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 Destination
Wilderness' Source to the Sea Expedition is the ultimate Alaska outdoor
adventure wilderness trip. Bears, eagles, salmon. Rafting, hiking,
flightseeing. Waterfalls, towering peaks, glaciers. Alpine meadows, endless
vistas, midnight sun. Isolation, solitude, peace and quiet. Great company,
great food, hassle-free logistics. All of these and so much more are wrapped up
into this unforgettable and unmatched Alaska outdoor adventure wilderness
journey. These trips are run by our Alaska affiliate outfitter, Copper Oar.
Copper Oar is partially owned by and trips led in part by guides who worked for
Destination Wilderness when it operated trips in Alaska directly.
Why
not count yourself as one of the handful of people who have floated from the
glacial source to the mouth of one of the world's greatest rivers through the
largest protected wilderness area in the world?
For information on our
other great Alaska outdoor adventure travel trips please see the
Grand Alaska
Adventure, Copper River Expedition, Discover Alaska
Adventure and Lake Creek Fishing and Rafting
Adventure.
Trip
Overview
(for additional details such
as a daily itinerary, rendezvous information, etc., please
click
here.)
This classic Alaska outdoor adventure begins in
Valdez, Alaska, a scenic working class town perched high up a Prince William
Sound fjord. From here we travel by van and bush plane to the dramatic and
historically-rich town of McCarthy. The flightseeing trip to this place soars
around 16,000 foot peaks, over knife-edge ridges, and above rich blue glaciers.
After landing in McCarthy you transfer to a smaller yet bush plane for the
short trip to the Nizina river headwaters. We land on a gravel bar near the
glacier of the same name and explore this source of the Nizina, Chitina, and
ultimately Copper rivers. The next day we board rafts for the row across the
Nizina glacier "pond" (Alaska for sizeable lake). We float near translucent
icebergs and then, at the base of the lake where the quiet still water tips
over the nick point, begin the river journey portion of this classic Alaska
adventure travel tour.
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Source to the Sea Info |
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After a day of rafting we hike up and into the
Chitistone Valley, an expansive alpine meadow with sky scraping peaks,
cascading waterfalls, wildlife viewing opportunities, and open range hiking. We
spend two days here exploring, relaxing, and revelling in the beauty. The pure
isolation and grand scale of Chitistone are indescribable. We then reboard the
rafts for an unforgettable trip through the Mile High Cliffs, where the Nizina
stairsteps down a canyon with walls that literally reach thousands of feet into
the air.
We leave the Nizina the next day after a running the sinewy
and sneaky Nizina Canyon, where the river is squeezed to its narrowest and
hairpin turns demand precision rowing and paddling. The Nizina merges with the
Chitina river at this point and we are blessed with big sky and hundred mile
views of the majestically tall mountains of the Wrangell, St. Elias, and
Chugach mountain ranges. Each of these ranges alone are mind-boggling big and
bountiful. Having the chance to experience all three at once is absolutely
awe-inspiring. We drift for three days in the shadows of these mountains, as
the Chitina winds its way west. Along the way we stop at sparkling side-creeks
(and maybe catch a salmon or two for dinner), camp on large soft beaches, see
sign after sign of big brown bear and likely watch them amble along shore, and
breathe in deep the fresh air and peace and quiet.
 We reach the confluence of the Copper and
Chitina rivers ten days into this grand Alaska outdoor adventure. At this point
we leave the river for a night's sleep in cabins near the quiet town of
Chitina. The next day we head down south, down the mighty Copper. Soon we enter
Woods Canyon, where the Copper constricts and runs strong. Jagged Spirit
Mountain beckons us on, as hanging glaciers and waterfalls begin to adorn the
canyon walls. The Copper becomes increasingly vegetated, with alder, spruce,
and birch blanketing the hillsides. Each day we float largely rapid-free
stretches of river and camp each night next to a sparkling river or on a soft
riverside glade.
We take time during this portion of the trip to
explore exotic places like Bremner Dunes, where desert-like sand hills sit
directly across river from magnificent glaciers. We also hike to beautiful
waterfalls and up along salmon-rich streams. After five days of this splendor
we reach Abercrombie canyon, a place of potential sensory overload. Here we are
likely to spot eagle soaring overhead, bear fishing for spawning salmon, seals
that have swam upriver from the sea in search of salmon as well, and
Abercrombie rapids, with 16-foot roller coaster waves.
 We emerge from this canyon and float into a
Miles Lake, a place of equal grandeur. Huge Miles and Childs glaciers thunder
and crack as they calve monstrous chunks of ice into the river. After camping
here we row around icebergs across the lake and reach the trip's end point at
the edge of Child's Glacier. We are then shuttled to the friendly and scenic
town of Cordova where we celebrate fifteen days of pure Alaska outdoor
adventure wilderness travel through one of the world's most majestic
places.
For additional details such as a daily itinerary,
rendezvous information, etc., please click here. For images of the beautiful Wrangell St.
Elias National Park and our Alaska outdoor adventures please visit the
Alaska
Adventures Photo Gallery.
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Source to
the Sea Expedition: Pure Alaska Outdoor Adventure
Late June and Early July
