When the iPhone 14 was announced last week and Apple showed off the new feature that allows users to text emergency responders via satellite, the internet erupted with headlines claiming that the iPhone WILL NOT replace the Garmin inReach. Just to be clear, we agree.

The new iPhone also won鈥檛 replace your trusty full-frame mirrorless or DSLR camera, even though the iPhone 14 Pro comes with a new sensor that鈥檚 a whopping 65 percent larger than the previous version and can produce super-detailed 48-megapixel images.

But, Apple鈥檚 new upgrades are smart, useful, and will undoubtedly help millions of people take better pictures and others get rescued from scary or maybe even life-threatening situations. Both are huge wins. Let鈥檚 take a closer look at the two upgrades that will be of most interest to outdoor enthusiasts.

Emergency SOS via Satellite

The Emergency SOS via Satellite service, which will come to the iPhone 14 lineup in November, will allow users to contact emergency services via satellite texting when those users are out of cell range. Because not all emergency service providers are set up to receive emergency texts, Apple created a series of 鈥淩elay Centers鈥� that are staffed with trained responders who can receive the emergency text and call a local emergency service on the user鈥檚 behalf.

Here鈥檚 how it will work: First, if someone tries to contact 911 but cannot establish a cell signal, the Emergency SOS via Satellite feature will pop up. Users can also use Siri to start the emergency function. A built-in feature will guide the user on where to position and point the phone to find and maintain the best connection with a satellite.

Once a connection is established, , users will be presented with an initial menu of pre-programmed messages. The user has to tap a response to each of these messages, which were designed with the help of emergency responders to convey the most important information they might need. Apple says these pre-programmed messages are compressed so they can be sent in as little as 15 seconds if the user has a clear connection to the satellite.

Meanwhile, the Emergency SOS via Satellite feature will automatically share the user鈥檚 location and emergency contacts. It also reports battery percentage status so that emergency responders can see if the phone is running low.

Once the emergency service has been contacted and the most important information has been conveyed via the pre-programmed messages, the service will then allow users to send and receive custom messages so they can provide details and so emergency responders can ask questions.

Satellite communication will also allow iPhone 14 users to show their off-grid location in real-time to their friends and family via the Find My feature. If you鈥檙e on a long hike, for example, your family will be able to check your location throughout the day just the way they might check your location on a road trip when you鈥檙e in cell range. Apple says the impact to the phone鈥檚 battery life is minimal.

So how does Apple鈥檚 new system compare to dedicated satellite communicators like Garmin? While it is likely some people will choose to rely on the iPhone rather than investing in another device, as loyal Garmin users from across the world loudly pointed out when the Apple feature was announced, inReach products are not going anywhere.

We agree, because the Garmin inReach products鈥攖he most top-of-mind comparison to the new Apple service鈥攁re still significantly more robust in several key ways. The battery will last longer than the iPhone battery, giving users peace of mind if they鈥檙e out for several days. Garmin also includes non-restrictive two-way messaging, so, in addition to signaling emergency services, users can contact anyone they want, such as family members. Also, if the user is really in trouble and doesn鈥檛 have the time or wherewithal to deal with Apple鈥檚 mandatory menu of emergency messages, Garmin鈥檚 SOS button instantly alerts emergency responders. And lastly, Garmin products are built to take an absolute beating; the iPhone is robust, but would likely fail more quickly than an inReach.

Even if it doesn鈥檛 make other satellite communicators obsolete, the iPhone Emergency SOS via Satellite feature will absolutely be useful. Thousands of people, many of whom would never buy a Garmin inReach device, will likely use the service to help them out of terrifying and dangerous situations. Some have questioned whether the service will be overused, or misused, by people who don鈥檛 technically need emergency services. But they would rather have more information up front, even if they don鈥檛 respond, rather than not enough information, leaving them without the resources needed to perform a necessary rescue.

Apple says the service will be free for the first two years. When they start charging, my guess is that they鈥檒l offer one affordable plan (similar to their Music or iCloud service prices) for everyone. Down the road they could offer more services in the Emergency SOS feature and create tiered plans like Garmin that are based on usage and features.

The New iPhone 14 Pro Camera

As always, Apple made the biggest camera update to their Pro (and Pro Max) model, so I鈥檓 going to concentrate on that here. And, as usual, Apple found clever ways to improve their camera system by enhancing both the hardware and software that the new iPhone 14 Pro uses to capture images.

The biggest upgrades were made on the iPhone 14 Pro鈥檚 wide-angle 24-millimeter camera, the default lens that people use most often. Most significantly, the camera鈥檚 sensor grew by a healthy 65 percent from the previous iteration. The larger the sensor, the more light it can drink in, and more light equals better picture quality. This new sensor now allows the iPhone 14 Pro to create 48-megapixel images that are four times larger than the 12-megapixel images you get from the iPhone 13 Pro. More megapixels equals more detail, so photo buffs will be able to capture images where the finest parts stand out even more.

These 48-megapixel images are also captured in Apple ProRAW, an uncompressed format that provides as much digital information as possible and allows photographers to edit the photo so they can bring out shadows, tone down highlights, and get the colors exactly how they want them.

In low light situations, users can tell the main iPhone 14 Pro camera to take 12-megapixel images using the same sensor. To do this, the camera takes every four pixels on the sensor and converts them into a much larger 鈥渜uad pixel鈥� that is like a larger dish for drinking in light, allowing for less grainy images at night or when the light isn鈥檛 optimal.

The larger sensor behind the 24-millimeter camera gets a new stabilization system that also helps deliver sharp images in low light. Finally, the lens on the 24-millimeter camera also gets a faster, F/1.78 aperture, which opens the lens wider to let in鈥攜ou guessed it鈥攅ven more light. There鈥檚 also a 2X zoom, that Apple created by cropping in on the middle 12 megapixels of the new larger sensor, making the 24-millimeter lens act like 48 millimeters.

On the software side, the big update is something Apple calls the Photonic Engine, which is related to something they call Deep Fusion. Deep Fusion is a way for the iPhone to capture multiple images in a row, almost instantly, and then take the best parts on a pixel-by-pixel basis and combine them to increase the dynamic range (the camera鈥檚 ability to capture great highlights, midtones, and shadow detail). In the new camera, the Photonic Engine does that process earlier, and chooses the best parts of each photo before those photos are compressed. By using uncompressed images, there鈥檚 more information to choose from and you get better results, particularly in low light. An important note: the Phototonic Engine is also available on the non-pro iPhone 14, but is not used when you鈥檙e shooting in Apple ProRAW.

The best image quality test for me and several of my professional photography friends use is to shoot an image and then take it into a photo editing program like Adobe Lightroom to see how much we can play around with the photo鈥攑ull out the shadows, tone down the highlights, and adjust the color鈥攂efore it falls apart and starts looking junky. Lower-resolution images don鈥檛 allow for much of this, but images from pro-caliber cameras like the Sony A7RIV allow for plenty.

It鈥檚 immediately clear that a 48-megapixel image shot in Apple ProRAW allows for significantly more toning than a 12-megapixel ProRAW image coming from the iPhone 13 Pro. All those extra megapixels store more information, so there鈥檚 more you can do to the photo to get it just right in a post-processing workflow. It鈥檚 also easy to crop in on an image (like the Land Rover cropped above) and see that the 48-megapixel image helps you retain detail that would not be there in a 12-megapixel image.

I was able to get out for one quick night shoot to test the low light capabilities of the iPhone 14 Pro and could clearly see the difference that the new, larger sensor makes when it鈥檚 taking the smaller pixels and turning them into quad-pixels. The images shot this way had significantly less noise, or grain, than the same image shot with the sensor at 48 megapixels. These low-light 12-megapixel images didn鈥檛 stand up to much toning in Lightroom, and I鈥檇 never try to make photo prints of them, but they looked great for such terrible conditions and will play just fine on Instagram.

