ALASKA EXPEDITION 2010

“frig u got a voice mail somewhere.

Jim- yes those are my stoves. How did they look?”

“Jerbear in my earlier e mail to you I did give you my cell# I will also forward my home # via e mail. Call me at home during the evenings and cell during the day. YGM”

“vry cool man.”

“Roger that. Signed up with reservation.
Tango- hey!”

“COOLNESS!!!”

“HOTNESS!!!”

“And where are we going to be on this map?”

“North about 100 miles and there is no interactive map of this area. There are more bears where we are going tho.”

“I just took a job and I have to relocate and buy a home in Seattle. So I can't go on this trip. I am seriously bummed because I already bought the plane ticket from Chicago!”

“...and YES, I am bailer scum!”

“LOSER!!!!!! I just checked to see if your name was still there and I was happy NOW...darn it anyway!
last edited: 12/11/09 3:42:51 PM”

“Will miss hiking with you--I was looking forward to meeting you. Seattle is an amazing town, I'm jealous.”

“I think you should give me your ticket just to be nice,and I'll just have to buy one to Chicago and back!! (from DC)”

“I have a sister that lives in Seattle, I'll come out and visit and do some hiking with you
It's looking like I won't be able to go on this one either”

“Fridge, remember all the scat, close to where we spent the next to last night out? You guys will be walking distance for those critters from there. Hehe. Looking forward to the stories. And video.:)”

“
see more deMotivational Posters”

“Sounds like a great trip of a lifetime but I will hold off for a bit,too many peeps for My blood I like small groups”

“Six times the size of Yellowstone, 25 percent covered in glacial ice, and home to an active volcano, Wrangell-St..Elias generates some wonderful numbers.
13,175,900
Total acreage, including 8,323,147 acres in the National Park and 4,852,753 acres in the National Preserve. At 20,587 square miles, Wrangell-St. Elias is by far the largest of the 392 units in the National Park System.

9,078,675
Acres of federally designated wilderness. That’s 14,185 square miles. There’s no larger wilderness tract in the National Wilderness Preservation System

750,000
Peak daily sediment transport, in cubic feet, of the Copper River. The fourth siltiest river in the world, the Copper adds an estimated 75 million tons of sediment to its delta each year.

65,693
Reported recreational visits in 2008.

18,008
Elevation, in feet, of Mount. St. Elias, the highest peak in the park and the second highest peak in the United States.

3,000
Approximate depth, in feet, of the 127-mile long Bagley Icefield, the largest sub-polar icefield on the continent.

1,500
Approximate area, in square miles, of the Malaspina Glacier, the largest non-polar piedmont glacier in North America.

400
Years in age of the ice that the 76 mile-long Hubbard Glacier dumps into the sea along its six mile-wide calving surface. The Hubbard is the longest tidewater glacier in Alaska and one of the longest tidewater glaciers on the planet.

250
Cubic miles of lava thought to be available to 14,163 foot-high Mt. Wrangell, the highest and largest of Alaska’s active volcanoes.

133
Number of lichen species documented in the park.

101
Combined length of the park’s two gravel roads, the McCarthy Road (59 miles) and the Nabesna Road (42 miles).

80
Approximate length, in miles, of the Nabesna Glacier, the longest non-polar valley glacier.

25
Percentage of Wrangell-St. Elias covered by glacial ice.

13
Number of public-use cabins within the park. Most are restored mining, trapping, or hunting cabins in remote locations. Some are accessible only by bush plane.

4
Number of major mountain ranges that converge in this NPS unit, including the Wrangell, St. Elias, Chugach, and Alaskan Ranges. The St. Elias Range is the highest coastal mountain range in the world.

3
Number of improved airstrips in the park. The one at McCarthy is maintained by the State of Alaska and the ones at Chisana and May Creek are maintained by the park.

0
Number of reptile species known to inhabit the park.

- 65
Record low temperature, in degrees Fahrenheit, at Gulkana. In January, the average daily minimum temperature at Gulkana is -14 Fahrenheit.”

“1 Number of times Dub will set foot in that park during his lifetime.”

“Dub you may have stepped on earth that no one has.”

“I probably pooped on earth no one else has...the views while pooping were great, especially that third day.”

“why the 3rd day...was that your first pooper? or was that the one that come out okay?”

