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Gear lists from past trips

By Andrew Skurka / September 15, 2010 /

Below are gear lists from many of my past trips. They do NOT necessarily represent what I would take today if I were to repeat the trip. In fact, it’s likely I’d make quite a few changes, especially in the case of gear lists from long ago (e.g. the Appalachian Trail in 2002), before I…

On Finishing: Chocolate, Bears, Feeling Humbled

By Andrew Skurka / September 8, 2010 /

On Monday Andrew Skurka finished his epic Alaska-Yukon Expedition, covering 4,700+ miles and finishing a few weeks early, even! We’ll hear more from him later in the week. Until then, here are some of his initial thoughts on finishing. Check out our photo gallery with highlights from the expedition. Thoughts on food? After six months…

Approaching the Unavoidable, Bittersweet Finish

By Andrew Skurka / August 30, 2010 /

For the last 12 months, my life has revolved around a singular purpose: to complete the Alaska-Yukon Expedition. In the first six months I planned how to do it, which entailed intricate spreadsheets, goodie boxes from sponsors, and Sam’s Club shopping carts overflowing with food. And for the last six months (168 days, to be…

Wilderness Redefined

By Andrew Skurka / August 16, 2010 /

Anaktuvuk Pass, AK I grew up in a Masschusetts suburb where I found “wilderness” in abandoned gravel pits and marshy wetlands that had escaped development. Later trips to New Hampshire’s Presidential Range and Maine’s Mahoosuc Mountains made my childhood playgrounds seem tame, and through high school they set my standards for what constituted wilderness. But…

Tips for Coping with Horrific Mosquitoes

By Andrew Skurka / July 19, 2010 /

The section between Dawson City, YT, and Fort McPherson, NT, will be memorable for several things. It was the first of my huge pushes: 390 miles long with two weeks of food. This leg was also great training for the upcoming Brooks Range: conditions were cool and damp, my pack was heavy, the route was…

The Finish Line is in Sight–Just 1,700 Miles to Go…

By Andrew Skurka / July 3, 2010 /

Dawson, Yukon Territory There’s a point in every trip when I start to sense the finish. On trips of less than a month, I usually sense it from the start–I know about how long the trip will take and I often have concrete plans post-trip. But on longer trips, the expedition becomes a lifestyle with…

On Finishing 450 Miles on the Yukon River

By Andrew Skurka / July 3, 2010 /

Dawson, Yukon Territory Earlier tonight I pulled into the historic gold rush town of Dawson, which marks the end of my 450-mile float on the Yukon River (starting in Whitehorse) and the beginning of my final leg through the wilds of northern Yukon and northern Alaska back to Kotzebue. I had been somewhat dreading this…

The Halfway Point: Should I Care?

By Andrew Skurka / June 20, 2010 /

Haines, Alaska Before I began this trip in March my friend Buzz Burrell remarked that he thought “the crux” of it was the first two weeks, when I’d be facing severe winter conditions. If I could get through that, he seemed to say, I’d be in the clear, like a rock climber who makes it…

Lost Coast, Part II: The Mighty Ocean

By Andrew Skurka / June 16, 2010 /

The Lost Coast’s southern half started with the same themes of the northern half: beaches, bears, bays, and (thankfully to a milder extent) bugs. But the experience was quite different — and distinctly more challenging — between Lituya Bay and the town of Gustavus. As happened to me in the western Alaska Range, nature forced…

Lost Coast, Part I: Beaches, Bays, Bugs, and Bears

By Andrew Skurka / June 8, 2010 /

I’m writing from Yakutat, an isolated 600-person community that marks the mental halfway point of this trip’s “Lost Coast” section. The Lost Coast is a ~400-mile-long strip of temperate rainforest squeezed widthwise by the Gulf of Alaska and the Chugach Range, and bookended lengthwise by the Copper River Delta (east of Cordova) and Icy Straits…