Storage and processing power will be a concern for some people because 48-megapixel files take up a lot of space on an iPhone. If photographers plan to shoot exclusively in that format they鈥檒l want to invest in the one terabyte version of the iPhone 14 Pro and will have to figure out which iCloud plan can store all their photos. When it comes to processing a 48-megapixel image, you will also need a fairly fast computer. In my test, a new Macbook Pro didn鈥檛 blink, but anyone with an older computer might find the editing process a bit clunky.

Even with all this upgraded ability, the new iPhone 14 Pro will not replace pro-level mirrorless or DSLR cameras because its sensors are not as powerful and it is not compatible with the incredible collection of lenses that pro photographers rely on. As a photographer, however, I鈥檓 still super excited to have this more powerful camera in my pocket for everyday adventures as well as for big days in the backcountry. It鈥檚 capable of capturing stunning images that will store lasting memories鈥攁nd it still fits in my pocket.

The post The New iPhone 14 Pro Isn鈥檛 the Only Device You Need for 国产吃瓜黑料. But It鈥檚 Close. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

On听Thursday, satellite-communication pioneer Spot announced its first new model in five years. Dubbed the , it brings the company a little more up to date in an increasingly flooded market.

Looking like a beefed-up Blackberry that grew an antenna, the Spot X is chunky. But it delivers on most of the functionality you鈥檇 expect from a device its size, with a 2.7-inch screen鈥攂lack-and-white though it may be鈥攁nd a听. Chief among the X鈥檚 features are two-way satellite text messaging and e-mail听(a first for Spot), an SOS function that notifies听GEOS International Emergency Response of your location and allows you to directly message with the service, the ability to check in听with select contacts at the push of听a button, and GPS tracking via Google Maps. You can also post to Facebook and Twitter directly from the X.

That鈥檚 all fairly standard for satellite messengers today. The most noteworthy development听is that each Spot X has its own registered U.S. phone number. That means听you鈥檙e reachable via text should anyone need to get in touch with you. That鈥檚 not the case with something like a Garmin InReach,听which displays a different number on every string of texts.

What else would we like to see? Downloadable maps, for one. With the X, you have to plan your route beforehand or bring along a paper map. Of course, with a built-in compass and Spot鈥檚 excellent tracking capability, you should be able to find your way to and from that route using the听waypoints听logged by the device. (Choose from听every 2.5, 5, 10, 30, or 60 minutes.) Friends and family can track your progress听on Google Maps via the company鈥檚 website. That said,听with, say,听, you can view your route on-screen as you go. Weather updates would be nice, too.

The X has a leg up on the Garmin when it comes to听battery life. It鈥檒l last, on average, ten days when tracking at听ten-minute intervals, while the SE+ is good for a little over four. (The SE+ also has a color screen and, thanks to the added functionality,听more processing going on.) For gram counters, the X tips the scale听at seven ounces. The InReach SE+: 7.5 ounces.

The Spot X retails for $250 and requires a service plan (from $20 a month). That price for the device is hundreds of dollar less than many models out there. You don鈥檛 get听quite the feature set; if you鈥檙e someone who鈥檇 use a satellite messenger more than occasionally, it might be worth going all in on a device with a fuller range听of functionality. But the X is a good middle-of-the-road sat-comm option for someone who heads out on the occasional long backcountry trip and just wants to be reachable if听folks back home need to get in touch.听

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A group of former Silicon Valley tech developers are trying to create the ultimate satellite communication device. The Global Hot Spot, which launched on earlier this month, connects to an iPhone or Android phone via Bluetooth, turning it into a two-way satellite communication tool.

By way of the satellite network, the Global Hot Spot has a host of features for staying connected in the backcountry, all in a thin, three-inch disk. Through an app, users will be able to send messages to regular phone numbers and email addresses, which means texting with friends, family, and even rescuers. Users will also be able to connect to the Somewear servers, which use your device鈥檚 GPS coordinates to offer location-specific weather updates. Of course, the Global Hot Spot also has an SOS button that sends a geotagged rescue call to the nearest search and rescue operation and the ability to drop automatic GPS pins at predetermined intervals, so folks can track you from home without you having to remember to send them a message.

We have yet to try the Global Hot Spot for ourselves, but on paper the device seems to fill a fundamental gap in the satellite communications market. It鈥檚 not doing anything other tools don鈥檛 already do; it鈥檚 just doing it in a lighter, more user-friendly way. For years, customers had two choices aside from a satellite phone: the Spot 鈥攚hich is small and light but limited to one-way communication鈥攁nd the Garmin , which has two-way messaging and the ability to connect to a phone but in a bigger, heavier package. Both have SOS functions. There鈥檚 also the GoTenna , which works on radio frequencies, rather than satellites. The Mesh requires you to be within a few miles of other Mesh users to send a message, rendering it useless if you鈥檙e in a remote place far from other Mesh users trying to send a message to someone miles away.

The Somewear fits between the Spot and the InReach. It鈥檚 roughly the same size as the Spot but lighter, weighing in at three ounces, and听it has all the functionality of the InReach. 鈥淥utdoor technology products have always been designed to be rugged, and user experience often takes a back seat,鈥� says James Kubik, president and co-founder of Somewear. 鈥淲e鈥檝e done a ton of user research and found that with InReach and Spot, this leads to people giving up and leaving these devices at home, where they鈥檙e not helping anyone stay safe.鈥� At $450, the Global Hot Spot will be more expensive than both the InReach and the Spot. Month-to-month satellite subscriptions will cost $15 (20 messages per month), $25 (75 messages per month), or $50 (unlimited messages). For comparison, the Spot Gen 3 basic service plan costs $20 per month with unlimited messages (users can upgrade to two-minute pin tracking), while Garmin鈥檚 monthly plans cost $15, $35, $65, and $100 and range from ten messages per month with a charge per GPS pin to unlimited messages and GPS pins.

Big-mountain snowboarder Jeremy Jones has spent the past winter testing the new Hot Spot. He and Kubik met at a movie premier in California, and Kubik pulled Jones aside to show him a prototype. 鈥淚 was immediately like, 鈥榊es! I need this device every day,鈥欌�� Jones says. He began beta testing, and almost immediately the Global Hot Spot became his go-to satellite comms device because of how lightweight it is relative to its functionality.

鈥淚t鈥檚 like my first-aid kit,鈥� Jones says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not something I鈥檓 looking to use all the time.鈥� The Somewear device is light enough for Jones to shove in the bottom of his pack but allows him the two-way communication he needs to talk to rescuers or just let his wife know he鈥檚 safe.

With 15 days left in its campaign, Somewear Labs has accrued nearly double its $50,000 funding goal鈥攁n indication, at the very least, that there is a market for this kind of lightweight, user-friendly satellite safety device. (The Somewear is available for presale at a $150 discount, with 10 percent off the first six months of a subscription.) Will it live up to the hype? We鈥檒l be able to tell in a few months, when we get to put one to the test.

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, 22, has a better climbing pedigree than most. (It was his great uncle Sir Christopher Summerhayes who gave Edmund Hillary the British flag he plonked atop Everest). But the young adventurer has found out the hard way that landing easy money to pay for adventure is a thing of the past.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 making sponsorship more difficult is the sheer quantity of people chasing money,鈥� says Farrelly, who sets out on a solo trek up in July. 鈥淓verything gets lumped in together so that 鈥榓dventuring鈥� becomes dumbed-down. I get through to someone on the phone and say I鈥檒l be the youngest Briton to solo climb 7,000 metres, and the reply I get is, 鈥楽orry, we鈥檝e just sponsored someone to run the London marathon.鈥欌��

To survive in this competitive world, he鈥檚 working to perfect the art of low-cost, high-risk climbs. The goal: to give his hard-won sponsors an unbeatable return on investment, including dedicated 鈥淓d-time鈥� where companies can do everything from use him in product shoots to book him on a public speaking tour. He has a policy of never saying no to his investors.听

We sat down with Farrelly to chat about what it takes to secure sponsorship for extreme expeditions, and how he鈥檚 refined these low-cost, high-risk climbing trips. 听

OUTSIDE: Is sponsorship the only way you fund your trips?
FARRELLY: Yes. I’m still a student, and I was determined to find a way to do some cool climbs without going into debt. I spend whole days tracking people down on LinkedIn and then calling people up, and most of the calls go nowhere.

