Final Goodbye from Northern Lights!
July 29, 2026
Hello one last time from Alaska! We have made it to the end of our journey out here in the Last Frontier after an epic three weeks, and can’t believe it is over. We are so sad to see everyone go, but have really been cherishing our time together and soaking it all up.
When we got back from backpacking a few days ago, everyone got to wash up and have a shower! It was a beautiful sunny day, and everyone was feeling so clean and basking in the sun for the afternoon as we waited for dinner. Sawyer got out the guitar again and was jamming to new songs, Pippa and Leila were enjoying their books, and everyone was resting their legs after a long and exhausting eight days. Phillip picked up a bunch of pizzas, and everyone got to chow down on a big pizza celebratory dinner. We spent the evening admiring the giant mountain views and purple wildflowers for our last night at Nova base camp. Jane said that this campsite really felt like home, and everyone was sad it was our last night there.
The next morning, we had a big oatmeal breakfast with tea and coffee and prepared for our two day river rafting adventure down the Matanuska River. We were blessed with another day of sun, so everyone was excited to get on the water and soak up the views. We met our guides (Coffey, Maria, and Kess), who drove us on a hilarious and entertaining bus ride up to a spot on Caribou Creek where we began our whitewater adventure. We split into two boats (girls in one, and boys in the other), and Talia was our mermaid on the girls boat who got to ride on the front. She took so many splashes to the face and quite literally did not stop smiling the whole day! On the boys boat, Finny rode on the front and was also having a great time. We went through several fun rapids and saw views of the whole Matanuska-Susitna valley. We pop-quizzed everyone on the mountains and geography of the area, and Judah knew the name of every range, valley, peak, and mountain! He really leaned into Alaska and immersed himself fully in the place. We stopped for a giant sandwich bar lunch at Nova basecamp and then hopped back on the river for a scenic float down to our campsite for the night. French was telling some fun stories on his raft and entertaining everyone on his boat, including our guide Coffey! We arrived at camp in the late afternoon, and Reid and Hunter hopped right into a spikeball game against Elizabeth and Sawyer. For dinner, our guides cooked a delicious enchilada casserole with a chocolate birthday cake topped with purple flowers for our birthday girls, Jane and Talia! We finished off the night with a beautiful setting sun behind the mountains and fluffy white clouds over the Matanuska River.
The next morning, breakfast burritos and yogurt parfaits fueled us up for a morning float down to Chickaloon. We rafted for several more miles for an hour or two and then chowed down on chicken caesar salad wraps made by our guides. We said bye to Maria, Kess, and Coffey and then played some rounds of hacky sack and explored around the old buses and cabins at the Chickaloon base area before our bus ride to Talkeetna. Unfortunately when we arrived in Talkeetna a couple hours later, our scheduled scenic flight over Denali was cancelled due to weather conditions, but we explored Talkeetna and got ice cream instead. Everyone handled yet another change of plans with grace. We finished the night with a lovely campfire; Judah, Elizabeth, and Phillip tried out the slackline, and we had a beautiful Moonup conversation to end the night.
This morning, we woke up bright and early for our banquet breakfast at a quaint homey cafe in Talkeetna. We spent the breakfast sharing stories of our trip and writing cards to each other and then had some time to explore the town and buy souvenirs. Talia bought a fun fish hat, Jane got a beautiful print of Denali, Finny got a cool new sweatshirt, and Judah bought a fuzzy fleece hat he has been waiting for all session. We sat together for our final Moonup, which was such a special celebration of our trip and every single person in our group (which lasted most of our bus ride to Anchorage too!), and arrived this evening at the airport to say our goodbyes.
What an amazing three weeks it has been! Thank you so much for sharing your children with us and letting us explore Alaska with them. Everyone is such an important part of our group, and we are so lucky to know and love them. We are so sad to see everyone leave, but will cherish our time together out here in these mountains. We will miss everyone so much!
With love one final time,
Evie, Phillip, & May
Update from NLT 2B!
July 26, 2026
We’re back after an epic eight days in the backcountry! It’s been a time full of fun, group bonding, amazing views, crazy weather, and lots of mud. We have so much to update you all on!
