North to Alaska

[smokymtnsteve]

I'm all packed and ready to head to Alaska to visit my son Smokymtnred who has worked this season up in Healy...planning on doing a little hiking in Denali while I'm up..will think about you folks while I make pancakes and coffee up on the tundra.

See ya'll when I get back!

YAHOO!!!! :banana :banana :banana :banana

smokymtnsteve

[sherrill]

Steve, I'm jealous, yet envious. My wife and I hiked in Denali last summer. Just remember to keep yelling out every now and then, those grizzlies don't like to be surprised!

[grrickar]

Take plenty of pics while you are there. You may see some aurora there soon.

[bunbun]

I'm all packed and ready to head to Alaska to visit my son Smokymtnred who has worked this season up in Healy...planning on doing a little hiking in Denali while I'm up..will think about you folks while I make pancakes and coffee up on the tundra.

We got back from Alaska a couple weeks ago - you'll love it. Just wondering -- exactly why DID I come back anyway? :-?

Just don't limit yourself to Denali. Denali's nice, but it's not all there is to Alaska. :)

[slabfoot]

I worked and lived on Kodiak from '84 to '89. you're going to love the park.

regards,
bill

[smokymtnsteve]

My flight to AK was great and right on time, ...the view of the glaciers coming into anchorage are AWESOME. Smokymtnred was waiting at the airport for me and had made arrangements for us to visit fellow whiteblazer Orjuga. Thanks Indrek for your hospitality. today will Leave Anchorage to head up to Healy Alaska ... This is a really beautiful place and the weather is great.

[SoFlHiker]

It was our last day, and our permit was over, it was Friday Sept, 3, 2004 when we left Wonder lake campground it began to snow on the long bus ride back. Our bus driver pulled over to pick up two hikers that were in the back country units,,,,so I went to the back to help them load their gear in the bus, and there he was this guy with an "AT" Patch on his backpack, I have aways been interested in the AT since I started hiking....so I asked him if he was an AT guy , and he said yes, "HARDCORE"....he was hardcore, it was snowing, the first snowfall of the year in Denali National Park and he was hiking out of the backcountry..... I try to post a pic of me and smk mtn steve at the vistor center......

Regards,
NG

[steve hiker]

....so I asked him if he was an AT guy , and he said yes, "HARDCORE"....he was hardcore, it was snowing, the first snowfall of the year in Denali National Park and he was hiking out of the backcountry..... I try to post a pic of me and smk mtn steve at the vistor center......
smky mtn steve has changed his name to HARDCORE?

[smokymtnsteve]

SoFLhiker is referring to my HARDCORE trail crew patch that I recieved for working with Bob Peoples , every year right after Trail Days a group gets together to does some trail work, HARD CORE CREW, several members here from WB were there at HARDCORE this year, including Trail Yeti (who has been a HARDCORE worker for years), Grasspicker, OldPhart, Sgt.ROCK, smokymtnsteve, Baltimore Jack (who made dinner a couple nights) and Rain Man ( who ate dinner..LOL) and I'm sure others that I can't remember.

So heading in on the camper bus on a snowy morning in Denali NP I ran into some folks who saw my AT patch and also are members of WB...

It's a WIDE, WIRED WORLD :clap

[minnesotasmith]

Hike #1 will be from Valdez to Prudhoe Bay, along the pipeline south to north. I got this idea from a book I flipped through in a bookstore once (wish now I'd bought it) about a guy who did exactly that.

#2 will be from Nome to the Canadian border, staying just south of the Brooks Range. This will go through Gates of the Arctic and ANWR.

These hikes are around 750 and 850 miles, respectively, so even together the mileage is less than the AT.

I can't see doing even hike #1 before summer 2006, but I WILL do them.

I will definitely take firearms, at least one companion (one person's already promised to go with me on both hikes), and a couple of barky dogs with me. I would plan on doing these hikes during successive summers. The hardest things IMO about it are 1) carrying enough food, given the distance between towns (figuring on going 2/3 the speed in the bush that I would on a proper trail), and 2) crossing the larger rivers. Water is NOT an issue in most of AK, from my reading. Likewise, I'll probably do some fishing en route on the second hike, at least; there are an estimated 3 million lakes in Alaska, about 30 times as many as in Minnesota. The worst temps probably won't get to zero, and 60s should be far more common. I'll be properly prepped for anything from -15 to 90 degrees, as the 2nd hike will likely take into September, and I'll be awfully close to the Arctic Circle and at a little bit of elevation...

I figure two GPS units and a satellite phone would be wise to bring along. There are a number of Native villages I'll hit that I'll figure I'll have someone in the lower 48 send mail drops to. Just figuring the gear and supplies out will be intriguing as heck IMO.

Anyone think coming along sounds like fun? ;)

[smokymtnsteve]

AH! ALASKA! I love it,,Alaska is HUGE, really big, overwhelming, have you considered dog sled travel,instead of hiking, at pressent I am doing the research and footwork to move to AK, hopefully ready by next spring.


water can be an issue in AK,,there are lots of rivers and lakes but there are also huge areas with NO h2o,,,the interior of AK is VERY arid.

[minnesotasmith]

I will plot out water before I go. From what I've seen on maps, though, I'll never go over 5 days between water sources, as long as I don't take zero days where there's no water.

Any ideas on how to efficiently cross the larger streams (ones too deep to ford) would be handy. Sgt. Rock??

I figure these hikes will be worth bringing SEVERAL cameras, too...

[smokymtnsteve]

Have you been to AK before minnesotasmith?

