you some details from this past number of years. Most participants were men and most came from Europe. Foreigners have been from Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, UK (England). Americans were from Atlanta (GA), Arcata (CA), Chicago (IL), Denver (CO), Easton (PA), Elko (NV), Helena (MT), Huntsville (AL), Knoxville (TN), New Orleans (LA), Olympia (WA), Portland (OR), Richmond (VA), St.Louis (MO), Salt Lake City (UT), San Antonio (TX), San Francisco (CA), Tucson (AZ). Alaskans, increasingly rare on trips, were from Anchorage, Fairbanks, Eagle River, Palmer, and Wasilla.