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recommended survival gear – 2 oz. AeroVestâ„¢

Larry Smith of AeroVestâ„¢ asked me to test their ultralight, air inflated survival vest.

It works exactly as advertised. I highly recommend this product. And it’s very inexpensive at $15.

I tested it in the Tombstone mountains in the Yukon, not far from the Arctic Circle, inflating the vest in the evening and then sleeping in it all night. (This is me the following morning.)

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As you can see, I survived.

AeroVest Survival Vest

The 2 oz. AeroVestâ„¢ is compact, lightweight and inexpensive insurance against emergencies. It packs up smaller than a deck of cards yet inflates into a full sized emergency vest that shields you from wind and rain. The silver lining refects radiated heat back to you while the 18 air pokets insulate you from the cold. …

* 18 air pockets help keep heat in, cold out.
* Your 98.6 degree breath provides instant warmth
* Bright Yellow/Orange exterior for increased visibility in an emergency
* AeroVestâ„¢ comes in a single size that can fit teens and adults up to XL (men’s 46 jacket)

PreparedPilot.com

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It’s not necessarily something you need to add to your basic hiking kit — but the AeroVest would be ideal for a hiker to keep in the trunk of a vehicle, in a boat or at the cabin. Any place in fact where hypothermia is a risk.

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hike trip report – Tombstone Range, Yukon

by BestHike editor Rick McCharles

I first heard of the Tombstone Mountains in 1999 from contributor Kelly Mock. It remained in my mind a magical,  mythical hiking destination until this summer.

There are a number of ways to hike Tombstone. The best is to chopper in, hike out. At $20 / minute of flight time, we each paid over $200 for the flight.

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Bad weather prevented us from landing where trip leader Dave Hayley intended, a high Cirque.

That turned out to be fortunate as the off-trail bushwhacking was much more difficult and slow than we expected. We quickly grew to hate Arctic Willow and Alder. In fact, we were forced to wild camp our second night well short of our intended destination, Talus Lake.

Tombstone

This was a bit of a hiking honeymoon for Dana and Bill who had been married just a few weeks earlier.

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To get back on schedule, we bypassed Talus and continued to the Divide Lake campground

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Dave Hayley was shocked to see new tent pads and toilets. In 5 previous trips to Tombstone he had never seen even a single other hiker.

The secret is out. It became a Territorial Park in 2004. Tombstone is now on the radar of northern hikers.

The crux of our hike was this Pass.

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Bill carried an ice axe for our group as we expected the Pass to require some step cutting. But for some reason — there was very little snow on the Pass this August.

Hayley found the loose scree at the top of the Pass to be more dangerous and difficult than his past snow ascents.

Grizzly Lake campground is just as lovely as Talus and Divide.

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After 5 days, 4 nights, our happy band of survivors walked out to Dempster Highway in about 6 hours. This is the closest access to the road for those who do not come in by helicopter.

Thanks to organizer Dave Hayley. This is his favourite place in the world. And one of mine too.

View over 125 photos from this trip on flickr.

Tombstone Park – Yukon government

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hiking in Alaska … disappointing

Obviously there is great hiking in Alaska. The State has two-thirds of the Nation’s parkland.

Why did I have so much trouble finding great hiking?

I bought Hiking Alaska, 2nd: A Guide to Alaska’s Greatest Hiking Adventures by Dean Littlepage. (The second Falcon guide I purchased this year if you are keeping track.)

Littlepage provides a good overview — 100 hikes sorted in a convenient “trip finder”. He even list hikes for those without vehicles. (Thanks Dean.)

But we still had trouble finding the “best hikes in Alaska”.

Problems:

  • many of the listed trails are tree-locked (few vistas)
  • many are very short
  • few have public access to the trailheads
  • very few hikes in the Littlepage guide are loop trails

    • Fortunately we had our own vehicle. Unfortunately we had no mountain bikes (which would have been convenient for getting back to the car from the finishing trailhead).

