Anchorage Daily News

It's official: The best pizza I've ever had was cooked on a little camp stove just up the valley from the Tana Glacier inside Wrangell- St. Elias National Park.

You've got to get creative when you're traveling in Alaska's backcountry. Our guide, Tim Duffy with St. Elias Alpine Guides, had all the ingredients: "Boboli" flatbread, which he fried in the pan, pepperoni, onions and shredded cheese, topped off with some marinara sauce squeezed out of a Zip-loc bag.

The "kitchen" was nothing more than a flat rock next to a rushing creek that poured out from a hanging glacier. There was a light breeze, so the five of us sort of huddled around the stove-- mostly to see whether we could get any warmer standing next to the tiny flame.

Like many of Alaska's parks, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park has one main road, the McCarthy Road, which leads to one primary destination: McCarthy and the historic Kennicott mining district. And it's worth visiting the park just to see that area. There are comfy accommodations and plenty to see and do within hiking distance. But the park is much bigger: about 13.2 million acres. It's America's largest national park

To get to the rest of the park, you have to fly, walk or float down a river. Wrangell Mountain Air is one of several air services that offers remote drop-offs and pickups throughout the park. Owner/pilot Kelly Bay chose a DHC-2 Beaver and a Cessna 185 for all of the gear to do an overnight ice-climbing adventure. Tents, ropes, harnesses, crampons, helmets, ice axes, sleeping bags -- there's a comprehensive gear list.

Once Kelly dropped us off on a sandbar, we had to load up all of our gear and go find a place to camp. There is no porter to tip. We all hauled our 50-60 pound packs across the snowfields and loose scree until we came to a flat spot surrounded by glaciers. There, we set up our tents and headed up to explore the ice.

In addition to the incredible variety of adventure -- glacier hikes, ice climbing, trekking and rafting -- we had to be prepared for every type of weather: sun, sleet, wind, rain and snow.

Whether you're an experienced backcountry adventurer or just a beginner, it's worth it to get off the beaten path to see the park. In addition to ice climbing and mountaineering, St. Elias Alpine Guides offers float trips, day hikes on glaciers, backcountry hiking and multi-day base camp adventures.

In fact, it was only after taking a daylong glacier hike with some ice climbing that I got the idea of venturing out for an overnight trip.

Many folks are happy just to see a glacier from afar. Others are content to strap on the crampons and walk around on top of these giant ice flows.

But once you understand that you can safely descend into crevasses and be surrounded by the deep blue ice -- it opens up a new world of exploration.

Never mind camping out. Forget about your cell phone, your laptop, traffic and all the noise of the city. Trust me -- after climbing around on the glacier all day, you'll sleep great!

Scott McMurren is an Anchorage-based travel marketing consultant. E-mail him at zoom@toursaver.com.

Scott's tips

• Alaska Rap. St. Elias Alpine Guides': Tim Duffy raps about the grandeur of Alaska.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf6xkCDv7Nw

• Wrangell Mountain Air: In addition to wilderness drop-offs, they offer scheduled service from Chitina -- so you can fly the final 60 miles to McCarthy. It's a great flightseeing trip.

www.wrangellmountainair.com

• McCarthy Lodge: Great restaurant and historic hotel in McCarthy.

www.mccarthylodge.com

• Kennicott Glacier Lodge: Located in the historic mining district of Kennicott overlooking the Kennicott Glacier, five miles up the hill from McCarthy.

www.kennicottlodge.com

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