The day before backpacking, we had a preparation day to get everything ready for our adventure. We woke up to french toast with hot chocolate for breakfast, and packed our snacks and food in the morning. It was finally a sunny day with a bit of warmth so we got to soak up the sun and bask in the sunlight. May and Judah cheffed up grilled cheese with tomato soup for lunch while Phillip, Finny, and French listened to fun music. Sawyer spent most of the day back at it with the guitar, and has learned a few new songs! Jane brought out the friendship bracelet string and the girls made bracelets and wrote poetry together. Reid motivated some of the crew to play a few rounds of spikeball! What a relaxing and fun afternoon! A few of the Nova guides’ dogs came over to say hi and Talia ran around the parking lot playing with all of them. We learned how to pack our backpacking bags and organized our gear before a big barbecue dinner to fuel us for the backcountry! Hunter took the lead on the grill and made us all some delicious burgers, Pippa helped with the salad, and Jane and Judah chopped veggies! We finished the evening off with a lovely Moonup and dance game to end the night.
The next day brought our first day of backpacking! We started the day with bagel breakfasts and more hot chocolate before packing our bags and heading over to Pinochle trailhead about 10 minutes away. Pippa and Hunter were our LOD’s and gave us a hype speech and quote to start the hike before we took off through boggy terrain and yelled our bear calls. Judah led a bunch of riddle games on the trail, Elizabeth was snapping photos left and right, and Evie and Talia had a brief detour for a boot repair about a mile into the trail. We made it up a gigantic hill (1000 vertical feet of gain in one mile!) and got to our campsite at the top, named “the view”. The mountains off in the distance were spectacular and we got to see beautiful views all 360 degrees around us. For dinner, cook crew two made a delicious pasta dinner with red sauce and garlic bread (thank you to Leila for being a champ and carrying two whole baguettes in her pack!). May, Phillip, and Finny went on a side quest expedition to find some water, we had an amazing Moonup conversation looking out at the view, and headed off to bed, grateful for a great day of backpacking.
We woke up to a chilly morning and saw that snow had fallen overnight in the mountains behind us off in the distance. We had a big, warm breakfast of oatmeal with nutella and peanut butter to fuel us for a long day of hiking. Our route trekked through more muddy and wet terrain over rolling hills and bogs about 10-12 miles deeper into the wilderness. The weather was beautiful, and we got to have a full day of sun for the first time all session! Everyone was so grateful. On the trail, Reid was leading the pack with a great pace and attitude! Talia and Leila were up near the front of the pack as well and did a great job with creative and loud bear calls. Judah was singing songs and came up with an Alaskan version of Mr. Brightside called “Mr. BEARside”, with the lyrics telling a story about keeping bears away. French chimed in and the two of them sang more songs together all afternoon. We finally arrived at camp in a valley next to a river, and had backcountry pita pizza for dinner, made by the backcountry restaurant called “FEST Riverside Pizzeria”, named after cook crew three-French, Evie, Sawyer, and Talia. So far, this has been a group favorite meal and everyone got to have their own pizza, plus seconds! We finished off the evening with a Moonup with the sound of the flowing river next to us, and headed off to bed. Everyone was feeling tired but accomplished after a hard day of hiking.
We got to sleep in a bit on day three of backpacking, which helped revive us after a long and exhausting day. Hashbrowns and eggs fueled us up in the morning before we took off along low-lying boggy trails along the river on the way to the next campsite. We climbed up and over rolling green hills with giant mountains off in the distance and Phillip was leading the pack and crushing our pace! Hunter kept a positive attitude through all the ups and downs, despite some challenging hills. Jane kept smiling all day long as well, and was amazed by the views! Pretty soon, we could see a large orange excavator off in the distance, signaling our campsite for the night! We camped out next to old construction equipment at a dirt airstrip for bush planes in the middle of the backcountry. We could see giant rocky mountains in 360 degrees around us with a winding river down below. In the afternoon, everyone had some free time to relax and enjoy the views. Talia and Leila played card games while fending off hungry marmots from trying to steal our snacks, Sawyer and Elizabeth joined Phillip for a water mission down to the river, and cook crew one cooked a delicious backcountry version of pad Thai. Yum! We finished off the evening with Moonup and headed off to our tents to prepare for a big upcoming day.
