I’ve spent much of my adult life exploring the temperate rainforests of Oregon, WA and SE Alaska, giving various talks on my experiences there. A couple years ago I managed to get an Alpacka Raft (something I’d been drooling over for several years), and have since been able to take some pretty spectacular trips to various destinations in WA and SE Alaska.
Russel Fjord, SE Alaska:
Sheridan Glacier, SE Alaska:
Queets Rainforest, WA:
Queets River, WA:
I’m planning a large trek across Princess Royal Island on British Columbia’s northern coast… an area commonly referred as the “Great Bear Rainforest.” This Maui-sized island has no permanent residents (just a small ghost town on its East shore) and some of the most remote and spectacular terrain in North America. Deep old-grown valleys full of record-sized spruce and cedar are cleaved by a labyrinth of massive granite ridgelines. The wildlife there is truly unique… home to coastal black wolves and the famed white “Spirit Bear” (a subspecies of black bear with all-white fur). This trip has been several years in the planning, and details are only now coming together. Very few people go there… fewer yet ever venture into the island’s interior. Most photos of the island are taken from a float-plane or boat nearby… there’s a very good chance we’ll encounter no one else for the duration of the trip. I’m excited about this one! Here’s the jist of the trip:
- 3 weeks (~21 days) in July/Aug '09, possibly without resupply. (If $$ allows, we’ll cache a resupply in the ghost town of Butedale on the East end of the island).
- Packrafts will be mandatory, due to the heavily fjorded nature of the island and the fact we have to cross to an adjoining island to reach the nearest town.
- A knowledge of such terrain, competent gear, and experience traveling off-trail for extended periods will be needed. No newbies, please.
- Packs will be heavy… carrying 21-days of food is never light, no matter how you slice it. Most remaining gear will be kept minimal to compensate.
- Most the trip will be over land (this is a “raft-packing” trip, using the terminology coined by Roman). The rafts will be used to cross various lakes & fjords, and possibly run a couple rivers as part of the journey.
- Speed is not the overall goal. The terrain will be intense at times, but we won’t be putting forth huge mileage on the trip. Much time will be spent documenting and photographing the wildlife and terrain (anyone who’s photographed wildlife can attest to the time-demands of that).
- A willingness to help “publicize” the trip (some sponsors have already committed, others are interested) is helpful.
In the past, I’ve taken most multi-week treks solo, but I’m looking for one or two competent partners for this one. If you’re interested, feel free to shoot me a PM, or an e-mail at mikeatrainforesttreksdotcom and we’ll talk it over! I look forward to hearing from you, and hopefully we’ll meet under a damp green understory,
- Mike