[minnesotasmith]

But, I've read my tail off about the place, been all over the WWW about it, and own at least ten books about it. You spend one hour with one of my Alaska photography books, or on a website with good aurora pics, and you'll want to move there. I've also been around a climate that is not that dissimiliar. I've been outside when it was -42 F. actual. Likewise, in NE. MN, if you're off the coast, it's actually too cold for oak and maple to grow as a rule. It's paper birch, alder, aspen, and various conifers (cedar, etc.), much like central AK. I've seen wolves less than a mile from where I was living at the time there. Likewise, I've already had to dodge moose on gravel roads already, put tire chains on in darkness when it was sub-zero, etc. Not as many adaptations for me as for WB's Florida members, and anyway these will be summer/early autumn hikes.

Dogsledding strikes me as a skill I don't want to have to learn unless I move there. Unlike snowshoeing, the initial expense, learning curve, and effort/expense of maintaining the capability don't seem minor...

Factoid: in Fairbanks, AK, you can see the aurora an average of 242 nights a year, as opposed to the once or twice a year I've been able to (poorly) see it in MN. (Yes, I know summer is a poor time to see them in AK.)

[minnesotasmith]

I've also had face-to-face conversations with at least five different people who have lived there. The guys all loved it, and the women all found things to like about it, even if they didn't like it overall.

So, where's Lone Wolf to tell me how I'll never complete either of my AK hikes?? ;) :rolleyes:

[smokymtnsteve]

I went to fairbanks this trip..I drove from healy where my son worked this season (he already has a contract for 2005) to fairbanks,,about 110 miles viA the parks hwy which is a great road,,,one of the most beautiful drives I have ever taken in my life, the road is a high speed hwy but IO took my time took me over 5 hours to travel the 11o miles, spent the late afternoon walking around fairbanks and exploring around the chena river,

spent the night in a great hostel in town where i meet this girl from New Zealand who rode back to Denali with me. looking at some property about 15 miles "north" of denali park with a great view of the alaska range. cause all I have ever wanted is a little cabin in the mtns.

AK is a great place,,,folks who live there seem to have a much differnet attitude and outlook on life then here in the lower 48,,,and esp here in the south, I'm going..I'm moving there. I LOVE it..it is the most beautiful place I have ever been too, and I've been to a lot of places,

nothing else compares to it...go to AK first, PARADISE AWAITS YOU THERE.

btw,.,saw the aurora on the flight home...and as far as dog-sledding lots of ads in the newspaper placed by MUSHERS looking for help with thier dog teams...free housing and free dog-sledding... an experienced backpacker could get a dog-sledding gig pretty easy,,,


there are lots of jobs in AK,,more than there are folks to fill them.

[smokymtnsteve]

I've also had face-to-face conversations with at least five different people who have lived there. The guys all loved it, and the women all found things to like about it, even if they didn't like it overall.

So, where's Lone Wolf to tell me how I'll never complete either of my AK hikes?? ;) :rolleyes:

actually there are a lot of women in AK,,I was surprised..and the women I meet were out-going adventurous types,,there is a lot of freedom in AK.

[minnesotasmith]

Still, outside the biggest 3 towns or so, they're not exactly in surplus. BTW, do you know what the 3rd biggest political party in AK is, after the Demopublicans and Republocrats? The Alaska Independence Party, which favors secession!! You gotta love a place like that.

No income tax, no sales tax most places, and each October the state gov't gives each man, woman, and child an average of a grand or so from the oil trust fund. You can probably get a moose each year if you hunt, there's all the salmon you could want, firewood for the taking, and FRESH king crab (and clams) near the coast...

[Colter]

Hike #1 will be from Valdez to Prudhoe Bay, along the pipeline south to north. I got this idea from a book I flipped through in a bookstore once (wish now I'd bought it) about a guy who did exactly that.

#2 will be from Nome to the Canadian border, staying just south of the Brooks Range. This will go through Gates of the Arctic and ANWR.

These hikes are around 750 and 850 miles, respectively, so even together the mileage is less than the AT.


Sounds like you've got some interesting hikes planned! I made a six week solo Alaska trip (http://www.bucktrack.com/Alaska.html) a few years ago. Although I was hunting, it was much more of a backpacking and rafting trip than a hunting trip. (Incidentally, I made a video about this trip Alaska Hunting Adventure: 700 Miles Alone by Backpack and Raft that will be shown at the Far North Conservation Film Festival in Fairbanks on Saturday!)

Anyway, you have planned out some major adventures. I've got some insight you may find useful. For what it's worth...
To hike the pipeline you will need special permission. Getting it will probably be difficult, especially post 9-11. Not saying it won't be possible. though. Much of the route will be legal without permission if you follow the "Haul Road" north out of Fairbanks. The logistics of this trip will be much more simple than your second trip.

Coincidentally, I am also planning a hiking trip across the Brooks Range, for next summer or the summer of 2006. That trip will be a true wilderness experience for both of us! You'll only cross one road that leads to a major town the entire summer, and unless you go WAY out of your way, you'll only come across only one village, Anaktuvuk Pass, the entire journey! I will have "food caches" placed by aircraft along the route. There are no established trails the whole way. You should figure on half the speed of a trail, at best. Some of the walking will be fairly easy, and some of it, through wet tussocks, will be absolutely brutal. The cross-country walking in Alaska is usually tougher than in other areas of the US.

