Turquoise Kayak and Hike – Lake Clark National Park

This morning You’ll start the day with an orientation and gear check at our Anchorage facility before heading to Merrill Field for the flight from Anchorage to Port Alsworth, and one of the most stunning bush flights in Alaska. After the hour-long flight, you and your guide team will discuss the adventure and wrap up the trip orientation. We’ll then load into float planes and lift off into the afternoon skies bound for Turquoise Lake – a 40 minute flight to the north of Port Alsworth. We’ll spend a couple of hours setting up camp at the east end of the lake and assembling our kayaks while we begin the process of absorbing the solitude of this silent wilderness. After our first gourmet wilderness dinner and home-baked dessert, you’ll have the chance to do an evening paddle on the lake or simply relax on the shore and take in the stunning view

After leaving the comfort of your sleeping bag, you’ll sip your preferred morning beverage as your guide prepares a sumptuous breakfast sure to fuel you for the day ahead. We’ll then strike out for a day of hiking up and into the “grand canyon” of Lake Clark National Park. If weather and river conditions allow, our goal today will be the Turquoise Glacier, via a 6-mile hike up-valley. As you marvel at the 5000’ walls of the canyon and the waterfalls cascading from distant summits, you’ll be left speechless by the surrounding majesty and the vertical relief enveloping you. Otherwise, your guide will take you up one of the incredible side valleys that feed the Turquoise watershed. Regardless, today’s hike will simply leave you in awe and wanting more.

Today we’ll stretch our legs on another amazing hike. We’ll shoulder day packs and head off to explore another one of the mighty drainages that bring glacially churned waters to the head of the lake. We’ll practice our river crossing techniques and surely discuss the forces that have shaped this landscape for thousands of years.

After a leisurely shore-side breakfast, we’ll break down camp, swap our trekking poles for paddles, and launch our inflatable sea kayaks into the pristine waters of Turquoise Lake. Kayaking on Turquoise Lake is both awe inspiring and humbling. As we paddle our way west to our next camp, located on a prominent spit of land on the southwest end of the lake, we’ll crane our necks to take in all of the amazing scenery and scan the shore and surrounding mountain sides for some of the critters that call this place home. Our campsite on the spit provides easy access to the tundra country characteristic of the western slope of the Alaska Range. This is the part of the trip where we’ll really accumulate some hiking miles!

We dedicate our final full-day in the wilderness hiking to and visiting one of the most unique locations in Lake Clark National Park. A few miles south of our camp, nestled deep in the mountains, is the magical ‘sheep lick.’ This mineral lick is a favorite haunt for the majestic Dall’s sheep and we’ll likely see ewes and lambs frolicking on its incredibly steep slopes. This valley has also provided us with some memorable wildlife encounters over the years, so be on the lookout for caribou, wolves, grizzly bears, and wolverines as well. Bound for some to be a trip favorite, this hike is sure to put a satisfying finish atop an incomparable adventure to Turquoise Lake

A breakfast of granola and hot drinks will allow us a leisurely morning to break camp and enjoy our last bit of time in the wilderness. Perhaps a bit soon, the float plane will mark our slow return to the world outside. Our pilot will return us to Port Alsworth, where we’ll check into the quaint cabins just steps from the beach. After hot showers and a celebratory dinner, we’ll tally up our wildlife sightings, and try to digest the humbling euphoria of days spent in total solitude.

After breakfast at the lodge, we’ll pay a morning visit to the Lake Clark National Park visitor’s center where you’ll have a chance to purchase maps and postcards, share stories with park staff, and enjoy interpretive videos and static displays of Lake Clark life. We’ll then strike out on the last hike of the trip along the park’s only developed trail to Tanalian Falls, a spectacular waterfall along the Tanalian River. We’ll then board an afternoon charter flight back to Anchorage, marking an end to the adventure.  If you are departing Alaska on this day, please schedule all homebound flights for after 9 pm.