Day 4 was Chitna Pass day! The group woke up to a quiet, peaceful, windless morning with the mountains gradually poking out of the fog and the sunshine rays coming through as well. It was a beautiful start to a big day. We ate oatmeal for breakfast, Finny gave us a hype speech, and we took off down a narrow game trail toward the pass, which was in sight at the end of the valley. We hit a steep and tight ravine which brought some dense bushwhacking, but everyone kept up bear calls to keep us safe. Leila and Reid were both up near the front of the group, charging along as always. Pippa navigated through a really narrow spot next to the river which was impressive! We kept moving along and got to our first creek crossing of the trip at Chitna Creek. Phillip crossed first and demonstrated safe crossing methods, and May built an eddy with her body to help everyone move across safely. French and Elizabeth took it slow and inspired the rest of the group. We made it across (yay!), began our big ascent into the pass, stopped for pb&j tortillas on the way up, and turned around to admire the gigantic mountains and valleys around us. Leila commented that some of the mountains reminded her of the Dolomites with the jagged faces and peaks. We passed through a big meadow with a meandering creek and Reid spotted a coyote out in the distance. Finally, in the late afternoon, we made it to Chitna Pass! After 2000 vertical feet of incline and 6+ hours of dense brush hiking, we made it! We celebrated with Toblerone chocolate at the top and took a moment of awe before finishing our last mile down to camp to get out of the wind. Everyone was exhausted and laid down immediately in their tents and relaxed before a big warm dinner of mac n cheese. We finished off the night with Moonup next to the creek and dozed off.
The next morning, we woke up to snow! Mid-July in Alaska really is something wild. All of the peaks around us were coated in a dusting about 500 feet above us. We warmed up with cheesy hash browns and sausage for breakfast and got on the trail for a gigantic descent into a new valley. The first mile of the trail was so amazing, and the views were epic. Somehow, it gets more and more beautiful every day! We stopped for photos about halfway down and Elizabeth was snapping photos of the group. We walked along a narrow game trail along the side of a mountain and then down a steep ridge about 2000 feet to Boulder Creek in the valley below. Finny, Sawyer, and Evie were chatting away about skiing and having some great conversations in the back. We ate more tortillas for lunch and got ready to get our packs on, when Phillip discovered that his was surprisingly extra heavy all of a sudden-Judah and Reid had tossed some rocks into hidden pockets in his bag, which was a funny moment for everyone. We then bushwhacked through some dense shrubs before another river crossing. Yet again, French demonstrated it with ease and was the first to volunteer to cross! Along the way, we got on an atv trail that meandered along the river and came across another student travel group, where we learned that Spain had won the World Cup a few days prior. Evidently, a bush pilot had flown by that morning from the frontcountry, told that group, who then told us. It was a fun and exciting moment (and wild line of communication) after being in the backcountry without service for close to a week! Judah was so eager to know and the most excited to get the news. We kept walking along the river bed, crossed the river again, May and Jane demonstrated a two person crossing method, and then we finally made it to our campsite on a gravel bar about 10 miles from where we started the day. Another long day but the group crushed it! Talia is always impressing us with her positivity and enthusiasm and was continuing to encourage the group. Finny, Reid, Leila, and Elizabeth cooked us pasta for dinner, we ate some more Toblerone chocolate, and headed off to bed as dense fog and rain settled around us rapidly.
The next day was an exciting and eventful day! Happy happy Birthday to our girl, Jane! Balloons, party hats, and a birthday sash, along with Phillip blasting the air horn as we sang happy birthday brought a huge smile to her face. We cooked eggs and pancakes with colorful sprinkles for breakfast. Despite our plan to hike about three miles to our next campsite, we had a change of plans. The wind picked up more and more all morning, it was whipping rain sideways, and we decided we would have to shelter in place for the day. The wind was so strong and powerful, it was quite literally about to blow the tents off the ground. As we cooked breakfast from inside the tarp, we looked out and saw Judah, Hunter, and French’s tent start to levitate and a hand came out of the door to try and keep it down. Evie and May sprinted over and tried to hold it down as Phillip had one hand on the tarp, and the other hand trying to flip pancakes! What a chaotic start to the day. The wind was gusting so hard it was pulling stakes out of the ground, and Finny, Sawyer, and Reid’s tent had blown in to about ⅓ of the size. They decided to craft a couch with a sleeping pad perched up sideways and were all huddled up on the “couch”, playing uno on a pillow. Despite another day of intense weather, we are all impressed with everyone’s positivity. We checked on the girls’ tent, and they had their party hats on and were playing games and laughing and smiling together. After a few hours, everyone ran out one by one from the tents for lunch tortillas, while the other tent mates held the tent down from blowing away. The wind did not subside all day until late evening! We spent the afternoon huddled in our tents, playing card games and taking naps. Afterward, we cooked chicken quesadillas for dinner and a chocolate cake – backcountry version! We all put on party hats and sang happy birthday to Jane, which was a highlight of the day since everyone could be together out of the tents with less wind for a moment. We finished off the night with pink clouds above us and a beautiful sunset on the mountains.