I鈥檓 getting better at it because I do interesting, challenging climbs and I keep the costs really low, whereas a lot of climbers go through what鈥檚 basically a tour operator and that makes it more expensive. They need to find a lump sum, hand it over to a middle man, and then he sends that cash out in various directions so you can achieve what you set out to do.

While I鈥檓 not saying that鈥檚 bad, it does mean that people are trying to take too big a slice of the sponsorship pie. I can do a trip for half what some people are looking for.

How much will your Kyrgyzstan trip cost?
贵础搁搁贰尝尝驰:听By organising everything myself, I can do it for about $6,000. That鈥檚 a month and a half over there, all the flights, everything. The only back-up I鈥檒l have is my dad at base camp, and he鈥檚 paying his own way.

What are the biggest costs associated with a big expedition?
贵础搁搁贰尝尝驰:听Transport. The Antarctic is the big one鈥攊t can cost upwards of $50,000 and most of that will go toward logistics. Insurance is a massive hidden cost when doing solo trips and can be as much as the flights, which on my next trip means about $1,000. Sat phones are another huge cost. Including upfront charges, sat phone services cost an additional $1.50 to $2 per minute. It鈥檚 easy to be stuck there sending photos back and finding yourself almost weeping as the seconds tick by.

Why send the photos back to your sponsors?
贵础搁搁贰尝尝驰:听It鈥檚 all part of the sponsorship deal. You have to get the information back to the very people that your sponsors want to find out about it.

Is your success rate with sponsorship money getting better or worse?
贵础搁搁贰尝尝驰:听It鈥檚 getting better, I think, but only because I鈥檓 getting better at it. I no longer try and persuade people who aren鈥檛 interested. I move on as quickly as I can. It鈥檚 a numbers game. If someone鈥檚 interested, I cut to the chase and tell them what I need, which is usually $1,500 to $2,500. They seem to appreciate the honesty.

Do the sponsors think they’re getting a good ROI?
贵础搁搁贰尝尝驰:听They seem to. The value of the deals is going up, and they鈥檙e being renewed when they run out, too. I appreciate how hard it is to put a tangible value on what I can give them in return, but I take the responsibility seriously and I do my best.

What do sponsors want from their money?
贵础搁搁贰尝尝驰:听I would say they either want a quality story which is going to get them exposure, or content鈥攑hotos, video, blog posts鈥攚hich somehow represent their brand. The latter requires more work to utilize on their part but is probably better from a branding point of view. Too many companies are interested in just the first.

As far as what the stories are about, I guess the classic angles are youngest, oldest, fastest, and so on, but these are perhaps losing some of their allure as they have been done quite a bit, particularly on the classic challenges like Everest. Maybe now it’s about being a little more inventive in terms of finding new challenges which haven’t been overdone yet. But explaining why you’re different to the press is easier said than done.

Are climbers always talking about money and how to fund their expeditions?
贵础搁搁贰尝尝驰:听Yes. If they鈥檝e found it for their current expedition then they鈥檙e already talking about how they鈥檙e going to find it for the next one, and if they haven鈥檛 found it yet then they鈥檙e talking about it constantly.

It鈥檚 the one thing that stands between you and doing what you want鈥攕ame as with most things, really. Some would-be adventurers never really make it, because it can be hard to get a toe in the door. There鈥檚 a 鈥榩ositive feedback鈥� aspect to it, so the more you do and the bigger your name, the less work you need to do to find the money. I鈥檓 nowhere near the big league, but sponsorship deals with Adidas, Rab, and Scarpa all help, and they鈥檙e obviously the names I mention when looking for new deals.

What鈥檚 your advice to budding adventurers seeking sponsorship?
贵础搁搁贰尝尝驰:听Don鈥檛 turn up on the wrong day! Actually, that isn鈥檛 necessarily a disaster, as it happened to me when I went to see Osprey looking for funding a few years ago and I turned up a day early. I drove two and a half hours to the meeting and I was sitting in the waiting room when the woman I was supposed to be seeing the next day walked past and seemed to recognize my face. She was good enough to do the interview there and then, although we had to change meeting rooms four times because obviously nothing had been booked.

How did your initial sponsorship meeting with Osprey go?
贵础搁搁贰尝尝驰:听I must have done a good job because they sponsor me now. I guess if what you鈥檙e selling is something people are interested in, you can overcome a few hurdles鈥攖hough screwing up the date is obviously not an approach I would recommend.

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Once upon a time we went into the backcountry to unplug. Constant connectivity, while obviously a boon to society in many ways, is exhausting. Your attention is pulled in a hundred directions and every few minutes you鈥檙e jostled out of your groove by another beep or buzz. And so we retreat back to nature to get away from all that and rediscover our humanity.

But here鈥檚 the thing: the Grid is expanding. Our hiding places are shrinking away, and before the decade is out, there may be no refuge left. Yes, really.

Consider: This week, a team from MIT collaborated with NASA and demonstrated technology that can . Yeah, the freakin鈥� Moon. The one orbiting Earth 238,000 miles away. If science can do that, you can bet that streaming Game of Thrones in the middle of Yellowstone is child鈥檚 play. And companies are already hard at work to provide such a service.

For the last year, Google has been testing an idea known as . The concept is to essentially blanket the entire planet in Wi-Fi by putting a network of solar-powered, antennae-toting weather balloons into the stratosphere. Each balloon would float for roughly 100 days, and would be steered so that the grid of connectivity is essentially gapless around the world.听

On the one hand, it鈥檚 an extremely laudable goal, making the Internet (theoretically) accessible to everyone on the planet. The aid it would provide to previously unconnected locations in the arenas of education, medicine, and commerce is massive. On the other hand, what happens to our most sacred places once the web creeps into them? Yes, you鈥檙e enjoying the majesty of nature, but part of you feels like you should check your work email, just to make sure nothing is on fire. And since you have the ability to do that, isn鈥檛 it the responsible thing to do to just take a quick look?

Even if Google鈥檚 balloon project doesn鈥檛 float (sorry), this is the direction we鈥檙e headed. Earlier this year, when Ben Saunders and Tarka L鈥橦erpiniere completed Robert Scott鈥檚 ill-fated 1,800-mile , they were dragging computers, satellite antennae, and solar panels so they could blog and upload photos and video from their tent each of the 100-plus nights they spent out there. I guess you鈥檝e got to keep the sponsors (Intel and Land Rover) happy somehow. As satellite data speeds increase, though, you鈥檝e got to wonder how far we are from someone live-streaming HD video while summiting Everest or K2.听

Even us unsponsored Joe and Jane Schmoes out for a few days in the backcountry already have options. Last year Thuraya introduced the , which is basically a case for your iPhone that pops it onto a global satellite network with the press of a button.听

And earlier this year we met the , a portable Wi-Fi network that fits in the palm of your hand and allows you to connect a whole array of devices to satellite Internet. Now, both of these services are limited in the apps you can use with them, they鈥檙e prohibitively expensive for many, and they positively crawl at early 1990’s dial-up data speeds. But the point is they鈥檙e here already, they work, and they鈥檙e only going to get better.

