Village to village across the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska

[Philip Tschersich]

July 26, 2024
Country United States
State Alaska
Area South west Kodiak Island
Trip Month (07) – July

Gear List

• Seek Outside Flight 2 pack with SWD hip belt
• Tarptent Aeon Li tent
• Thermarest NeoAir Uberlight XL
• Katabatic Gear Chisos 40* quilt
• BRS3000 stove and MSR Titan Kettle cook kit
• Black Diamond Expedition 1 aluminum trekking poles with BD Distance tips
• 10 oz can bear spray
• Video captured with iPhone 13 Pro and Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS60 ultrazoom point and shoot, Original Joby Gorillapod tripod (shortened) with a DIY magsafe iPhone mount
• DIY camp chair a la the original Crazy Creek style
• Clothing: Enlightened Equipment: Visp, Copperfield, and Torrid. Arcteryx: Gamma Quick Dry pants, Norvan GTX pants, Motus SL T-shirt, boxers, and longjohn bottoms. Patagonia: AirShed Pro shirt. Light gloves and beanie
• Shoes: Merrel Altalight, mid-height, non-GTX
• Nitecore NB10000 USB power bank (good for 5-6 day trips)
• Sea to Summit Aeros pillow and Zpacks down sleeping hood
• Vivobarefoot Pure camp shoesReport / Notes
  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 obligations to get out and do a point-to-point trip on the island I have called home for over 30 years. My style of backcountry travel involves using inexpensive “seat fares” on the mail plane to reach remote canneries and villages as starting and ending points. There are both float- and wheeled-plane mail routes to anchor an itinerary around in the Kodiak Archipelago. Or, I will fly to a distant village etc and then hike/paddle back home. (Note: the local air taxis are fine carrying bear spray and stove fuel; just tell them you have it and they will probably stash it someplace safe like in an ammo can in a belly pod or in a float.)

The Kodiak Archipelago is a microcosm of what the rest of Alaska has to offer. The south end of Kodiak is characterized by low, rounded hills of wildflower meadows and tall tundra hummocks, dotted with marshes and sloughs. It strongly evokes the feeling of the Bering sea coast and the North Slope. Moving to the center of the west side of Kodiak Island is classic Southcentral coastal Alaska with deep bays and lovely beaches backed by mountains clad in truly horrific brush up to about 1,500′ elevation. Tough country. The center of the island has a spine of slate and white-crystalline granite, making for steep and dramatic mountains like in the Alaska Range (on a much smaller scale). The east side of Kodiak looks out onto the Gulf of Alaska and has steep-walled, deeply-incised ‘fjords’ ringed by impressive spires. The north end of Kodiak and the rest of the archipelago is largely densely wooded in a verdant and luxurious canopy of Sitka spruce and sphagnum moss, giving way to small alpine peaks erupting out of the forest like in parts of Southeast Alaska.

This trip was to take advantage of the relatively brush-free southwest side of the island, following a route I have developed specifically to minimize vegetative annoyance. But this is still Alaska after all, and while not involving epic salmonberry or alder thrashes, almost every step comes at a cost as you stumble-slog across vast swathes of tall/soft hummocks, squish your way across marshy expanses, or plow through chest-high ferns, pushkie, salmonberry and grass. But the ancient landscape in this part of Kodiak, called “The Refugium,” escaped the heavy ice coverage that most of the rest of southcentral Alaska experienced during the last two Pleistocene glaciations and offer a different topography and floral community from other parts of Kodiak. Broad and rounded low ridges offer sometimes pleasant hiking opportunities as do the gracefully arcing beaches along the Shelikof Strait, interspersed by craggy and sheer capes towering over the sea.

And there are animals. Lots and lots of animals. Kodiak brown bears, Sitka blacktail deer, red and silver (and cross) foxes, willow ptarmigan, harbor seals, and all manner of upland, song, and shorebird. Mountain goats have made their way west across the island and can be found on capes along the Shelikof, though I didn’t bump into them on this trip. Likewise, I did not see the herds of reindeer (not caribou) that wander the tundra headwaters of the bigger river systems on the west side. The profusion of wildlife is one of my favorite things about Kodiak which has the most watchable wildlife of any place I have ever visited. But you have to be very vigilant and comfortable around wild animals. You might run into a dozen brown bears in a day.

A real benefit to following the coast is that bug pressure is minimal. I barely had to shoo a single whitesock away for the first 4 days of the trip.  A handful followed me across the Sturgeon River valley and a few more joined in for the Karluk River valley crossing as I turned inland and east for the last 2 days. I think I saw a grand total of 2 mosquitos. Amazing. And I probably should not admit to this, but I didn’t filter any of the water on the trip other than 2 liters out of the Karluk River, and just filled my bottle where and when I wanted. I’ve been doing this for a long time and seem to be skating by nicely.

This is the video of that trip along with a map of the route (which is also animated at the start of the video). There were a few questions generated in the Hiking Across Kodiak Island, Alaskathread where I post other videos that I will address here instead as they were somewhat specific to this trip.

Cheers, Philip

[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.

[Michael Haubert]

Philip,

Your videos and adventures are the best! I always find your “stories” to be incredibly inspirational.  Thank you for taking the time to make, edit, and post these reports.

-Michael

[Philip Tschersich]

Cheers, folks. I really appreciate the positive feedback. It’s not lost on me that I live in one of the wildest and most beautiful places on earth, so I try to make good use of that fact and poke around the hinterlands to enjoy the scenery and company of my furry & feathered neighbors with some regularity.

[Author]

Posts