Get Away with OA!
A glimpse into trips with UAF's Outdoor Adventures
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Intro to Rock and Ice Climbing
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Panorama With the Mountaineering Class
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
White Mountains Ski
Ice Wall Open Climb Days
Attention UAF community! The Ice Wall is open! The Ice Wall hours will be Saturday and Sunday from 10am-2pm. No experience no problem; we will have instructors present to show you the ropes. All equipment will be provided free of charge. This is free of charge only to current UAF students. With any further questions please contact Sam Braband at 474-6306 or sjbraband@alaska.edu.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Ice Wall Open House
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Stanpede Trail Ski
Made famous from John Krakauer's book and later Sean Penn's movie the story of Christopher McCandless and his adventures have been awe inspiring to all. The Outdoor Adventures hosted a trip in February to ski the first part of the now famous trail that leads out to the bus that signifies the end all
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Nenana River Day Trip
With a small group, just four of us, we were all able to try the inflatable kayak out on the river, which is a very different kind of adventure when we are used to being on a raft. Everyone had fun, learned something new, and no one fell in. We hope more of you get the chance to join us on the river next time!
We are still hoping to collect some pictures from our participants, and they'll be on our facebook when we do. so keep an eye out if you are interested.
Lily Grbavach
Chullitna River Raft
After four days on the river you realize what great experiences you've had. We saw a black bear from a distance, a number or eagles, some huge salmon swimming up river, and the most well organized beaver dam I have ever seen. From camp we had glimpses of the huge mountains around us including Mt. McKinley. Best of all we did all of this with an exceptional group of people with a great sense of humor, a creative mind for riddles, with some fun stories to tell, and an amazing eye for birds and bugs.
At the end of the trip, when we took out in Talkeetna, the group spent some time wondering around the down town area, and enjoyed some awesome pizza before the long drive back to Fairbanks.
This was a great trip with an awesome group! I look forward to running this river again for Wilderness Welcome because every time we do a river trip we have fun and make new friends.
Lily Grbavach
Friday, July 8, 2011
Tok River Float-Hike-Float
Day 1 at O’dark thirty we set off from UAF towards Tok over 200 miles away. We arrived later that afternoon and after a quick shuttle trip to the take-out point we launched into the murky rain-fed Tok River. The water was fast and full of logs and debris from weeks of heavy rain. I’ve done plenty of river canoeing before but almost no kayaking so it was an interesting experience to say the least. At the start of our trip we made it several miles downriver until we were assaulted by a brutal hail storm that pelted us with pea sized hail, soaking some of us and most of our gear. Undaunted, we persevered through the storm until it cleared. After a relatively calm half a day’s paddle we reached a lovely sand bar and made camp where we ate a delicious dinner of broccoli and beef with rice. S’mores and Jello No-Bake Oreo Pie followed.
The next day we made-way 300 feet downriver where we beached and went on a hike to the Eagle Trail state recreation area. Here our group split up and “some of us” went for a vigorous hike up a steep mountain trail to the summit while others in the group went along an informational nature hike and got to see some indigenous Alaskan orchids and got some great pictures! We met back up at the bottom of the trails, filled our water bottles and made way back to our kayaks and canoes for the next leg of our journey which took us several miles downstream to our next campsite. That night we enjoyed a dinner of wild mushroom couscous with sautéed chicken and veggies. Dessert was apple pie and cream cheese pasties made by our very own Lily G! Fun with cameras and a T-Rex attack left us happy and tired for our second night of rest.
Our last day was our longest yet, as we navigated nearly 20 river miles while singing innumerable Disney songs. By the end of the day my arms were screaming at me as I spent most of my energy floundering about in a kayak which I finally figured out how to make “drive” straight after eight hours of trial and error. My failure as a kayaker was dwarfed by the canoe of our compatriots which was deemed to be “slightly faster than walking”. They attributed most of this to a defective canoe but most of us believe they just weren’t paddling hard enough…or at all. It was already mid evening when we pulled out of the river and nearly 9:00pm by the time that we ate a feast of a dinner at Fast Eddy’s, a local diner in Tok. We dined on the finest of french fries and burgers, a well deserved reward after all the paddling we did.
While this was my first Outdoor Adventures trip I can confidently say that it will not be my last. I had one of the best times of my life out on the river with my new friends, guides, and Ethan the Adventure Duck. It was easily one of the most memorable 4th of July’s I’ve had.
~Shane
Trip Participant