Alaska Hiking, Kayaking, and Glacier Tour

We are meeting in the lobby at 7:45am – breakfasts in belly, luggage in hand, dressed to hike with all the bathtub water your bottles can hold.

We’ll cover introductions (COMMENCE GIRL CRUSHES) and a brief trip overview before heading north toward Hatcher Pass in the Talkeetna Mountains. You and your new besties will enjoy a 5 to 6-hour tundra hike like the she-yetis you are!

Clamber up to alpine tarns to spy pristine lakes and waterfalls. Afterwards we’ll dine, de-boot and un-bra at the Majestic Valley Wilderness Lodge near the Matanuska Glacier. Amenities include simple twin-share rooms, a big grassy outdoor area with huge mountain views and a fire ring.

Hiking Distance: 8.7 miles
Elevation Gain: 2,250′
Hiking Time: 5-6 hours

Accommodation: Wilderness Lodge, Shared Doubles
Meals: L-D

Scenic Bush Plane over Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Go from one out-of-body experience to the next as you cruise along a National Scenic Highway to the Copper River-side town of Chitina. There you’ll be greeted by a tiny she-fleet of planes (!) that’ll fly you for 30 glorious minutes across the volcanic and glacier-clad Wrangell Mountains which erupt from the National Park.

Nbd. Just the LARGEST NATIONAL PARK IN THE US and a United Nations World Heritage Site. But this isn’t just a joy ride. We’re jetting to the historic copper and gold rush village of McCarthy. With a year-round population of 35 and a summer spike of 200, it’s everyone’s favorite small town.

We’ll enjoy 3 nights in shared cabins in near the foot of Kennicott Glacier, the numero uno of panty-droppers. There’s so much to explore: Over 16,000’ of Mt. Blackburn and 7,000’ of Stairway Ice Fall loom above you. Four major mountain ranges jut out of the earth, including 9 of the 16 tallest peaks in the US. You ever seen the world’s largest non-polar ice field, boo?

If there’s time and daylight, we’ll enjoy a short scenic hike to a waterfall today. Make some room in your photo roll – Alaska’s giving you all her gorgeous girth.

Distance: 2.3 miles
Elevation Gain: 550′
Hiking Time: 1-2 hours

Accommodation: River Lodge (Shared Triple)
Meals: B-L-D

Welcome to the ice cube, baby. We are keeping things ultra-frosty today with an all-day guided ice climb led by local mountaineers. You’ll be loaded up with crampons, harnesses, helmets, and ice axes to explore all the blue crevasses, moulins, and crystal edges. Ygritte Styr called – she thinks you’re a badass.

Distance: Approx 6 miles
Elevation Gain: Undulating/Minimal
Glacier Time: 8 hours

Accommodation: River Lodge (Shared Triple)
Meals: B-L

It’s abandoned mine day – but don’t worry, we stay outside in the fresh, open air. Take in the goliath mountain and glacier views as you climb alongside the rubble of what was once a booming gold mine.

Though intense, the Bonanza Mine Trail hike is an all-time Explorer Chick favorite, capping your McCarthy experience with mad accomplishment.

Distance: 8.5 miles
Elevation Gain: 3,959′
Hiking Time: 6-8 hours

Accommodation: River Lodge (Shared Triple)
Meals: B-L

You won’t even have a chance to be sad about leaving Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, because yet another mountain range is waiting for you. Cross the heavily glaciated Chugach mountains to come toe-to-toe with a stunning ice field that feeds a blue river of ice.

Hike from alpine Thompson Pass to the lateral moraine of Worthington Glacier, dropping altitude to explore the charming town of Valdez. Coastal views of the Chugach National Forest provide another Alaskan curveball – is this place CGI?

Look around you, Explorer Chick. The geologically active Chugachs burst out of the sea encircling Prince William Sound and countless glaciers that spill into the sparkling water. Startling greens and blues explode all around you. It all feels like a Bob Ross painting and is going to make the return to real life A LITTLE HARD OKAY?

Distance: 1 miles
Elevation Gain: 300′
Hiking Time: 1 hour

Accommodation: Hotel (Shared double)
Meals: B-L

It’s baptism day. After gearing up for a quick lesson, we get to enter the beautiful blue waters that run through and around Alaska. Water taxi across central Prince William Sound (is that an otter?!) to sea kayak through glacier-carved Columbia Bay (oh god, it’s on its back with a tiny shell!!!).

The bay is calm, protected, and full of icebergs to paddle through if we time the tide right. Slice through the Alaskan blue toward the face of Columbia Glacier, the largest and among the most active tidewater glaciers in North America.

Now would be a great time to have a lazy-eye so you can focus on the ice, the water, the barking sea lions, lazy harbor seals, jumping salmon, soaring eagles, and even orca + humpbacks on their daily swim to the glacier.

Brace yourself for the finale: witnessing the miles-long face of Columbia *calving* millions of pounds of prehistoric ice into the bay.

Kayaking: 10 hours including roundtrip boat transport

Accommodation: Hotel (Shared double)
Meals: B-L

Pull your hair into one last windswept bun as we board the Alaska state ferry to cross Prince William Sound. From Valdez to Whittier, we’ll chug through the water at a relaxing pace to relive our adventures and squeal OMG IS THAT A SEAL?! whenever we see a seal.

Time permitting, we’ll sneak in one more hike before a short drive back to Anchorage. Our Alaskan expedition comes to a close at 5pm *tear*. Return flights as early as 7pm can be scheduled, and we can drop your tuckered-out booties directly at the airport.

Until next time, Explorer Chick!

Distance: 3 miles
Elevation Gain: 300′
Hiking Time: 1-2 hour

Ferry Transfer: 6 hours (Scenic)
Meals: B-L

*Explorer Chick reserves the option to modify trip itineraries at the discretion of your tour director as necessary due to weather, conditions, illness, injury, group dynamics, or other unforeseen incidents.