Alaska national parks: choose your own adventure

by Catherine Bodry on

You’ve probably heard of Denali National Park, home to the tallest mountain in North America. And if you’ve taken an Alaskan cruise you might have also visited Glacier Bay National Park. But a rental car and a willingness to venture off the tourist track will reward you with rich and wild experiences that many folks miss on a trip to Alaska.

Following are two lesser-known national parks that are a day’s drive from Anchorage, but first, a fact: four of the five biggest national parks in the US are in Alaska, and seven out of ten. They are home to grizzlies, caribou, salmon, and eagles, among many, many others.

The biggest national park in the US, Wrangell-St. Elias, is accessible by car and about a six-hour drive from Anchorage. It’s home to several 16,000ft-plus mountains, as well as well as the second-highest peak in the US, Mount St. Elias, which measures in at just over 18,000 feet. Once there, you can visit the historic Kennecott Mine, and drive the road to McCarthy.Much closer to Anchorage is Kenai Fjords National Park, a stunner bordering my hometown of Seward. Though most of the park is accessible only by boat (and there are plenty of tours out there), you can drive to Exit Glacier. Here you’ll find a small visitor’s center with guided hikes. Those with gumption and muscles can follow a long, difficult trail up to the Harding Ice Field – one of my favorite hikes and a truly rewarding one.

For more information on Alaska’s national parks, visit the NPS page on the state and follow the links.

Climb a mountain for charity in 2010

by Kraig Becker on

The details for the 2010 Summit For Someone program were announced late last week, and registration has gone live this morning, allowing for experienced and aspiring mountaineers alike to climb a mountain for a cause next year. The program, which is sponsored by Backpacker Magazine, has become an annual fund raising event for Big City Mountaineers, an organization that enhances the lives of at risk urban kids by introducing them to a variety of outdoor activities.

The concept behind Summit For Someone is simple. You select a mountain that you would like like to climb from a list of iconic peaks, that includes the likes of Denali, Rainier, or Whitney, amongst others. Each mountain has a dollar value attached to it, and when you fill out the registration, you are committing to raising that amount of money for the Big City Mountaineers. Climbing Rainier, for instance, requires a pledge of $4000, while the more remote and technical Denali is $7500. You can choose to pay for the climb yourself or recruit your friends and family to sponsor your climb, but either way, the cash is going directly to a great cause.

Once you’re locked into your climb of choice, you’ll also receive a gift card for MountainGear.com that will help you pick out some of the equipment you’ll need for your adventure. The value of the gift cards also vary depending on the mountain you select. For instance, using the same two examples above, Rainier would garner you $800 in gear, while Denali nets you $1200 in loot.
For 2010, the Summit For Someone program has added a couple of new destinations and other options. One of the new mountains is Devil’s Tower in Wyoming, which will offer a technical climb very different from some of the other alpine challenges. Also, aspiring mountaineers who would like to build the skills necessary for future mountain adventures may want to sign up for the beginning mountaineering course that will take place in Rocky Mountain National Park.

If you’re starting to plan your 2010 adventures and the thought of a climbing expedition sounds enticing, than perhaps a Summit For Someone climb will be the perfect fit. Not only do you get to challenge yourself on an outdoor adventure, you’ll be doing it for a great cause as well. The trip will be rewarding on a number of different levels.

Chicago backpacker gets lost (again) in Alaska

by Katie Hammel on

When Into the Wild, the story of Christopher McCandless’ epic adventure in the Alaskan wilderness, was published, the idea of setting off into the wild with nothing but a few pounds of rice and your wits to survive seemed terribly romantic….well, except that McCandless died because he was unprepared for the harsh conditions. Despite (or I guess, because of) that minor point, hundreds of people have followed suit to gawk at the ruins of the bus that McCandless lived, and died, in.

Over the years, several people who’ve set out for the bus have had to be rescued, costing the state around $2000 each. Understandably, many locals have have come to dislike the tourists who arrive, unprepared and ill-equipped, and put themselves in unnecessary danger. So they probably hate Don Carroll.

The Chicago-area 19-year old went looking for the bus with a friend, found it, and then got lost in the woods for three days with no food or water. The two ate berries and drank river water before being rescued by helicopter on Monday. But this isn’t Carroll’s first time being lost in the Alaskan wilderness. Back in June, Carroll, a seasonal resort employee, was hiking alone in Denali National Park and lost his way. Wearing just jeans and a hoodie, he suffered hypothermia, but managed to lead rangers to his location through text messages. He was rescued by helicopter then as well.

