Pre-Trip Planning, Southern Grand Tour, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

[Andrew St. Pierre]

Hey BPL Community!

Currently, in the pre-trip planning stages for the Southern Grand Tour in Wrangell-St. Elias NP.  Looking for insight on travel logistics, gear recommendations, and another useful tips for exploring this wild zone.

Any suggestions are appreciated!

ASP

[Brad Rogers]

I’m not sure what the Southern Grand Tour in Wrangell St Elias is but I did the “Southern Traverse” in Wrangell St Elias last year – 105 off trail miles between Iceberg Lake and Tebay Lakes.

For logistics- I assume you are using McCarthy as your jumping off point so Wrangell Mountain Air will be your bush plane service (They bought out McCarthy Air).

Be sure to know your route well, have paper maps and compass and be proficient with them.   A GPS is handy and useful, but should be a supplement to paper maps not a replacement

Im not sure what your experience in this terrain but plan on extra time for the brush.  Alder thickets can easily push your pace down to a half mile an hour (or less) – I recommend avoiding the brush whenever possible (going above the brush line and side hilling worked most of the time).   Be prepared to backtrack and find a new line if you cliff out etc.  When crossing Bremner Glacier we came across several crevasses we could cross and has to backtrack and find a new line across the glacier

Gear wise I think I posted my list here and was happy with everything.  I will be glad to discuss in more detail with you if you like.

I took bear spray and would again though I never took it out despite seeing 5 grizzlies.

Get good rain gear (the new Colombia Outdry EX Featherlight looks like it would work well).  Wet brush will soak you as fast as rain.

[David Thomas]

If you were hanging off a cliff, would you want me to throw you a cotton, wool, polypro, or nylon rope?  Nylon, right?

Point being: when bashing through alders and other brush, bring a long-sleeve nylon (or nylon-blend) shirt and long nylon pants. I always do for Alaskan off-trail trips as well for trails I haven’t been on yet that season in case they are overgrown.

[Brad Rogers]

Some other logistical tidbits (again assuming you are going through McCarthy)

The night we got out of the backcountry I spent the night at Kennicott River Lodge and Hostel – great view looking across the Kennicott Glacier moraine and the Stairway Icefall. You can also see the Kenniott Copper Mine.

I ate at the Potato twice – great post (or pre) hike eating

McCarthy Air will come pick you up at the footbridge for free, but its not a long walk if you just walk the road – I mean I was there to walk anyways, right?

On the drive from Anchorage we at Golden Spruce Cabins in Kenny Lake Alaska. I wouldn’t say it was world class cuisine, but it wasn’t bad, and choices are limited.

More thoughts on Gear

I wore Patagonia Rock Guide soft shell pants (~10oz) which I also wore to Brooks Range in 2015 and they were nearly perfect. As a baselayer top, I wore the Rab Merino + 160 hoody and loved it. I did treat it with Permithrin(sp) prior to the trip, but I didn’t see many mosquitos at all in mid August. It wouldn’t hold up in the brush so in the brush I donned either my Patagonia Houdini or if it was wet, my GTX jacket. In Brooks Range in 2015 where we had more brush, I did wear a nylon shirt (REI Sahara?) and even it was pretty beat up on the sleeves by the end of the trip.

I took a Bearikade Expedition and was able to cram 14 days of food in it, one of the other guys I was with used a Bear Vault and Ursack, though there really wasn’t anywhere to tie to too, so he just left it with the bear canisters. I’m not sure how long of a trip you are planning and if you are planning to re-supply but getting all of the food into the canister and packing around the rather large Bearikade was one of the most challenging parts of getting ready for the trip to Brooks Range in 2015. I used the same pack (Seek Outside Unaweep 4800) and canister in Wrangell St. Elias last year.
MLD Duomid worked great for me. It rained (sort of a misty Seattle type rain) quite a bit and we had a couple nights of moderate rain, but didn’t have as much wind as I thought I might.

