[EJ]

Earlier this month, I spent 8 days backpacking in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, which is located in southeast Alaska. I chose Wrangell-St. Elias because of its enormity (13.2 million acres), large mountains (many), glaciers, and remoteness. It delivered on all of these. The trip started with a bush flight to the Tana River, south of McCarthy, AK.

Our plane departs, hopefully to return to the same spot in 8 days, hopefully with all of us there to meet it (which we did.)

The first bit of the trip was very green. Green in Alaska means bushwhacking, of which we did plenty.

More greenery.

We enjoyed some okay weather the first couple of days.

Our campsite on the 2nd night was flatter than the first night, and we had streams nearby, making for a handy water source.

We only saw a single small bear that ran when it saw us. However, there were bear signs all around us, reminding us that we weren't alone.

The bears have been here, scratching up against this tree, but we only saw one bear the entire trip, and it wasn't keen on getting to know us. We also saw plenty of bear scat, of both the black and brown bear variety.

The weather turned rough on the 3rd and 4th day. The third day included crossing an overpass in sleet and hail, and included navigating a couple of steep snowfields and a loose rocky slope. I enjoyed the rocky slope, as it let me use my rock climbing skills. I'm comfortable on rock. It makes me feel alive.

The Tana River is barely visible in the far distance.

We had a brief weather break on the 4th day, allowing us to dry clothing and tents. I spent some time photographing the nearby plants.

The water droplets collect on the leaves and sparkle in the light. Surface tension is a fascinating phenomenon.

This is almost a good shot with the flower in the foreground and mountain in the background. I just wish the top of the flower was in focus.

The 4th day also included a nasty stream crossing that got us all wet. We warmed ourselves with dry clothing, a fat-filled lunch, and warm water bottles. I have few pictures from this day because of the rain, but it's not likely I'll forget it. It continued to rain on the 5th day, so we hung around camp until after lunch. Finally, we decided to make a break for it, and it's a good thing we did because the weather got better and better.

Yet More Views

Our next campsite was located near a partially frozen lake with mountain views before us.

... it's going to be hard to leave this place. Luckily, we had two nights at this campsite.

This is my favorite picture from this set.

Just before 4 am, I woke up, stuck my camera out the tent, and took a few shots.

Campsite Panorama

On the 6th day, we stayed put, but we climbed a nearby 7000-ft peak to get more mountain views, including one of Mt. St. Elias, the second highest peak in the US. It's magnificently prominent.

Glacier Panorama

It's the 2nd highest mountain in the US (4th highest in North America) with an elevation of 18,009 feet. It's not often climbed, as it experiences severe weather.

This is just one of the views from the top of the 7000 footer we climbed.

After dinner, I went for a short walk by the nearby lake.

I like how you can see the reflection of multiple peaks.

And later I enjoyed the alpenglow, though it was less dramatic this night because it was so clear.

The views were crystal clear on this evening.

On the 7th day, we left our mountain paradise and headed toward the Tana River. We had a lot of distance to cover in order to get to our pickup spot. Fortunately, much of the hike was scenic.

There are people in this picture.

In the grand scheme of things, I don't fill much space in this world.

It was very polychromatic here.

We sat here for a while, having a snack and watching the glacier calve. In the end, we hiked a bit longer so we'd have less to travel on the final day. It turned out to be a very good decision, as we barely made it to the landing spot on time.

Ice Berg Reflection

We got up early on day 8, as we had a plane to catch at 5:30 and almost 10 miles to cover. It was a day of many things: easy walking on sand and mud, easy walking on river stones, scrambling up and down solid rock, bushwhacking, stream crossing, and the final, flat stretch on small river rocks (that really made my feet hurt.)

By the River

Home Stretch

dry socks! I'd gotten my feet wet a few miles back, and my feet started to get cold while waiting for the plane. I had one last dry, clean pair of socks. Dry was essential; clean was an added bonus.

The plane's right on time. It's a good thing it came, too, as I wasn't up to putting my "Erin vs. Wild" skills to the test.

[Tomlike]

Alaska! Looks incredible, congrats on a great looking trip . You didn't happen to come accross this crazy trip report in your research of Wrangell-St. Elias did you? (http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=169211). Inspiring, to say the least...

[Foist]

Awesome! My wife and I are planning a 5-day fly-in trip in Wrangell-St. Elias August 10-14, specifically the Iceberg Lake valley. I hope we get some nice days in there -- you sure did! Gorgeous! I'm even more excited now. Any advice?

[Benzarino]

Wow, at first I was kinda thinking the mountains didn't look all that big... And then I saw the glacier panorama photo.

[Stefan]

thanks for making me jelous. sheesh! some people have the nerve!!!

[Foist]

Everyone should check out her full set of photos on flickr -- there are many more awesome photos and the captions are worth reading too.

[David¹]

I can think of no reply that matches the awesomeness of these photos. Eight days of hiking (return) to get to that spot where "Glacier Pano" and "Grand Scheme" were taken? You can't land anywhere closer than that? With such an expedition at stake I can't imagine the good fortune you had to get such perfect weather in such a glaciated spot. Those rivers of ice don't get there by accident.

[EJ]

It was an amazing place. I'd go back in heartbeat. My photography skills are lacking, so it was a bit difficult for me to capture the vastness on camera, though I tried really hard. I got lucky with the weather. I wanted one clear day and got almost 4 days of sun and only 1 1/2 days of constant rain. That being said, advice to Foist: bring extra dry socks, your best raingear, and a lot of plastic bags. Hopefully, you won't need them. Where I went, there were no trails of any sort, so travel was over all sorts of terrain. A good set of collapsible trekking poles was helpful in this regard. Luckily, I didn't lose the bottom portion of one until the very last day (just slipped out of an unlocked FlickLock into the silty Tana River, never to be seen again...) I didn't find the poles useful when bushwhacking or rock scrambling, so collapsing them to put on my pack was nice. Oh, and I did see that TR on TetonGravity, but I'd already chosen Wrangell-St. Elias as my destination. That's one impressive trip they did; I'm glad someone wrote about it because I could never do anything that crazy.

[Foist]

Did you cross any glaciers? Also, what were the temps like?

[EJ]

No, no glacier crossings. It saved us a lot of weight by not having to carry glacier gear. We basically did a big loop, starting and ending in the same place. The spot where "Grand Scheme" was taken could have been reached in a couple of days had we gone the other direction. The stellar views and weather were all at the end! I now have my eyes on Mt. Wrangell for a ski ascent/descent. I just need to convince a friend or two that it would be an excellent adventure to share with me.

[Matt Lemke]

Excellent TR! Can't wait till I get a little older and I can be in Alaska for a summer. Is airplane travel to the area the ONLY way to get even close and if so was it pricy?

[Foist]

It's pretty pricey -- see here -- but you can drive there. There's a long dirt road to McCarthy, and there are highways around the outer edges of the park. And there are hikes you can do from the roads.

[MCaver]

I am dying to go to Wrangell-St Elias!

[El Puma]