Prince William Sound, Blackstone Bay, Chugach NF, AK

Dates

Jul 8th - Jul 14th 2012

Service Project

Primitive campsite restoration, illegal campsite removal

Free Days

Sea kayaking, whale watching, beach & shoreline combing, photography, glacier hikes

Accommodations

Backpack camping

Trip Rating

Strenuous : Logistics of Alaska travel, bending, lifting, remote shoreline camping

Leaders

Dave Pacheco
Katy Giorgio

Equipment

The Chugach, located southeast of Anchorage, Alaska, is our country's most northerly National Forest. This stunning landscape stretches across south-central Alaska, from the salty waters and snowy peaks of Prince William Sound to the fabulous salmon and trout streams of the Kenai Peninsula, covering an area the size of New Hampshire. It is one of the few places left in the world where glaciers still grind valleys into the hard rock of the earth. Its geographic diversity is unique among national forsts. The three distinct landscapes of the Copper River Delta, the Eastern Kenai Peninsula, and Prince William Sound are destinations for adventurers and nature enthusiasts the world over. Whether it's your first trip or you're a grizzled veteran of Alaska travel, you'll enjoy the wild lands, wildlife, wild fish and wild ice of the Chugach National Forest.

In Prince William Sound, kayakers sit spellbound, the world’s only witnesses to orcas slicing still ocean waters. Towering blue-white glaciers slowly grind to the sea. The rugged lands and water of the Sound challenge both spirit and body. Visitors in kayaks, cruise ships, small boats, ferries, and float planes explore the Sound’s 3,500 miles of coastline and three million acres of ocean and land. Whether you rough it in a kayak, cruise through on a ship, or give back through volunteering in an isolated bay, you will experience one of the planet’s extraordinary places. Beach combing and berry picking, spying otters with your binoculars, or having a cup of coffee at camp, this trip will create memories of a respite from modern life. A journey into Prince William Sound feeds the senses and the spirit and will forever be a part of your life story.

Our service project begins at Whittier, the port town an hour east of Anchorage, where travelers begin their Prince William Sound adventure. We'll hop aboard a water taxi (an extra cost) and head to Blackstone Bay, about an hour away, and set up camp on the shoreline in close proximity to several huge glaciers that loom above the bay. During the week, volunteers will work alongside forest service staff on the borders of the Nellie Juan-College Fjord Wilderness Study Areas to rehabilitate primitive backcountry campsites, reduce fire rings, minimize campsite impacts, and eliminate any illegal campsites along the bay shore. There will be ample opportunity for whale watching, shore combing, and sea kayaking. Join us for what will surely be a spectacular week in Alaska's Prince William Sound!

**Note: Participants on Alaska projects must have paid for their airfare at least two months before the start date and furnish this information to the leaders. We have discovered that folks who do not have firm travel plans by this time often cancel, and these projects are hard to fill at the last minute.

**Additional fees: Our group will be chartering a commercial water taxi from Whittier to transport us, our gear, and sea kayaks to and from our camp at Blackstone Bay. Wilderness Volunteers does not have cost figures for this transportation at this time, but participating volunteers need to budget accordingly.