Alaskan Lodge and Flying Adventure

The state of Alaska has a call to the wild for Americans like no other place. However, if you’ve been to Alaska and traveled around to the major iconic sight-seeing spots, it can often disappoint because of the volume of bus tours, busy lackluster hotels, gaggles of cruise ships and overcrowded national parks. Most people never reach beyond the masses in Southeast Alaska and Denali.

“If we set our sights high enough and push beyond the edges of the map, we can travel to a place no one has ever been and see things no living person has ever imagined”

For those who want to go beyond the end of the road, ROAM offers trips into the real, wild and raw Alaska by raft on our 13-day Tatshenshini-Alsek wilderness expedition and for those who do not wish to camp, on a classic Alaskan Lodge & Flying adventure.

To get to the lodge, we’ll fly you in by small plane from the wilderness outpost of McCarthy, which is accessible through Anchorage. The lodge has no roads or power lines, no neighbors and no fixed itineraries. The lodge sits on the banks of a raging glacial river inside the largest national park in North America. Similar to the Tatshenshini-Alsek, this is part of UNESCO World Heritage Monument and the largest protected land mass on earth.

Let ROAM take care of the details so you can focus on the authentic experiences of this wilderness escape.

In the real Alaska, you’ll be filled with awe in place so large that the mountains don’t have names and weather dictates our daily adventures. This is a place for travelers who want to get their hands dirty and feet wet. You’ll discover a landscape so surreal and wild that you’ll be left in awe of nature. And we won’t just explore the world’s largest wilderness area by land, we’ll have a bird’s eye view as we utilize Piper Super Cub planes that allow access to places unimaginable.

We have no set itinerary in the land of the unexpected. The thrills will simply unfold as we put ourselves in nature’s hands, forgetting daily routines and living our days in wonder. The long, brilliant days of an Alaskan summer are always bursting with life. In the heart of the wilderness, one hundred miles from the end of the road, bears roam glittering sandbars, moose feast on wild vegetation and Dall sheep tread ancient mountain paths while eagles soar from cliff to spruce.

Itinerary at a Glance

• Our adventure begins with a small plane flight into the lodge
• Check in to your exquisitely-appointed cabin then tour the grounds,
• Activities at the lodge are determined by weather and individual fitness
• Fly to remote drop-offs for surreal hiking and exploring
• Flight-seeing adventures take you above and beyond the stunning landscape for a once-in-a-lifetime experience
• Hike on glaciers, fish for salmon, paddle on a glassy lake or explore an abandoned gold mine
• Fly to the pinnacle of Mount St. Elias and explore Wrangell-St Elias National Park
• Return each evening to a sumptuous feast and a wood-fired sauna before settling in for another dream-filled sleep
• Return to McCarthy for flights back to Anchorage and home

What to Expect on the Alaska Lodge and Flying Adventure

About the Lodge

Completely off the grid, the main lodge sits atop a hill and houses the dining room, open kitchen, and lounge with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the mighty Chitina River and mountains to the south. The attached deck has comfy furniture and a beautiful fire circle for those crisp Alaskan nights.

Each handcrafted cabin is unique but shares an attention to detail and wild charm. Every touch of civilization was either hand-made here or flown in by small plane. 24 hour electricity and hot running water in a place as remote as this is a nod to the crew’s ingenuity and dedication to your comfort. It’s hard for guests to imagine an overstuffed armchair strapped into the little plane that got it here.

Each morning the sunlight will stream into your cozy oasis. You can stretch on the bearskin rug and feel the dry heat of your wood fire while gazing out over the expansive river and the towering mountains. Mosey down to the main cabin for a cup of steaming coffee and chat to the pilots and guides about what our day may have in store while we wait for a breakfast of champions. If coffees your thing we have you covered with made-to-order espresso.

After a day of exploring, stroll up to the wood fired sauna and rejuvenate. Later, swing by the main lodge for our chef’s creation. The smell of fresh baked bread is irresistible. Grab a drink, sit on the deck and watch the alpenglow roll over the mountains in blanket of pink. It’s here we trade stories of the day’s adventures, all the while knowing  that right now, you are living the perfect moment. You have been unbelievably and, perhaps unexpectedly, transformed by the spectacular natural Alaska and changed forever…

Dining

The lodge features beautifully chef-curated dishes prepared with fresh Alaska ingredients. Much of the produce is grown in the lodge’s organic gardens and greenhouses. Salmon and wild game are harvested locally and a selection of lodge favorite reds, whites and Alaskan brew are readily available.

Experiences

Wilderness is the unexpected. We let nature lead us, not the other way around. Every day here is different. There is no itinerary. Once you arrive, we want to know what brings you to the Alaskan wilderness and from there, we’ll craft each participant’s experience based on your fitness and interests. Vistas, hiking, nature, no other people, scenery and exploration will show us what’s out there. No advanced itineraries ensure that each day will be different. Each day will revolve around the weather as we go out daily fly-out drop offs and flight-seeing adventures. Rest assured, you’ll always have a guide and lunch will be served alfresco!

The Piper Cubs can land you in the most amazing places. The pilots can fly you up a river valley, land on a sandbar at the edge of a forest, and guide you on a hike that literally no one has ever done before. It’s the experience of the unknown and the vast landscape that will change your perceptions. You may fly to an abandoned gold mine or paddle a pack-raft on an alpine lake. The next day you may be landing in the middle of the largest non-polar glacier for an undisturbed view of the earth’s largest massif, Mt Logan.

Perhaps your guides will take you flying near the pinnacle of Mt St Elias, one of the largest rock faces on earth. You’ll dust Elias’ snowy peak, then dive down over the glacier fields, breeze over the grassy plains and sweep out to the Pacific. Maybe, you’ll land on a beach, sit in the sun and watch huge chunks of ice calve off the glaciers and hit the ocean waves!

There are no itineraries to choose from ahead of time and no set schedules. This is adventuring in its purest form, adhering only to the laws of nature while respectfully marveling at her grandeur. There is something appropriate for a wide range of ages and fitness levels to discover in this Alaskan wilderness.

The Himalayas offer incredible mountains as well but everywhere you go in Nepal, you see signs of civilization. Tea houses, villages, there is so much history there. But not in this part of Alaska. This is some of the wildest true wilderness left on the earth. The land will change your life if you let it.

Wrangell-St Elias National Park

Stretching from Canada’s Yukon Territory to the Pacific Ocean, at over 13.2 million acres, Wrangell-St Elias is the largest national park in North America and part of the largest protected land mass on earth. The vast beauty of the park can be seen in a spectrum of colors. The intense blue hues of some of the largest glaciers on the globe, the auburn layers of rock that reveal the deep gorges of the Chitina River, or the variant hues of green tundra scrub that transition into fire red and canary yellow in the autumn. Come and discover all this wilderness for yourself.