2007 Full Itinerary:

• Day 1 Your trip begins today in Anchorage, Alaska. You can arrive at any time and transfer to our hotel independently. Depending on your arrival time, the remainder of the day is at leisure to relax after your flight or to explore some of the city’s notable sites including the Anchorage Museum of Art & History and Alaska Zoo. Meals on your own today, hotel included.
• Day 2

  Preparing for our afternoon cruise across stunning Prince William Sound, we meet early in the hotel lobby for introductions. As we head south from Anchorage en route to Whittier, we’ll stop at the Portage Glacier Visitor Center to view exhibits and a highly acclaimed film about the glaciers that continue to carve and shape the Alaska landscape as they expand and recede.  We’ll be on the lookout for our first glimpse of Alaskan wildlife as we board an Alaska State Ferry in Whittier for the two-hour crossing to Cordova, a small fishing town far off the beaten track (the local fishing fleet is the source for much of the prized Copper River Salmon catch each season).  Originally established in 1906 as a railroad terminus for the Kennicott copper mines, the town consists mostly of wooden buildings from much earlier eras.  Our home for the next two nights is the Orca Adventure Lodge, a cannery built in the 1880s and now renovated into fine lodgings. Driving distance: 50 miles (1 hour). Breakfast, lunch included.

• Day 3

  Cordova is an undiscovered gem that offers scenic grandeur, bird watching and plenty of great hiking opportunities. Today’s hike takes place in the Copper River Delta, through the massive Chugach National Forest. First we’ll hike to pristine, glacial-fed Saddlebag Lake and enjoy a picnic lunch along the shore. Then it’s on to the day’s highlight: our visit to Childs Glacier, which spills down the mountain directly into the Copper River. As our guide prepares a fresh salmon bake, we’ll hear the glacier clicking and cracking.  With luck (and patience!), we’ll see it calve huge chunks of ice into the river in spectacular fashion. Hiking: 6-7 miles. Driving distance: 90 miles (2 hours). Lunch, dinner included.

• Day 4

  For those ready for another temperate rain forest hike, we’ll make our way up the flanks of Mt. Eyak for a spectacular view of Prince William Sound, perhaps with soaring bald eagles in the forefront of our photos. By early afternoon, we’ll strap ourselves in for an exciting and scenic floatplane flight to Valdez where we set up camp for the next two nights. Hiking: 3-4 miles.  Breakfast, lunch included.

• Day 5 We spend a remarkable day sea kayaking near Shoup Glacier to see Shoup Bay’s amazing wildlife, including seals, sea otters, eagles and occasionally whales. Our paddle takes us past floating icebergs, nesting Kittiwakes and eventually in front of the face of the glacier itself. Any trip member choosing not to kayak today may opt to take a scenic cruise to the Columbia Glacier or relax back at camp. We return to our campsite this evening for dinner, likely fresh fruit of the sea, and overnight. Kayaking: 6 hours. All meals included.
• Day 6 Crossing Thompson Pass, we take an awesome hike above the Worthington Glacier with the Chugach Range looming all around us (with views that have been compared to the Swiss Alps). By afternoon, we continue towards the Alaskan “interior” past Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and finally to the Matanuska Glacier and our campsite for the next two nights. The Matanuska Glacier, the largest road accessible glacier in Alaska at nearly four miles wide and 26 miles long, is a breathtaking destination! Our campsite near the glacier will allow plenty of opportunities for hiking, exploring and photographing the landscape. Hiking: 5 miles. Driving distance: 160 miles (4 hours). All meals included.
• Day 7

  Today, we’ll strap on crampons for a trek on the ice of the Matanuska Glacier (no previous experience necessary). Spectacular views of surface pools, hidden lakes, ice towers, crevasses and ice caves will inspire the mountaineer in all of us as we learn firsthand about the powerful forces that these enormous rivers of ice have on the Alaskan landscape. After our trek, you’ll be free to take an optional raft trip down the Matanuska River or go on a hike up Lion’s Head, offering a different visual perspective of the massive glacier nearby. Three-hour (5-mile) glacier hike included. All meals included.

• Day 8

  This morning, we begin our journey to Denali National Park, first protected in 1917 as a game reserve. Stopping for lunch in the small town of Talkeetna, we’ll visit the Denali National Park Mountaineering Ranger Station where we can talk to a Mt. McKinley climbing ranger about the challenges mountaineers face climbing North America’s highest peak. If the weather is good, you can opt for a scenic flight around the mountain – a flight that has been called the most spectacular airplane ride on earth. By late afternoon, we’ll continue our drive to Denali National Park to set up camp along the Nenana River adjacent to the Park entrance. Driving time: 6 hours. All meals included.

• Day 9

  Denali National Park is a certain highlight of everyone's visit to Alaska!  More than 650 species of flowering plants poke out from the thin layer of topsoil above the permafrost and 39 species of mammals survive the long, cold winters. We take a park service shuttle bus (tickets provided) on a “North American safari” into the heart of this incredible wilderness with the hopes of encountering some of its unique flora & fauna. The park road we travel down is closed to regular vehicle traffic after the initial 15 miles so the shuttle provides the only way to visit the park’s amazing interior. All meals included.
  
  *Denali National Park: Over six million acres in size, Denali provides our best opportunity to view Alaska wildlife such as moose, caribou, romping grizzly bear, Dall sheep and wolves. We’ll also see many species of plants, flowers and shrubs that blanket the Tundra, and perhaps even catch a glimpse of massive Mount McKinley, the tallest peak in North America (20,320’).

• Day 10  After breakfast, we’ll put on dry-suits and life jackets and prepare for our 4- hour river rafting adventure down the Nenana River. You can opt for the Canyon Run, which has a series of Class IV rapids, or the Scenic Run, which is a more moderate Class II or III. As you’re enjoying the river, our guides will move camp into the heart of the National Park to our campsite along the Savage River. This camp provides excellent opportunities for viewing wildlife and, if the weather is good, stunning views of Denali itself. The rest of the afternoon will be left free for hiking, ”flight-seeing” or perhaps just relaxing and enjoying the sights and sounds of this magnificent park. All meals included. 
• Day 11 Driving south from Denali, we pass through the Matanuska Valley, returning to Anchorage around 5 p.m. Please do not schedule any flights out of Anchorage prior to 8 p.m. Driving distance: 240 miles (5 hours). Breakfast, lunch included.