Day seven of backpacking began with oatmeal for breakfast and a quick breakdown of the tents to get on the trail before more forecasted wind blasted the valley. We made great time on the trail through dense forests, where we really picked up the bear calls to keep them away. We saw some fresh-looking bear poop, but everyone did a great job with loud bear calls that echoed around the valley and no bears were seen! We made it out of the valley and into rolling hills and the deepest mug bog yet-Elizabeth got mud up past her knees! In the early afternoon, we made it to our campsite for the night at “swimmy lake”, ate some lunch, and spent the afternoon basking in the sun! We were so grateful for our first warm sunny day of the trip. Talia and Leila were the first to eagerly jump into the lake and everyone followed! French went in twice! For dinner, we cooked chicken hibachi on the whisperlite stoves and had a beautiful and deep Moonup conversation by the lakefront.
This morning, we woke up to an absolute stunning bluebird day for our last day in the backcountry! We meandered through more rolling hills next to small ponds and lakes and got to look out at the Chugach range towering across the valley next to us. Pippa kept snapping photos and commenting on how beautiful it was! After a few hours, we made it back to the trailhead, eight days later! Everyone is feeling exhausted, accomplished, and so excited for a shower this afternoon! We will stop for a giant celebratory dinner at a nearby lodge this evening!
Tomorrow, we are off for two days of river rafting and then will be on our way to Talkeetna for our flight over Denali. We cannot believe we are down to our last few days of the trip and are soaking up our last moments with this crew. We are so grateful for each and every one of them and are proud of their resilience and efforts in the backcountry this past week. We really do have such an amazing group 🤩
Talk soon!
With love,
Evie, Phillip, and May
Shoutouts:
Sawyer – Hey Mom and Dad. We just finished our backpacking trip. It was so much fun and very beautiful. Currently awaiting my first shower in 18 days. Love yall wait to see you.
French – hey mom and dad I miss yall a lot. We just got back from backpacking and I got to see some of the craziest views and was definitely a huge highlight of the trip. I’m excited to get to shower after 18 days and to go white water rafting. Thank yall so much for giving me this opportunity and I’m having a great time with my new friends. I love yall so much and can’t wait to tell yall about it.
Reid-hey guys! I miss ya’ll! Had a lot of fun backpacking crazy views. Lots of fun convos, and we finally get to take a shower after 18 days. Love y’all!
Leila- hey mom and dad! We just finished backpacking and it was so much fun! The views here are insane. Currently waiting to get my first shower after 18 days!! We are about to go white water rafting and I’m so excited!! Tell everyone I miss them! I love yall and can’t wait to tell yall all about the trip!!
Pippa: Hi mom and dad!! I miss you guys so much. We are currently sitting on the side of the Alaskan highway waiting to be picked up after finishing backpacking. First shower tonight all trip!! This is by far the coolest and prettiest place I have ever been in my entire life. I can’t wait to show you guys the pics. Tell Tessie and Franny I say hi! We start rafting tomorrow I’m so exited. Love you guys soooo much.
Elizabeth: Hi everyone!! I miss you guys so so much. Today we finished backpacking, and the views were unbelievable! I’ve been taking lots of pictures (cannot wait to show them all). Also we get to take a shower today, huzzah!!! This trip has been incredible, thank you so much for everything. love you guys!! 🙂
Jane: Hiii fam! We just finished backpacking and it was incredible! Alaska is definitely one of the prettiest and most intense places I’ve ever been to. I can’t wait to share all the crazy and fun stories!! We have our first shower after 18 days tonight so that’ll be awesome. Love and miss yall so much!!
