• Wrangell Mountains

    Wrangell - St Elias

    National Park & Preserve Alaska

  • Nabesna Road Update

    The Nabesna Road is in good condition to mile 29. Beyond mile 29 there are three creek crossings and a four-wheel drive vehicle is required. From mile 36 to mile 42 is very rough and rutted. Be cautious.

Wrangell-St. Elias Backcountry Blog

Welcome to our backcountry blog

Throughout this summer, backcountry rangers will post photos and stories of their patrols through the Wrangell-St. Elias wilderness.

We hope you use this resource to inform your own trip plans, if you wish to hike in the park, or to get a bit of inspiration through the images of America's largest national park.

Always feel free to contact us if you have questions about this blog, or any other aspect of Wrangell-St. Elias. Please note that the comment feature of this blog currently does not work, but please feel free to email us with questions or comments.

 
 

Last Post of 2011

Posted: September 20, 2011 | posted by: Evan Olson!

The season is winding down at the park.  Hunting season is coming to a close as well.  The Ranger staff has been busy over the last month or so monitoring hunting activities.
The snow has been creeping down the mountains and the fall colors are fading. 

Aircraft over fall colors

The Backcountry staff had a successful season patrolling the backcountry, conducting rescues, and helping out with various projects around the park.  The Backsountry staff members are all seasonal and the last one will finish work this week.  The blog will not be updated until we resume

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Iceberg Lake to Bremner Patrol

Posted: July 23, 2011 | posted by: Evan Olson!

I just returned from a patrol that went from Iceberg Lake to Bremner. This is a route that seems to be increasing in popularity each season. We encountered several parties along this route including one group that had already been in the backcountry for 30 days!

This route is popular because of the incredible views along the way. However, with popularity comes impacts. This route passes through several areas that are very sensitive to human impacts and we found litter, social trails starting to develop and impacted campsites. If you are going to hike this route (or any other popular route) remember to practice Leave No Trace principles. Please pack out all your trash and don't camp in areas where it looks like others recently camped. We also ran into several food

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Rangers help with Mining Cleanup

Posted: July 23, 2011 | posted by: Evan Olson!

Wrangell St Elias National Park has a long history of mining. These mines were scattered throughout the park and ranged in size from one man prospects to the huge complex at Kennecott. Many of these old sites were abandoned when it became apparent that they would not be profitable. As a result there is a large amount of abandoned mining equipment and supplies spread throughout the park. Most of this equipment has become part of the rich mining history of Alaska and is being preserved in place. Unfortunately some of the items left behind by the miners are hazardous to the environment.  

The Alaska Region has been working with the staff at Wrangell St Elias to remove some of this hazardous waste. Most of what we are removing is old fuel barrels. I recently had the

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BEAR!!!

Posted: June 22, 2011

Grizzly Bear

A much more docile bear.

I recently completed a patrol of the Goat Trail with a NPS Volunteer. During the course of this patrol we had one of the closest and scariest bear encounters I have ever experienced.  

We were near the southwest end of Chitistone Pass when we saw the bears. The terrain in this area is wide open tundra, no trees or brush. We saw the bears about 100 yards away down near a creek, a sow with two small spring cubs. The bears saw us at about the same time and the sow did exactly what we wanted her to do, she turned and ran away from us. The

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Skolai and The Goat Trail

Posted: June 18, 2011

Volunteer hiking the Goat Trail

A backcountry patrol just got back from The Goat Trail.  It is still early season in the highcountry right now and the patrol encountered a little bit of everything weather-wise including rain, sleet, hail, snow, and finally a bit of sun.  Skolai pass was nice and has mostly dried out from the winter snows.  Great hiking up there!!

Bad weather

Yup,

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Mt Drum Mountaineering Patrol

Posted: May 24, 2011 | posted by: Evan Olson!

Alpenglow on Mt Drum

Ranger Evan Olson and two NPS volunteers just returned from a mountaineering
patrol on the southwest ridge of Mt Drum.  The patrol made it to about 10,000
ft before being turned back by bad weather. 

Mountaineering patrols are conducted to gain familiarity with the climbing
route, to assess human impacts to alpine areas, and to contact park visitors. 
Two groups of park visitors were contacted on this patrol.

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Mountaineering Patrol

Posted: May 14, 2011 | posted by: Evan Olson!

Rangers on patrol

The backcountry rangers are out on the first mountaineering patrol of the season.  Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve has incredible opportunities for climbing and mountaineering on some of the most remote mountains anywhere.  The park has sixteen of the twenty tallest peaks in Alaska including 18,008 ft tall Mt St. Elias. 
We'll put up a new post as soon as we get back in a couple weeks.

Rangers with Mt St Elias on the horizon Read More About Mountaineering Patrol

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2011 Season Kickoff!!

Posted: May 04, 2011

Hiker near Horsfeld, Wrangell-St Elias NP&P

Welcome to our new blog!  We are gearing up for another season here and we are excited to be starting this new blog to help interact with visitors.  The backcountry rangers spend most of their time patrolling the park, which leaves less time than we would like to interact with visitors.  We are hoping that visitors will use this blog to get a better handle on the current conditions in the backcountry and better prepare for their own backcountry experience.

The first backcountry patrols of the season are coming up soon. 

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Welcome to our backcountry blog

Posted: May 04, 2011

Throughout this summer, backcountry rangers will post photos and stories of their patrols through the Wrangell-St. Elias wilderness.

We hope you use this resource to inform your own trip plans, if you wish to hike in the park; or to get a bit of inspiration through the images of America's largest national park.

Always feel free to contact us if you have questions about this blog, or any other aspect of Wrangell-St. Elias.

Post Comment | View Comments

Did You Know?

Camas Wand Lily

An Alaskan wildflower, the Camas Wand Lily, or “Death Camas”, contains a highly-toxic substance that causes vomiting, lowered body temperature, and breathing difficulties.