Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
These are not my photos but it won't be long!

Great News!!!!

Since the last post i have landed a great job in Alaska! I'll be working as a Park Ranger in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. Its in southern AK and i'll be working from a place called Yakutat on the coast. I'm very excited and eager to build some experience working for the NPS and also to spend 5 months in "The last Frontier!" Yakutat is a remote area about 200 miles from the nearest road. It is only accessible by boat or plane and the population is somewhere around 650. Around half are native Alaskans, known as the Tlingit. They are the indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast.

I will be working a lot with them, operating a visitor's center/ranger station, and also going out on a boat and boarding Alaskan Cruise ships a few days a week to give interpretive talks to the passengers about the Geographic features, history, and culture of Wrangell-St. Elias and the immediate area.

I'm leaving on monday, April 19 and working there until around the end of Sept. I know its going to be a great experience and I should have some amazing pictures! I would think some of the best yet! There's lots of wildlife in the area including: brown bear, black bear, moose, wolves, caribou, whales, several species of bird, and much much more!

Wrangel-St. Elias is the largest designated wilderness in the US at over 13 million acres. It is larger than 9 US states and covers an area of 20,587 square miles! The park is also home to the second highest peak in the country -Mt. St. Elias at 18,008 ft.

Surprisingly to me, Yakutat is also known for its knarley waves and lots of people go there to surf! So, I'll definitely be working on my surfing skills, though I'm sure I'll need a wet suit!

It is a truly beautiful place! I know the entire experience is going to teach me more than words can say! I love to spend time in places like this with such vast and great wilderness. It forces one to recognize their place on this earth and I know that I will only be a better man come September! For now I can only imagine all of the great experiences I will have over the next 5 months! I'm very excited!!