Trip Reports
Adventures
Assorted tales of treks, trudges, and accidental epics in the wild.
Portage Glacier Calving (3/6/2019)- There are many metaphors for the sound of a glacier calving. A rifle going off, trains colliding, the crash and roll of thunder. None of these descriptions fully capture the sound, but they all suggest one thing: a sense of … Read More
Blackbird Traverse (8/24/2018)- In early August I found myself at the Snowbird Glacier Hut, poring over the Bomber Traverse Map with three Canadian women who had just made it to the hut in the middle of a storm. Wind shook the hut and … Read More
The Bad Kash Traverse (6/30/2018)- Some trip reports are inspiring. Some are informative. Others are warnings. On the last day of June, 2018, Brett Woelber, Dre Benitez and I set out to float the Kashwitna River via the MCA’s Holden Hut site in the Talkeetna … Read More
Tents in Valhalla: Bikepacking Knik Glacier (3/31/2018)- In March 2017, the stars and snows aligned to create a legendary day of Alaska fattire biking. Word had gotten out that you could ride from Hunter Creek across the Knik River to Knik Glacier, and when we arrived there … Read More
Backpacking Haleakala Crater (12/31/2017)- Every day before sunrise on Maui, a motorcade of rental cars creep up to the 10,023-foot summit of Haleakalā and throngs of bleary-eyed tourists spill out to shiver through the sunrise. It really is a sight, but when I first … Read More
McHugh Peak Incident 232 (12/23/2016)- I’m always bummed when adventure buddies leave Alaska, but there is a silver lining. Homesickness builds up until it’s almost explosive, and as soon as wayward friends return stateside they’re often up for the most outlandish, ambitious, and half-conceived plans. … Read More
Cirque de Bird (9/27/2016)- A few things I’m thankful for: clean running water, wool socks, and friends who don’t blink when you ask them if they can get up at 5am to go hiking. With the snow making an earnest effort to take the … Read More
Eagle to Peters (8/26/2016)- August is a tricky time of year for hiking in the Chugach. The early-season excitement of May and endless daylight of June are long past, and the weather tends to turn a little moody. It’s easy to look up at … Read MoreExpeditions
Longer, remote wilderness trips.
Expedition Arguk
300 mile backpacking and packraft expedition across the Alaska arctic, from the Brooks Range Mountains to the Arctic Ocean. Sponsored by the American Alpine Club, Sierra Club, and Northern Alaska Packrafts. Media featured in the Atlantic, Vimeo, and National Geographic.
Cinders to Sea
Trek and packraft across the Alaska Peninsula, from the north Pacific over the Aleutian volcanoes, down the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, and out to Bristol Bay. Sponsored by Kokopelli Packrafts and Outdoor Research.