Alaska Wildland

14 Day Adventure Education Course

Leadership • Backcountry Immersion
Environmental Studies • Service Learning

This course is designed to introduce high school students to Alaska, a vast, majestic wilderness often called “America’s last frontier”.   Parents are invited to join in on this course as well!  While exploring Alaska, students travel and camp with their course instructors to gain a deeper appreciation of Alaska’s cultural and natural history. You will be immersed in “off the beaten path” destinations and experience remote regions of Alaska.  Whether you’re an experienced adventurer or a family who just enjoys spending time in the outdoors this course is a great way to cultivate proficiency in backpacking, kayaking, backcountry travel, leadership, and service learning.  

We encourage you to enroll in this course if you seek an alternative travel experience and are prepared to learn, serve and camp in backcountry settings.  This is not a guided tour.  You’ll learn the skills in these two weeks needed to travel in a mountain environment, across tundra by foot, or on the water by kayak.  Additionally, interrelationships between landscapes, ecological systems, and human cultures, past and present, will be explored. Our guest speakers and our educational curriculum ensures personal enrichment, new understandings, and a quiver of new skills.

Highlights

• Hike over alpine tundra beneath the snowcapped peaks in the Chugach Mountain Range.
• Meet lifelong Alaskan residents and hear their fascinating “sourdough stories”.
• Discover remote cabins, historic mines, frontier and native culture in genuine settings.
• Cruise aboard the Chenega across Prince William Sound to the port of Valdez, Alaska.
• Board a freight boat and get dropped off in a remote marine sanctuary.
• Paddle your own expedition kayak (IK’s) searching for marine wildlife and getting up close to massive tidewater glaciers.
• Hike and kayak in search of wildlife -- Sea Otters, Harbor Seals, Whales, Spawning Salmon, Puffins, Bear, Moose, Dahl Sheep, Caribou, Eagles and Porcupine.
• Make a difference and volunteer for a day on a service project to protect and preserve Alaska’s wildlands. Learn, volunteer, experience, pay it forward…
• Take a bush plane flight into Alaska’s most pristine wilderness for a drop off and set out on a four-day backpacking trip – this will be a life changer.
• Learn and practice a multitude of technical outdoor and leadership skills in our wilderness classrooms.

Destinations

Chugach National Forest; Prince William Sound; Wrangell-St. Elias National Park; Shoup Bay State Marine Park; Crow Creek Pass and Historic Mine; Anchorage, Girdwood, McCarthy and Valdez, Alaska; The Historic Hotel Chitna; Kennicott Mines National Historic Landmark; Wrangell Mountain Center; Skolai Base Camp and Russell Glacier; Kennicott, Chitna and Copper Rivers; Numerous Wilderness Regions.

Course Description 

During the two weeks you spend on the 14 Day Alaska Wildland Course you will gain skills and knowledge unattainable anywhere else and with no other school.  Hiking in the high-country of the Chugach Mountains and panning the mines of Crow Creek Pass sets the stage for your Alaska Adventure. We’ll travel by freight boat, kayaks, ferry boat, rafts, vans and specially equipped airplanes to some of the most highly regarded bioregions in Alaska.  We will use IK’s, inflatable expedition kayaks, to get face to face with spectacular calving glaciers.  While exploring moraines, crevasses, moulins, ice canyons and melt streams in our glaciology class you’ll learn about the dynamic geology that makes Alaska's rugged landscape so attractive.  

Your two-week adventure includes hiking, backpacking, glacier walks, and seacoast explorations in kayaks. You’ll learn to plan routes, navigate by map and GPS, practice your leadership and hone your wilderness skills. You may be rewarded by getting sights of whales or black bears that frequent the remote coastlines in the summer.  Each day will take some getting used to with around the clock daylight of summer, just one of Alaska’s special intrigues -- the “midnight sun”.

This course is guaranteed to elevate your relationship with the outdoors in ways we can’t describe.  You will gain hands on experience, new concepts and skills, make new friends and have experiences that last a lifetime. At the end of it all, we’ll celebrate and you’ll be awarded your graduation certificate for successfully completing your CASCADIA course and its requirements.

Topics covered include:

CASCADIA'S expert educators teach: Communication, teamwork and leadership; service project implementation; first aid, emergency procedures; hazard evaluation, risk management; leave no-trace camping; outdoor cooking; menu planning; practical weather forecasting; tides and currents; wind and waves; route finding, map reading, gps navigation; paddling techniques (inflatable kayaks); backpacking, natural awareness; responsibility to the planet; ecological life systems; Alaska flora and fauna; living with bears; mountain building processes; regional geologic history; mountain weather and climate; glaciology; marine natural history.