I had quite a few really cold (and deep) river crossings, so make sure that you are proficient at crossing fast moving streams – that’s an easy way to not come back from your trip. I had one at the toe of a glacier that was really wide, and though it was never more than thigh deep, it was COLD. The two more difficult waist deep crossings I had were the most dangerous as they were in really swift water, but they weren’t that wide. For those, I did take my hiking pants off to reduce drag and crossed in just my boxer-briefs. The water is glacier run off and milky so you can’t see the bottom of even shallow steams.

I wore La Sprotiva Ultra Raptors (non GTX) and they worked great, though I will say though the pair I took to Alaska only had about 100 trail miles on them, they were toast by the end of the trip. I wore Soloman XA Pro 3D’s to Brooks Range and though they were toast too, they had a lot more miles on them prior to the trip including a trip to WRR.

On the route I did, I had found reports of 4 groups doing it prior (3 completed it and one bailed out after 8 days of solid rain) and the two passes that I found particularly sketchy were snow covered when they crossed them, but were scree for me. One of them was a very steep and long scree chute, and the other was at the top of a glacier, that wouldn’t have been as sketchy if there was snow on the ice, but with solid ice, we took a sketchy scree route along the left side of it.

All it all, it was amazing country and I would like to go back again, but it is challenging for sure.

My advice – ensure you are proficient in navigation and creek crossings – glacier travel too if you cross anything technical. Avoid brush as much as possible. Don’t over-estimate your ability to put in miles per day – going can be very slow in sections.

[Roger Caffin]

Agree w avid. We find our Taslan nylon tops and trousers (MYOG articles at BPL) survive some seriously bad scrub with little damage. And Oz scrub can be really bad in places.

Cheers

[Andrew St. Pierre]

Thank you all for your input in regards to this trip your advice and experience are appreciated.

Brad, we are on the same page about the “Southern Traverse” between Iceberg Lake and Tebay Lakes.  I appreciate your experiences and recommendations regarding bear canisters, gear, and travel logistics.  My 3 person crew that is investigating this trip is confident in navigation, stream crossings, and working around glacial crevasse.  Couple of questions for all of you…

Down vs. Synthetic Sleeping bags…my thoughts are leaning toward synthetic due to the talked about wetness of the trip.

Stoves….I saw that you may have taken the Calandra Cone with you. I have used alcohol stoves regularly (DIY & White Box Stoves) in the past but was debating taking a canister stove for this trip either a  MSR Micro Rocket or Jet Boil.

Traction – due to the need to spend some time on the ice did you bring Microspikes or a light weight crampon..?

Thanks again for all of your time in posting to this forum!

[Brad Rogers]

I used a down bag both trips and wouldn’t change anything. In fact in Brooks Range in 2015 I took a synthetic insulating jacket, and took down to Wrangell in 2017. As long as you are reasonably comfortable keeping a down bag dry I think you are fine.

I took a Caldera Cone to Brooks Range but took a Canister Stove to Wrangell. I took a BRS3000 and a Jetboil Ti cup. I was boiling water for two in Wrangell St Elias so it was slightly lighter than a Caldera Cone and fuel. You will be fine with either one, but in my opinion on a trip of this length, the fuel savings of a Caldera Cone or a heat exchanger pot. If I were going again and just boiling water for me, I would use a Caldera Cone.

I took Microspikes but only wore them on the first glacier crossing. It was raining and it was very slick getting on the glacier. I didn’t wear microspikes on any of the other glacier crossings, including Bremner Glacier, though I would definitely have them available. I probably could have put them on for the traverse over “sketchy” pass as well. I didn’t ever need more than the microspikes, so that is what I would recommend unless you already have crampons and not microspikes.

I hope you have a great trip, I am jealous, as I would love to go back again. I will be glad to answer any other questions that you have. I wasn’t able to find out much information on the route.

I assume you have seen the Jim Harris trip report for the Southern Spiral Traverse, which they start at Tebay lakes and go on past Iceberg lake.

I found one other couple that went from Ross Green Lake to Tebay Lakes

The editor for Backpacker Magazine did the route in the early 2000’s

[Andrew St. Pierre]

Brad, Thank you so much for your insight!  I am sure that as this progresses I will have some questions come up and I will PM you with any additional thoughts.  Safe trips and travels on your next adventure!

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