Talia: Heyyy!! Just finished backpacking can’t wait to see yall soon! First mile into backpacking the sole of my hiking boots/moms hiking boots came completely off so I hiked back to the start and someone brought me new shoes. My feet are covered in blisters but I survived and honestly had some of the most amazing moments of my life. Driving back to Nova now and I’m getting my first shower!!! Love youuuu
Judah: Hi family and friends! We just got back from 8 days of backpacking. It was so so crazy I can’t wait to tell everyone about it. It was the most spectacular views I’d ever seen and it was literally insane. Lots of miles but I felt good the whole time!! I took lots of pictures and vlogs to show you guys so be ready. Today we get to shower and go eat a real dinner- so fun! Okay see everyone soon love you!
Hunter. Hi fam. We just got done backpacking for 8 days. I had a great time. I took a lot of photos but the GoPro does really quickly so it died early on. Took photos on other peoples camera though. We saw some crazy stuff and and amazing views. Thank yall so much for giving me this opportunity. I’ve had so much fun. Even better now that I’m about to take a shower. Btw, I haven’t gotten a haircut but the beard grew out…you’ll see it at the airport. Love you!!!
Finny: Hi fam! We just finished 8 days of backpacking, it was incredible. The views were insane. It was pretty difficult but so worth it. I got see so many unique mountains and I can’t wait to show yall the photos. See yall soon love you.
Incredible Ice Climbing!
July 17, 2026
Hi again, Northern Lights families and friends! We are back to report on a couple of exciting days of ice climbing! The last two days have brought lots of growth, stepping out of comfort zones, group bonding, and fun!
After sea kayaking, we spent the afternoon on the bus on our way into the Talkeetna Mountains. Talia and Leila were leading a hair braiding train in the back of the bus, Pippa and Reid were jamming out to the music, and everyone chowed down on some pizza for lunch. We pit-stopped for a food restock, and Hunter and Finny ran out and threw a football in the parking lot as we waited. We continued on up the Glenn Highway toward Nova, our new campsite for a few days, and home of our raft and ice climbing guide company. Along the way, the Chugach Mountains were towering up to our left, and the Talkeetna Mountains were towering to our right. The Matanuska River down below was beautiful, and everyone was peering out of the windows and admiring the views. At a construction stop along the way, we were parked next to a pond when Judah shouted, “Look, what animal is that!?” about a green tuft of grass swimming through the pond, which we concluded was a beaver transporting materials for its home. Everyone named the newly discovered species the “swamp monster,” which has been a group joke ever since. We finally arrived at camp at Nova and set up our tents in a field of purple wildflowers, ate Mexican taco bowls for dinner, and got into bed after a long day.
The next day was the first day of ice climbing! We ate yogurt parfaits for breakfast, got ready, met our guides, and hopped in the van for a short drive over to the Matanuska Glacier! French and Talia were our LOD’s and led a great morning huddle with an inspirational quote about courage and facing fears amidst challenges. We walked up along the glacier, through meandering valleys of ice and rock, up a few staircases with rope handles, and along to our climbing spot for the day! We turned on some pump-up music, and everyone got to start their climbs! Jane was one of the first to volunteer, and she crushed it right up to the top! Sawyer and Elizabeth both seem to be in their element and are natural ice climbers! It was fun to see and hear everyone hyping each other up and cheering each other on-it felt like everyone really bonded throughout these past few days. On our way back, our afternoon included a glacier tour with a via ferrata-style trek up and over more hills and valleys with rope holds and ladders. Our tour ended with a view of the ice falls where the glacier ends, which was a great view of the ice and a great spot to snap a photo of our group! We made it back in the afternoon for some free time. Sawyer and Jane played a couple of hours of guitar, Pippa and Talia competed against French and Reid in spikeball, and Cook Crew Two cooked a warm meal of chicken picatta for dinner. Yum! We concluded the night with our Moonup, a silly dance game of Calabria (per Finny’s request), and went to bed. Another great day up here in Alaska!
