Experience Alaska’s natural and historic wonders, immersed in wilderness, while enjoying the pleasures of comfortable lodges and cabins. This trip offers among the best activities Alaska has to offer – bush flying, wildlife viewing, whitewater rafting, historic walking tour, hiking, glacier-travel, and sea kayaking. Explore Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Prince William Sound, and Turnagain Arm with companionable, experienced Alaskan guides on a variety of active outdoor activities, while traveling from place to place by van, ferry, and plane.
We travel by van from Anchorage to the Copper River Valley before taking a breathtaking flight over the mountains to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, for hiking, history, and glacier travel.
We spend our time in the largest national park in the United States, Wrangell-St. Elias, which stretches across 13.2 million acres--six times the size of Yellowstone National Park. The park, penetrated by only two remote roads, has alpine meadows, glaciers, and four dramatic whitewater rivers roiling with rapids, as well as nine peaks over 14,000 feet. The expanse of Wrangell-St. Elias will redefine your understanding of the term vast, even in the context of Alaska.
We explore the dramatic ocean environment of Prince William Sound by charter boat and sea kayak, out of Valdez, Alaska’s “Little Switzerland.” We take a comfortable cruising boat to view the glaciers, then kayak amid towering icebergs, gliding through bays that are completely inaccessible by motorized boats, and observe sea otters and harbor seals hauled out on the ice floes. We may see sea lions, bears and even whales! We hike on recently uncovered landscape and in the adjacent old growth forest. A kayak is ideal for exploring. Don't worry if you've never kayaked; we provide all the instruction and equipment for a safe, fun trip.
Traveling across Prince William Sound, we view the largest glacier in Prince William Sound, second largest in the entire state of Alaska. Columbia Glacier is 25 miles from Valdez and covers more than 400 square miles. Surrounded by the Chugach Mountains, its towering face is more than three miles wide.
Each day there will be moderately strenuous activities, with an option for more strenuous activity. There is considerable flexibility afforded by accommodations and choices of activities. Forest hikes, glacier hikes, wildflower identification, tour of the Kennicott Copper mine and mining town of McCarthy, and ice climbing are among the possibilities. We welcome families with children on custom family itineraries. Please contact us for details.
This trip differs from other Equinox trips only insomuch as it provides comfortable, non-tenting accommodations. Like other Equinox trips, it is still designed for the fit and active who have prior outdoor experience, and who want a participatory trip. This is a perfect trip for independent travelers who want the freedom to explore every day, without thinking about the details.
Long-time Alaska guides and naturalists lead this adventure, providing you with as much opportunity for activity as there are hours in the day. Our guides have lived and worked in the remote communities you will visit, and provide a uniquely Alaskan perspective to your trip.
