Last weekend I was fully initiated into the Alaskan lifestyle with a packrafting trip in the Alaska Range. It was in the area south of Fairbanks, in between Fairbanks and Anchorage on the Denali Hwy. Packrafting is just that: pack - rafting. We packed in, something like 25 miles, over passes and through valleys, before putting our boats in at the foot of a glacier.
Here's the crew. From left to right: Heather, me, Ben, Ed, and Dea. I work with Dea in the lab, I'll be helping her with her field campaign this winter. They are all friends and were happy to bring me along on my first packraft.
Just like all the trees around here now, the tundra was turning. This made the hills an incredible gold and red. Apparently tundra is normally all green!
The big one was out, showing itself fully in a clear sky. That's Denali.
Those are some of the other headliners in the Alaska range: Hess, Deborah, and Hayes I believe.
There were many alpine glacier lakes, too. Good for dunking in the numbing cold water. I think my average dunk was about 8 seconds.
Caribou were everywhere! We probably saw about 25-30 on the whole trip. They are very curious animals, too, always interested in us. Then they'd snort, throw up their heads, and trot away.
The hills were literally covered with wild blueberries!
The final decent to the river...
The Susitna River. Perfect weather made for an ridiculously beautiful experience.
