DAY 1
WELCOME TO TALKEETNA
one of the coolest towns in all of Alaska. This place has history. For decades it’s been the mountaineering hub of Alaska. Pretty much every mountaineering expedition for Denali or the Alaska Range starts here. Wherever you look you’ll see people with excited / nervous anticipation on their faces as they wait to fly into the range to start their climb.
You can get here from Anchorage by car, bus, or train. Any way about it we recommend you arrive a day early so you have some time to see the town and eat the Roadhouse cinnamon rolls. We’ll meet in the morning, get packed and sorted, take a break for lunch and then, weather-permitting, fly into the Alaska Range. Just like that we’ll be in the surreal remoteness of Denali National Park.
DAY 2
In the morning, we’ll wake to our new home for the next week. You may still be reeling from yesterday’s flight in. There’s nothing quite like seeing Alaska from the sky — breezing over tundra; spotting moose and grizzly; floating through massive glacial gorges with mile-high walls of granite; watching the sun glint off rivers braided like lungs; seeing the tallest mountain in North America at eye level —
IT’S A TRIP TO REMEMBER.
Today will be our first real travel day. After breakfast and coffee we’ll pack up and start making our way ever closer towards Denali along alpine tundra. Today we’ll get our legs under us and learn the ways of walking off-trail in Alaska.
DAY 3 - 6
We’ll spend the next four days wandering high alpine meadows, climbing small peaks, crossing glaciers, spotting moose & bear (from a safe distance), watching the persistent alpenglow of the far-north dance across the snowy Alaska Range, laughing around camp, eating delicious well-earned meals, and connecting in the deep way wilderness makes possible. There are no trails in Alaska and few people set foot on the Whale’s Tail
— SO BE PREPARED FOR THE REALNESS OF IT ALL.
DAY 7
THIS MOMENT IS ALWAYS BITTERSWEET
When you wake to the final morning in the backcountry relishing the memories, the deep sense of connection to a world that moves slower but also excited for your restaurant meal and hot shower. We’ll take some time this morning to soak in the quiet and reflect on how we want to return to the busier world — what we want to bring with us and what we’d rather leave behind.
We’ll get picked up in the afternoon and bid farewell to the Whale’s Tail and Denali for another wild flight back to Talkeetna. We’ll return to Talkeetna to a beautiful shared house where we can shower and clean up before heading out to a celebratory dinner in town.
DAY 8
After a delicious breakfast in town we’ll all say our goodbyes to each other and to the Alaska Range off in the distance. You can return now to Anchorage (or Fairbanks if you prefer) for your flight home or head off elsewhere to continue exploring Alaska.
The Alaska Factor
Any expedition in Alaska requires flexibility, patience, and a big sense of adventure. We always try our best to follow our itineraries as written, but rarely do. That’s part of the fun of it! Alaska weather is always changing and shifting and we will always respectfully honor what the weather allows or doesn’t allow us to do. We get the incredible luxury of flying into these beautiful places, but with flying also comes a need to defer to the conditions. Sometimes flights may be delayed for a day or more as we wait for an appropriate weather window. Trip itineraries may also shift due to group skill, pilot availability, or any number of unforeseen circumstances. Please come with an open mind, a spirit of enthusiastic adventure, and a willingness to see where the trip takes you.