I think the most practical route for crossing the Brooks is near the continental divide, along parallel drainages. That should result in the best walking, and put you next to water. Finding water should not be a problem. Although it's true Alaska is arid, what water is around is usually easy to find, often TOO easy! Another big advantage to the "divide route" is it will do away with most of the major river crossings, since you'll be so near the divide you can walk upstream until a crossing is doable. Most Alaska streams are braided, too, near the mountains, meaning they break up into several channels before coming back together again.

You will be in grizzly bear country the whole way in the Brooks, (and most or all of your pipeline hike) although the grizzlies in that country tend to be more mellow. I can only come up with one fatal mauling in the Brooks Range in history. I may or may not carry a "bear gun." Bear spray may be in order for peace of mind if I don't. A satellite phone and a gps would be a good idea.


There will be snow in the Brooks into June, so deciding when to start will be a big decision. You'll probably want to finish in September and you'll see some snow in that month. You might well hit 90 deg. temps, but shouldn't hit -15 if you finish on time. You definitely don't want to be in the boonies of the Brooks on foot when it's below zero!

I hope you make your trips. Let me know how your plans go.

smokymtnsteve, I'm glad you got to visit your son in Alaska. It's a great time of year!

[smokymtnsteve]

PARADISE..

http://www.alaskahemp.org/

while I was there the state court of Appeals made a ruling about the Constitutional privacy of an AK citizen,,,

here is a link to the daily fairbanks paper

http://www.news-miner.com/

I meet a young lady in Nenana not exactly a major city (pop519)

the citizens of Nenana FIRED thier police dept. said they didn't want them in town ..run'em right out of town they did.

[minnesotasmith]

I don't intend to cross the Brooks, just to hike in sight of them on the south side as much as possible. The northern side of the Brooks Range is north of treeline, so I figure I'd enjoy the south side more. Toward the east of AK, it looks like there's a fairly narrow halfway-dry strip between the Brooks Range and the Yukon Flats. Air drops would be desirable, but I figure they'd be pricy and kind of likely to have a foul-up somehow, so I'll probably just use maildrops and hump my food between towns. There are plenty more than one town enroute; here's a potential route I came up with:



The order of towns would be something like Nome, Council, Haycock, Buckland, Selawik, Ambler, Kobuk, [possible aerial drop?], Bettles/Evansville, hit Route 11/the pipeline & go 20 miles NNE to Coldfoot/Wiseman, Big Lake, Chandalar (lake and town), enter Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, [aerial drop?], Caro, Christian, [aerial drop?], town of Old Rampart, east along the shore of the Porcupine River to the Canadian border, back to Old Rampart, and thence to wherever home is.

Good source for Alaska maps: http://worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/namerica/usstates/ak.htm

[Colter]

OK! Be aware though, that many of the towns on maps (including some listed) no longer exist, and the walking along most of it would be wet, spongy, and basically, horrible, and you'd have a lot of major rivers to cross. I'd say 5 miles a day would be doing great. Much of the way mosquitoes would be chewing on you also! Guess it's all part of the adventure.

Personally, I think that particular route won't be doable during the course of a summer on foot. Perhaps during the winter by dogteam or snowmachine. You might ask some of the land managers (perhaps folks from ANWR) for their input.

[smokymtnsteve]

The hiking I did inside denali was tough...the vegetation is very thick, nearly impassable. walking on spongy tundra is slow hard work. navagation is tough,,the sun's path in the sky is different than down south,

I wanna dog sled,

meet an interesting guy from japan who biked from san francisco to anc...55oo miles this season biking across the northland would be interesting...

i would suggest visiting AK first before planning such an extensive trip minnesota....I am a very experienced hiker on the AT ,,,but AK is BIG and tough...overwhelming.

[minnesotasmith]

Well, Colter, thanks for the advice on some of those towns being kaput. I'll definitely have their existence nailed down before sending mail drops to them!

I would feel like I had done nothing if I rode across Alaska (snowmobile, etc.). Kind of like spending four days seated in a heated/airconditioned weekend driving from GA to ME and back, and figuring that counts for doing the Appalachian Trail. Naahhh...

As far as being swampy the whole way, that is the reason for brushing the Brooks Range with my left sleeve as much of the time as I can. Surely the foothills won't be all gushy footing? I'd mostly be a bit north of the Yukon Flats, after all. Slopes have their own issues WRT hiking, to be sure. The Brooks are roughly comparable to the Appalachians for height, FWIW.

Not being able to do 850 miles between mid-May to late September? We're talking over 130 days. That works out to about 6.5 miles a day. I'll have both the AT and hiking AK south to north behind me before I try this. Too, I'll have made d*mned sure I'm in good shape (as is the person going with me) before getting on the plane for Nome.

Another idea might be to go E to W instead. Winter comes later at Nome than in SE ANWR, and isn't as cold around Nome when it does come.

According to www.weather.com (http://www.weather.com), Arctic Village is running a range of temps over the next three days between 37 and 16 degrees (highest high and lowest low). That town is about 40 miles north of my tentative route, north of the Yukon Flats, and up in the hills. Heck, I'll likely see worse in the Smokies in February on the AT, if I get done before mid-Oct.

Your thoughts again, Colter?

[minnesotasmith]

I already plan to have two GPS units along with me, besides maps and compasses. I know how the sun is unreliable up there as a directional guide. Too, I'll do the Haul Road hike S-N the year before I do the E-W one across AK; will that count as a visit? ;)

To give you an idea of two of my books in particular:

One is "Alaska on Foot", purely about hiking in AK.

