Village to village across the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska

[Philip Tschersich]

Companion forum thread to: Village to village across the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska

We are having a chilly and late spring/summer in southwestern Alaska. I had been waiting for a nice weather window between iffy weather and work oblig

[Philip Tschersich]

Brad W- “…what was your food storage protocol? Are ticks an issue? Can you post a gear list?”

I don’t do anything special with my food. I use the original packaging for F/D food, ramen in the store wrapper, crushed Fritos in the Lays bag with a rubber band, etc, and everything goes in silnylon stuff sacks or similar. I don’t use a bear canister or Ursack. I put my trash in a gallon ziplock. I sleep with my food in the tent vestibule. Our bears are wild and hunted and afraid of humans. My presence is much more of a deterrent than my food is an attractant. This strategy works well in remote areas. Around villages or areas with human activity, the bears get bolder and cheekier. I mainly avoid camping near areas frequented by other people.

Kodiak doesn’t have any ticks (for now).

I added a partial gear list covering the major items in my trip report. I don’t really weigh stuff or keep spreadsheets, though I do have a packing list to make sure I don’t forget anything.

[Philip Tschersich]

Jerry Adams- “what did you use for a camera?  You must have had a tripod also?”

I use my iPhone 13 Pro for scenics, POV, and general video recording. Great quality cameras. All telephoto and timelapse images are from my Panasonic DMC-ZS60 which has a powerful zoom lens. It’s an excellent compact camera for wildlife video. All my shots are handheld other than scenes where I am hiking in the video, where I use a shortened original Joby Gorillapod with a diy MagSafe phone adapter. I take great pains to shoot the smoothest video I can in the field and then also run a bit of image stabilization when I do the video edit.

Cheers, folks.

[Kevin Babione]

Thank you for another amazing video!

[AK Granola]

I don’t understand how you can possibly stay warm enough with that gear and clothing! I’d be dead of hypothermia for sure. Great video! What is the purple flower at 5:48, close to the ground?

[Brad W]

@Philip. I have been searching for a companion camera to bring in addition to my iPhone 14 Pro Max. That zoom is nice without much weight.

FWIW I use a Ultrapod 1st gen with a cell phone mount. Weighs about 4oz and is very durable. The velcro is nice to be able to attach to a small tree limb or trekking pole.

I do like that Magsafe mod-that would really come in handy.

[Philip Tschersich]

AK Granola- I don’t understand how you can possibly stay warm enough with that gear and clothing! I’d be dead of hypothermia for sure. Great video! What is the purple flower at 5:48, close to the ground?

Lupine! They grow everywhere and are so very pretty.

I run pretty warm-blooded. I have some light long underwear bottoms I might add for sleeping or if it’s a chilly day. But if I hike in light gloves and a beanie with a good windbreaker over my Airshed Pro, that will keep me in moving comfort down into the upper 40 F range. It’s rare that I need to keep the puffy handy for stops. If camp is windy and exposed, I might end up wearing all my clothes. But that’s why I bring what I do. Oh- and the down sleeping hood is money!

Cheers

[Logan K]

Another great trip report Phil! I really appreciate you sharing your adventures!

Question about your pack setup: how do you attach your SWD hipbelt to the SO Flight?

I have the Flight 1 and I’d love to do the same thing.

Thanks,

Logan

[Philip Tschersich]

I opened the bottom seam and added a daisy chain for height adjustment. I briefly tried the stock lower gear loops on the Flight, but the alignment was not great (they were too wide) and I need them for my packraft carry strategy. I used a length of 1/8″ bungee to keep the hipbelt up and in position when not wearing the pack.

Cheers

[Logan K]

Thanks for the pictures and the description Phil! This is very helpful!

Cheers!

Logan

[Tjaard Breeuwer]

Thanks for sharing Philip! Really cool hike! Amazing all the wildlife you got on camera. And the movie is very well made.

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