This 28 day expedition is designed for 15-17 year olds with experience in the wilderness and prior education at the Basecamp. We will assemble in the Anchorage airport and journey by van to the WSNPP visitor center where we will spend a few days learning about the wilderness area we will soon enter. From here we will journey to the heart of the WSNPP to McCarthy, AK. At McCarthy, we will establish Basecamp, review our three fundamentals and cover the basics in wilderness hiking, backpacking, medicine and climbing. We will spend several days here conducting long day hikes into the surrounding wilderness studying the natural world that surrounds us (Plant and animal identification, tracking and indigenous survival techniques).Once the group is prepared we will leave Basecamp and move slowly to the Glaciers above the Kennecott Mine. Along the way we will identify plants, trees and practice our wildlife tracking. Once on the glacier we will learn and practice glacier travel, crevasse rescue, ice climbing techniques and discuss glaciology and geology of the area. We will spend several days here camped on or near the glacier before heading back to our Basecamp in McCarthy.

Soon we will say goodbye to the McCarthy Basecamp and travel by raft down the Kennecott, Niziwa, Chitina and Copper Rivers over three days. We will experience the remote wilderness; see many different species of wildlife and camp on the banks of the river. During the evenings we will fish for salmon, practice our indigenous survival techniques and reflect back on all we have seen.