Another is "Mark of the Grizzly", about grizz bear attacks and how to reduce the chances of them. Remember that there will be two long weapons capable of killing brown bears in my group plus a .44 magnum, and two dogs to serve as early warning and/or slow a bear down/get its attention while my companion and I pull out weapons. The more people and animals, the less the chance of confrontation; I don't think parties of 8+ hiking close together have EVER had a mauling. Neither have people on horseback that encountered bears in AK. It shouldn't come to that, though.

Food supply lasting between resupply points, crossing streams, and avoiding twisted ankles are the top worries I have, if I plan adequately. I'll have to make much use of fully dehydrated/freeze-dried food over the longer stretches, and may not have quite as much chow then as I'd prefer due to portage limitations, no question.

[smokymtnsteve]

sounds good..be prepared to be totally overwhelmed..I sure was :sun

[minnesotasmith]

Do these AK hikes sound like something you'd ever consider doing?

P.S.: I've already heard about the mosquitos in AK; two come along, split up so there's one on either side of you, they pick you up under each arm, and fly off with you... I already have two hiking bug headnets, and Deep-Woods Off works pretty well for me every part of the country I've used it outdoors during bug season. Too, AK has no poisonous snakes, no spiders, no scorpions, and if it's anything like N MN, most areas the plant life will have no briars or thorns. Yes, tussocks do s*ck, likewise the coastal brush areas, the latter of which I'll not see on hike #2 (#1 only from the road).

[smokymtnsteve]

look at these thorns, these plants grow in AK

http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/4656/password/0/sort/1/cat/500/page/5

[minnesotasmith]

Aren't those plants just found in the coastal brush zone, smoky? They just don't look like north-of-Fairbanks Alaska plants, though I certainly could be wrong.

[smokymtnsteve]

Aren't those plants just found in the coastal brush zone, smoky? They just don't look like north-of-Fairbanks Alaska plants, though I certainly could be wrong.


http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/tongass/districts/petersburg/devil%27sclub.htm

[minnesotasmith]

That that plant is well-known in the SE AK forests, and is found up into south-central AK. For my second hike, I'll mostly be in the northern half of AK, so I should mostly be safe from that one, at least once I get a decent way in from the W. coast on AK.

Here's a good map showing plant hardiness zones in AK, courtesy of the Department of Agriculture:

http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/alaska.html

[smokymtnsteve]

DEVIL'S club is a really nasty plant...the thorns case a nasty staph infection...

[minnesotasmith]

THAT stuff made me wish I had a flamethrower on my back on numerous occasions when I was hiking out West back in the late 1980s. It had curved thorns similiar to cats (only a bit more curved) that ripped flesh and clothing when you pulled away. It was 5x as much of an inconvenience and discomfort as yucca and all types of cactus together I encountered out there.

[Jack Lincoln]

Most of us on here have no experience in hiking in Alaska. Maybe you should find a place where the experience is upfront and pretty much certified. Or, whatever. I wish you much luck...

[smokymtnsteve]

seems like colter has PLENTY of experience hiking in AK..we also have other WB members in AK. Baltimore Jack"s daughter has been living in AK this year.

[steve hiker]

Tim Treadwell liked Alaska too. Until he got EATEN.

[Pencil Pusher]

Tim Treadwell liked Alaska too. Until he got EATEN.Yes, the mosquitos are pretty bad up there, or so I hear.

[minnesotasmith]

Until he got EATEN.

Kind of like Bill Tesinky and Charles Wayne Gibbs, huh?

[Dudeboard]

How is smokymtnsteve going to survive in a cabin in the Alaska outback without free trade organic peruvian and fresh bean sprouts every day? :-?

[smokymtnsteve]

How is smokymtnsteve going to survive in a cabin in the Alaska outback without free trade organic peruvian and fresh bean sprouts every day? :-?

Mail drops for the coffee dude...I don't do bean sprouts...everything you can grow yourself :D

[minnesotasmith]

According to the book "Mark of the Grizzly", there have been only 144 grizzly bear attacks in Alaska serious enough to require hospitalization between 1900 and 1996, with 21 deaths. This information comes from state epidemologist Dr. John Middaugh, and is on page 50. By comparison, there have been 36 people killed by dogs (mostly by sled dogs) since 1939, which is as far back as the records go.

There are also these other bits of info on this subject in this book I found notable:

1) There is an average of about ONE fatal bear mauling a year now in all of North America.

2) Hunters get attacked considerably more than do hikers, campers, etc. (This is probably due to the bear-attracting qualities of the hunters' kills.)

3) Also from page 50:

"Still, in Alaska, when it comes to grizzly bears lots of people just don't screw around. Thousands of people are armed every time they go in the woods. Fishermen pack shotguns and pistols. Campers lug big-bore rifles. And for many of these people, if a grizzly acts the least bit aggressive, or even if it is only trespassing [such as coming into your house's backyard where your young child is playing], they start shooting."

4) The odds of being killed by a bear on a hike in the bush are less than those of being killed in a traffic accident while driving to the trailhead.

For those reasons, I believe that if I don't go alone on my planned East-to-West hike, behave so as to reduce risk while on this expedition, and everyone on it is adequately armed, the risk is well worth it for such a glorious hiking adventure.

[ga>me>ak]

[
cause all I have ever wanted is a little cabin in the mtns.

