Nothing in the pipline to be published on BPL about this trip, but again I have a bunch of content on my website. This was a 700-mile, 4-week hiking and packrafting trip through south-central Alaska, including the Kenai Mountains, Kenai Fjords, western Chugach Range, and Talkeetna Mountains. The address is: www.andrewskurka.com/AK09/index.php

I loved your photo essay, Andy. My wife and I spent some time on the Kenai Peninsula and the Talkeetna area in September of 2007. Your pictures made me realize how much I miss Alaska.

I'm an local Alaskan hiker & backpacker humbled by your incredible journey across, up, down, around and through our neck of the woods. Absolutely amazing! And the coup de gras was the awesome photography. It's hard to believe what you did. I am in awe. Wow! Congrats.

There's a video about the trip now on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THl-Inf1tKc

Edited by askurka on 08/15/2009 08:50:08 MDT.

Awesome Andrew.

Watching the video, looking at the pictures, and reading the prose makes me daydream of one day doing something similar (after months of training of course!).

Looks like another great trip. You might want to check your formating of the text on your site, some if the text is running off the background making it hard to read.

Thanks for sharing your amazing adventures. I have watched the video more than once. A wild and rugged landscape.

Hi Andy

Love the trip reports and video's. Can you next time you do a trip give us a quick campsite tour (video). You give us alot of "on the move" video but given the campsite is very NB at the end of a long day that would be really interesting (with a bit of dialogue).

Especially since each campsite is very different (weather, location, season).

Thanks again,
Mark

I feel as if this request might highlight a difference in style. Some backcountry folks LOVE campsites -- it's their reward after a long day of hiking, skiing, rafting, etc. Then there's folks like me, who think of campsites solely in terms of their utilitarian function -- a place to sleep. I don't spend much time there; the quality of the site is often compromised by finishing my day whenever it gets dark, regardless of where I happen to be; and I'm gone within about 15 minutes of waking up in the morning. The bottom line is that I don't end up with many photos or video clips of my campsites -- they're just not that important to me. (I must say, however, that I ended up with more photos/videos from AK than usual because there was 24 hours of daylight and darkness was not a prohibiting factor in using my camera when I arrived at camp.)

So, Mark, my direct response to you, then, is this: I'll try to record more of my campsites when there's a good opportunity, but because this doesn't happen naturally for me (relative to, say, taking videos of me "on the move") the product at the end probably won't be as good as someone who truly loves campsites could do.

Hi Andy

Thanks for the response! That is the "feel" I got from your video's and trip reports but I guess there is much for us to learn from that exact campsite process/experience/attitude.

So when you have a moment... quality of pic/video is not an issue... maybe just setup the video camera and video a typical setup/breakdown so it doesn't eat into time... it would be very interesting and I'm sure educational.

Thanks
Mark