ALASKA EXPEDITION 2010

“iamjcb/ I have asked myself that question on every trip. I have never yet purchased such insurance. I do know it is quite costly to get an emergency evac out. We will have a Sat phone giving us the capability to call out anytime anywhere. Where we are going there are 3 landing strips. I did ask Kirk our Bush Pilot once about such an emergency and he said to call him as he can land in many other spots all over the park. The park has restrictions keeping all the planes on designated strips kind of like staying on a trail and no bushwacking. He said he can land at many other locations in an emergency. Last trip he did tell me to call him If anyone does need such an emergency I personally will be handing over the Sat phone to another group leader and I will leave with the injured person. If I get hurt, just let me die out there. If i am not going to die then will move into survival mode like we were trained in the military. It's all a challenge to me as I live for any challenge. I have this addiction. I listen to Mt Climbers talk and watch what they do on a wall and it amazes me how much they know themselves and the drive they have in there hearts. I like to think I have a little of that drive.


Nogranola....I say the same and have jackstraw in several phone calls has said the same.”

“globalrescue.com will sell good a good package that provides evac/medical/security services at a fair price. american alpine club uses them. you can buy a subscription or pay for the time you are in the field. i personally pay for the medical/evac service and thank goodness have never needed it. this is not insurance. it's a rescue/recovery service. they provide this services worldwide. each person would buy their own subscription. i don't think they do groups.
last edited: 9/26/09 9:56:16 AM”

“http://www.globalrescue.com I think this is the one by boy friend uses.
last edited: 9/26/09 10:06:29 AM”

“yep, that's the one i use... or should i say have never had to use but could if i wanted...”

“Hard, I thought you were a boy.

Hey, that's OK.”

“http://www.wrangell.st.elias.national-park.com/

Love this website. It tells you to remove your pants before crossing a stream!
last edited: 9/26/09 3:23:30 PM”

“You can get SAR insurance if you have a SPOT. It's not much - prolly < 20 a year.”

“You no Tango us gentlemen always say Ladies first! (Hear rate just went up)”

“Yes but it didn't say anything about panties!!! Pants and underpants boys!!!”

“wait a minute....some of us don't wear underware.......do you?”

“and that's why I said in an earlier e mail to you BRING A CAMERA.
last edited: 9/26/09 3:57:06 PM”

“Panties stay on! Pants must go!! Ha ha ha! Camera at the ready!”

“White panties?”

“HA! But this isn't about me or the girls. It's about YOU BOYS!!! And following the rules of the park!!! tee hee!!!
last edited: 9/26/09 4:02:58 PM”

“Did You Know?
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve has 14,185 square miles of designated wilderness, more than any other unit within the National Park Service system.”

“I did not know that! (Nice change of subject BTW)”

“Okay Tango your on girl.

Alaska is home to only four species of reptiles, all
marine turtles. There are no snakes in Alaska!!”

“coolness! How many amphibian species?”

“what about Bloomers?


Here is some info about the Nabesna road. We will be taking this road some 42 miles all the way to meet our Bush Pilot...this road has awesome views every foot of the way.