AK is a great place,,,folks who live there seem to have a much differnet attitude and outlook on life then here in the lower 48,,,and esp here in the south, I'm going..I'm moving there. I LOVE it..it is the most beautiful place I have ever been too, and I've been to a lot of places,

nothing else compares to it...go to AK first, PARADISE AWAITS YOU THERE.


there are lots of jobs in AK,,more than there are folks to fill them.[/QUOTE]



SMS,
I feel the same way..have been an Alaska freak for years. Lived there for 3 yrs growing up(Anchorage, Juneau, Sitka). If things work out, the way I want them to this/next year 1) I'll finally sell my house 2) do my thru hike 3) then move on to Ak for a few years hence the name GA>ME>AK

I want to figure out a way to make enough $ to do the snowbird thing.. 6mnths there and 6 mnths down south
Your are so very right, ALaska is so beautiful it's hard to absorb it all

[Chappy]

Smoky,
Just returned from a nine day trip to your new PARADISE. It is that!
Did only day hikes on the Kenai Peninsula and a few just north of Anchorage. Didn't go to Denali, but will do that later when I have longer to stay. My favorite hike was the 3.7 miler (one way) to the Harding Icefield. It was a gruesome challenge, but what a view from the top! Eagle River is another beautiful area with some nice hikes without too much elevation gain. One of the trails is part of the old Itidarod Trail that ran from Seward to Nome.

[minnesotasmith]

"Anchorage -- only 20 minutes from Alaska!"

[smokymtnsteve]

"Anchorage -- only 20 minutes from Alaska!"

well the Anchorage, Wasilla, Palmer area is growing, plus I drive kinda slow so I would say that the REAL AK is about 45 minutes from ANC. :jump

[White Oak]

Your are so very right, ALaska is so beautiful it's hard to absorb it all
Yes, but are there any women? Probably not enough to go around.

[Pencil Pusher]

Yes, but are there any women? Probably not enough to go around.
Alaska, where the odds are good and the goods are odd.

[oruoja]

With all the interest in Alaska by WB members I just want to let all know that come about March '05 I will be selling my house here in Anchorage (12 miles from downtown). After 21 years up here it is time to get out. If one has the time and money AK is great to spend time in seasonally. As far as bear attacks and encounters go, they are more frequent than many believe. A few day's ago a retired army guy out for a walk on the east side of Anchorage was rushed by a grown brown bear, but he was able to drop it with his .44 handgun. Turns out the bear was guarding a moose carcass 75 feet off the trail. Up north somewhere on the news today two folks were airlifted after a bear mauling. Then again two bull moose were found dead in town (Anchorage) after locking antlers. The experience is great up here if you can travel to the various regions. Anchorage is just another city with all the problems that makes folks leave cities. Best of luck to all who yearn to visit or even relocate here, but for living here I urge you really do your homework. The websites, especially the municipality, don't give an accurate portrayal of full-time life. For those in the military, the assignment here is great as it counts as an overseas tour, the housing allowance is much higher, and at least when I was still active duty we had tax-free COLA. Federal jobs and oil company jobs are also the other good jobs.

[aardvarkdave]

I've hiked in AK a fair bit - 6 months or so in total over 3 trips. Artic (Yukon region), Katmai, Denali, Kenai, Wrangell St Elias (when there was only a hand-propelled tram to get there!).

Good luck with the planned expeditions. It's a beautiful place. Undoubtedly the most beautiful place I've every visited. Great people too.

For your route planning, I'd second the suggestion of ridge-based routes (eg the continental divide) rather than anything in the lowlands or foothills of the brooks. The tussocky tundra is seriously tough walking. 1mph is a _really_ fast pace, and incredibly tiring, with limited campsites. Imagine a swimming pool filled with a foot of water, then the entire surface covered with basketballs. Now try walking across it. Couple that with lots of alder and other brush, and its hard. Not impossible, just very hard. Demoralising too, when you can see last nights campsite from this nights.

I've had 25 separate bear encounters in AK. I never carried a gun (I've no idea what to do with one) and never felt the need for it. My cynical take on the stat that hunters get attacked by bears more often is that in the scenario where a bear takes a couple of steps towards an unarmed hiker he/she talks gently to it, waves arms, and it wanders off. A hunter has the option to draw his gun and shoot it. If he does, he's got a problem - the options are either 'hey fish & game, I got a bit scared and blew him away, please fine me' or 'he was trying to attack me'. Guess he goes for the latter.

When I was there, the big story was a bear mauling, but not of the usual kind. Some rather dumb tourist got a bit close to the polar bear enclosure (climbed the first fence) and got chewed a bit. Then 2 kids climbed in a couple of days later to swim in the same bear's pool. When your only territory is a few hundred square feet, you defend it pretty aggressively. I think they lived tho'.

[minnesotasmith]

What was it about Alaska (other than the inevitable urban issues in Anchorage, and the occasional bear mauling) that made you less than fully positive about living in that state?

I have an excellent AK terrain map I found online somewhere I would to share with other readers of this thread, but don't know how to post an image. If I can find the original link, I will post that link. I am using that map as something of a trip planner, given its detail.

My book on hiking in AK ("Alaska on Foot") agrees re tussocks s*cking to hike on, but gave me the impression that they are not quite so ubiquitous as your post implied to me. I will in any event likely use the services of a local guide to advise me (NOT accompany me!!) before setting out on the second AK hike, as I believe that otherwise I will miss something major in my planning for such a large, distant undertaking in such an alien environment.

[Pencil Pusher]

Maybe snowshoes are year-round footwear there. Sounds like they'd help with the slog in the bog.

