This is the first post in a series of hikes I’m revisiting. Check out the intro post here.

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Day 1, 24 March 2020

Hotel Las Torres to Campamento Serón: ~8.6 miles with an elevation change of +1,200 feet

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Upon being offered a tuition waiver for my freshman year at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, my parents and I decided I should visit the campus. Moving across the country without knowing what I was getting into seemed a little unwise.

North I flew to Fairbanks, where I stayed in Skarland Hall, sat in on a Wildlife class, visited the Honors Program, and checked out Outdoor Adventures. While all of those facets helped shaped my life at UAF, Outdoor Adventures stands out above the rest. It’s a program designed to make Alaska’s recreational opportunities available to students, faculty, staff, and alumni through trips and gear rentals. Sure, I went into college as a straight-A student who studied a lot. However, I emerged from college as someone who has never aspired to work a desk job or climb a career ladder. Being paid to play outside and explore the world is the greatest, and I know I have experiences from Outdoor Adventures to thank for that.

The Wilderness Welcome program through Outdoor Adventures was one of UAF’s selling points. As a freshman coming from out of state, joining a group of other outdoor enthusiasts seemed like a good way to meet people. About 15 of us arrived on campus about a week before the rest of the student body, and after a day of meeting and packing, we headed back out of town on our backpacking and multi-sport trips.

I’d signed up for the backpacking trip on Kesugi Ridge in Denali State Park. About 4 hours south of Fairbanks, we hit the trail for 4 days of getting to know each other, eating blueberries, battling blisters, and appreciating Alaska. We napped and chatted beneath a tarp shelter through sun and rain. A bear barrel lid became a frisbee between nap sessions. The guys scrambled to the top of nearby rock outcroppings. We wondered if a passing helicopter would make a pizza delivery. At night, Walter, a trained opera singer, sang beautifully before we drifted off to our tents. Perhaps most importantly, we stopped in Denali Park for ice cream before making the drive back to Fairbanks. By the end of it, I had friends in Max, Ben, Heike, Debbie, Karin (who happened to also be my roommate), and Josh.

Some hikes are about going the distance and pushing the body; this one was more about meeting like-interested people. Max came from Maine. Heike and Debbie came from Germany and Switzerland. Karin came from Utah. Josh and I both happened to be from Michigan. Ben was the only one who’d lived in Alaska previously. Yet by the end, we were all about to be new students in Fairbanks, which was really all that mattered.

We made an intramural broomball team out of new friends from both Wilderness Welcome groups, and that group pretty much became my freshman year family. Without Kesugi Ridge, my introverted self likely would have floundered to make the kind of connections that hiking quickly gave me.

That foundation in Outdoor Adventures led to being a groupie, a volunteer, and finally an employee of the program. Some of these friends got me through college and have seen me beyond. I’d say hiking Kesugi Ridge was worthwhile. 5 stars, even! 😉