Today, we woke up to some sun, which was a delightful start to our day, and helped warm up the chilly Alaska mornings we have been having. Eggs, veggies, and muffins fueled us before a big day two of climbing. The second day includes harder routes and more intense pitches, but the group was ready to tackle the day with a great attitude and willingness to challenge themselves. We had a bit of a further walk to our climbing spot for the day, called “Moondance Valley”, which the guides have named after all the Moondance groups that get to climb there. The valley was an S-shaped valley with blue ice appearing around the corners and creating a beautiful scene. We had to rappel down from the top into the valley and climb back up, which was an exciting but challenging day. French and Leila faced their fears and did an amazing job climbing up. Sawyer, Judah, and Finny tried a bonus route that was extra tough, and Jane powered through some tough pitches with a positive mindset and resilient attitude. Hunter and Elizabeth both got a great video on their GoPro of the climb up. What a fun afternoon and a great way to challenge ourselves! We celebrated a successful afternoon with an ice cream stop and made it back to camp for chicken and rice bowls for dinner, made by cook crew three (Talia, French, and Sawyer).
Tomorrow, we are preparing for our eight-day backpacking journey into the Talkeetna Mountains! We are so excited for this next leg of our trip and will surely have some great stories when we return. You will hear from us again when we get back! Talk soon!
With love,
Evie, Phillip, and May
Shoutouts:
Judah: Hi everyone! The ice climbing has been great and our group has gotten a lot closer. Backpacking coming soon! Miss you all.
Finny: Hi y’all, miss you. I am doing great, weather has been great too. We just went ice climbing. See y’all soon.
Elizabeth: Hi everyone (again)! Ice climbing was so so cool, and the weather has been much better! Love and miss all of you. Getting ready for backpacking and more photos coming soon. Hope all is well. Love, Elizabeth
Hunter: Hi everyone, hope y’all are having a good time with the Askews. Tell them I said hey. I have been having a lot of fun. The lots of rain is tough but we’re working through it. The 24/7 daylight is super different too. See y’all in a few weeks!
Talia: Hi fam and friends! Having so much fun! We went ice climbing and I def didn’t find my calling but it was still lots of fun. Our camp site is amazing and I am finally dry. I have made many lifelong friends and I’m having an amazing time. Love and miss you. I love your cards Mom ♡
Sawyer: Hey Mom, Dad, Atty, and Annie. I am having so much fun. The weather has completely turned around since the last update and it has been amazing. Can’t wait to see y’all!
Leila: Hey everyone!! I miss y’all! I am having SO much fun! We just finished ice climbing and I can’t wait to tell y’all about it!! Tell the twins & Lola that I have a surprise waiting for them!!
Reid: About to go backpacking! Having fun and lots of good moments but some have been challenging. See y’all soon!
Jane: Hi fam! I just finished ice climbing and it was AWESOME! I truly lucked out with my group because everyone is kind, funny, and overall amazing! Hope y’all are doing well! Love and miss you!
Pippa: Hiii! Today was our last day of ice climbing and it was so cool. I can’t believe it’s already been one week. I love everyone in our group. I couldn’t ask for a better one. This has definitely been an opportunity to push myself and I am so grateful. I can’t wait to see what backpacking brings! I hope everything is good at home. Love you guys sooo much!
French: Just finished ice climbing and it was fun but really scary and a good activity to push myself. Morale is high coming off sea kayaking and the group has gotten a lot closer. I feel strong about our group. Love y’all.
Sublime Sea Kayaking!
July 15, 2026
Greetings from the Last Frontier! We’ve had an epic start to our trip over the last several days and have so much to update on. We’ve been soaking up the views in the Prince William Sound on our sea kayaks and have seen glaciers, waterfalls, sea otters, and huge mountains. What a great first few days!
Our trip started off with a hearty pizza dinner in the airport as everyone landed in Anchorage. Talia, Evie, and May played a few rounds of Bananagrams, and Judah jumped right into the hacky sack circle before the rest of the group arrived. We hopped on the bus and took a short drive out of Anchorage to our campsite at Eagle River for the night. The views outside the bus were amazing, and everyone was peering out of the right windows at the Chugach Mountains towering above us. We finished the evening with a welcome talk, our first Moonup conversation to end the night, and elected Pippa and Reid as our first Leaders of the Day (LOD’s) for the following day! Everyone was tired from a long travel day and fell right asleep in their tents.
