Hiking across Kodiak Island, Alaska

[Alex Wallace]

Well, no lifts either, so…

Awesome! Thanks for sharing. Double thumbs up for rocking the split board.

[Luke Schmidt]

Just curious what kind of camera setup you are using for that footage. Your footage is noticeably crisper then some trip footage I've seen.

[Greg Mihalik]

Outstanding!

…and how many stream crossings did you do THREE times?

Your trips put a big smile on my face.

Thank You.

[Philip Tschersich]

The cameras are a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS20 and a GoPro 3+ Black. The Lumix is basically a point and shoot with a 20x zoom; 24-480mm (in 35mm equivalent), and it records 1080 HD video. It has some pretty effective optical image stabilization, though with the lack of animals on this recent trip I didn't use the zoom much. The GoPro is pretty self explanatory.

I'm glad you guys appreciate all my spring snowmelt wading. :^)

[d k]

Wow…as always your video gave me an exhilarating glimpse of what the trip was like for you. I appreciate being able to experience even a small portion of your trips through these wonderful videos you do.

And I had no idea that there was anything called a "splitboard" until after I watched this and re-read the comments. How very cool it was to realize that those skis I saw you toting were also the snowboard! (having only limited experience with snowshoes or X-C skis myself, in terms of snow sports)

[Andy Duncan]

Thanks for your two videos. You have definitely provided some inspiration for me to put down the snowshoes and get a splitboard! I noticed a few bears in both of your videos. Do you take any special precautions to stay safe around the bears in Alaska? Thanks again.

[Jennifer Mitol]

Wow!!!!!! Seriously great work. You even got my brother to stop and watch…….

[Jorge Falcon]

Awesome trip! Nice to watch, thanks for sharing.

[Philip Tschersich]

I did an overnight splitboard trip with my wife recently. We flew to the head of a bay on the north side of Kodiak and walked up a service road that leads to Kodiak's hydroelectric power station until we hit snow. From there we skied about 10 miles until we picked up the route I followed on the last day of the previous trip I posted. We spent the night on Crown Mountain and then skied out the next day. Some of the ending shots are similar to my last trip, shot in the same locations.

Splitboarding from Kizhuyak to Kodiak

[Brian Mix]

Excellent video. Just fantastic.

[Philip Tschersich]

To get my feet wet (pun intended) for an upcoming trip to Alaska's legendary Shuyak Island, I recently did a weekend packrafting trip outside of the city of Kodiak, crossing the islands that protect the town from the Gulf of Alaska. We are blessed with some amazing bird and marine life here, and the scenery is not too shabby either. Take a peek if you have 7 minutes to burn:

Packrafting Chiniak Bay

[John Mc]

Thank you for sharing your videos….. Absolutely fantastic! Those bears would scare tbe hell out of me.

[Philip Tschersich]

This weekend was lovely and I did a mountain hike and packrafting loop. I am getting ready for an upcoming slightly longer hike/raft trip and so am taking some opportunities to get my kit sorted. We are blessed in Kodiak with tons of wildlife and I checked all the boxes for the critters I was hoping to see, though my bear footage is a bit sparse since I kicked a rock loose and spooked the fattie I was hoping to film. Oh well.

Check it out: Goats, Boats & Bears. Oh My!

[Matthew H]

Very cool! You have a beautiful backyard, thanks for sharing.

[Matthew H]

I'd love to ask you a couple of questions if you don't mind?

1. What mount are you using for you POV shots? I presume those are all done on the GoPro? I've only recently bought one and I'll be using it for the first time on an upcoming trip which I'm thoroughly looking forward to.

2. Assuming most of your POV shots are done on the GoPro, are most of your tripod shots of you from a distance done on the P&S?

3. What is that inflatable raft? Looks really cool! Does it weigh much and is it relatively durable? Tempted to get one to help me reach some harder areas for my photography in the Columbia River Gorge.

THanks!

[Richard Nisley]

Phillip,

Thank you for the beautiful way you shared your adventure with us!

[Philip Tschersich]

Q- "1. What mount are you using for you POV shots? I presume those are all done on the GoPro? I've only recently bought one and I'll be using it for the first time on an upcoming trip which I'm thoroughly looking forward to."

A- I hate to admit it, but for those shots I just gripped the tripod mount on the bottom of the GoPro between my teeth. I do have a head-strap mount, but since I have a QR plate on the bottom of the GoPro tripod mount (I use a Gorillapod Original tripod) and I can bite down on it securely, I just do that for the quick POV shots when hiking.

Q- "2. Assuming most of your POV shots are done on the GoPro, are most of your tripod shots of you from a distance done on the P&S?"

A-Yes. The telephoto and self-exposures are done with my Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS20.

Q- "3. What is that inflatable raft? Looks really cool! Does it weigh much and is it relatively durable?"

