Back packing Alaska

David,

You are preaching to the choir about fake service dogs. Nobody gets more angry about that than people who need one and have to put up with scrutiny and suspicion because of people passing off  pets as service dogs.

My dog also freezes on the trail when he sees anything but he is never more than ten feet away.  I will cover him in bells.

I planned  use bear spray as a first line of defense with a gun as a back up.  As I read your comments, I realize that I probably want it more because I am a little out of my element.

What is your opinion of the noise as an attack deterrent?  I probably could not hit the bear in the right spot while peeing myself anyway. Lol

Michelle

Carrying a gun is sort of a compromise situation. Ideally, to take on a bear – at least a grizzly- you want something like a 12 gauge loaded alternately with double ot buck and a slug, or a .375. But realistically no one wants to carry that much weight, generally. David’s right in that an effective gun against a bear is going to weigh around 7 lbs. Too much for most people. Too much for me, generally.

What I carry depends- mostly on how seriously I think the danger is. To be honest, I carry more these days for protection from people and loose aggressive dogs than from bears. I have a .44 Mag, which is the smallest handgun I think is kind-of realistic for grizzly. I usually carry smaller, however, because the .44 is big and heavy. And the larger the group I’m in, the less I feel the need for anything other than bear spray.

If you’re thinking you want to have a handgun in Alaska, your best bet is probably to look at a dealer-to-dealer transfer, ship it from a dealer where you live a dealer up here to pick up in one of the first towns you are going to. I don’t think you can take a handgun driving through Canada. Then you’ll have to repeat that process to ship it back. There might be some other ways to do it but that’s the only one I’m familiar with.

Thank you Dena.  I have carried in the past for primarily the same reasons.  I think I am going to leave the guns home this time. You and David have given me some great advice on avoiding bears.  That’s probably the most reasonable tactic for me.

Michelle

I’m back on after ignoring the internet for a while. Fairbanks in August can be sunny or rainy, depending on the year. I don’t hike or camp without full rain gear and extra socks in any month up here. You will also want warm hat, gloves, and a warm jacket like a puffy for camping. It can get quite chilly in the hills. Bugs are usually way down by August, but if you’re heading up the haul road, you’ll still encounter some; bring bug dope. It is a very long way there and back…

Not sure what to say about bears, that the others haven’t already said. I have never carried a gun, nor will I, both due to weight and because they’re not part of my life. I’d want to be a damn good shot before relying on one for bear protection. Not opposed to them, just wary of being dependent on them. I do carry bear spray for most hikes outside the city area. We have bears in the city too, but they tend to be skittish, so when I’m running, cycling, etc. near town, I don’t worry about them.

You will find loads of blueberries in August. Of course, I can’t tell you where! If they’re blue and look like berries, you’re good to go! One of the most special delights of the Alaskan outdoors!

Karen makes a good point. Even in the middle of July- typically our warmest and sunniest month in south central AK- the temps in the mountains can drop to freezing overnight. Since I’m a cold sleeper, I carry my WM Versalite 10 deg bag year round for that reason. I can always unzip for some venting, but I hate being cold at night. And yes, having a puffy, gloves and a hat are also important because we can have winter weather any time.

Blueberries- just look for south facing slopes. It’ll still be hit and miss, but it’s the slopes facing the sun that will be loaded. And if you’re lucky enough to find Bog Berries or Salmon Berries (near bogs or streams respectively) count yourself lucky because they are delicious.

Not so much in late August but in early August in Interior Alaska (the area around Denali and Fairbanks), the days can be annoyingly long.  And even if you went to bed at 10 or 11 pm when it was finally getting a bit dark, the sun will hit your tent from the NNE about 4 in the morning, and you’ll wake up sweating from how much the tent has warmed up in the sun.  So camp with lots of trees to the east to provide more shade in the morning to avoid that.

