Roll Call Alaska 2016

SteveAE wrote:

outwestbound wrote:
Hi all. BIG Alaska trek starting this year.

Heading up from Seattle early May 2016 or sooner depending on weather and wandering back down around October 2017. Most likely traveling solo this trip, but my navigator's seat may fill by opportunity. Not much planning done, but I'm staying in Seward over winter in a furnished rental apartment/home/condo of some kind, hopefully where I can park the RV, or I'll stick it at a local marina. With the Iditarod and many other winter activities, a Florida boy will be right at home! Whose up for a little mushing!

Plan is to backpack, fish, kayak, horse ride, ice climb, glacier hike, fish some more, mountain bike, explore and campground/ boondock camp everywhere my rig will go, whale watch, mountain climb, ski, sail, snow mobile, then fish some more. Got a freezer in the basement; gonna alive off the land (and nearly every pub I cross).

I'll brave some cold weather going up the shortest route via Cassier. Coming back, I'll pick a route out of Milepost easterly down through Jasper CA, etc. I don't get in a hurry.

If anyone wants to roll in a caravan going up, I'm not set on a date. Please let me know. My rig is set up for cold weather, so I'm going to see if I survive the trip. I know some other folks who need to be in Anchorage by 5/1, so I'll have a weather/road report. My rig is in my sig, plus I'm putting about 500 watts of solar on it before I go.

Exciting stuff....lots to learn.

We are also planning a bit of a different trip as well. Will have tandem tripping canoe, backpacks, tandem packraft, and a 12' raft with breakdown frame (will have crampons too, but will leave the rest of the ice climbing gear at home). Our intent is to use the RV (TT) as base camp for multi-day backcountry trips. Some fly-in trips, but mainly road access. Plan to explore; N. BC, Yukon Territory, and Alaska. Fly-in to the head of the Ninza river and float it out to the Copper...maybe all the way to Cordova. Packraft down the Blackstone R. (North of Tombstone PP) to the Peel R., then backpack out. Canoe/packraft upper trib. of Alsak. Backpack out of McCarthy, cross Root and Kennecott Glaciers and packraft down the Lakina river back to the McCarthy road. Etc., etc., etc. Anyone who may be doing similar, please feel free to PM me if interested in maybe hooking up for one or more shared adventures.
Steve

Awesome Steve! This sounds exciting and well thought out. I'll google these rivers. Sounds like we may be crossing paths. I'm planning the same mode of "base camp" operation, activities and locations. You all have greater water craft skills and emphasis, but I've paddled many, many times, but in the Southeast. I've been evaluating how to add more paddling to my program for sure. Been watching YouTube on multi-day kayaking trips, but mostly in salt water so far.

"Stuff" is so dang expensive and hard to get north of the US boarder, so I'm thinkin now about installing a receiver on the front of the truck and getting a "goal post" to rack a couple kayaks around 12 feet or so. The goal post idea came after realizing that the 900 watt solar system I'm looking at will consume most of my trailer's roof, where I'd planned to fabricate a kayak rack. Also, I want the flexibility to leave the 37' camper in a campground and do more nimble camping trips to remote places, so I got a "truck tent", which I haven't used yet, but looks cool. I got a couple ground tents, but the truck tent with inflatable mattress seems functional, fast and safe.

I'll PM you. I typically use meetup and local clubs, but would like to see if meeting up for an adventure may make sense, especially for fly-in multi day backpacking stuff.

I'll PM you as you suggest in the coming days.