The Plan

I'm going to Alaska for 9 days, starting Friday. I'll be traveling 5000 miles by air, 1000 miles by land, and even a few miles by sea. I'll be posting photos to my Facebook page during the trip if you want to follow along.

My company is sponsoring the trip. I'll be going there with two other coworkers (all of us BYU grads). My company awards groups with a stipend every quarter to follow their dreams. They call it a "Dream Grant". Ours is to find gold in Alaska. Here's the plan.

The route

We start in (A) Anchorage, then ice climb at (B) Glacier view, go off-roading in (C) Denali, hike at the foot of (D) Mt McKinley, and then kayak in (E) Kenai.

A. Fly into Anchorage

We land in beautiful Anchorage on Friday night. Time change: 4 hours. Weather has been in the 50's for the past several weeks, but it has also been wet. I have a lot of rain gear -- all synthetic materials.

B. Ice Climbing in Glacier View

Our first day will be ice climbing. It's all top roped, so expect it to be very safe. They provide all the gear as well. It's been a few years since I went out ice climbing in Utah with my pal Toby, but I think I'll remember the essentials: go up, not down.

C. ATV in Denali

Our next day will be on ATV's around Denali National Park. Lots of mud and lots of fun.

D. Visit Mt McKinley

Then we head out to the foot of Mt McKinley. A breathtakingly monstrous mountain. It will be a dream come true to see this place.

E. Sea Kayak in Seward

Our last stop will be kayaking in the Kanai Fjords. This is the place where the ice falls off the glaciers and the wales breach. We will kayak all day, sleep overnight on the shore, and then come back. You can see our tour guides at Liquid Adventures.