[Chappy]

"Anchorage -- only 20 minutes from Alaska!"
Many more than that from Georgia. :)

[smokymtnsteve]

It was our last day, and our permit was over, it was Friday Sept, 3, 2004 when we left Wonder lake campground it began to snow on the long bus ride back. Our bus driver pulled over to pick up two hikers that were in the back country units,,,,so I went to the back to help them load their gear in the bus, and there he was this guy with an "AT" Patch on his backpack, I have aways been interested in the AT since I started hiking....so I asked him if he was an AT guy , and he said yes, "HARDCORE"....he was hardcore, it was snowing, the first snowfall of the year in Denali National Park and he was hiking out of the backcountry..... I try to post a pic of me and smk mtn steve at the vistor center......

Regards,
NG

http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/4705/password/0/sort/1/cat/500/page/1

[minnesotasmith]

That's why, IMO, if I'm going to do any hiking in Alaska when I don't live there, it makes the most sense to do the equivalent there of a through-hike or major section hike. I'd get more hiking per money spent flying up there that way.

Of course, I've considered relocating there for a long time, and there's no better way than hiking to check out a locale. I WILL do an AT thru-hike first, though, before I possibly ever reloc there; that's settled.

[Colter]

My book on hiking in AK ("Alaska on Foot") agrees re tussocks s*cking to hike on, but gave me the impression that they are not quite so ubiquitous as your post implied to me.

I have been on the ground in most of the areas along your route. This summer while fighting fires I spent time on the Seward Peninsula north of Nome, and also in the country around Ambler, Bettles, Evansville, Coldfoot, etc. Since 1980 I've spent a lot of time in the Brooks Range and in the country to the south of the Brooks Range.

There's a lot of things that I don't know, but I DO know that if you're proposed route doesn't kill you from the work involved, you'll wish it had as early as possible in the trip! There will be weeks and weeks of simply awful tussock walking along that route, I guarantee!

Many seemingly impossible things are doable if you work hard enough, but I assure you that a route nearer the divide will be spectacular and all the challenge you'll care for. I hope you do it because it will be the most incredible expereince of your life. Just my 2 cents. :)

[minnesotasmith]

Too many people I know (mostly but not exclusively female, especially older female relatives) are aghast even at my weekend AT hikes, let alone my contemplating thru-hiking the whole AT. When I have tried to bring up the Alaska trips, they are so uncomprehending of why a sane person might consider such a trip that I might as well be speaking in a foreign language for all the communication that goes on, no matter how I try to express my ideas to them.

The very idea of voluntarily going where there are not daily showers, flush toilets, air-conditioning, shopping malls, and restaurants available every day is anathema to them, as if I had proposed adopting cannibalism or emigrating to Rwanda. Life is lived to the fullest in my considered judgement only with periodically testing myself in and regrounding myself in the solitude of the forest, where 99.999% of my ancestors undoubtedly lived much of their lives. Alaska draws me because I perceive it as a different, probably more-concentrated version of the same phenomenon that appeals to me about the AT. At least here there are people who can understand much of this, and can know that taking considerable time away from work, family, friends, and the pleasures of the city to be alone with trees, rocks, soil, grand vistas not seen on TV or from a car, days with no baths, live animals not on farms or in laps, and knowing that I, not algae (deposited millenia ago and transformed into oil) got me to the top of a mountain nowhere near a road, an experience that money alone does not buy. Even the millionaire with a helicopter who goes from his hotel room at noon to a mountain bald at 2:00 PM does not have the same experience as I do, hiking for days to get there, dependent upon my own foresight and fortitude to make it possible. IMO his "experience" is akin to a celebrity using a ghostwriter to pen a novel, or someone who buys all their term papers while in college; it's not the same in the end, not even close...

================================================== =====

Something the AT doesn't have much of: http://patrickendres.com/cgi-bin/script.pl?op=search&keywords=aurora Give it time to load, so you can see all the pics on that page; it's worth the wait, I promise...

Take a look at this map that is at the top of this page: (don't delete it right after glancing at it, you'll want to look at more stuff at that page in a second) http://aurora.ak.blm.gov/dalton/brooks/brooks1.htm

I figure on walking just inside the southernmost brown area, or only as far in as needed to get to terrain that is more like that where that gravel road is in the bottom photograph (NOT the mountain tops!). I've seen pics of worse soil to walk on from the AT in Virginia, never mind Pennsylvania, the White Mountains, and Maine. The one exception to my proposed route, once I get out of the Seward Peninsula, other than necessary detours to towns to pick up food maildrops, is to cut through near the valley that is underneath the "R" in "Range" on that top photo.

More pics showing Brooks Range foothills hiking terrain:
www.webshots.com/g/ poster/33/40233_poster.html (http://www.webshots.com/g/%20poster/33/40233_poster.html)
www.tombolphoto.com/ camping/popup13.html (http://www.tombolphoto.com/%20camping/popup13.html)

Little rougher stuff:
http://www.tombolphoto.com/hiking/images/hik-145_lg.jpg

Me in about 3 years: http://www.ingramphoto.com/mountainsdetail.php?offset=18

Oh, I wish I could leave today. Sigh...

[smokymtnsteve]

iNTERESTING.. of all the pics I could access thru your links all seemed to be above tree line ridgetops...none of tundra with thick vegetation...

listen to colter,,in my limited experience I can assure that trekking thru tundra and the thick vegetation in AK is tougher than anything on the AT!

