Lovely ice climbing area that I just learned is also a recreational gold mining spot!…read more I've only been here to ice climb. Since it's at a high elevation (for the Alaska road system), it's often one of the first places "near" Anchorage to offer reliable ice climbing. The favorite moderate route is called "Kid's Corner", it's a 3-pitch WI3. The start can be kinda spicy early season though, so be careful. To access it, you can either hike up the frozen creek or take the game trail up the hill and rappel down into it. The scary thing about rapping in is...you HAVE to climb back out if the river isn't frozen. *gulp* OK, ok, you can do some sketchy vertical-frozen-dirt moves to get out, but I wouldn't recommend it. Haven't been here in the summer, but looks like a great place to explore the creek.

We have had two phenomenal days with St. Elias Alpine Guides! We rafted the Kennicott and Nizina…read moreRivers with Jeff and Stella. They were knowledgeable and fun! They made us a delicious lunch on a gravel bar half way through the trip. After we finished rafting, Wrangell Mountain Air picked us up and gave us a great 20 minute flight seeing tour of the rivers, glaciers and Kennecott and McCarthy. A wonderful way to spend a day! The next day, we had a wonderful tour of the Root Glacier and The Kennecott Mill with Michael. I've never had such an entertaining and well informed tour guide! We can't say enough great things about the fun we had in Wrangell St. Elias because of St. Elias Alpine Guides!

Here for the half day glacier hike tour. Our guide is Jake. Total 8 people in our group. Crampons,…read moregloves, sunglasses are required. Also, bring your own foods/snacks and water bottle! Today's goal is to look for a blue pool!!

I really like this trail. It's the type of trail that you can't pin the direction it's going to go…read more You're kind of just weaving your way up and around. The trail (in October when we went) gets progressively more muddy as the you get higher. Most of the first couple miles are in the trees and shrubs. Around the 2.4 mile mark you come to a picnic table and an open viewing area. All that said, it's really not a great trail when it's muddy. Scary in places really. Especially coming down. Excited to try it out in summer after a couple really warm, really dry days.

Probably the most brutal hike in the Anchorage bowl!…read more It's short on mileage but HEAVY on gain. Trail has great views of the Knick Glacier as well as some nice wild flower-sprinkled tundra near the end. The trail ends at a ridge that eventually reaches the shorter of Pioneer Peak's two summits. I would not recommend this section unless you are very comfortable with exposed scrambling and/or you are a confident rock climber. Once on the South Summit you can glimpse at the slighty taller, "true" summit: the North Summit. Our intentions were to downclimb from the South Summit and then go upthe North...but after climbing down the ball bearing scree with sickening runouts, we decided to go get breakfast in Palmer instead. It's very tough to get to the true summit from this trail head, best options would be: 1) Do it when there is snow on the summits, might be easier to downclimb and then climb up the other side if there is enough snow. At least you could arrest a fall with an axe. 2) Climb the North Face route, which leads directly to the North Summit. This is best done in late spring. There is considerable avalanche risk if conditions aren't perfect. 3) Have bigger balls than us and just go for it when it's dry.

My fiancé and I booked a room at this lodge for an ice fishing trip this past New Years! The other…read morelodge on lake Louise which we had stayed at once before was booked and we had to find other options which brought us to this lodge. It was a blessing in disguise because this lodge was exponentially better! This is a family run business and their hospitality was excellent. From giving us pointers where to ice fish, making a complementary breakfast for guests in the morning, to just chatting with us on how they got to be the lodge owners. They were genuinely nice people! They did a fun auction for New Years and were giving out awesome prizes, we actually ended up winning an awesome hunting and survival knife kit! We are big on ice fishing and it was cool that almost everyone there was there to ice fish like us and we had a good time meeting other couples and groups and talking about what everyone was catching and using for bait and where they were on the lake! We got one fairly large lake trout and two huge burbot not even 50 yards from the front of the lodge. (Which was nice because we don't have a snow machine) We booked the queen size bed room and were very pleased with the accommodations. We are local Alaskans and don't have incredibly high expectations but the bed was comfortable enough for us and the room was basic but perfect for what we were using the lodge for. We would highly recommend this lodge and we plan on going back!