    The weather is always a worry in Alaska, especially coastal Alaska.

    There are many wonderful things to do in Alaska. My feeling is that hiking is not highest priority for most visitors. We found the Yukon much more hiker-friendly, by comparison.

    So far, here is our list of the best hikes in Alaska. If you can add to the list — hikes or hiking areas as good or better — leave a comment below.

    • Chilkoot Trail Yukon / Alaska
    • Chena Dome Trail (and Angel Rocks)
    • Kesugi Ridge Trail Denali (McKinley)
    • McGonagall Pass Denali (McKinley)
    • Gates of the Arctic

    (Feel free to include major treks requiring fly-in access, time and money.)

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    Patagonia or Yukon?

    Where are these photos from?

    Patagonia in South America?

    Or the Yukon in Canada?

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    While hiking in the Tombstone range of the Ogilvie Mountains in the Yukon I was struck at how similar were those mountains to Paine and Fitz Roy in Patagonia.

    In fact, I came to call Tombstone the “Patagonia of the North”.

    The first photo is Yukon, the second Patagonia.

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    climbing White Mountain with 4WheelBob

    Rick McCharles, besthike editor

    Tomorrow morning Tom Mangan and I head out to rendezvous with wheelchair hiker 4WheelBob …

    Read the details on Tom’s Two-Heel Drive blog (which is far better written than this one).

    4WheelBob thinks he can wheel himself to the summit of White Mountain in the Eastern Sierra near Big Pine, CA. I’m going to tag along and document the experience here when we get back.

    … We’ll be car camping at the Grandview Campground near the Ancient Bristlecone Pine forest till Wednesday morning, when we head up to the approach to White Mountain. Bob has a pass to park at the Barcroft Lab, six miles — and about 1,800 feet of climb — from the summit. He’s planning on camping on the mountain, summiting and returning on Thursday (he can go much much faster downhill). …

    Two-Heel Drive: Where I’m going next week

    Tom and I are the safety support team. Though this is the easiest high mountain climb in the USA, it’s not easy. The odds are against us.

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    White Mountain – Wikipedia

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    hiking Alaska takes SKILL

    Any idiot can hike in California.

    But hiking the far North takes smarts. Route finding skills. Bush whacking skills. Survival skills.

    GPS is essential, we feel.

    Don’t count on calling in rescue with a satellite phone. They are far from 100% reliable.

    If you plan to trek Alaska in future, start your research with Eric Molvar’s book. Published in 1996, it covers river crossings, snowfield travel, and glacier travel and wildlife very well.

    Wilderness Techniques for the Far North (Hiking & Climbing)

    Alaska on Foot: Wilderness Techniques for the Far North (Hiking & Climbing)

    If we’d only studied this book in advance we’d have never crossed this snow bridge over a raging Alaskan creek above Whittier. Turns out it’s dangerous!

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    hiking out of Homer, Alaska

    click for larger map

    trail-map-gif.gifEvery tourist loves charming Homer on the Kenai Peninsula.

    We did not have time to hike Kachemak Bay State Park but I would love to go back one day. A water taxi can get you there quickly.

    One of the largest coastal parks in the United States, Kachemak Bay State Park offers glaciers, mountains, islands, lakes, rugged shoreline and beaches, plus over 80 miles of trails, 20 developed campsites and five public use cabins. Bay Excursions transports people to the various trail heads and campsites.

    Kachemak Bay State Park water taxi – Hiking and Camping

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    source

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    Portage Pass Trail – Alaska

    We enjoyed the short Portage Pass Trail day hike out of Whittier.

    Hiking author Dean Littlepage:

    … A half-day or overnight hike to Portage Pass, Portage Lake, and an overlook of Portage Glacier.

    Portage Pass is a beautiful spot in its own right, and this hike is also the easiest way to get a good view of the face of Portage Glacier since it melted back out of sight of the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center, in 1993.

