This is NOLS AK-23 camped out at 7000′ on a glacier in the Chugach. This course is intended for students 23 years of age and older. It is different from other NOLS courses because we haul the team both in, and out of the field with the Super Cubs. This allows these teams to maximize their time in the mountains, because AK-23 courses are 2 weeks shorter than a standard hike in hike out course.
We spent the majority of the day down here at 3000′ in the rain. These guys were in the heat of the sun at 7000′ enjoying a beautiful day. It’s always surprising when a course leader calls in from a satellite phone and declares the weather as beautiful and sunny, while we are experiencing marginal weather down below. It’s a fantastic feeling to pick your way up through the clouds to find a bright sun covered glacier with blue sky and heat when behind you is a gloomy rainy valley. Of course … the opposite is usually true when they are in the clouds and we are in the clear, but mountain weather never ceases to amaze me.