From the owner: Point Lodge Alaska is a full service wilderness lodge offering a cafe, bar 13 rooms and 6 cabins…read more All overnight guests get free breakfast. All guests can order a fresh warm breakfast or lunch till 2pm daily. A great place for fishing, hunting or wildlife viewing. You can also find a deep water boat launch and dock. See you soon.

Great ice climbing area!…read more The approach is just long enough for you to feel like you did something, but not long enough to leave you at the foot of an ice climb, exhausted. The crux to climbing here is often the creek. It doesn't like to freeze very often. Proceed with caution if you're among the first to test it out! It is definitely frozen now though (early March 2018). This area is a great escape if you're bored of Eklutna Canyon but don't want to drive very far.

McCarthy Air changed their pricing scheme twice during the course of our trip. The end result:…read moredespite assuring my buddy and me that we would pay for a cheaper, updated itinerary, rather than an earlier, more expensive one, McCarthy Air charged us for the more expensive trip that we didn't actually take. When, at the end, I told the office employee that as far as I was concerned, they were straight up stealing money from us, he replied something like, "Yeah, sorry I don't have better news for you." Pretty bad part of an otherwise awesome trip to McCarthy and Wrangell St. Elias National Park. Two stars instead of one, because the pilot, Gary, clearly knows what he's doing with a bush plane and knows the backcountry like the back of his hand. That said, I highly suggest you go with Wrangell Mountain Air if you want a backcountry drop-off.

This peak is relatively low elevation, and starts at a marked trail head: the generically named…read more"East Fork Trail" on the south side of Eklutna Lake. Given the distance from the trailhead and relatively low elevation Abbey and I definitely underestimated this one, DO NOT be like us! We leisurely biked in on Saturday morning, set up a camp on Eklutna Lake near the crowded Bold airstrip, and were hiking out on the trail by 1pm. We didn't have a route in mind that we were 100% committed to. We had read mixed things about many of them. The trail was delightfully NOT overgrown (I've been in here just a few weeks late in the season, and it was a jungle). We got to the falls and started trying to find a way up the West/NW Ridge. I encountered my first strand of scratchy Devils Club, looked at Abbey and said "I'm not doing this". We had also caught a glimpse of the trail as it continued across the creek, it looked to be in great shape. And it was. As we continued to navigate the mountain, we continued to look up toward the summit and see a face littered with walls of vertical rock. It all looked very, very bad. A maze of grassy slopes and rock drop-offs. Eventually, we had curved around south and west of the summit and kept going. We then saw a clear, easy route up the mountain.! It was a magical veggieless path of scree and then snow up an alder-choked stretch of mountain. Just like we had heard it described by others. And then we saw a black bear right next to the scree slopes, munching on grass. We yelled at Them, and then yelled at Them some more and...They didn't really move. They just continued to graze, walk into the brush, walk out of the brush, repeat. Eventually the bear was out of view, and we started making our way up in the blistering heat. Progress was slow, but eventually the mountain cooled. Scree gave way to snow, and we could start to feel the gentle breezes of the valley. We got on the snow and it was much easier going. Great boot snow with no need for crampons. Eventually the snow we were on continued to thin and snake into a narrow constriction. The rock all around us was closing in and was really rotten. At some point the snow was gone and we found ourselves on 3rd and 4th class rock composed of thousands of brittle butter knife blades. It chipped off when you stepped on it. There were no cracks, there were no horns. Nothing to plug or sling. (not that we had any gear with us) This was, by far, the most challenging section, mostly for the brain, I wouldn't call the climbing quite 5th class...I would say it was very similar in character to Chickenshit Gully on Bashful, but it was much longer (it started at around 4,200-4,300') We just kept calm and continued upwards. The terrain did get easier to climb, but the exposure did not let up. Exiting the chossy butter knives section just before the ridge turns knife-edge, we climbed through a series of chimneys (the first started at about 61.27546, -148.89408): the stemming was fun, the extremely loose rock, was not! We had to gingerly take turns so as not to knock rock on each other. Finally the exposure started to level-off and we were leisurely scrambling to the true summit. It was warm and cozy, with blob of snow on what was mostly a comfy bed of turf. We hung out and drank our adult summit beverages, and pondered the the way down. The "West Ridge" (it's more NW if you ask me) looked to be pretty straight forward. It mostly was. (while on the ridge) The scrambling on this line was much easier than the line we took up, 3rd class at the worst, and mostly pleasant hiking. It starts to get challenging as you near the treeline though. There are a series of sneaky cliffs buried in the brush. When we followed the path of least resistance, we were suckered onto the tops of them. We needed to constantly side-hill and down climb around them. Once we were firmly below treeline, there were veins and memories of the trail but...there wasn't much. We grabbed lots of devils club and did a mudslide or two. I broke a beer (but didn't realize it, as it soaked all my camera gear) and a trekking pole and Abbey also sacrificed a beer. Still, we were grateful to not be descending what we had climbed up! Finally, we were free. As we rested at the creek, Abbey thought she saw another bear and instinctively yelled at it. It turned out to just be a sleepy Wolverine that quietly returned to the woods. We found a make-shift log bridge to cross the creek, and saw a mouse that looked like it was drowning, and then proceeded to run on the water, against the flow. Savior vole drowned for our souls. Times: it took us about 9 hours to get to the summit from the trailhead, and about 7 to get back to camp. We summit'd just before sunset, and got to our pre-pitched tent just before sunrise. Like a couple of vampires.