Obviously, there鈥檚 some good that comes with all of this. Lost in the wild? Download a map. Not sure how to treat an injury? Get medical advice. Running a couple days late because of bad weather but otherwise fine? Let your family know so they don鈥檛 freak out. Someone needs to be medevac鈥檇? Press of a button. These are good and potentially life-saving features. 听

There鈥檚 a dark side, though. One of the best things about going way off the grid currently is that you just have to make that decision once, and then once you鈥檙e out there, you鈥檙e committed to it. You aren鈥檛 constantly wondering whether or not you should be checking your phone because, simply, you can鈥檛. It鈥檚 not an option, and so you let go of those nagging voices, and you鈥檙e able to fully relax and recharge.听

If, however, we lived in a world where even the most remote nooks and crannies were Internet-ready, then, 鈥淚 want to check my phone. Should I check my phone?鈥� is a decision you will have to make over and over again, even while you鈥檙e out camping in the middle of nowhere. The current lack of technology makes it easy for us to just be in the woods when we鈥檙e there, but once the capability is an option, not-checking becomes a matter of will power. And you鈥檒l be subject not just to your own habits, but to the expectations of others. There will be no more, 鈥淪orry boss, I鈥檒l be off the grid next week,鈥� because the entire planet is on the grid.

Last month I did a through-hike across Zion National Park with some friends. One guy used his iPhone as his only camera, which meant it was always on him and always within reach. Sure enough, almost every time we got to a ridge he would check to see if he had bars on this phone. Occasionally he did. So while most of us stood there, jaws agape, staring at the incredible red rock canyons, he would take the opportunity to fire off a quick work email or say hi to his girlfriend. Now, his work and his girlfriend both knew he was going to be off the grid for a week and had no expectation of him checking in, but he did it anyway. Why? Because he was tempted and because he could. And every time it happened we felt him disconnect from the group, from the nature around us, and from the present moment.

Now, that is what happens today when, at best, you鈥檙e grasping for a bar or two here and there. What happens when you have consistent, quality Internet in the wild? Could you resist uploading a photo until you get back? Could you resist the siren song of your email and social networks? Well, how strong is your will?

Just because we at 国产吃瓜黑料 prioritize getting out and away doesn鈥檛 make us luddites. We recognize the advantages that technology brings, and how beneficial it can be in an emergency. But our stance is that emergencies are what this should be reserved for. Bring your phone, but keep it in your pack, with the power off. Think of it as a lifeline that鈥檚 there if you need it. You will be tempted. We鈥檒l all be tempted. But remember why you鈥檙e out there in the first place.

In the near future, the only way to get off the grid will be to willfully pull the plug yourself. We hope you鈥檒l pull it. Deep breath. It鈥檒l all still be there when you get back.听

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In early May, Kevin Boniface was riding his new motorcycle in the Colorado Front Range, along an open off-road area not far from the site of infamous . The ride was going great鈥攗ntil a friend, Tom, who was also riding that day, leaned too sharply, caught his handlebar, and went down.

When Boniface reached Tom, his friend was drooling and concussed, and possibly had broken ribs. 鈥淲e had the same conversation over and over,鈥� Boniface recalls. 鈥溾�楬ow did I get here?鈥� What happened?鈥欌�� They were 40 minutes from the nearest paved road, and had no cell-phone service. The injuries appeared quite serious.

Three years earlier, Boniface had invested in a SPOT tracker to have on hand during emergencies. Boniface had only ever used before the accident, a preset sending his wife his location at the click of a button. As Tom writhed in pain, Boniface decided now was the time to test his SPOT鈥檚 SOS beacon.

鈥�(My SPOT tracker) was really helpful because I probably could have ridden to go get help, but it saved a lot of time,鈥� Boniface says. About 35 minutes later, a sheriff was on site and Tom was in an ambulance.

Boniface didn’t realize at the time that he would be part of a company milestone: the rescue was the 3,000th that utilized ‘s GPS technology.听

, the sat phone company which owns Spot, launched their tracker in 2007, and usage of the devices has been climbing ever since. SPOT products can be programmed to send GPS coordinates via stationary low-earth satellites to emergency responders鈥� at . Most satellite phones , not counting service fees.

Search and rescue teams traditionally depend on mobile networks, sometimes radio networks, to locate lost adventurers. But according to Globalstar CEO Jay Monroe, 75 percent of the planet’s land surface is out of network; you鈥檇 be hard-pressed to find a cluster of cellphone towers in Aniakchak National Monument, for instance. Satellite phones and trackers transcend this problem. SPOT’s trackers, called SPOT Gen3, and SPOT Global Phones can access low-earth satellites from anywhere in the world.

鈥淲herever it is in whichever country, the capability of the unit is such that it really takes the search out of search and rescue,鈥� says Monroe. 鈥淵ou know exactly where the person is and all you have to do is go get 鈥榚m.鈥�

When someone presses an SOS beacon, a signal with his or her coordinates goes out to an international dispatch center manned by emergency response company . GEOS alerts the relevant protective body鈥攈ere, the sheriff鈥攂ut also the emergency contact of whoever owns the SPOT, to double-check the owner鈥檚 last known coordinates.

鈥淭he truth is, about one time a day, we get an emergency rescue and often times it鈥檚 life or death,鈥� says Monroe. 鈥淚f it wasn鈥檛 out there鈥攖here would be some number of people in my backyard of Colorado who wouldn鈥檛 be at this year鈥檚 Fourth of July barbeque.鈥�

In Boniface鈥檚 case, a county dispatch reporting error sent his wife in a panic to the hospital.

鈥淎fter the sheriff showed up, I figured I should probably make sure she knew I was okay, so I pressed the okay button,鈥� Boniface says. 鈥淪he and Tom鈥檚 wife saw each other in the emergency room and started putting stuff together.鈥�

Tom, had sustained four fractures to his collarbone, and broke seven ribs, but was expected to make a full recovery.

鈥淗e鈥檚 definitely gonna buy a SPOT,鈥� Boniface says.

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Fujifilm FinePix XP170 Digital Camera

Weatherproof, meet wireless transfer. The is built to withstand drops and dunks, and it lets you beam photos to your Android or iPhone via a free (if somewhat clunky) app. Its CMOS sensor and 14.4-megapixel resolution are impressive for the price, though outdoor results were mixed. The XP170 does, however, produce above-average video underwater (down to 10 meters), and the battery gets you 300 shots on a charge.

Magellan Switch Up Watch

Don鈥檛 be put off by the clunky looks: the delivered some of the most accurate mileage readings we鈥檝e seen from a fitness watch. Cyclists can snap off the device and mount it on handlebars, and triathletes can track progress in the drink. It also supplies temperature and elevation data and pairs with an optional heart-rate monitor ($50).

DeLorme InReach Communicator

This gives you SOS and text capabilities in the 90 percent of the planet not covered by cell towers. This year鈥檚 upgrade is aimed at your smartphone: a monthly fee ($10鈥�$65, depending on usage plan) lets you pair the device with your Android or iPhone to send and receive 160-character, GPS-stamped messages.

Optrix XD Smartphone Case

From the department of elegant solutions, the turns your iPhone into an action cam. The polycarbonate shell lends water and shock protection, and the wide-angle lens doubles the field of view of your iPhone鈥檚 (or iPod鈥檚) camera. Comes with a helmet mount, which raises the question: Do you want your iPhone mounted on your head?

SpareOne Emergency Phone

This has a 15-year battery life, making it the perfect just-in-case backup to toss in your glove box or backpack before an adventure. Slide in your SIM card (there鈥檚 also an international version available) and use the device in place of your smartphone, or don鈥檛 add a SIM and use it just for crisis calls.

Goal Zero Sherpa 50 Solar Recharging Kit

Hook up the 鈥檚 paperback-size solar panel to the two-pound power pack and inverter, set it in the sun, and in six to 10 hours (we did it in four with full rays) you have enough juice to power your laptop for three hours or a tablet for 15. Smart: The power pack charges by wall outlet in just three hours.

