Our History :

Wilderness Alaska was founded by Bob Waldrop and Deb Vogt in 1972. Back then the Brooks Range was a huge blank spot on the map and their original outings felt alot like a Lewis and Clark experience as much as a modern retreat. I was original introduced to Wilderness Alaska in 1978, when I went to work for Bob and Deb. Returning to the University of Colorado to pursue a natural science degree during the winter and continuing to guide trips in the summer, the relationship continued until I replaced Deb as a partner in 1982. In those years I also worked with the National Audubon Society and the Point Reyes Bird Observatory. In 1986, Bob bowed out leaving me the Wilderness Alaska tiller. Bob was a remarkable explorer and made a profound impression upon me. His confidence never wavered and his quest for new country was rarely daunted by untrod trails or unknown passes. Even after a long day of hauling a huge backpack, he would still call up enough energy to summit a nearby hill or scout a future trail dragging along someone to share treasures he would find.

I have devoted every summer since as the principal guide continuing to unfurl this magical arctic curtain in the same way as my mentor Bob. My goal is to share the insights I have acquired from many years of experience, develop your wilderness skills and confidence as a traveler and to provide the same intoxicating experience that captivated me my first summer. All of the guides we select to help us are local Alaskans with years of safe sensible travel in the backcountry and a lust for the unspoiled country. In 1991, I had the tremendous good fortune of having DD Van Vliet join me and assume a number of tasks that often got overlooked during a busy field season, as an advisor and an assistant on a few trips each year. DD also devotes a great deal of energy looking for new and delicious culinary ideas raising the our standard well above the notion that food is just fuel. I can confidently say that you will be pleasantly surprised by the menu on any of our trips. While on trips she has the tremendous ability of seeing everything with the same enthusiasm as though it were the first time.

We have helped people enjoy the Brooks Range longer than any other guiding operation without mishap or compromise of adventure. We will gladly supply references. Whether you select a kayaking trip in Prince William Sound or a more remote outing in the Arctic, we feel confident that your experience will be wholly satisfying and may open a door that has you returning to learn and experience more wonders of Alaska's last frontier. The warmth of the midnight sun awaits, we look forward to you joining us this summer, hope to hear from you soon.

How To Contact Us:

If you have a question about any aspect of choosing a trip don't hesitate to contact us. We will gladly supply you with more detailed information, help you choose the most appropriate trip, discuss custom options or provide references. We are here to help insure your trip to the Arctic or Prince William Sound will be enjoyable and memorable.

Wilderness Alaska
P.O. Box 113063
Anchorage, Alaska 99511

phone: 907-345-3567
fax:907-345-3967

email: macgill@alaska.net

Press Reports:

We have been written about in National Audubon, Alaska Magazine, National Geographic, Travel and Leisure, Outside Magazine, Gourmet Magazine, many national newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, Seattle Times and New York Times and selected by several Alaskan guidebooks including the Lonely Planet and Alaska's Best Places.

What are they saying?

Alaska' Best Places - Best Natural History Adventure
"Macgill Adams' goal is to see and visit all of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; his guided treks, therefore, are not limited to 'the same old routes'. Each trip offers some portion that is unique as well as open for opportunity. The Refuge's great glory lies in the ability to observe wildlife in undisturbed settings. Adams, ably assisted by DD Van Vliet, works hard to ensure that Arctic novice learn to appreciate not only the smack-in-the-face beauty of the Brooks Range but also the glorious subtleties of the plain and coastal lagoons."

John Balzar, Los Angeles Times
"Opening day," beams backcountry guide Macgill Adams, breathing in reverently, reaching out with open hands to embrace the wild Arctic. This is the beginning of his 14th summer in these parts. Macgill is the real McCoy, master of the genre. He is a naturalist, storyteller,adventurer and chef and he carries 100 pound loads. He has a significant reputation, which in Alaska is not easy to earn or maintain. He has raced the Iditarod, been a Brooks Range guideas long as almost anyone. His wilderness philosophy is elegant, fierce, and fun loving: "We can controll nothing, but we will handle everytrhing. The Arctic demands only that we have the right attitude....."