The next morning began with a filling meal of breakfast burritos, coffee, tea, and clementines to start our day. We taught the group about animal safety, Leave no Trace principles, and played a few Moondance classic games to get the day rolling. Jane and Elizabeth won the final round of birdie on a perch (a Moondance classic!), while Finny and French led a few hacky sack circles. We hopped in the bus and had a couple of hours’ drive through the Turnagain Arm toward Whittier to prepare for sea kayaking. The drive was beautiful, and the clouds opened up into a lovely sunny day with stunning views of the snowy mountains and glaciers out of the bus windows. We got to drive through a huge one-lane tunnel to Whittier! We set up camp, admired the waterfalls spilling out of the green peaks towering above us, and chowed down on a sandwich bar for lunch. Afterward, we walked down into Whittier and met our sea kayaking guide, Marshall, for an orientation and gear distribution. Marshall even got the group stoked with some dance moves on the deck and was cracking jokes. We walked around the tiny village of Whittier and then made our way back to camp to pack for the following day before our four-day sea kayaking expedition. Sawyer played a few tunes on the guitar while the cook crew one cheffed up a delicious dinner. Hunter made a yummy Caesar salad, Jane and Judah tag-teamed salmon, and Pippa was on rice duty. It all came together for a salmon and rice feast in classic Alaska fashion, which was a great first group dinner to start our trip! We concluded the night with our Moonup conversation under the mountains and midnight sun before hunkering down into our sleeping bags for the night.
The next day began our sea kayaking adventure! We ate a bagel breakfast, walked over to town, and then loaded up on a charter boat with all our gear to get a ride out to a beach about 13 miles out in Blackstone Bay. Elizabeth, Jane, and Talia were excited to stand out on the bow of the boat and admire the views on the ride over. It was a lovely day with some sun (we soaked it up while we could!), so we could see farther out in the sound and got to see the giant mountains with glaciers out in the distance. We unloaded at 13-mile beach and packed our kayaks before our four-mile paddle to 17-mile beach, where we camped for the night. Talia and Finny were amazed at the waterfalls spewing out of the mountains into the ocean as we paddled along. We set up camp, cooked a chicken and veggie stir fry on the camp stove for dinner (shoutout Leila, Finny, Reid, Elizabeth), and huddled under the bug tent before hunkering down for a cold night in the tent, expecting a storm to set in overnight.
We woke up the next morning, and the storm sure had arrived! Lots of rain and typical Prince William Sound weather greeted us as we woke up and began our day. A delightful breakfast of protein blueberry pancakes helped fuel us and warm us before we hopped in the boats and began our paddle toward the glaciers. It was about four more miles of paddling past Lawrence Glacier to Beloit Glacier. It was so cool to hear from our guide, Marshall, about the size and formation of the glaciers and how they have changed over the last 100 years! It was crazy to realize that we were paddling in what used to be ice 100 years ago. We even got to paddle around a floating iceberg in the water, which was a highlight of the morning. We stopped for lunch and huddled next to the boats as we chowed down on pb&j’s in the pouring rain. Despite frigid temperatures and nonstop rain, the group kept good morale and paddled hard to stay warm! On the paddle back, we got to see sea otters playing in the ocean, which made everyone super excited. Reid was searching left and right and would point out every time he saw the sea otter’s head pop up! Hunter and Leila were at the front of the pack and kept their eyes peeled for more animals, including sea lions and harbor seals! We made it back to camp in the afternoon and huddled in our tents to stay as dry and warm as possible. All of the girls piled into one tent, and we could hear them giggling throughout the afternoon, while the boys huddled in their tent and played a few rounds of Uno. Again, we are so proud of everyone keeping up good morale despite some wild conditions. We cooked chicken pesto pasta for dinner, which has been a group favorite dinner so far, huddled in the bug tent for our Moonup conversation, and went back to our tents for the night to stay dry. What a fun but wild day in the Prince William Sound!