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Delorme has been at the forefront of GPS technology and satellite communications for the past few years. Last year, they teamed up with Spot to create the Delorme Earthmate PN-60 with SPOT Satellite Communicator, a top-tier, fully-functioning GPS that, when paired with a puck-size SPOT tramsmitter, allowed users to send 鈥淚鈥檓 OK鈥� and SOS messages as well as type 48-character text messages to friends, Twitter, and Facebook.

This year鈥檚 InReach ups the ante by letting you send and receive text messages from pretty much anywhere in the world. (The device relies on Iridium鈥檚 network or satellites, which cover 90% of the earth鈥檚 surface not covered by cellular or land-based phone service.) When paired with either an Android smartphone or a Delorme Earthmate PN-60, it becomes a two-way text-messaging device, allowing you to send short, Twitter-size messages (up to 160 characters per message) to any cell phone or email address. Used by itself, you can send pre-loaded messages or activate its remote tracking feature, which, much like a traditional SPOT device, allows friends and family to keep tabs on your travels online in real-time. We have yet to be able to play with it in the backcountry, but will have a test model and a full report in the fall. Subscription is $10 a month; available in October.

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EARPHONES

Bose IE2 Headphones

Bose IE2 Headphones

It makes us happy to see high-end earbuds that cater to athletes. BOSE’s IE2 ‘phones boast ergo颅nomic silicone tips that keep them from popping out while you’re running (or headbanging) and are comfortable and light enough to wear for hours. The sound quality? Dude, they’re Bose. $100;

Rugged Cell Phone

Casio G鈥毭劽碯one Ravine Cell Phone

Casio G鈥毭劽碯one Ravine Cell Phone

Dunked your smartphone in the creek? There’s no app for that. The latest of CASIO‘s insanely rugged cell phones, the G’ZONE RAVINE, meets military standards for water, shock, and extreme temps and throws in seven basic, outdoor-friendly (if elementary) apps like a compass, thermometer, stargazer, and tide chart. Compromises are the tiny screen and dated feel. $150 with Verizon contract;

Helmet Cam

Contour GPS Helmet Cam

Contour GPS Helmet Cam

A lot of lightweight cams shoot hi-def 1080p video. The CONTOUR GPS throws in three big perks: a GPS chip that captures your location and speed, idiotproof editing software, and laser pointers that help you level the lens. $350;

Music Player

Apple iPod Nano

Apple iPod Nano

We aren’t sure the sixth-gen APPLE IPOD NANO really needs to be this tiny, but the runners among us rejoiced at the feathery weight, Nike+ compatibility, pocket clip, and ability to add a strap to make it a stopwatch. The only downside: no more video camera. 8GB, $149; 16GB, $179;

Satellite/Cell Phone

Terrestar Genus Satellite/Cell Phone

Terrestar Genus Satellite/Cell Phone

It might look like an old BlackBerry, but it talks to the future. The world’s first cell-phone/satellite-phone hybrid, the TERRESTAR GENUS shifts from cell to sat automatically when it can’t find a tower. Bummer: It currently works only in the U.S. (excluding Hawaii) and the Caribbean. $800 with AT&T contract;

Tablet

SAMSUNG‘s GALAXY is a worthy, if more diminutive, rival to the iPad: what it lacks in Apple intuitiveness it makes up for with Google’s suite of services, two cameras (there’s one on the front for video chats), and a 13-hour battery for long trips. The other tradeoff: while it’s half the weight of an iPad, it’s even less type-friendly. $400 with Sprint contract, $600 unlocked;

Smartphone

Addicted to watching YouTube ski videos on your phone? The HTC HD7 has one of the largest screens among smartphones (4.3 inches), the easy-to-use Windows Phone 7 operating system, and a kickstand on the back that lets you set the phone upright on your airline tray table. It’s big but doesn’t feel bulky in your pocket. $199 with T-Mobile contract;

Sport Watch

Suunto M5

Suunto M5

Program in your stats, take a preset fitness test, and then let SUUNTO‘s M5 heart-rate monitor become your personal robo-coach. It’ll set up daily cardio or weight-training workouts (with time, intensity, etc.) and even suggest pace changes on the fly. Bonus: Connect the M5 to Suunto’s higher-performance accessories, like its GPS tracking device ($170) and you can download workouts from its fitness community site, . $190;

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One of the reasons I love Alaska is that almost every conversation between skiers, hunters, whitewater enthusiasts, fishermen, or mountaineers ends up being a discussion about the state. If you start out talking about kayaking the Everglades, you’ll soon be discussing a paddling trip up through the Inside Passage of Southeast Alaska. And if you’re chatting about striped bass in Montauk, it won’t be long before the conversation progresses to the salmon runs of the Yukon River. It’s like a law of nature: Alaska is the final word on everything outdoors, the exclamation point at the end of every adventurous sentence.

Map

Alaska

Maybe it has something to do with its size. I keep a large topographical map of the state pinned to the wall of my bedroom. A lot of times I’ll be in the middle of some mundane task, like picking up clothes or making the bed, and I’ll catch myself just staring at it. My eyes will drift westward to Umnak Island, way out toward the tip of the Aleutian archipelago, in the Bering Sea. Then they’ll move across the map in an upward diagonal direction to where the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge takes in the Romanzof Mountains. The distance between those points is about 1,400 miles, roughly the distance from New York City to Houston. When staring at the map, I’m often visited by an overwhelming sense of bewilderment and lust. Before I can go back to whatever I was doing, I select some point on the map and make myself a promise: Someday I’m going to visit that spot.

Fulfilling these promises is not always easy. A few years ago, I had a chance to visit one of the most remote points in the state (and, therefore, one of the most remote points in North America). First I caught a commercial flight from Anchorage to Fairbanks. There I climbed into the co-pilot’s seat of a single-engine propellor plane hauling geological supplies to a camp on the Arctic tundra. Three hours after flying over the Yukon River, we landed on a gravel airstrip next to a helicopter pad and a tent. I was now 160 miles from the nearest road, which was dirt. Then I took a half-hour helicopter flight, and after flying over three of the state’s approximately 10,000 wolves and two of its 30,000 grizzlies, we reached our destination. I thought about how we usually travel in order to become intimate with new places. But when traveling in Alaska, any sense of physical intimacy is counterbalanced by a landscape that is gloriously incomprehensible.

I’ve been hanging around in Alaska since my brother took a position as an ecologist at the University of Alaska Anchorage in 2000. During the past decade of adventures, I’ve experienced a litany of things that constitute my own personal biggest, best, and baddest. I had my closest brush with death while floating down the Chetaslina River in a leaky drysuit after a buffalo hunt, hanging from the side of an inflatable pack raft loaded with more than 300 pounds of meat in the sub-freezing temperatures of an October night. I had my most startling moment in the Chugach Mountains when my partner came rolling and screaming downhill after getting zapped in the shoulder by a porcupine that was hidden in an alder. I had my most nerve-racking moment at sea while motoring a small skiff with my brother through the current-ripped passages of Southeast Alaska last December; it was perfectly dark at 4 p.m., and we hit a submerged log that knocked out the engine and caused a surge of water to crash over the bow. And I was most blown away by the beauty of the earth when I crested a divide in the Alaska Range and looked out over a corrugated landscape of rock and ice that had turned freakishly red in the sunlit smoke of a distant tundra fire.

There’s no need to be intimidated by such tales. Believe it or not, you can ease into Alaska. The first step is to name your desire. Start with something specific: You want to gawk upward at Denali, North America’s highest peak; or you want to watch beluga whales gorge on migrating salmon during the high tide in Turnagain Arm, near Anchorage; or you want to hear the eerie, catlike meow of a rutting moose on the Kenai Peninsula.