[minnesotasmith]

From a site that has some Gates of the Arctic pics:

Tussocks in all their glory: http://www.tweak.net.au/pics/2002/07-alaska/teaser46.jpg

Other nasty brush situation: http://www.tweak.net.au/pics/2002/07-alaska/Teaser42.jpg

Somewhat better with firm sand to walk on:
http://www.tweak.net.au/pics/2002/07-alaska/teaser49.jpg

http://www.tweak.net.au/pics/2002/07-alaska/teaser36.jpg

Better yet WRT footing in this seasonal stream bed of the Alatna River:
http://www.tweak.net.au/pics/2002/07-alaska/teaser50.jpg

More what I have in mind for where to hike: http://www.tweak.net.au/pics/2002/07-alaska/teaser33.jpg

The above are from here: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.tweak.net.au/pics/2002/07-alaska/teaser46.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.tweak.net.au/pics/2002/07-alaska/page_04.htm&h=963&w=643&sz=244&tbnid=0B-sqe8qKucJ:&tbnh=146&tbnw=98&start=1&prev=/images%3Fq%3DAlaska%2Btussock%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26 ie%3DUTF-8%26sa%3DG

I think I would DEFINITELY want to be up above in the foothills, rather than down in the flats and valleys. I do want to be where I can see bears coming. Doesn't mean I want to deal with vertical cliffs only birds can handle, either.
==================================
Pic of pipeline (for first AK hike), just north of Fairbanks:
http://www.tweak.net.au/pics/2002/07-alaska/teaser77.jpg

Do note that the regional (latitudinal) tree line is on the north slope of the Brooks Range, and I plan on traveling on the south side.

[Chappy]

Smoky,
Where did you hike in Denali? How long did you stay out? Did you have maps? I found an old issue of Backpacker that showed three hikes in the park, but not much info on how to traverse the terrain.

[smokymtnsteve]

well my first little hike I took to horseshoe lake,,,it was a ranger lead hike very easy and on one of the few trails inside the park,,,there are bascally no trails inside Denali NP,,,there are a few around the entrance area. the Horseshoe lake hike begins at the visitor center at the entrance so you don't have to take a shuttle bus, also that day I took time in the visitor and watched the movie they show about the park,,,which was interesting as the movie closed with an a quote from the Gospel of Abbey....

'A man could be a lover and defender of wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled surfaces. We need wilderness whether or not we ever set foot in it. We need a refuge even though we may never need to go there."

being the disciple of ABBEY that I am after the quote I raised my arms over my Head and said "THANKS BE TO ABBEY" I got some strange looks from that but I also got some folks that came over to ask about ABBEY!


but back to hiking...

Denali NP is HUGE,,,overwhelmingly huge,,,

to get around in the park you use the shuttle bus system...the cheaper and easy way is to use the camper bus. my camping plans included my son smokyred and his friend Slavka, so I made reservations for us to camp at SANCTUARY RIVER, a small CG at mile 23, we got on the 7:30 am camper bus, which took us to the CG,,,this is a smal tent only CG 7 sites there is a Privy, and it's next to the river so that is the water supply. we set-up camp.

with the camper bus ticket you can board any NP bus that comes by as long as there is room. and for as long as you don't go east of mile 20. so after setting up camp we hopped a bus to Eielson Visitor Center, which is at mile 66, the bus travel is slow as they stop for viewing wildlife and breaks at overlooks. we made lunch at the VC and then hiked down to the river which looked very close but that was deceiving ,,,,the vegetation was very thick and disorienting as you can't see over it, this area is traveled some so there were some paths, we made the river and followed it for a while,,,traveling along the rivers is easier ,,,we then took another route back up to the VC and caught the bus back to our CG. so planning a backcountry trip into Denali I would follow a river.

the next morning after b'fast,, the kids caught the bus out as they had to be at work early that afternoon. so I was left alone,,,i caught a westbound bus from the CG entrance and I rode for a while and at a random point I got off in the middle of nowhere and starting walking the road ...took some side trips back into the brush at points that seemed interesting...No maps except for the simple one that you get at the VC...then I caught another bus back to the CG for the evening.

the CG at Sanctuary river is right on the river,,,that evening I walked for some distance upstream, no map or compass as all you do is follow the river. It snowed that night and morning ,,,,,that morning I followed the river for a couple miles downstream.

then I caught the bus back the entrance VC and Hitched hiked back to Healy.

I did some walking around the Healy area also.

Like I said before DENALI is HUGE...at the VCs inside the park are food storage boxes..you can store supplies there so you don't have to carry all your food ...you are allowed 30 days on a backcountry permit so you store food at that VCs and come back for it...I would suggest using a combined walking and using the shuttle bus system so you could see a lot of the park. by just walking you could walk for 3-4 days and still be in the same viewshed that you started in.

[minnesotasmith]

Take a look at the size of ANWR or Gates of the Arctic sometime; they're even larger, and considerably harder to get to.

BTW, what's "VC"?

[smokymtnsteve]

Take a look at the size of ANWR or Gates of the Arctic sometime; they're even larger, and considerably harder to get to.

BTW, what's "VC"?


VC= visitor center .

[smokymtnsteve]

PLEASE STAND FOR THE GOSPEL OF ABBEY!

"If people persist in trespassing upon the grizzlies' territory, we must accept the fact that the grizzlies, from time to time, will harvest a few trespassers."

"THANKS BE TO ABBEY"

[minnesotasmith]

"If grizzlies persist in charging peaceful hikers, environmentalists must accept the fact that the hikers (at least the ones properly prepared for grizzly territory);) , from time to time, will use large-caliber modern technology to blow away a few grizzlies."

[smokymtnsteve]

"If grizzlies persist in charging peaceful hikers, environmentalists must accept the fact that the hikers (at least the ones properly prepared for grizzly territory);) , from time to time, will use large-caliber modern technology to blow away a few grizzlies."

sounds kinda like Armed Home invasion to me. ole Grizz was there first, it's his home, you are the stranger there....

