Alaska-Yukon Expedition: Spring Conditions Terminology

Follow adventurer Andrew Skurka as he skis, hikes, and rafts 4,720 miles through eight national parks, two major mountain ranges, and some of North America's wildest rivers in Alaska and the Yukon from March to October. Read his blog updates here.

In talking recently with my parents and friends I gather that not everyone is familiar with the lingo I've been using to describe the current springtime conditions. I'll attempt to define a few of the most important terms now.

"Variable conditions"
In the winter and summer, conditions are relatively predictable. Winter: cold temps, dry snow, frozen rivers and lakes, full snow coverage. Summer: warm, wet, open rivers and lakes, no snow. But in the spring, conditions are something in between, and changes are happening rapidly in the transition from winter to summer. A slope may be covered in snow today, but bare next week. A river that had frequent ice bridges yesterday may be completely open tomorrow. The snow may feature a supportive crust at 8 a.m. but might be the consistency of a slushie by noon.

Alaska-Yukon Expedition: It's On, Mother Nature. Bring It.

Posted from Delta Junction, Alaska

In an earlier post, "Becoming a Lean, Mean Adventuring Machine," I identified a "go big or go home" moment as part of the hardening process. I finally had that moment, a few weeks ago in the western Alaska Range (as predicted), and I'll share it now.

The western Alaska Range between Roan Roadhouse and Cantwell was my first significant off-trail portion and my first long stretch without town stops. It's rugged country even by Alaskan standards. It features big mountains, big glaciers, serious weather, and no local help if something goes wrong. Look at a map—there's NOTHING between Nikolai and the seasonal Wonder Lake Campground. "Just go downhill" is not sage bailout advice. My planned route was 280 roadless miles, which I made logistically possible by having two caches brought in beforehand (one by plane, another by dog team). The terrain included enormous braided river bars (which in early April are still covered with ice), tundra-covered 4,000-foot benches just to the north of Mount McKinley, textbook Interior taiga forests and tussocks, and the debris-covered terminal moraines of Straightaway, Foraker, and Peters glaciers.

Alaska-Yukon Expedition: Andrew Answers Your Questions on Avalanches, GPS, Socks, Motivation

 
Thanks for submitting your questions last week. We sent them off to Andrew when he was in Delta Junction, Alaska. As to be expected, he came through with great answers. He also told us that he's happy to answer more, so feel free to submit new questions at the end of this post.

What's been the most intense moment of the trip?—Matt Shaw

I had a few tense moments last week after a spring snowstorm dumped almost three feet of snow up high just before I was about to ski over two steep passes. Both passes had unavoidable avalanche slopes (i.e. I had to cross slopes that are steep enough to slide) and there were avy-prone slopes above, below, and adjacent to my route. I think the conditions were safe at the time, but I learned a valuable lesson: Don't plan a high-stakes route through avalanche terrain, because when you get there the conditions might not be safe. I would have been better off planning a "safe route" with a "avy route option."

Alaska-Yukon Expedition: The Challenges of Going Solo

Follow adventurer Andrew Skurka as he skis, hikes, and rafts 4,720 miles through eight national parks, two major mountain ranges, and some of North America's wildest rivers in Alaska and the Yukon from March to October. Read his blog updates here.

Posted from Delta Junction, Alaska

I enjoy solo wilderness travel. I also enjoy group wilderness travel. There are pros and cons to each, but certain trips are best done solo, while others are best done by two or more individuals.

In the case of this expedition, the reason I'm doing it solo basically comes down to the question: How many people do I know who are willing and able to do this trip? Willing: have the desire. Able: have the skill, time, resources, and flexibility with job, family, and other commitments. I know of a few people who might be willing and able, but I don't know them well enough to risk the expedition on them. So I am doing it alone, which has some significant pros....

Alaska-Yukon Expedition: Spring in Alaska - The Good and the Bad

Follow adventurer Andrew Skurka as he skis, hikes, and rafts 4,720 miles through eight national parks, two major mountain ranges, and some of North America's wildest rivers in Alaska and the Yukon from March to October. Read his blog updates here.

Spring has arrived in Alaska, at least by local standards. It may have been zero degrees this morning, but at least the days are getting really long, the weather is warmer and more stable, and the snow and ice are  melting in the mid-day sun. This means the roads are getting muddy and the trails are littered with melting dog poop. Here the defining event of spring is when the rivers “break-up,” which entails violent clashing of house-sized ice chunks and destructive icejam-caused flooding.

I am looking forward to spring’s warmer weather and longer days. And I know that spring quickly leads into summer, a season that plays better to my backpacking expertise. But there are reasons for me to be nervous about spring’s arrival.

* Cold-and-wet conditions. I’d much prefer it be zero degrees and snowing than 35 degrees and raining. It’s extremely difficult to function and stay comfortable in cold, wet conditions. This will be common all spring (and again in the fall).

* Water hazards. Snowmelt must go somewhere. In Alaska it often flows on the surface of still-frozen rivers and creeks, creating “overflow,” which can be either a few inches or a few feet deep. The rivers begin opening up, too--snowbridges will be harder to come by and fords of swift, ice-cold rivers will become more common.

Alaska-Yukon Expedition: Eat Fat - A Guide to the 5,000-Calorie Wilderness Diet

Follow adventurer Andrew Skurka as he skis, hikes, and rafts 4,720 miles through eight national parks, two major mountain ranges, and some of North America's wildest rivers in Alaska and the Yukon from March to October. Read his blog updates here.