I had a fantastic rafting experience with the NOVA guides…read more Prior to driving by the sign on the road that says "NOVA rafting," I was lamenting about how I didn't think I was going to be able to raft due to my tight schedule while visiting Alaska. I drove by the sign and thought "I will just pop down there and see if they have any space." Lo and behold, that had some space on the trip that was starting ten minutes after I got there. They got me signed up and off we went! Adam did a great job driving our bus and photographing us along the way, Gavin kept us well entertained and got us excited on the bus, Coffee (manager) gave us a very informative safety speech, and my rafts personal guide, Maria (from Louisiana), was awesome. I felt safe and had a wonderful time with her guiding our raft. Getting a gla-cial (facial from the glacier water) was a top experience of my trip. I also thought the tour and photos were appropriately priced. Overall, a great experience and worth the money and I'm so happy I did it.

Amazing! That's the one word I would use to describe this company. The quality of guides this…read morecompany has sets the bar very high. Shoutout to David (for glacier trekking) and Jon (for whitewater rafting) for making the respective excursions memorable! Let me start with the glacier trekking. My buddy and I did the adventure trek.This was perhaps one of the most unique excisions over ever been on. The fact that you're exploring a glacier (the matanuska glacier) by walking on it and through it leaves you with a sense of wonder. It seriously feels like a whole new world that's not in earth. Our guide , David, took us to see a lot of features of the glacier and we got to see glacier crevasses and glacial pools. So beautiful and majestic. This left an imprint of Alaskan glacial beauty and I'll be sure to never forget. He even created a spout on the glacier so we can taste the freshness of glacier water! We felt completely safe with his knowledge of the glacier and he made sure to answer any questions we may have had. Thanks David! The next excursion was to whitewater rafting down the Matanuska River. For the second excursion, we did the lions head rafting tour. Let me start out by saying that it was utterly fun and unforgettable. Going through class 3 and 4 rapids is sure to excite any thrill seeker. The guide definitely makes this trip exciting especially since they are integral to your safety as well as fun. Jon made sure that we were all engaged and having a great time! Thanks Jon! I cannot recommend this company enough. Definitely do multiple activities (you'll get a discount for booking more than one)! This was the end cap for my Alaskan adventure as it was drawing to a close. I couldn't have chosen better adventures to end on! Keep it up Nova!