From there, one thing will lead to another. A few years ago, I went on a fishing trip to Prince of Wales Island, in Southeast Alaska. The labyrinthine coasts of the islands and fjords continued to haunt my imagination when I got home. Before I could return, I’d become the proud owner of a cabin on the island. It sits on pilings over the confluence of a mountain stream and the ocean. It is accessible only by boat or floatplane. The creek has a salmon run. Needless to say: If you start talking to me about cabins, you can see where the discussion will lead.

鈥擲teven Rinella

Denali National Park and Preserve

The Sell: Climbing the tall one; hiking in solitude
Rumor has it that on an Alaska Airlines flyby of 20,320-foot Denali, one Texas passenger asked a flight attendant why the mountain had superhighways leading up to it. The glacial moraines do look a little like an interstate on the massive peak, which dwarfs all others in the 600-mile Alaska Range. But there’s a lot more to this six-million-acre park than a big hunk of granite. It’s one of the only spots in the world where you can ride a bus, get off, hike a few miles in, and have a 20-square-mile swath of wilderness to yourself. Few cars are allowed on the single 91-mile gravel artery, so campers and mountaineers have to hoof it, bike it, or watch the rutting moose from the comfort of the bus.

Outfitted: On ‘s ten-day, entry-level Alaska Seminar, there’s a three-to-one client-to-guide ratio, ensuring that you’ll always have an expert on hand to help you with the basics of mountaineering: knot tying, crevasse rescue, ice climbing, route finding, and deciphering big-mountain weather. Complete this mid-May course on Denali’s Kahiltna Glacier and you’ll be prepared for a guided summit bid ($2,400).

DIY: Denali has six designated along the park road, most of which you can reserve in advance ($9 per night). For backcountry campers, there are no designated sites and no advance reservations. Just show up at the , at the park’s north entrance, and a ranger will help you plot your course, give you a free permit, assign you a bear container, and give you the mandatory safety talk about food storage, river crossings, and how to avoid hypothermia ($10 park entrance fee per person). If hot meals and a bed sound better, reserve a cabin at Camp Denali. Built in 1951 and sitting on 67 acres with views to 11 major peaks in the Alaska Range, predates the existing park. The 18 hand-built cabins, with homemade quilts, fireplaces, and meticulously kept outhouses, are like a Hollywood version of frontier life. Hike with one of the expert naturalists, borrow one of the camp’s bikes and ride the park road, or wet your fly line in a pretty creek. Wind down with a meal from the camp’s organic greenhouse and on-site bakery (three nights, $1,515).

Wild Card: It’s technically south of the park, but if you want a blowout high-alpine adventure in sight of Denali, head to . Customize all sorts of adventure using this luxurious lodge on the shores of Judd Lake as your base camp: Heli-fish for trophy trout, heli-hike near active volcanoes, climb granite crags, or paddleboard among icebergs near Strandline Glacier ($1,300 for two days/one night, including internal air from Anchorage; plus guided activity fees).

Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve

The Sell: Paddling the frontier
Jack London, the 1880s Klondike gold rush, the Yukon Quest dogsled race鈥攆ew wild spaces hold more historical cachet than this wide-open, undulating, 2.5-millon-acre hunk of tundra 125 miles east of Fairbanks. In August, when the mosquitoes die off and the temperatures drop from 90-degree highs, the mighty Yukon River (which is a relatively easy float as long as you stay upright in your canoe) turns into an Alaska-style freeway. History and river buffs paddle the silty, 50-degree water from the historic town of Eagle to see abandoned gold dredges, endangered peregrine falcons in the limestone bluffs, and caribou from the Fortymile herd on the hillside.

Outfitted: You’re in for a wild ride on the Charley, the most under-the-radar whitewater trip in Alaska鈥攊t’s so off the map that this Yukon-tributary river feels almost exploratory. Raft it in a 16-foot SOAR inflatable canoe with . The first two days you’ll ride the Charley’s Class III water, with time to spin-cast for grayling (bring your own fishing gear) and eat delicious camp grub like chorizo-scramble burritos. After the Charley spits you into the Yukon, you’ll paddle the wide river for two to three days, the first night bellying up to the stove at Slaven’s Roadhouse, a pit stop on the Yukon Quest ($3,650, including transportation to/from Fairbanks; $300 discount for 国产吃瓜黑料 readers).

DIY: Fly 90 minutes from Fairbanks to Eagle on ($170 each way), then rent a sturdy Old Town canoe from for a five-to-six-day, 165-mile paddle on the Yukon ($195, plus $20 return fee). You’ll see fox, moose, and grizzlies (or at least their scat). Camp on gravel bars or islands, or stay in one of five free National Park Service public-use cabins, equipped with bunks, stoves, and outhouses (first come, first served; no fee). The in Eagle can help you with logistics. Warbelow’s will fly you back to Fairbanks from Circle, the end of the line ($99 each way).

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve

The Sell: Wilderness on steroids
The largest national park in the U.S., 200 miles east of Anchorage, is six times the size of Yellowstone and has 14,185 square miles of designated wilderness and a glacier the size of Rhode Island. It also contains four mountain ranges鈥攖he Chugach, Wrangell, St. Elias, and the eastern part of the Alaska Range鈥攏ine of the 16 highest peaks in the country, and most of the largest mammals in the U.S., including grizzlies and black bears, woodland bison, mountain goats, caribou, and moose. If you’re a competent backcountry traveler and love to explore in a kayak or hike with a fully loaded 5,000-cubic-inch pack, this park’s for you.

Outfitted: Go where no man has gone before on ‘s eight-day St. Elias kayaking expedition. This unique itinerary, designed for experienced kayakers and campers, starts in Yakutat. From there you’ll fly to a spot near the Malaspina Glacier and get dropped off in the middle of nowhere for an eight-day tour of the fjords and mountain valleys of the St. Elias Mountains, the highest coastal range in the world. Route conditions change from year to year, so there is no set course. Trust your guides and the fact that they’ve packed enough chocolate to get you through any hardship, but don’t expect them to schlep your boat鈥攁 folding Klepper kayak鈥攊n and out of the water ($2,945, including internal air).

DIY: If testing your backcountry know-how hundreds of miles from humanity sounds like your idea of a vacation, consider Wrangell Mountain Air’s Southern Park Traverse. A single-engine Beaver plane will drop you off near Iceberg Lake (elevation 3,200 feet), the start of a 12-to-14-day, 90-some-mile self-guided odyssey鈥攖here are no trails in these parts. You’ll cross a glacier or trek up to the snow line at 7,000 feet. No matter where you go, the territory is untracked. will arrange for a mid-trip food drop and will pick you up at the end, but otherwise you’re on your own ($430 per person; optional food drop, $420).

Southeast Alaska

The Sell: Paddling the wet wilds
A short 2.5-hour hop from Seattle, Juneau averages 54 inches of rain per year. All that precip makes this a nutrient-rich haven for whales, dolphins, sea otters, porpoises, sharks, and other marine life. Southeast Alaska is an ideal spot for families, fishermen, and aspiring marine biologists. There are few roads leading out of Juneau, so an outgoing Cessna is your access pass. Your likely fellow passengers: a bearded commercial fisherman wearing a Deadliest Catch cap, an expedition kayaker, or a thrill-seeking retiree looking to ditch the “newlyweds, overfeds, and almost-deads” on the cruise ships.

Outfitted: , an 84-foot sweetheart of a yacht, ranks high in the most-luxurious-way-to-see-Alaska category. With in-suite showers, an aft cockpit with a teak dining table, a top sundeck, and a swim and fishing platform, there’s not a chance you’ll get claustrophobic. Weather depending, Captain Michael Mills recommends one of eight weeklong routes between Juneau and Sitka, all of which allow you to kayak, get close to bears and marine life, watch glaciers calve, and catch your own dinner when the fishing’s good ($10,000 per two-person cabin, all-inclusive).

