Alright, everyone!  I know you’ve all been anxious for bears, so I’m finally getting to processing pictures from Alaska!

It was an exciting trip – really, two trips in one – and we had so many mini adventures.  I can’t wait to share them all with you.

However, because I like to work chronologically, bears will still be several posts out.  I don’t want to disappoint you all, so I’m starting with a preview of the entire trip – a little bit of everything.

Denali

Our trip comprised of two major components: Denali and backpacking.  The first of these was pretty much like any standard vacation I’ve taken before.  We took a train out of Anchorage up to Denali National Park, idling away the time with photographing, napping, and endless rounds of Hearts.

Once there, we took a bus into the park and all the way to the end of the line, making brief stops along the way to take in the sights.

We spent another day hiking the park at a slower pace before returning to Anchorage.

Backpacking

The real fun came in the second half, where we packed away all our “vacation” gear and took only that which was necessary for survival – namely, 30 pounds of cameras, lenses, filters, and batteries.  We took a bush plane out to Chinitna Bay and hiked along the coast for the next five days.

53.6 pounds over 25 miles was truly intense!

We camped on the beach and photographed countless wildlife nearby, including eagles, a fox, and – of course – bears.  For five days, we lived on freeze-dried meals, drank from rivers, felt the pain of a day full of miles, and grew closer to the awe-inspiring power of nature.

Spoiler: no one was mauled by bears, and we all made it out alive.

It was one of the most amazing trips of my life, and I still can’t believe I almost turned away from the opportunity.

Stay tuned for in-depth stories of the entire trip, and follow my blog so you don’t miss a post!  More to come 🙂

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