A- I have an Alapacka Raft Yukon Yak. The Alpackas are sized according to inseam. I fit nicely in a Yak based on my 32" inseam. The boat weighs about 7.5 pounds. The paddle is a Lendal Kinetic Touring in 4-piece with an MCS bent shaft. Lovely paddle. The raft and associated crap (inflation bag, PFD, etc) adds about 10 total pounds to your base weight, so you had better really want to do some boating to drag all that extra junk along. They are really amazingly durable. You can slide over any number of smooth river or ocean rocks, though I recommend you are a little careful around sharper stuff. I wouldn't claim they are indestructible, but with some care they will survive more than you would think possible.

A few people have asked about the bears. Kodiak is a pretty safe place to be around bears. In modern history on this island, only one person has been killed by a bear, and it was not a predatory attack- the bear had claimed a deer a hunter had killed and left behind for a while, and when the hunter returned he got mauled badly enough to die of the injuries before getting to aid. Every couple of years someone gets slapped or chewed, but it is usually not too bad. The bears here are truly wild, wary of humans, and if you give them the chance they will leave you very much alone. There is a bear for every 1.5 square miles of land throughout the archipelago, and they add an amazing element to our landscape. I have solo sea kayaked thousands of miles and hiked many hundreds of miles around here. I have had a few tense moments with bears while waiting for them to decide what they wanted to do next, but invariably they exited expeditiously. Bottom line = you will eventually die, but from something else. Cherish the ability to share the Kodiak backcountry with the planet's largest land carnivore. :^)

[Matthew H]

Thanks a lot Philip! Really love the way you've captured your journeys and hope to do the same once I've settled in after my big move. When I'm up your way I'd love to do some hiking with you, you seem like a good dude!

As a photographer and avid bear lover, heading to Alaska for some brown bear shooting has been up on my list for a long time.. unfortunately all the tours that allow you to safely do this in places like Denali and Katmai are so expensive! I'd imagine Kodiak is the same?

Forgot to mention also, great music choices in your videos. Some good bands!

[Philip Tschersich]

I just got back from a 5-day packrafting and hiking trip I did around Shuyak Island, which is the northerly-most large island in the Kodiak Archipelago. I flew into and out of the old cannery at Port Williams on the south side of Shuyak, which is a mail plane stop. I did a counter clockwise loop around the island and hiked when that was convenient and paddled when that made more sense. I have been to Shuyak Island many times but this was my first time doing it in a packraft, which turned out to be the perfect tool for the job.

Take a peek: Packrafting around Shuyak Island

[Anton Solovyev]

Great videos! I recently got an Alpacka, did not realize it was so practical in coastal waters. How fast are you able to move? How is it compared to sea kayak? That kayak you are using in earlier videos seems to take a lot of abuse, is it polyethylene? Thanks!

[Philip Tschersich]

Sorry it took a while to respond. I've been on a month-long crab research trip.

If there is nothing working in my favor or against me (wind, tide, chop, etc) I can cruise at 3.3 mph in the Alpacka. That is only about 1.2 mph slower than my sea kayak, which totally shocked me. The difference is that when confronted by challenging conditions, my speed drops quickly in the raft whereas I can maintain a good pace in my kayak. The raft is awesome when it's calm, but mediocre to downright poor when it's rough. Tail winds and following seas are always welcome. Anything over 15 knots beam sea has you crabbing sideways and you lose a lot of forward speed because of having to use a ferry angle. Head winds in excess of 15 pretty much stop you cold, especially when it is accompanied by a steep chop. I hardly even feel those conditions in my sea kayak.

The sea kayak is a polyethylene Valley Nordkapp. Awesome boat, and yes, I do beat the poo out of it. :^)

[Philip Tschersich]

I just finished a 3-day hike from the village of Old Harbor to the village of Larsen Bay, crossing Kodiak Island at its middle. It's spectacular country, full of rocky spires and old glaciated valleys across the spine of Kodiak, and then characterized by chains of accessible alpine tundra peaks along Uyak Bay. The bummer was that last winter's lack of snow below 2,000' meant that none of last year's brush got flattened, and this year's new growth is taller and thicker than ever. There were a couple of climbs that were basically swimming through Satan's salad bar. :^( Yeesh.

With this route completed, I have now hiked the entire length of Kodiak island in 3 stages. The earlier segments (the southern third, and northern third) are shown in the earlier videos in this thread.

Take a peek if you have a few minutes: Crossing Kodiak: Old Harbor to Larsen Bay

[Alex Wallace]

Thoroughly enjoyed – thanks for sharing!

The final clip of you exiting the store I thought for sure I was going to see a cold brew, but ice cream works too.

[Philip Tschersich]

Larsen Bay is a dry village, or I would totally have had a beer AND ice cream. :^)

I had been toying with a plan of doing another long cross-island route this summer, but the situation with the brush completely scuttled that idea. I think I'll just stick to pure-alpine trips or go sea kayaking instead.

[Taiga]

Philip what kind of shoes were you wearing there in the water?

[Author]

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