DIY: For a self-guided Alaskan initiation, paddle . Rent a kayak from park concessionaire , then launch from the beach in front of Glacier Bay Lodge for a 55-plus-mile paddle up the bay to the Carroll, Rendu, Margerie, or Johns Hopkins glaciers ($45 per day). Or get among the ice and wildlife鈥攂ears, coyotes, wolves, sea lions, porpoises, humpback whales, and myriad fish and bird species鈥攂y hopping aboard ‘s high-speed catamaran, which will transport you and your kayak to a designated drop-off site, then pick you up a week or so later at another designated site across the bay ($115.50 each way). For your final night in the park, save enough cash to splurge on a room with a hot shower and a view, followed by a feast of the freshest salmon you’ll ever eat, at (doubles from $199).

Wild Card: Surfing in Alaska? Nominally sane surfers head to Yakutat. Within 15 minutes of stepping off Alaska Airlines Flight 61 from Seattle, you’ll be trolling the coastline for the perfect break. May, June, and September are the best months to find rideable waves, but be prepared for water temps in the upper forties. Jack Endicott, at , rents boards ($20 for fiberglass; $30 for a stand-up paddleboard).

Lake Clark and Katmai National Parks

The Sell: Safari northern style
Ask an Alaskan what the most underrated national park in the state is and he’ll likely answer Lake Clark, just an hour’s flight west of Anchorage. The four-million-acre park’s active volcanoes, abundant salmon, healthy brown bear population, and frothing rivers and waterfalls make it the perfect spot for folks who want to hunker down in a lodge to fish or just plain gawk at the mind-blowing scenery. Tack on an hourlong flight from Anchorage to KatmaiNational Park, home to over 1,000 brown bears (one of the world’s largest protected populations), and your eyes will be popping out of their sockets.

Outfitted: Called the “Cadillac of bear trips,” ‘ Alaska-centric trip is the voyage of choice for BBC, Discovery Channel, and Imax cameramen who want four days of intense bear interaction. From mid-June to late August, guests fly from Kodiak to the Shelikof Strait to board a converted tugboat equipped with simple bunk rooms. You’ll cruise 50 to 60 miles along the Katmai coast for an average of 20 bear sightings per day. This trip isn’t for the fainthearted; you’ll land on the beach and get alarmingly close to the big guys ($3,750, flight from Kodiak included).

DIY: Lake Clark National Park’s is a surprisingly easy way to immerse yourself in wildest Alaska for a weekend. An hourlong flight from Anchorage’s Lake Hood drops you at the lodge, on nine-mile-long Crescent Lake, which sits at the base of active, 10,197-foot Redoubt Volcano. Spend your days casting for silver or sockeye salmon, staring down a 600-pound brown bear, or enjoying a glass of wine from a hot tub that overlooks the lake. As appealing as the surroundings: chef and co-manager Heather Richards’s cooking, guide Andrew Sells’s encyclopedic knowledge of fishing, and your own cozy cabin ($1,245 for one-night stay, $1,845 for two, including round-trip bush flight with Rust’s Flying Service and food).

Wild Card: Twitchers go nuts for ‘ eight-day Adak Trip, in the Aleutian Islands, the volcanic arm that extends west into the Bering Sea from Katmai National Park. The reason: You’re technically in North America, but can still tick numerous vagrants from Asia that blow off-course鈥攍ike the whooper swan, the falcated duck, and the black-tailed godwit鈥攐ff your life list. Your unconventional digs: converted condos on a decommissioned World War II military base ($4,400).

Anchorage

The Sell: Easy-access wilderness
There’s a reason the phrase “I [heart] the Chugach National Forest” adorns the bumpers of so many cars in Anchorage. With this 5.4-million-acre playground (the least-roaded national forest in the nation) in their backyard, trophy king salmon fishing on the Kenai Peninsula’s Russian River, just a few hours south (watch out; it’s a zoo in July), and some of the best skiing on the planet just a 35-minute heli-flight away, the 60 percent of Alaskans who live in this “urban” area are happy to leave the rest of the state to the bears.

Outfitted: have been making ski-porn fantasies come true for 17 years. The season is short鈥攍ate February through early May鈥攂ut if you’re an advanced-to-expert skier and want to ski like the pros, this trip’s for you. Guests are guaranteed 30 heli-accessed runs in the heart of the Chugach Mountains, each one averaging 4,000 feet of vertical. All of this is just a 35-minute flight or a five-hour drive from Anchorage. At $7,640, it’s not cheap, but the price tag includes seven nights at the waterfront Valdez Harbor Inn, breakfast, lunch, a four-to-one client-to-guide ratio, and avalanche safety gear. There are three-day trips for $3,310.

DIY: Hop on the Alaska Railroad’s brand-new, low-emission, diesel-propelled rail car in downtown Anchorage and ride the train a few hours south along the Turnagain Arm to a new hike-in campground, with a close-up view of Spencer Glacier. Paddle a native-style dugout canoe out to the calving ice or take a whitewater raft ride down the Placer River with ($202, train tickets and picnic lunch included). Back in town, crash at the (doubles from $119).

Wild Card: In July and August, close to 50,000 salmon sharks swarm to Prince William Sound, near Valdez, in search of kings, silvers, and pinks. Seven to eleven feet long, weighing up to 400 pounds, and with the ability to swim up to 50 miles per hour, the salmon shark is in the same family as the great white, fights like a marlin, and tastes like swordfish. Go catch one with , whose $600 daily rate includes lodging at the only B&B in Valdez, meals, and your guide.

The Brooks Range

The Sell: Unmitigated solitude. And caribou.
If you haven’t read John McPhee’s , go get it. McPhee captures the remarkable remoteness of this pristine region, one of the least-visited places in the state, where massive caribou herds roam, six Wild and Scenic rivers flow, and there are no trails or roads. It’s a place where you’re likely to see a wolf stalking a line of caribou ten miles long. At the heart of this eight-million-acre protected area is Gates of the Arctic National Park, one of the crown jewels of the NPS system, perfect for river trips and backpacking. It’s so out there that it can be difficult to navigate on your own, so we recommend plugging into one of the following expert outfitters.

Outfitted: In August, spends ten days trying to catch up with the 400,000-strong Western Arctic caribou herd on the Nigu River. You may not see a half-million caribou at once, but there’s almost always a steady flow of between ten and 100 animals feeding on the willows along the river or roaming the hills, nose to butt. Riddled with Eskimo ruins dating back thousands of years, the Class II鈥損lus Nigu starts in Gates of the Arctic, then leaves the park and flows through glacial moraines. The gravelly ridges are ideal for all-day hikes into the Arctic landscape. At the end of the day, you’ll enjoy a good glass of boxed wine with chili and homemade cornbread鈥攁 warming antidote to the massive terrain ($4,400, including internal air from Fairbanks).

Outfitted: Photographers who want to skip the float and focus on the caribou herds and blazing fall tundra should plan on ‘ Fall Caribou Basecamp trip, August 24鈥�30. You’ll set up camp at a high lake in the Endicott Mountains, in the northwest corner of the park, then fan out along the tundra to watch the caribou (and likely grizzlies, black bears, and wolves) stream by as the Northern Lights eventually flare up the Indian summer sky. The trip is as out there as it gets, but you’re in good hands: Owner Jim Campbell and his partner, Carol Kasza, have been guiding here for more than 30 years ($3,575, including internal air from Fairbanks).

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

The Sell: Inupiat culture and wildlife
An increasingly threatened 19.2 million acres of solitude covering seven ecological zones, this region spans 250 miles north to south, entirely above the Arctic Circle. Pro-oil interests are always itching to drill the estimated 5.7 to 16 billion barrels of oil here. Yes, that’s a lot of crude, but this largest roadless refuge in the U.S. is also a haven for the centuries-old Inupiat culture, grizzlies, polar bears, moose, musk oxen, and caribou. With just one Inupiat village, 125 miles of Arctic Ocean coastline, and the remaining refuge one big wide-open space for large beasts to roam, there are plenty of ways to get into the wild here鈥攕o long as you have access to a plane and are comfortable navigating rivers by canoe and trail-less tundra on foot.