Posted April 9, 2010, from McGrath, Alaska

My outdoor diet has been honed through years of experience and over 20,000+ miles. It might not work for everybody, but it works for me, at least right now.

Considerations in Food Items

It is difficult to find food items that are compatible with a long-term trip. Below are the most important factors I consider when I am food-shopping.

* Caloric density (i.e. calories/ounce). One ounce of fat contains 240 calories; one ounce of carbohydrates or proteins contains just 100 calories. So, the fattier my diet, the less food-weight I need to carry in order to achieve a caloric target. In: olive oil and peanut butter. Out: fresh produce and tuna packets. Basically, I try consume as much fat as I can, so long as my diet remains palatable and practical.

* Spatial efficiency (i.e. calories/volume). During this trip I will pack up to 1.5 weeks worth of food, and if my food is not dense (think energy bars versus bagels) that will be problematic -- my pack won’t have enough space for it all.

Alaska-Yukon Expedition: Finally Into the Wilderness, the Most Challenging Terrain Begins Now

Follow adventurer Andrew Skurka as he skis, hikes, and rafts 4,720 miles through eight national parks, two major mountain ranges, and some of North America's wildest rivers in Alaska and the Yukon from March to October. Read his blog updates here.

April 11, 2010, posted from Nikolai, Alaska

I think about this expedition in three major legs: Kotzebue to Nikolai (mile 757), Nikolai to Dawson (mile 3,091), and Dawson to Kotzebue (mile 4,720). Leg one is now over. It’s been characterized by flagged snowmachine trails, frequent resupplies (two per week), few days without seeing another person (just three out of 29), casual mileage goals (in order to accommodate severe weather and/or early overuse injuries), and relatively bland scenery.

Alaska-Yukon Expedition: The Modernization of Life in Rural Alaska - Is it Sustainable?

Follow adventurer Andrew Skurka as he skis, hikes, and rafts 4,720 miles through eight national parks, two major mountain ranges, and some of North America's wildest rivers in Alaska and the Yukon from March to October. Read his blog updates here.

April 1, Day 19, Mile 500.8
Posted from Ruby, Alaska

To travel between Kotzebue and the Alaska Range, I'm using snowmachine trails, which are hands-down the most practical way to get around terrain that is either swampy and buggy or covered in snow and ice. The snowmachine trails "connect the dots" of bush villages in rural Alaska. These villages are not connected to a road system and have populations of 100 to 1,000 (mostly of indigenous origin). Basic services include a school, health clinic, post office, small store, and airstrip. While the passing through villages such as Buckland, Kaltag, and Ruby a few times a week has hindered the "wilderness" aspect of this trip so far, it's provided a different kind of redeeming experience and learning.

These villages are in a period of tremendous transition. The eldest of elders grew up very differently than today's village youth. They used dog teams instead of snowmachines, poled up the Yukon instead of using motorized boats, rotated among seasonal camps—each optimized for the hunting and gathering of the particular season—instead of residing year-round in one place. They heated their homes with wood instead of oil and hauled their water from the local river instead of having a village-wide water/sewer system. Village life today may be simple, but it's shockingly modern. Homes have flat-screen TVs and X-Boxs. Cheerios and Fruit Loops can be found at the village store ($7 a box) and powerful snowmachines and 4-wheelers are parked at every house (fueled by $5 a gallon gas). Teenagers wear Under Armour clothing. Children get picked up at state-of-the-art schools by parents on snowmachines. (I guess that even Alaska has seen the disappearance of schools that are ten snow-covered miles away, uphill, both ways.)

Alaska-Yukon Expedition: Becoming a Lean, Mean Adventuring Machine

Follow adventurer Andrew Skurka as he skis, hikes, and rafts 4,720 miles through eight national parks, two major mountain ranges, and some of North America's wildest rivers in Alaska and the Yukon from March to October. Read his blog updates here.

April 1, Day 19, Mile 500.8
Posted from Ruby, Alaska

I'm almost three weeks into this trip, and today I feel much more hardened than I did when I landed pre-dawn in Kotzebue 500 miles ago. The process of morphing from just an aspiring adventurer into a lean, mean adventuring machine has three components: physical, mechanical, and mental.

Physical. The body must become acclimated to the local conditions—in my case butt-cold temperatures, but altitude might apply in other situations. The body also must go through a period of "break-in" aches and pains, some of which need to be managed.

Alaska-Yukon Expedition: 280 Miles Along Alaska's Wild West Coast

Follow adventurer Andrew Skurka as he skis, hikes, and rafts 4,720 miles through eight national parks, two major mountain ranges, and some of North America's wildest rivers in Alaska and the Yukon from March to October. Read his blog updates here.

West Coast Wrap-Up: What I've Seen, posted in Unalakleet, Alaska, on March 24, 2010

Tomorrow morning I head inland via a historic portage route between the Bering Sea (the Unalakleet side) and the Yukon River (at the village of Kaltag). This is a transitional point in the route—moving from the coast to the interior—and a good opportunity for me to wrap up the last 280 miles.

My route has been completely dependent on the network of snomachine trails between rural Alaskan villages. About 100 miles of the route being blazed as the "Iditarod Trail" doesn't change the reality that local snowmachiners represent the bulk of the use—dog mushers are exceptions, and skiers like me are freaks. The tracks are well packed, making for fast skiing since I'm not breaking trail. They're often marked (but not signed), for the safety of users. Following these snowmachine trails has been like following the Appalachian Trail, almost... I've been out for ten days and have seen a person every day thus far; sometimes it's just been a lone snowmachiner while other times there have been waves of two- to four-rider groups.