“It may have been my first, none the first day, can't remember the second day as I was freezing...but I found this nice big rock to lean against and we had a clear day to just stare up at Mt. Jarvis...that's probably my most memorable poop ever in my life. Never pooped with a view like that.”

“Oh so your the one who didn't wipe.”

“No, I just used this electric bear bag someone dropped on the ground, it was turned off, while it wasn't the softest thing it had a lot of area with which to wipe! Being a LNT hiker I packed it with me and left it at camp, next day it was missing!?”

“Yea that morning I noticed MUD with tiny little bitty rocks embedded in in was frozen all over my bear bag so I shook really hard and the frozen mud did fall off but the semi stuff was still on it so I found some really nice women personal type stuff in a bag written TOILET PAPER on it so I used that to finish cleaning up that MUD. Hummmm I was wondering why that MUD was a stinkin.....
Next trip Dud!”

“Team members you have mail.”

“Room for ONE more”

“Update..... ROOM for 2 more for this trip.”

“Picked up a MSR gravity flow water filter. You are welcome to use it if you do not want to bring your own.”

“That's good. But y'all better bring extras in case some get shot full of holes. I'm just sayin'.”

“Gojo my man...A few months back I was asking about filtering Glacial silt when I was approached via e mail about a new product in testing stages that attaches to your inlet line much like the MSR silt filters but much smaller and totally different in processes that filter,ie,....remove glacial silt.

that's all I can say at this time until late sept when this will be introduced on the market. All those going on this trip will see this work and hopefully test the water quality. This filter also has a Virustat purification cartridge built inside.

I already pumped some muddy water with my MSR mini Works filter and was able to pump 11 nalgenes before I had to backflush. After backflushing I was back again pumping like new. I also checked my ceramic filter and had virtually no residue built up. I'll be attatching this to a MSR Gravity flow filter in Alaska giving this product a real test with lots of volume.”

“Cool! Cloak and dagger spy stuff, love it!

Fridge, will we all have to sign our lives away if we will witness this wonder work?”

“I will sign my life away to see wonder at work!”

“Your water must not be very muddy. I was pumping water in South America (glacial) using an MSR ceramic filter and could get about a half liter sometimes before it needed to be scrubbed. I also killed a First Need and two PUR Hiker cartridges at water sources, used a pre-filter, bandana, etc. Mostly high altitude, glacial runoff, sometimes down in the valleys. The water in the jungle (backcountry) was actually clearer.”

“I still have a Nalgene of Alaska Glacial water in my fridge. I've been meaning to get it tested...especially so I can reuse the bottle. I used a steripen when I was out there with the steripen screen filter. No problems except if it gets cold, sleep with the pen in your tent as the batteries like to freeze up.”

“I'll have it in Alaska. That's when I'll see if it really works they way they claim.”

“Hey Folks.I'm in. Ordered my Tix tonite. Ill post the Details on the thread.”

“awesome! my flight has been booked for over a month now. I am so excited!!! :)”

“Wimmen this year? Alert, gals watch out for Harry, quite the supposed lady killer. Hehe.”

“Yeah........kilter.”

“I'd love to go on the Alaska trip. If my financial situation hadn't changed this year I might spent the money on it.”

“That's right, his kimono thing too. At least we didn't have to see if he was commando.:)”

“Now I've got that Tom Petty song stuck in my head.”

“Killing bears must be thirsty work - lol!”

“We don't kill BEARS.”

“If you need a Bear canister please let me know so I can send you a regestration form to secure your canister in AK.”

“At your recommendation, I got my bear vault...I am all set. Thanks Fridge!

I am still debating the SLR camera issue.....”

“I highly recommend getting your own bear canister. Both Troy and I didn't have enough room in the ones the park rented for all of our food, we almost had to rent two each. First few nights we had some smellables in our pack like toothpaste, etc because there wasn't enough room. I had to borrow space from some others, didn't like doing that.

There's no point on taking an SLR to this place, especially if you don't own any quality glass made with fluorite or synthetic fluorite such ad the Canon L or Nikon D lenses. You'd just be lugging around a fancy camera which is no better than a P&S without a good lens and a sturdy tripod. Go with a camera like Fridge's or like Duane used last year, perfect.”