    A moderate hike to an outstanding destination, this trip offers a reward-to-effort ratio that’s right up there with the best Southcentral Alaska has to offer.

    Portage Pass is a gap gouged out of the earth long ago by a lobe of Portage Glacier and opened up for hikers by the glacier’s retreat of the last century.

    The trail has history too; in the 1890s, when the Alaska Gold Rush brought in the first big influx of non-Natives, steamships docked at the foot of Portage Pass, where Whittier is now, and dropped off prospectors headed for gold strikes near Hope and Sunrise on Turnagain Arm. They hauled their supplies up the steep east face of the glacier with ropes and pulleys, hiked a beaten path across the ice through Portage Pass, and rambled down to Turnagain Arm and the diggings.

    Special features: A glacial landscape, alpine scenery, and historic interest.

    Portage Pass Trail | Alaska Hikes

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    Recommended for the Portage Trail is Hiking Alaska, 2nd: A Guide to Alaska’s Greatest Hiking Adventures

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    scramble Skookum Volcano Trail, Alaska

    I was determined to trek rugged Wrangell-St. Elias in the summer of 2007. But which hike to chose?

    The National Park website has a number of recommendations for hikes in Wrangell-St. Elias. (PDF files are linked from that page)

    I was tempted by the Sanford-Dadina Plateau “Volcanic Traverse” — but did not have the 4-8 days needed. Ron Cosby hiked it in July finding it demanding:

    “… the hardest part was fighting through the thickest alder I’ve ever seen on the initial part of the climb up to the plateau. It took us 10 hours (including breaks) to go 4.1 miles as the crow flies according to the GPS.”

    Eventually we decided instead on a simple day hike volcano scramble, a very popular route off the Nabesna road.

    The trail is 2.5 miles to a beautiful high pass. …

    Highlights: Roadside access, wildlife, spectacular scenery, alpine plants, volcanic geology.

    Access: The Skookum Volcano Trail leaves the Nabesna Road at mile 36.8. From the beginning elevation of 3,000’, it rises to an elevation of 5,800’. This trail leads through an extinct, deeply eroded volcanic system and provides an opportunity to examine picturesque volcanic geology.

    NPS

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    The highlight was close-up views of Dall sheep who seem quite accustomed to human visitors.

    We did the standard Skookum scramble, in and out. But there is an off-trail loop option which puts you walking a road for 1.4 miles. (Not recommended.)

    Better for overnight hikers is Skookum Volcano to Rambler Mine, 10-14mi, 2-3 days, depending on route taken. Transport needed between trailheads.

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    Lost City Trek – Colombia – now safer

    I loved the Lost City Trek — Ciudad Perdida — when I was there in 1997. It’s a steep climb up a lost jungle city.

    Ten years later the adventure is much safer as Brian Rudert reports:

    Just did the hike in 4 days/3nights …

    The trail is safe, very safe – with a large Colombian military contingent at the top. …

    Most tour groups spend 4 or 5 nights along the trail which is a total of 21 kilometers one way with 4 major (steep) descents and 3 descents along with 9 crossings of the Buritaca river before you reach the final 1,300 narrow and steep steps up to the city. The starting point is 340 meters in altitude and the final destination is 1,100 meters.

    The 21 kilometers are broken up with sleeping points at kilometer 8 and 16 with guides preparing your food and mules carrying supplies. However, the mules cannot go beyond kilometer 16 because of the condition of the trail.

    … A fascinating Kogui (local indigenous group) village is at around kilometer 15 and you will see them again further up the trail and in Ciudad Perdida.

    There is a reddish-brown dog with yellow eyes named Niño with no home or owner who goes up and down with different hiking groups (whoever feeds him the best). Niño knows all the best river crossings and will whine when he sees you crossing at the wrong place.

    Colombia is my favourite country in South America mainly due to the friendly people.

    Check out photos from a 2007 trek to get an idea of the unique landscape at the top:

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    adman_as more lost city trek photos – flickr

    Lost City Trek information page – besthike.com