Outfitted: Think African-style river safari through frozen tundra. ‘s ANWR trip takes you up and over the jagged 9,000-plus-foot Brooks Range to the treeless North Slope, where you’ll start a ten-day journey toward the Arctic Ocean via the silty Canning River, one of the most remote river systems in North America. In the dead heat of an Alaskan summer (which means T-shirt and shorts during the day and 24 hours of daylight), you’ll watch the thousands-strong Porcupine caribou herd migrate across the water, while ospreys and other predator birds circle above. You’ll likely see a few musk oxen, grizzlies, and moose, too, but the line of sight is so endless, there’s no need for fear. The A&K guides won’t have linen tablecloths, but you will have bacon-filled omelets for breakfast and fine wines with dinner. Still hungry? Get your fly rod out and fish for grayling, trout, and arctic char ($7,000, including round-trip flight to Arctic Village from Fairbanks).

DIY: For a sweeping overview of this solitary, wide-open space, start your backpacking trip at Spring Creek, a tributary of the Junjik River on the southern flank of the Brooks Range, then trek on caribou trails over the Continental Divide on Carter Pass to the Marsh Fork of the Canning River, on the north side of the Brooks Range. You’ll ford snowy creekbeds and camp in sites with 50-mile views, which will likely include a lot of caribou, moose, and grizzlies. Dirk Nickisch and Danielle Tirrell, owners of , will help you fine-tune your plans and fly you from Coldfoot to the dropoff in their DeHavilland Beaver, which fits five people with backpacking gear. They’ll pick you up five days later ($3,788 round-trip). In Coldfoot, camp at the , five miles north of town ($9).

Wild Card: Travel out of time and fully immerse yourself in a subsistence wayof life with ‘ overnight polar-bear-viewing trip to Kaktovik. The only village in ANWR, 260 miles above the Arctic Circle, Kakto颅vik is the ultimate spot to view how the Inupiat and polar bears have relied on whale for thousands of years ($2,299).

Pack Heavy

The four topics Alaskans are most tired of discussing? ANWR, Sarah Palin, Christopher McCandless, and Timothy Treadwell. You’d be wise to avoid them. You’d also be wise to pack these essentials:Five more pairs of socks than you think you need, because most of the time your feet will be damp, wet, or drenched. We like ‘s PhD Outdoor Medium Crew ($22).Alaskans wear rubber boots. Pick up a pair of 100 percent waterproof, insulated, plain-toe rubber XTRA TUF boots ($98). Buy an additional pair of felt liners.If you’re heading deep into the backcountry, rent an Iridium Satellite Phone for $50 per week through .听听($6) covers every critter you’ll find.Four nine-ounce, 15 percent deet spray bottles per person. Like everything in Alaska, mosquitoes are outsize.Even if you don’t mean for your gear to get wet, it will. ‘ SealLine Black Canyon drybags are watertight, extra-tough, and PVC-free. Available in five-to-55-liter sizes ($20 to $55).If you still haven’t found your Alaska trip, visit . The former concierge can custom-fit any trip down to the species of fish you want to catch.

Stories of the North

Tales of Alaskan adventure.

The High Way
There is more to a bush flight than a glimpse of granite and glacier. It’s the company. The best pilots won’t just shock you with yaw and sway you with pitch; they’ll also weave you a story of aviators, explorers, wilderness, and geology. I started flying onto Denali in 1986. By ’88 I was guiding on the mountain and was catching rides out of Talkeetna with a living legend. Cliff Hudson, who’d gone into the business in 1946, was the quintessential Alaskan bush pilot, and I felt fortunate to see him at work. My luck continued as I formed a friendship with his son, Jay, who took over chief pilot duties at Hudson Air Service. In December, Jay died at age 52 from cancer. He and I had spent 20 years building genuine respect for one another. My preference has always been to go at the very end of the normal climbing season, in July. But by then, most Talkeetna pilots have switched to freshly showered tourists who don’t require landings on skis uphill in the snow. I figured Jay would quit climbers altogether at some point, but he said that such awkward flights鈥攂e they for climbers, fishermen, or folks in the bush needing their mail鈥攚ere the guts of his family business and always would be. Some years, I’d conspire to get that last flight off the mountain all by myself with Jay. I wouldn’t require a big tour on the trip back, and he wouldn’t require a blow-by-blow of the three-week climb. Sure, I’d ask him what it had been like controlling a plane at age eight or getting his pilot’s license at 16. And I’d nibble politely about how he could live so far from everything. But often I’d just shut up and enjoy the company, the amazing Alaskan summer sun, and the world spinning oh-so smoothly beneath Jay Hudson’s trusty Cessna 206 Turbo.

鈥�Dave Hahn听

Kings of All That
Fishermen are a foolhardy bunch鈥攏owhere more so than in Alaska. With good reason: Alaska is the piscatory promised land. Piggish rainbows, overeager grayling, freight-train-like salmon鈥攖hey’re all here. And they’re all equally fun to catch. That is, of course, with one exception: king salmon. In Alaska, kings are king, and landing one on a fly, possible in only a few places, is the pinnacle of sport. Last June, at Deneki Outdoors’ Alaska West tent camp ($4,900 per person, includes lodging, food, and guided fishing;http:// ), a remote fly-in camp on the banks of the Kanektok River, in western Alaska, the kings were running, and so was I. In three days, I hooked two but landed neither. Another fisherman in camp, an 85-year-old named John, had been trying to catch a king for 12 straight days, coming within an arm’s length of success. In the course of his pursuit, John’s face had become sunburnt, and by the 12th day, when he announced he’d had enough, his skin was peeling like a snake’s. But the next morning, John got up, lathered himself in sunscreen, and hit the water again. He hooked two kings…and landed both. After returning home, he planned a four-week trip for the following summer.

鈥�Ryan Krogh听听

Travel Advisory
Little-known fact: Along with grizzlies and moose, Alaska’s wilderness teems with another highly specialized charismatic megafauna: Polaris romanticus, more commonly known as the Alaska Romeo. An exquisitely adapted bipedal mammal, Romeos survive by latching on to lower-48ers for a single summer at a time, sustaining themselves on wide-eyed dreams of wilderness living. In our small town, for instance, there’s one storied female Romeo whose cabin was built entirely by lower-48ers: First she hooked up with a visiting carpenter, then an electrician, and so forth. Then there’s the Romeo whose annual hookups comprise his fishing crew. A sure sign of summer: the sight of his boat headed out with a freshly minted girlfriend (or, some years, two) perched on the bow. It’s possible for visitors to safely interact with P. romanticus, provided they use common sense and follow a few simple rules.

What to look for: Sun-bleached, wind-whipped hair, horizon-gazing eyes, rosy complexion, ripped Carhartts. Other identifying marks: a devil-may-care smile, a mid-1980s Subaru. Habitat: Fishing boats, saunas, and cabins in need of constant upkeep (often provided by willing lower-48ers). Both males and females reach peak maturity in their mid-forties; a few have even stayed active into their sixties. They gravitate to vague, seasonal jobs such as “fish counter” or “volunteer fireman.”

What to do: Be aware that late-summer evenings are P. romanticus’s prime hunting time. Twenty daily hours of sunlight frequently leaves lower-48ers dazed, blissful, and vulnerable. Avoid displaying bright, shiny objects, like rental cars, credit cards, and hotel-room keys. Also avoid demonstrating potentially useful skills, like wood splitting or clam digging. If a Romeo should display over颅aggressive behavior, it’s recommended to employ either pepper spray or a sentence beginning with the phrase “When we’re married…” Both work equally well.

鈥�Daniel Coyle

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