Mile 0
Turnoff from the Glenn Highway, also known as the Tok Cutoff.
Mile 0.2
The Slana Ranger Station is on the south side of the road. Be sure to stop by for current road conditions, maps, and park information.
Mile 1.7
Slana River Bridge. The Slana River drains southward off of the Mentasta Mountains. It empties into the Copper River just two miles downstream from this bridge. Looking straight down the road, the glaciated summit of Noyes Mountain can be seen 25 miles away. At an elevation of 8,235', Noyes is the highest peak in the Mentasta Mountains; its summit is on the park's northern boundary. The Mentastas run in a northwest/southeast direction from Mentasta Pass to the Nabesna River. From there the slightly higher Nutzotin Mountains continue into Canada. These two mountain ranges are the eastern edge of the Alaska Range which arches across the state. Mt. McKinley and Denali national park are also in the Alaska Range, but a few hundred miles to the west.
The first several miles of the Nabesna Road traverse relatively flat landscape underlain by accumulations of relatively young sediment. Much of this material is stream sediment, but a good deal of it, especially the beds of silt and fine sand, was deposited in huge glacial lakes which formed when glacial ice blocked off the stream valleys. Additionally, you will see many deposits of coarse gravel that were laid down by the glacial ice itself.
Mile 5.0
You are entering the Park/Preserve at this point. You may notice that many of the culverts beneath the road have small diameter pipes extending from both ends. These are installed to solve a problem that occurs in permafrost areas such as this. Each fall and winter, the culverts freeze full of ice. This is not a problem during winter, when there is no running water through the culvert. As temperatures warm each spring, however, melting snow sends water down the drainages where it is impounded behind the solidly frozen culverts. Such waters flood the road and may cause damage by erosion or ice. To avoid this, highway maintenance crews connect truck-mounted steam boilers to the small pipes to melt the ice and open the culverts.
Mile 15-18
Along this stretch of road there are several points from which prominent peaks of the Wrangell Mountains can be seen. All of these peaks are built up of the Wrangell Lavas, the general term for lava flows and volcanic rocks of this area. Ages of these rocks range from 10 million years to very recent. The conspicuous high glaciated conical summit to the southwest is Mount Sanford, the fifth highest mountain in the United States with an elevation of 16,237'. It shows the typical form of a strato-volcano (sometimes called a composite cone).
Mount Wrangell is the more distant, rounded and glacial covered dome southeast of Mount Sanford, with its summit of 14,163'. It is the park's only active volcano and occasionally steam plumes can be seen rising from its summit. Mount Wrangell's broad, gentle form is an excellent example of a shield volcano, in fact, it is the largest andesite shield volcano in North America. Stratovolcanoes form from thick, sticky, viscous lava that does not flow readily. Because of its thick nature, development of the volcano is through infrequent, but violent explosive eruptions. The resulting ash, cinders, and lava form steep slopes as they pile up. Shield volcanoes develop from more fluid lava. Because the lava flows more easily, shield volcanoes have more frequent, but less violent eruptions. These eruptions produce only limited amounts of ash and cinders, but large volumes of lava that flows into gentle slopes.
North of Mount Sanford and nearer to the road is the jagged prominence of Capital Mountain, with a summit elevation of 7,731'. The jagged dark colored ridge north and east of Mt. Wrangell is topped by 9,240' Tanada Peak. Capital Mountain and Tanada Peak are both remnants of once large shield volcanoes like Mount Wrangell, but their volcanic activity ceased and their summits have been heavily eroded and sculpted by the force of glaciers. Geologic studies and potassium-argon dating have indicated that the entire Tanada Peak shield volcano was formed between one and two million years ago and eroded to its present shape only during the last million years. On a clear day, Mount Jarvis can be seen over the right shoulder of Tanada Peak. It too is composed of lavas between one and two million years old, and its summit rises to 13,421 feet.
Flowing northward from the great ice fields of Mount Wrangell is the Copper Glacier. Its meltwaters give rise to the Copper River which flows northward off the mountains, and then westward along the end of the Wrangell Range. From there is turns southward and finally reaches Gulf of Alaska near Cordova. It is the only stream that cuts through the coastal barrier of the Chugach Mountains. Along much of its length, the Copper River marks the western boundary of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.
Mile 24.7
Watershed Divide. This is the highest point along the Nabesna Road with an elevation of 3,320'. Waters flowing west and south from here are carried into the Copper River and ultimately the Gulf of Alaska. Waters flowing easterly from here are carried by Jack Creek into the Nabesna River and on through the Tanana River to the Yukon River which empties into the Bering Sea.
Mile 27
Toward the northeast in the Mentasta Range is a conspicuously multi-colored mountain. The lower slopes are made up of dark reddish-brown and greenish-gray rock unit known as the Nikolai Greenstone. On top of these dark rocks rests a light colored (gray and tan) limestone. Both rock units date to the Triassic. Stream and gravity transport of limestone rubble down valleys and gullies has produced the prominent light stripes extending down the mountain slopes.
Mile 28
The ridges north and south of Twin Lakes are composed of gravels deposited along the margins of glaciers. Such glacial rock dumps are called glacial moraines. These moraines were formed during the Wisconsin Glaciation. This was the last great ice age; it reached its maximum advance 18,000 years ago when ice covered much of Alaska, almost all of Canada, and extended well into the northern states.
Mile 29.4
Trail Creek Crossing. Because this creek changes course frequently and carries a huge amount of sediment and debris, it is not practical to install a bridge or culverts...so the stream must be forded. Although the stream bed usually provides a fairly solid gravel footing, be very careful to avoid sandy or muddy areas. High water levels are sometimes produced by rain or hot weather that accelerates melting upstream. During high water, 4-wheel drive is highly recommended.
Low clearance vehicles can make this crossing when conditions are favorable, but exercise extreme driver caution.
Mile 30.8
Lost Creek Crossing. Same as previous crossing. Use extreme caution.
Mile 32.5
The two flat topped hills south of the road are composed of the Wrangell Lavas partially mantled by rock debris and soils that contain permafrost. During summer thaws of this frozen terrain, surface materials are slowly transported downslope by creep and semi-fluid flow. The hummocky area at the base of the western hill was produced by an ancient landslide.
Mile 41-46
The jagged peaks south of the road are dominated by volcanic rocks ejected from the Skookum Creek Volcano. Volcanic Ash and hot gasses formed a fiery cloud which flowed down the flanks of an ancient volcano to produce the tan and light gray, conspicuously bedded rocks. Lava which issued from several nearby volcanic vents flowed downslope and solidified to produce the more massive pinkish-tan rocks. Radioactive dating of these rocks by USGS investigators shows that Skookum Creek Volcano was active between two and four million years ago. Deep canyons and steep slopes show that erosion has been very effective in wearing down the land during the last two million years. The trailhead for the Skookum Volcano Trail is located at mile marker 36.2.
Mile 42
Devil's Mountain Lodge and Airstrip. This is the end of the state maintained Nabesna Road.”

