Chugach National Forest

Welcome, intrepid travelers and scholars of the natural world, to the profound and sweeping expanses of the Chugach National Forest. As an ecologist and your guide, it is my absolute privilege to introduce you to one of the most…

Our journey physically begins here at the Begich Boggs Visitor Center, a remarkable facility constructed by the United States Forest Service in nineteen eighty-six. This building serves as the intellectual and educational gateway…

Departing from the visitor center, we now set our boots upon the Trail of Blue Ice, a magnificent five-mile interconnected system of wide gravel paths and elevated wooden boardwalks. This thoughtfully engineered trail system…

We now stand at the rocky, windswept shores of Portage Lake, a massive, brooding body of water that dominates the upper valley. Looking out across this expansive, six-mile-long lake, it is almost impossible to comprehend its…

We now step away from the solid ground and board the commercial cruise vessel, the only operation holding a special use permit from the United States Forest Service to navigate these waters. Operating daily from mid-May to…

Leaving the deep, glaciated interior valleys behind, our narrative now shifts westward toward the dramatic coastal boundaries of the Chugach National Forest. We find ourselves standing on the rugged, rocky shores of the Turnagain…

Having witnessed the sheer power of the coastal tides, we now turn our attention inland and upward, preparing to engage physically with the rugged, demanding high alpine environment. We stand at the trailhead of the legendary…

Through sheer physical exertion, navigating the relentless switchbacks and loose scree fields of the upper eastern slope, we finally crest the high bench and arrive at a place of profound, crystalline beauty: Crystal Lake.…

We have descended deep into the shadowy floor of the valley, and here we must confront the most notorious and psychologically demanding physical obstacle of the entire Chugach backcountry experience: the unbridged crossing of the…

As our extensive journey through the Chugach National Forest draws to a close, it is essential to pause and synthesize the massive volume of ecological, geological, and historical data we have processed. We have traversed a…