Alaska Adventure and Service

We’ll fly to Anchorage, the capital of Alaska, known as the hub of Alaskan culture and heritage. Enjoy a delicious first night dinner and get ready to set off on an incredible adventure!

We will spend the first few days in the beautiful port city of Seward, one of the best adventure capitals in the state. During our time here, we will get our adrenaline pumping with a world-class whitewater rafting escapade down Six Mile Creek, nestled between two stunning canyons. Afterwards, we’ll sea kayak in Resurrection Bay, learning about the history of the area, discovering wildlife, and exploring the coastal rainforest. We’ll also visit the Alaska Sealife Center to get a close up look at the wide array of species that call the Alaskan waters home.

Then it’s time for our next city: Homer, the halibut capital of the world. You’ll even have the option to embark on a fishing charter!* Our group will go on a stunning hike in Kachemak Bay State Park to a glacial lake filled with floating icebergs and explore the town of Homer, including the unique Homer Spit, a 4.5 mile strip of thin land jutting into the bay, home to a cluster of local arts, artifacts, restaurants, and some of the most historic areas of Homer.

For some of our service, we will spend a day at a laboratory on the south shore of Kachemak Bay. This unique field station is only accessible by boat from Homer and not on the typical tourist path! Participants will work directly with a naturalist guide and assist with onsite projects including tidal pool studies, general maintenance projects, and cleaning projects around the facilities.

We’ll finish up with an oceanography cruise, where you’ll explore the waters through a scientific lens as you learn more about oceanography, geology, and the history of our relationship with the environment and modern maritime issues.

Next up, get ready to channel your inner Iditarod dog sledding champion! We will visit a camp for sled dogs, get to know the team, ride on a real circuit, listen to some unbelievable Iditarod stories, and to top it off, get to cuddle some playful pups who will someday be racers themselves! Spend the rest of the day hiking, playing disc golf and soaking in the beautiful sights of the outdoor recreation paradise of Girdwood.

To finish off our incredible Alaskan adventure, we’ll circle back to Anchorage to explore, discover the historic sites that survived the famous quake of 1964, and get an insight into Alaskan history and culture such as traditional crafts, stages dances, and replicas of dwellings from the area’s indigenous groups while visiting the Anchorage Museum.

Continuing with our theme of community service, we’ll also spend time volunteering at Alaska’s Wildlife Conservation Center. Our naturalist guide will give us a walking tour of the scenic property as we immerse ourselves in the natural habitat of the 13 species of Alaskan wildlife housed here. Working alongside expert staff and naturalist interns, we’ll work on projects to better the lives of the animals through husbandry, maintenance, and enrichment projects. Not only is this a fantastic opportunity to give the animals unique enrichment experiences, but it is also a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see Alaskan wildlife exhibiting natural behaviors up close and personal!

As our time in Anchorage comes to an end, we’ll take a day trip out for a truly surreal experience, to view the the Matanuska Glacier. And, of course, no TFT trip would be complete without a fancy final dinner where we’ll close out our Alaskan adventure with traditional cuisine featuring some of the freshest seafood in the world!