David Funkhouser, New Haven Register
"Macgill Adams was our chief guide: 40 with a big bushy mustache, clear blue eyes, blond, tall and all sinew. He speaks with the lilt of a California beach boy and has a sense of humor: He takes a ribbing as well as he gives it. He is a keen observer who knows the wildflowers and birds and animals by name and habits. He also figured us out pretty quickly, by watching and listening, and ran the trip in a way that accommadated our peculiarities but kept us in balance with the overall agenda, the weather, where we were and what we needed to do to have a successful experience. He is a careful man who mailed us all a sheaf of information before the trip, outlining in great detail the particulars of the trip.Ó

Irene Spector, Boston Globe
"Macgill Adams, owner and pincipal guide for Wilderness Alaska, sent thorough pre-trip information, and his office was very helpful during my planning process. He offers a number of fascinating itineries in the Refuge, as well as the Gates of the Arctic and in Prince William Sound. I heard Macgill referred to as Mr. Refuge by a longtime Alaska resident and adventurer. At one with his environment, Macgill reminds me of a cross between a cantankerous mountain man and a laidback surfer dude. I had complete confidence in his guiding skills, we were served up camp food the likes of which I never dreamed could emerge from those crushed food bags, and I appreciated his extensive knowledge of the natural environment."

What makes the Arctic Refuge special:

The vast majority of mankind has developed between the middle latitudes of both hemispheres on our planet. This is nurturing and predictable habitat for humans. Days and nights shift here like a heartbeat and we have become very comfortable and successful here. The sun comes up, we become active and when darkness returns, we grow quiet. This circadian rhythm is hardwired in our motherboard. Subconsciously, we depend on it to define our being. Because of Earth's tilted axis, the polar regions are more reckless and unsettled. These regions binge wildly on daylight during the summer and fast in 24 hour darkness during the winter. This is the signature quality that is so captivating about the Arctic. Complete and uninterrupted daylight is completely and utterly fascinating and at the same time equally disturbing. Its brilliance stirs us and our imagination and keeps us perpetually interested in our surroundings. In fact the quality of this light reaches its most pleasing when we should be most inactive (the middle of the faux night). We are not the only ones that are stirred by this daylight however. And this leads us to the Arctic Refuge in particular. The Refuge is far enough north to enjoy these delightful swings of perpetual daylight and far south enough to do something about it. May brings the 24 hour days and after a month of sun. The shackles of winter have loosen up and countless numbers of plants emerge and spread a rainbow of colorful blooms in every nook and cranny. Unimaginably, birds from 4 continents fly here specifically to raise young. How on Earth did they find this place? But their round the clock songs of celebration reenforce the wonder and enchantment of this place. Out from under the snow and up from the boreal forests of the Brooks Range's southern side mammals pour in to this land where the energy switch has been flipped to all day on and also proceed the upbringing of their youngsters.

The Refuge is distinct from any other part of the Alaskan Arctic by its compression of habitats. 50 miles south of land's end stand the tallest mountain in the entire Brooks Range. 50 miles is a very comprehendible figure. It does not take much technology or super human powers to travel 50 miles. In that short distance, the Refuge shuffles through a menagerie of habitats transforming into each other seamlessly yet sensationally. From a perch in the northern foothills, one can scan south and see the glacial clad steeps. Revolving to the north the hills lower and loose their snow white caps and trade them for bare rock and perhaps for sheep. The valleys that separate these great peaks flow directly north and cradle other life in their tundra and shrub basins. Moose, bears and wolves emerge when you focus. Your perch of the foothills is shared by large cliff nesting birds of prey and several flowers wavering in the breeze. Past the foothills the coastal plain rolls and ungulates in subtle forms like a pile of light summer clothes fresh from the dryer. Here one sees the seas of caribou or bands of muskox. At the edge of the tundra, the ocean and the continent collide in a disconsonate tug of turf war. Rivers spread out in wide deltas, barrier reefs are stretched out in a thinly veiled defense and once the ice retreats waves constantly crash upon them trying to erode and reposes this dmz. Far off on the horizon, due north, you see the polar ice pack and by mischievous warpings of atmospheric slights of hand it appears to tower to the sky in great sheer bluffs like the steeps directly behind you now.

It is a good thing that there are days that are 24 hours long, for it can easily take that long to digest such a panorama. When you have settled into this country, your pace slows and your senses become infinitely more acute. In the Arctic Refuge you need not go anywhere to be overwhelmed by sight and sound and on a good day, the memories of a good day will eclipse any viewing experience you have ever witnessed. After 20 years, I have a good idea of when and where these good days roll and I can't imagine being anywhere else on the planet during them - these days under the midnight sun are PRICELESS!

There truly is no place on Earth like it and with sound judgment and good fortune it will stay just as it is, wonderfully wild and frenetically furtive inspite of us all. I hope that the golden plover can always sing his celebratory song all night long upon his annual return after thousands of miles of open ocean flight to this one great place.