Awesome heli hike day with Chugash Adventures

Monday, August 08, 2016
Girdwood, Alaska, United States
Mon Aug 8
 -the crew woke up early to their credit and powered through the morning routine . Even so with the car packing and single bathroom we still departed about 5 minutes late. It was no big deal and we arrived at Chugash Adventures with plenty of time
 -the owner and one of our guides for the day, Ari the mountain man, had generously gathered rain gear and water bottles and backpacks for us. We all borrowed rain pants, two of which were brand new, and water bottles and Ty grabbed a nice Da Kine day pack. We headed up and jumped in the van for the ride to the airport.
-we checked in with the helicopter company and had time to wander about the Piper Super Cubs with huge tires for bush and gravel field landings. Soon we got our helicopter briefing and were loading up to go. Happily they had two helicopters so we were all able to go at the same time. 
-the flight was fun and everyone had a big grin. Our pilot was flying at 1200ft and I asked him to drop down lower. He complied and we buzzed along at 200-300 feet. We could see bald eagles below and came upon a bull moose and cow. The bull had a big rack of antlers and stared right up at us, almost posing for a picture .
-at Ari's direction, the pilot put us down on a small spine of ground near a snow field. Laura and Finn had some extra time in their helicopter while we landed so their pilot took them over to view the nearby glacier. Extra sight seeing time for those lucky dogs. Soon we were all on the ground with big smiles and moose stories. We snapped a quick departure photo and we were off across the snowfields and arctic tundra. 
 -the boys had a great time chatting with our two guides and butt sliding their way across snow and slick plants. The scenery was stunning all around and it was great fun, even the adult slipping and sliding down hills
 -after an hour or so and about two miles we met up with the Park Service trail that Ari had helped build when he worked for them. He had a story about each painful 80ft of trail per day that they had to cut through hemlock groves or dig up grass roots. It was fun to have such a personal guide and he was obviously very happy to be back in the Alaska high country . In fact we were the first clients to ever do this outing so it was super fun for us all.
 -we descended down to Spencer Lake which is partially fed by the massive Spencer Glacier. We had a picnic lunch and then had time to hop in brand new kayaks with our other guide Colin. We paddled out amongst the floating icebergs that had calved off of the glacier. It was amazing how cold it was on the surface of the water and we were slightly underdressed. Even so we had a great time. A total bonus to the tour.
  -we paddled back to shore and joined a group of afternoon rafters for the 7mi float down to the train tracks. We had our own private raft w Ari and chatted through the afternoon drizzle that had started. Just when Tys feet were really getting cold we arrived at the train tracks. Perfect.
  -we hopped out in what felt like the middle of nowhere and like clock work the train arrived in a few minutes. It stopped and allowed us to get on board and tithe guides to load the six rafts. Too funny to flag down a train in the Alaskan bush and hop on with all of ur gear definitely unique. 
 -the short train ride was pleasant and we were glad to be dry and warm since the rain had started to increase. We almost stayed on board beyond our stop but Ari grabbed us and we jumped into a van for a short shuttle back to base. An awesome time with an awesome company with awesome guides. Definitely a highlight of the trip and so many activities in one tour.
  -we said our goodbyes and then headed to Jack Sprat for dinner and our well timed reservation. The food was yummy and we were all hungry and glad to be getting warm
 . -we drove into the now strong rain for 1.5 hours to Seward. We got checked into our hotel by 9 and were lights out by 10 with tired bodies and happy memories. 

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2025-02-11

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