[minnesotasmith]

Their worth IMO is NOT the same as that of a human, and they are not entitled to the same Constitutional rights as a human (American humans, anyway). Only PETA/ALF traitors-to-the-species types generally say that, and they are hypocrites merely for continuing to live when they supposedly believe what they espouse. I will go out of my way to avoid conflict with bears, but the possibility of encountering a bear while hiking will NOT prevent me from then-unavoidable self defense. (If the choice becomes the bear or me, it's dead bear, if I can bring that about.) Neither will it prevent me from ever setting foot on a trail in the first place.

[smokymtnsteve]

PLEASE STAND FOR THE GOSPEL OF ABBEY!

"Are people more important than the grizzly bear? Only from the point of view of some people."

THANKS BE TO ABBEY!

[Pencil Pusher]

"Are people more important than the grizzly bear? Only from the point of view of some people."
Sounds like a simple answer to a broad question. Conversely, someone could say, "Are people less important than the grizzly bear? Only from the point of view of some people."

[smokymtnsteve]

yes, you could say that,

but it wouldn't be gospel like the WORD of ABBEY! ;)

[Pencil Pusher]

Okay, praise be to Abbey and I agree with Minnesotasmith:D

[Gateshiker]

I've hiked in the Brooks Range twice, as part of a small guided group (five of us one time, six the other time) for 10 days each time, in July both years. The first trip was in 2002 in the NPR just outside the NW corner of Gates of the Arctic NP. The second trip was in 2003 in the northcentral portion of the Gates. Both times we flew from Fairbanks to Coldfoot and then by bush plane from Coldfoot about 2 hours northwest, landing on gravel bars. We were well above treeline on both trips. I carried a 60 pound pack (actual weight at the Wright Air counter in Fairbanks). The terrain varied from gravel bar to tussocks to bogs to low willows to occasional easy tundra. Often the choice was between tussocks or crossing and re-crossing rivers or creeks; we usually chose the water. I am certain that the terrain was easier than if we had been below treeline. I cannot imagine trying to hike there below treeline.

Weather varied from 80 degree sun to an inch of snow on our tents in the morning to high winds to sandstorms to smoke from forest fires of undetermined origins. On both trips we saw grizzlies, caribou, and no people other than ourselves; the first year we saw a wolf. We made 4-6 miles per day.

Minnesota Smith, if you have not hiked in the Brooks Range, you need to do a shorter trip before even considering what you have described. It is not possible to appreciate the difficulty until you have actually tried it out. I have done lots of trail backpacking, including Mt. Whitney, and have run nine 26.2 mile marathons in my life, but my Brooks Range backpacks were the hardest things I've ever done. Because of the incredible isolation of the Brooks Range, you have little margin for error. You could easily die on the trip you've planned. Before assessing what you can do in a summer, take a two-week trip - you'll feel plenty challenged by the time you've finished that!

[Bloodroot]

Gateshiker-

When you took your backpacking trip(s) in the Brooks range what guided service did you go with? Do you have an online contact point with them? Really looking into taking a trip there within the next few years. Thanks.

Jason

[hikerdude]

Coffee time for me again. That piece GATESHIKER wrote. One day many years ago, I saw this guy run by me on the A.T. and couldn't figure out what was going on. I was hiking 25-30 miles a day. Then years went by and 20-60 hikers all running without packs or water on the A.T. So I had to ask the one guy while he ran the other way shouting, we are racing its a 50 mile race. Well to this day I have found all about trail runners. I don't care, just like to muse, the trail runner like it to. But now the old wigs are saying, we need to all buy insurance to hike the A.T. cause of all the increase in running accidents has cost rescue some real numbers to take to congress. Like Gateshiker states. I'm just a musing guy, but the brass at the top is really saying; they want us to register for insurance at Springer somehow. They haven't figured out how yet. But hiking insurance is on the books for the A.T.

I like all year hiking reading, to bad its so far away. I bought some Rossignol Mountain Fo3's. limited stock. So I will be alone again.
The point is I ski the whole A.T, all winter, right? So why would I pay $1000+ a day to fly around Alaska. That's what my uncle charged years ago. That's all you do in Alaska, is fly around anyway. Or camp out in the fog till it clears, so you might as well fly around anyway cause you got to leave soon.

Its so dark in winter, I think I said that 1000 times to now.

[Bloodroot]

Well I guess I'll just have to fork out a couple grand and find out for myself.

[hikerdude]

Ah all you do is get some Fo3's and wait till it snows. And you can ski the whole A.T. like the whole Jimmy fishing trail or ask me, those small cliffs drift at to bottom, snow can't stick to a cliff, so you just like kind of. And those crap rocky trails like at the Delwatgap. Yea, you float right on down to I-80 or 206. You'll see, no more rocks. Just some redneck postholer, hunting bear tommorow. I better get out there and mountain bike now on sunday, or I will get shot tommorrow. :bse All for free, we have guides here to, but I don't hunt bear, I might ride one if they would stop running away. But its cool girls, I chased all the bears into the "no hunting keep out parcels".

It funny to say, but I got more black bears per mile in my county than you. Those experts have all your court papers before you wager your bet.

[Bloodroot]

Im confused...is your post directed towards my comment?

[Dances with Mice]

Im confused...is your post directed towards my comment?

I thought it was a collection of hiker Zen koans.

[Bloodroot]

Ummmm.....yeh. I have no idea what he's talking about? Right over my head!

[The Solemates]

Yea, this guy can't exactly communicate very well. I've read several of his threads and have no clue what he is ever talking about.