Caroll will head back to civilization in mid-September. Until then, hopefully he’ll stay out of the woods. It doesn’t sound like he is welcome there anyway. “If police see me in the woods, they’re going to arrest me,” he said in a phone interview. “The chief ranger said he’s not going to come looking for me anymore.”

[via Daily Herald]

Only in Alaska: Welcome to the 49th state

by Catherine Bodry on

Alaska is one of those places where your expectations are met and often exceeded: the mountains are gargantuan and they’re everywhere, there are moose wandering the cities, and folks still run trap lines and live in log cabins. Yes, people still mush dogs (an Iditarod champion even lives in my small town), and many Alaska Natives still practice subsistence living.

Though the stereotypical Alaska is alive and kicking, there’s a whole lot more to the state. Environmental issues such as climate change and Pebble Mine, the political scene in 2008 (remember Sarah Palin? We’ve still got her), and an 800-mile pipeline that supplies a sizable sip of oil to the rest of the country all make Alaska more than simply a vast and beautiful place where hairy hippies live in off-the-grid harmony.

I hope to highlight some of the quirky qualities of living in or visiting Alaska – and there are plenty. Here are some stats, just to get you started:

  • Alaska is the largest state in the US. It’s more than twice the size of Texas, which means that if you cut Alaska in half, Texas would be the third largest state. In general, it’s about the one-third of the size of the continental contiguous US.
  • Though it’s not the least populated state (that would be Wyoming), it’s the least densely populated. There’s just under one square mile per person.
  • The population is approaching 600,000. Around half that number lives in Anchorage (279,000), and another 35,000 are in Fairbanks. The state capital, Juneau, has 31,000 residents, while Ketchikan, Sitka, Homer, Soldotna, Wasilla, and Seward collectively add roughly another 40,000. That leaves only 215,000 residents scattered across a massive sweep of land. It can be pretty quiet up here.
  • It’s the only state with a capital that’s not accessible by road.
  • Alaska has the US’s largest national park (Wrangell-St. Elias, 13 million acres), national forest (Tongass, 17 million acres), second-largest national forest (Chugach, 5.5 million acres), and the highest mountain (Mt. McKinley [locals call it ‘Denali’], 20,320 ft).
  • Though English is the official language, it is still possible to hear Yupik and Iñupiaq spoken. It’s not common in the cities, but in rural villages many residents still use their native languages.

With the widest spaces, the highest peaks, a somewhat surprising political influence, and a romantic place in Americans’ imaginations, it’s no wonder that Alaska receives $1.6 billion in tourist dollars. But if you can’t afford the trip this summer, I hope to provide a virtual tour of some of unique aspects of the state. Stay tuned!

12-Year-Old Climber Sets Sights on Seven Summits

by Kraig Becker on

The Seven Summits are the tallest mountains on each of the seven continents, and climbing them all is considered one of the premiere achievements for climbers and adventurers the world over. The concept originated with a man named Dick Bass who was the first to successfully gain this achievement back in 1985, and since then, dozens of other climbers have followed in his footsteps.

Currently, the youngest person to have climbed the Seven Summits is Samantha Larson, who accomplished the feat at the age of 18 when she topped out on Mt. Everest back in 2007. But there is another young climber looking to snatch that record, as 12-year-old Jordan Romero closes in on the mark.
Jordan, who was recently interviewed by Outside Online, caught the climbing bug when he reached the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, at the age of 10. After that, he made it a goal to go after the remaining summits as well, and has now successfully reached the top of Elbrus (Europe), Aconcagua (South America), Denali (North America), and Kosciuszko (Australia). That leaves Mt. Vinson in Antarctica, and Everest in Asia, as the two remaining mountains in the traditional Seven Summits. This summer, Romero will climb a mountain called Carstensz Pyramid in Papua New Guinea. Carstensz is considered the tallest mountain in Oceania, often replacing Kosciusko as the seventh summit. Jordan’s covering all his bases and climbing both, making this a Seven Summits plus One.

If everything goes as planned, the young climber will be on Everest by the time he’s 16, and finishing off his quest. Jordan says that the most difficult challenge is actually fund raising, and he estimates he’ll need roughly $180,000 to complete the Seven Summits, the bulk of which will be used on Everest and Vinson. Good luck Jordan!