“Wow!”

“Here is a site with some nabesna road pics and the Air strip we fly out of.

http://www.terragalleria.com/parks/np.wrangell-stelias.12.html”

“Sorry got busy registering campers. Wow great pics! July is SO FAR away!”

“That time gives you time to get ready.”

“And I do need to get ready!”

“We will be landing right in the face of Mt Jarvis, and will have Jarvis shadow us all the way to Grizz Lake. The views of this Mt will stun you as you fly in and land right at it's North Face. My first time there I staired at it for almost an hour when all of a sudden the Bush Pilot was bringing another team member in.

Mount Jarvis is an eroded shield volcano in the Wrangell Mountains of eastern Alaska, about 10 miles east of the summit of Mount Wrangell. The mountain sits at the northeastern edge of the massive ice-covered shield of Wrangell, rising nearly 5,000 feet above it in a spectacular series of cliffs and icefalls.
When seen from above, Mount Jarvis is distinctly dumbbell-shaped, with two prominent peaks connected by a narrower ridge. The mountain's main summit is 13,421 feet, making it one of numerous thirteeners (peaks between 13,000 and 13,999 feet in elevation) in Alaska. The second summit is located about 3 miles to the north-northwest, reaching 13,025 feet with over 725 feet of prominence above the connecting saddle, thus qualifying it as an independent peak on the list of thirteeners as well. The entire summit area including both peaks and the ridge is covered in glacial ice. The steep, rocky eastern and western faces of Mount Jarvis form headwalls above the cirques of the Jacksina Glacier and Copper Glacier, which flow northward out of the Wrangell Mountains.
Latitude: 62.023333 Longitue: -143.616389 Peak Elevation: 13,304 feet (4,055.06 m)”