The group got to sleep in a bit the next morning and stayed dry before we packed up camp to move along to our next campsite. The plan was to paddle 8.5 miles out of Blackstone Bay to a campsite called Decision Point. We chowed down on oatmeal, hyped up the group, Marshall gave us an amazing pep talk, Finny and Sawyer got stoked for the day, and we braved the rain as we loaded kayaks and hopped on the water. Judah and Elizabeth were our LOD’s and did a great job setting the pace and keeping the group moving along toward our lunch beach at 13-mile beach, back where the charter boat dropped us off a few days before. When we got to the beach, we huddled in the rain and ate pb&j sandwiches while switching plans. Unfortunately, the wind conditions were so strong that it would be unsafe to continue paddling across Blackstone Bay to our next campsite. Luckily, there was another beach about 200 yards nearby called “the driveway,” which became our new home for the night. We paddled over, unpacked the boats in a pit-crew-like fashion, and set up tents in record speed. Everyone had a task and worked together so well to get the tents up. Talia and Jane ran in with the rain fly to top it off. Judah, Reid, and Hunter helped May create a tarp wall with the paddles to keep the wind off as much as possible. We huddled under another tarp with our chicken and potato dinner and then finished our night with Moonup before running to our tents. Luckily, there was a break in the wind, and everyone was able to fall asleep without too much wind and rain blowing on the tents.
We woke up this morning, cleaned up camp in record speed, and paddled back about 200 yards to 13-mile beach to wait for our charter boat back to Whittier. While we waited, French led the group in singing songs like Shake It Off and Empire State of Mind to keep morale high, Elizabeth, Leila, Evie, and Pippa started a running circle along the beach to stay warm, and others huddled under a rocky outcropping. Our boat arrived after a bit of a delay, and we were so excited to get into the warmth! The wind and rain were really no joke, but everyone handled the Alaskan weather so well. We made it back to Whittier, unloaded our gear, said bye to Marshall, and got on the road toward Anchorage. Everyone (Marshall included) was so bummed to say bye!
We are now headed into the mountains for a few days of ice climbing before we head into our eight-day backpacking adventure in the Talkeetnas! Group morale is strong despite some intense weather days and changes of plans, and we are so proud of this group for their resilience. We can’t wait to continue our journey! You’ll hear from us again soon!
With love,
Evie, Phillip, and May
Shoutouts:
Pippa: Hi fam!!! I miss you guys so much. We just finished 5 days of sea kayaking and it was pouring rain the whole time lol. Love you guys so much, tell the kitty’s I say hi!
Talia: Hi everyone! Miss you guys a lot, trip has been so fun, very hard though. We just finished sea kayaking. Lysm.
Jane: Hey fam! I miss you guys lots!! The trip has been quite the challenge but so rewarding and fun. Just finished the rainy, 30 degree sea kayaking portion but looking forward to (hopefully) sunny ice climbing! Love yall so much!
Sawyer: Hi mom and dad and Attu. Just finished up sea kayaking. It was hard but I’ve gotten close to my group. I hope you are having a good time back home. Love yall.
Finny: Hi family, just finished 4 days of sea kayaking. It was rainy the whole time but I am doing good. Miss yall and chunk.
Leila: Hey everybody!! I am having so much fun! Shoutout to Finleigh, Poppy, Lola, Jules, Jack, mom and dad! I miss and love yall!
Elizabeth: Hi family and friends! This place is beyond words and I’m having the best time. I miss and love you guys! Cannot wait to show you all the photos. Love, Elizabeth
Hunter: hey guys! I’m having so much fun. The nature and scenery is insane! I miss you guys. Can’t wait to show you everything.
Judah: hi family and friends. This place is crazy and we’ve been through a lot just in sea kayaking. I have a lot to tell you guys soon. Love you guys and miss you!
Reid: hi! This is insane! We have gone through so much so early but it has been fun! Lots of stuff to tell. Love and miss you guys!
French: shoutout Marshall the goat kayaking guide! It was cold and hard but we got through it. Much love to the whole fam.
Safe Arrival!
July 10, 2026
Hello Northern Lights families,
We heard from our leaders last night that the group has arrived safely!
The trip is off to a great start, and we cannot wait to hear more stories from their adventure! Please remember our leaders and students will be unplugged during their trips, but we will be posting trip updates throughout the next week! This will allow you to follow along with the trip. You can also follow us on Instagram, @moondanceadventures, to see more of what we are up to!
-Moondance HQ
