We wrote the book!
Author of
Hiking Alaska's
Wrangell St
Elias Natlonal Park
Falcon Guides
Hiking Alaska's
Wrangell St
Elias Natlonal Park
Falcon Guides
The best year-round method of contact is via email. trips@trekalaska.com
Or by phone: 907-795-5252
People often ask for guidance regarding guide gratuities. Gratuities are always at the discretion of the guest. However, your guide is with you for 5-8 days and works hard to ensure that you have a safe and enjoyable trip . Gratuities make up an important part of the guide's income and so are always appreciated. Keep in mind everything the guide is doing for you - preparing all meals, keeping everyone safe and happy, offering instruction and guidance with aspects of Alaskan backcountry travel that you might not be familiar with and a host of other things that help to make your experience as safe and enjoyable as possible. A good guideline is something in the range of 11-15% of the trek cost. So if the trek cost is $2800/ person then $280-$350 per trek member would be a good guideline.
Trek Alaska must purchase supplies and book backcountry flights well in advance of a trip. Therefore all payments (deposit and final payment) are non-refundable. Every year a few people cancel their trip, often just a few weeks prior to the trip. Often such cancellations are the result of injury. illness or even a death in the family. We realize that such unexpected events happen and can result in a trip cancellation.
However no exceptions will be made to the cancellation policy regardless of the reason for cancellation. Should your trip departure have to be cancelled or postponed by a force majeure (including but not limited to: weather or other reasons causing delays or cancelled flights, fire, flood, volcanic eruption, pandemic, ongoing or newly introduced travel ban or government statement) there will be no refund. The participant is solely responsible for on-time arrival at the start point of the trek.
Trek Alaska strongly recommends travel and trip cancellation insurance available from a travel agent or online.
Weather in Alaska is difficult to predict, especially in the mountain wilderness of this rugged area. It is possible that we could find ourselves grounded in McCarthy due to weather conditions that make flying impossible. In such circumstances we would consider the options of waiting out the weather or selecting a different itinerary if possible. No refunds can be made if a trip is canceled, modified or delayed due to weather conditions. When planning your return home after your adventure, you might want to plan an extra day as a cushion in case our return to McCarthy is delayed due to weather. It would be unusual for a trip to be cancelled due to weather, and it’s never happened yet, but you might want to consider trip insurance.
Greay - we love custom trips!
If you have a family group or a group of friends, we can arrange a private trip. This give you total flexibility in scheduling a trip as you are not restriced to the dates or trips on the calandar.
Custom trips can be arranged for any group size though there will be a suplemental fee for groups smaller than 3.
Call us to discuss a private trip.
Your guide will meet you upon arrival and manage all the logistics of your wilderness trip until your departure. While in the McCarthy/Kennicott area they can arrange for local transportation, Kennicott tours or other details. They will meet with the group the night before departure into the backcountry and go over everyone’s gear and distribute food and other group gear.
In the backcountry your guide will manage all organizational aspects of day to day life in the mountains. He will take charge of route finding and navigation and be responsive to the client’s needs and interests. The guide will take care of meal preparation and other camp chores although group participation is always appreciated.
Beyond these basic functions, your guide will do all he can to make your trip as enjoyable and rewarding as possible. He also will take advantage of opportunities to teach new skills. One of our goals is to provide you with skill and experience that you can apply to future adventures.
Clients will be responsible for setting up their tents and packing up their gear.
Trek Alaska provides all group gear including:
This gear will be divided among participants for carrying.
Each participant will need to provide all of their own personal gear such as pack, sleeping pad and bag, boots, clothing, eating utensils, etc.
See our gear checklist for a complete listing of what you will need to bring.
This is one of the top questions we get asked. One of the reasons that folks like to come out to this corner of Alaska is that it's remote, even by Alaska standards. But that means it takes a bit more planning for transportation. You can get to McCarthy by motor vehicle or air. Access into McCarthy from where the road ends at the Kennicott river is via a footbridge - you must park near the bridge. Transportation will be provided from the footbridge in to town. Click for more information on getting to McCarthy.
Unless otherwise specified, the cost listed for each trip is from arrival in McCarthy. It includes all costs of the trek:
Not included in the cost is:
