Equinox Wilderness Expeditions offers this backpacking trip to a unique island wilderness in Alaska's Aleutian Islands. Stretching southwesterly 1,300 miles from the Alaska Peninsula nearly to Kamchatka in the Russian Far East, the Aleutian archipelago rises as a string of volcanic islands amid the North Pacific and Bering Sea. Pelagic seabirds, waterfowl, eagles, and a host of marine mammals all make their home here, along with a few hardy pockets of humanity. Lying in the most remote and mysterious corner of Alaska, the islands are part of the circum-Pacific "Ring of Fire," geologically one of the most unsettled regions on Earth. Tectonic forces clash as the Pacific plate pushes under the North American plate in the Aleutian Trench. High peaks rise mythically out of the sea, and volcanoes keep scientists busy predicting their cycles of dormancy and activity.
The focus of our exploration is the geothermally active Umnak Island. Here, volcanoes rise abruptly, intersected by eroded valleys and huge expanses of black lava moonscapes. In almost every direction, there is the sea--the Bering Sea to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the south. Precipitous cliffs and rock ledges alternate with boulder-strewn beaches, scalloped bays, and pocket beaches full of treasures. Here is a truly remote, spectacular coastline, little-known, even less visited.
Participants fly 800 miles from Anchorage to Dutch Harbor/Unalaska, where we meet and take time to explore the fascinating history and prehistory of the largest island in the Aleutians. One of the most important archeological digs in Aleutians history has taken place in recent years on Unalaska. House design details and material culture gleaned from the site are rewriting our knowledge of Aleutian history. We will visit the dig and the museum Museum of the Aleutians, as well as the World War II Museum of the Pacific. The extent of military activity in the Aleutians during the Second World War is well documented.
After a night in Dutch Harbor, we fly to the Aleut village of Nikolski on the Bering Sea, where less than 25 people live, then take a boat charter east. We land in a unique bay near a highly active region of hot mineral pools and geysers. We head out across the treeless grassland tundra to the rugged Pacific coast, exploring beaches and ancient village sites, in the shadow of the volcanoes. Alternately, we may fly to the north end of the island, and traverse the island on foot from north to south.
