Backpacking Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Today your guide(s) will pick-you up in Anchorage by 8:15am.  You’ll head to our Anchorage shop for a group orientation, before loading into our 15-passenger vans for the six-hour drive to Nabesna, the gateway community to the northern portion of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.  Our route will take us north from Anchorage, traveling through the majestic Chugach and Talkeetna mountain ranges. After a picnic lunch at the Matanuska Glacier, we’ll continue east on the scenic Glenn Highway toward Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.  By late afternoon, we’ll arrive in Nabesna and will check into the Ellis family lodge at Devils Mountain.  After settling into our accommodations, we’ll enjoy dinner at the lodge, pore over maps, and discuss the days ahead.

After an early breakfast, we’ll load packs and prepare for our early morning Piper Super Cub flight into the park.  As you and your pilot lift off of the gravel runway, the grand scale of this wonderful wilderness will be immediately apparent.  The stunning vastness of nearly 13-million acres is overwhelming, and you’ll immediately understand Alaska’s sense of scale as the small plane drifts over the landscape.  After half an hour, you will begin the descent toward a tundra ridge above the upper reaches of Tumble Creek.  After everyone has enjoyed the ride in the cub, the skilled bush pilot will bid us farewell and disappear into the landscape.  We’ll then shoulder our packs and begin hiking toward the headwaters of Tumble Creek, all along trying to digest the majesty of the surrounding peaks that tower well over 13000’!  We’ll camp tonight along the Tumble Creek.

For the next three days, we’ll make our way south toward the expansive north face of Mt. Jarvis.  The size and scope of Mt. Jarvis is really beyond description and can best be described as incomprehensible.  From the verdant tundra mesas to the twin summits, you’ll enjoy the rare opportunity to witness seven thousand feet of vertical relief and what is literally one of the most majestic vistas in North America.  We’ll cross Tumble Creek on the morning of Day 3, move up along a stunning tundra ridge toward Jarvis, and will set up camp next to a small lake beneath a hanging glacier.  Day 4 will be spent on a long and amazing day hike where we’ll cross an unnamed glacier (no ropes or glacier skills necessary) and ascend onto a large mesa beneath Mt. Jarvis.  Scouting the tundra for caribou and sheep, we’ll stop for lunch overlooking the Jacksina Glacier and the mighty north face of Jarvis.  By day 5, we’ll be headed north and onto the second stage of our circuit.

The character of the country will change as we begin stage two of our journey and head north toward Tanada Peak.  Broad singular vistas will be replaced by tight steep valleys and new views around every corner.  We’ll hop glacier creeks, ascend steep and exposed sheep trails, and cross a 7000’ pass along the way.  While the weather and the terrain will dictate the exact location of each night’s camp, we will have plenty of time to truly explore this amazing and diverse landscape.  By the end of Day 10, we’ll be camped along a small creek near a gravel airstrip.

After a celebratory breakfast in the wilderness, our pilot will begin the process of flying us out of the wilderness one to two at a time.  By early afternoon, we’ll again be relaxing at the Devil’s Mountain Lodge where we’ll enjoy hot showers and a celebratory dinner in the lodge dining room.

After breakfast at the lodge, we’ll pack up and by 10am we’ll be headed back to Anchorage where we’ll conclude our journey and bid one another farewell.  If you are leaving Alaska on this day, please schedule your homebound flights for after 9pm.  Better still, you can opt to stay in Anchorage overnight.