And a cheat, if you get to a point of saying, “screw it, I just want a solid night’s sleep” is to car camp in your car.  Leaving the car idling with the A/C running only uses 1/4 of a gallon per hour in a 4-cylinder car so it’s 2 gallons for a sold night of ideal temps and no bugs.  I’ve done that on the North Slope, north of the Brook’s Range in part because the enclosed tent (which you want for the mosquitos) gets too hot in the continuous sunlight (and there are no trees for shade).

Summer in the Interior can also be really smoky do to lightning-started forest / brush / ground fires (yeah, the dirt is so organic-rich, it burns). It varies a lot year to year, but if you have asthma, you might want a Plan B in case this summer has lots of large fires.  If air quality isn’t an issue for you, driving past huge (like an hour or two at highway speeds), unattended forest fires and their smoke plumes in BC, YT and AK have been very memorable experiences for me.

And bring enough DEET for your dog, too.  Light clothes help, too.  A lot.  Sometimes I survey people’s backs at a summer gathering and there can 5:1 or higher ratios on dark to light clothing.  The little buggers use both CO2 sniffing but also infrared heat sensing and I assume the dark clothes are putting off more IR.  And/or most of our warm-blooded critters are dark, so they’ve evolved to seek out dark stuff.

“I can’t tell you where! If they’re blue and look like berries”

Where you see cars parked along the highway and old Native women bent over is a good bet.  Don’t go RIGHT to where they are, but look for a similar slope a few hundred yards or a mile away.

We taught our dog to eat berries right off the bush, so that saves a bit on kibble weight and cost.  And freaks out people the next day when she leaves a big, steaming dump of berry-laden poop near the trail.  Cause if someone says they saw bear poop, the next question is, “Was it warm?” (I’ll actually hold my hand a inch above bear poop to assess that).  And if “yes”, then “Was it still steaming?”

I guess we have probably done enough now to scare most of you from hiking in Alaska! All sorts of biting bugs, freezing cold in July, pouring rain any time, all night daylight (which I personally *love*), wildfires and smoke, bears, people who let their dogs poop in the berry patch, yeah, probably better to go to the Sierras. Keeps things peaceful up here. :)

Wow thanks David for sharing that bear encounter video. They sure kept their cool. Hats off to anyone hiking in Grizzly country….they are terrifying to  me.

“I guess we have probably done enough now to scare most of you from hiking in Alaska! “

Okay, so to balance out all the cautionary tales:

• the scenery is spectacular.  That’s what struck me the most my first trip to Alaska – some 12,000- or 15,000-foot glaciated peak would, anywhere else, have boundaries drawn around it and declared a  National Park.  Here, that stuff is on the horizon on one, two and sometimes three sides.
• the critters are spectacular.  And tasty.  We put 30 sockeye salmon and 6 halibut into the freezer each year.  Although I don’t hunt, I’m a good enough porter and camp cook to have whatever black bear, caribou and moose meat I want.
• the locals are sometimes crazy, usually well-armed, and sometimes missing teeth, but they are friendly and helpful.  There’s no point in bringing your AAA card.  If you run out of gas or need a tire changed or a jump start, the second or third person along will stop and help you long before the tow truck could get there.
• it’s as far as you can go without a passport.  And we accept American dollars.
• We have two glaciers larger than the State of Rhoda Island.
• We have 11 (I think) National Parks each the size of Massachusetts.  Some of which get less than a 100 visitors a year.
• You can see Russia from here (if you’re on Little Diomede Island).
• You either have 20+ hour long days or a chance to the aurora.
• When I’d been to all 50 states, Alaska was the one I was going back to the most often.  Now I live here.

Thanks David and Karen,

I am starting to think you want me to stay home.  I can’t wait for the adventure. Your advice has been invaluable.  I am glad I have spent the time training my dog trail manners.  He stays close and doesn’t bother wildlife.  I am hoping his senses will be an asset.  You and the video have convinced me to just carry spray.

Thanks again to everyone for all of the advice!

Michelle

Michelle

Nice one Michelle! I hope you had/are having a great time!