Itinerary at Glance:

Detailed Itinerary

Day One   Arrive Anchorage at airport and transfer to your overnight hotel accommodation as confirmed in your Course Resource Packet (CRP). 

Day Two  Meet your course instructors at 9:00am in your hotel lobby.  Travel by van south along the scenic Turnagain Arm to the mountain village of Girdwood and Crow Creek Camp.   Course orientation and equipment issue.  Afternoon exploration and trail hike in the Chugach National Forest.  Learn about Alaska’s ecological communities while enjoying spectacular views of the Chugach Mountains and the surrounding wilderness.  Evening salmon bake and guest speaker.  Overnight at Crow Creek Camp.

Day Three to Five   Start your day off learning how to pan for gold then set off to the Port of Whittier.  Drive through the longest highway tunnel in North America, then board the M.V. Chenega for a cruise across Prince William Sound.  Enjoy lunch on board the ferry with magical views of Alaska’s pristine coastline and rugged islands.  Upon arriving to the Port of Valdez we’ll transfer to Valdez Harbor to board a freight boat with our gear and kayaks.  Our drop off point is Shoup Bay State Marine Park surrounded by steep, glaciated peaks, waterfalls, and rich marine ecosystem.  For the three days you’ll challenge yourself, learn and have a lot of fun while exploring this unique destination by foot and kayak.

Day Six   Rise for an early morning departure back to Valdez where we’ll journey on one of Alaska’s most scenic roadways to the famous Copper River.  A trip to the river will reveal an array of fish wheel contraptions and dipnet fishing that scoop up salmon.  Later, we’ll discover Chitna and a historic roadhouse where we will enjoy a dinner out and overnight accommodations.  

Day Seven Traveling to McCarthy, we head out by van on one of Alaska’s most remote roads.  It was built atop a railroad bed and across towering trestle bridges which at the turn of the century bustled with trains transporting copper from the Wrangell Mountains.  Upon arrival, the scenic backdrop could hardly be grander as we make our way across a specially built pedestrian bridge into the hidden, isolated town. There we will find Alaska frontier living at its best and the Wrangell Mountain Center, a non-profit organization, committed to regional environment-based educational programming. Overnight McCarthy base camp.

Day Eight to Eleven   Climb aboard specially equipped airplanes. Our experienced Alaska bush pilots will fly us to a landing strip located deep within the Wrangell St.Elias National Park.  Here we’ll set out on our backpacking trip amongst glacially carved valleys, high plateaus, passes, and towering mountains.  You will ford mountain streams, glass the slopes for signs of Dahl sheep, black bears and Caribou while enjoying a wilderness as you never thought imaginable. Side trips will take us to extraordinary view points, hanging glaciers, and geologic wonders.

Our backpacking adventure includes a distinctive curriculum filled with hands on learning opportunities. Throughout the trip you’ll hone your backcountry skills, GPS navigation, and learn how to camp and travel in bear country.  Three nights deep in the Alaska wilderness allows plenty of time for fun, learning about the outdoors, and exploring beautiful places.  On the morning of day eleven we’ll return by airplane to McCarthy in time for a National Park interpretive presentation featuring the Kennicott Copper Mine – a historic site and one of the most remote ghost towns in North America.   

Day Twelve  Today we’ll contribute to keeping Alaska’s wild lands preserved and protected!  Roll up your sleeves and participate in an environmental service learning project with our partners -- Wrangell- St. Elias National Park and the Wrangell Mountain Center.  This day will feature a guest speaker from the Wrangell Mountain Center bringing relevance to our service project and a deeper understanding on the topic of wilderness ethics.

Day Thirteen to Fourteen  A dramatic overland journey across Alaska’s vast and grandeur landscape brings us close to Anchorage.  Along the way, we’ll visit the park headquarters for a tour of the new visitor center and meet the rangers.  We’ll arrive at Sheep Mountain Lodge in time for our final celebration banquet, awards and favorite photos.  After an overnight at the comfortable lodge bunkhouse, we head to Anchorage and depart Alaska to our home towns.

Registration Information

Not Included:  Air transportation to Anchorage, Alaska; travel insurance; pocket cash for items of a personal nature (souvenirs, hats, shirts, toiletries, etc).
Start and End Location:  Anchorage, Alaska  USA

Important Notice:  Day 1 is the day you should plan to arrive in Anchorage, Alaska for your course. This may require departing your hometown or country one or more days in advance and possibly traveling on an overnight flight.  Please consult our admissions office for air travel recommendations.

We look forward to having you join us on this course – an experience of a lifetime!   

Why wait? Space is limited, reserve your adventure today.

Enrollment Application

The first step to enjoying a course with Cascadia is to Contact Us!

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