“per the aac, there have been a few summits of mt jarvis with the first ascent being on July 26, 1967 from the saddle between mt jarvis and wrangell. in 1991 a japanese group climbed it alpine style via the southeast ridge starting on April 4th, summiting on the 6th and returning to the landing strip on the 7th. their bush pilot arrived on april 16th (delayed by bad weather) to pick them up, however he tragically died of a massive heart attack as the climbers were preparing the runway for their departure. the bush pilots absence was noted and a search ensued. the climbers were eventually located and evacuated by army helicopter. the pilots name was Ken Bunch. He was a 45 year veteran bush pilot.

i just thought this was an interesting story to share with the group. sure would like to climb that mountain!
last edited: 9/27/09 10:44:28 AM”

“Thanks Yogisan, I did not know this.”

“The views will stun you?

I reckon the cold water will stun the hell out of ya crossin' them rivers.”

“MarkO there are no RIVERS, just creeks...duh huuu You need to pick up the pace a little bit.
A Global Rescue plan basic medical will cost $119.00 basic and with security $225.00 for 7 days. This is a maybe for me.
Looking into a team package and will call them tomorrow.
last edited: 9/27/09 11:28:16 AM”

“Yeah well, cricks or rivers.........they is still mightily cold...........or so I'm told.

Hey, what you doin' next weekend?”

“Next weekend lets go backpacking!”

“Fridge...Thank you for doing all of this!”

“Tango I love Backpacking and I love to see people living a dream. this years trip I was the first one out and as I watched each one get out of the plane everyone of them had a smile that was priceless.

I hope you get to go!”

“Looking into purchasing a SPOT sat messenger. I was impressed with the one chin Music carried. Google maps had it all outlined too. Could be some extra insurance if we need it.”

“Ahem!

It seems there is a little matter of a roasted pig, Fridge.”

“if you are looking at globalrescue i doubt you will want the "security" package unless you are concerned about domestic terrorism in the alaska backcoutry... lol! not sure about where else you travel. :)”

“...btw I will be happy to loan my SPOT to anyone on the crew that wants to borrow it. if the group is going to break up it might be nice to have more than one in the group. now that i own a sat phone i prolly won't get a lot of use from the SPOT device.

the new ones are a lot lighter/smaller. i just saw them somewhere.”

“Yogisan I thought the basic plan was just for Medical and the security plan was for everything including air evac by the military.”

“MarkO I forgot about that...yep I'm there sucker.”

“Be there or be square.”

“as i understand it "medical" provides service for medical reasons. "security" is for non-medical reasons (war, natural disasters, civil unrest, etc). anyway, i need to stay out of reading the fine print business!”

“You going MarkO/
Yogisan....I'm calling them tomorrow and get them in real time. Heck I don't need an assault out there.
last edited: 9/27/09 1:04:45 PM”

“lol!

i am trying to find info on the canyons in the area. you peaked my interest. climbing down is almost as fun as climbing up.

i appreciate you letting me be a "fan of" on the thread. i don't mean to be disruptive or anything.”

“Nope your input is valuable as with your experience.”

“I am going.................and bringing my girlfriend.”

“Well, at least she's blow up so you can deflate her and stuff her in your backpack”

“Okay. I have no idea where this place is located....I e mailed jack for an address so I can google map it.
are there any Libations allowed?”

“Chitistone Canyon sounds like an amazing place! The photos are like the Grand Canyon meets Alaska... what happens when two HUGE places collide.”

“Global Rescue offers a reasonable cost effective insurance. $119.00 bucks for 7 days, check it out if you think you need it.
https://www.globalrescue.com/plans.cfm
last edited: 9/27/09 2:08:41 PM”

“I believe libations are required.

Hmmmm, southern Maryland........Rt 2.....”