Alaska, from the Aleut word Aleyska meaning The Great Land, is America's largest state with a landmass one-fifth the contiguous United States. Half the world's active volcanoes and more than half its glaciers are found in Alaska. Untouched wilderness stretching to the horizon, mountains not viewed so much as experienced, majestic and truly wild creatures. Alaska is America's last frontier.

VISIONS project sites array along the western and southern edges of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Our home base is roughly three hours southeast of Fairbanks in an Athabascan village, typically accessed by turning off Highway 2 and driving a couple of miles into the village. The drive from Fairbanks along the massive Alaska Range, over several rivers as well as the Alaska Pipeline potentially offers your first glimpse of wildlife. It would be unusual not to see a fair amount of moose and even caribou herds.

The Alaska sun never truly sets in June or July. The night skies turn about as dark as early evening dusk. By August, the days begin to grow shorter again and the nights start easing back into progressive degrees of darkness. Summer days will be warm enough for tee-shirts, in the high 70s, sometimes low 80s, and then the nights turn cool.

The service projects in Alaska are an unusual mix of carpentry elements. Anything from building bridges to re-building wood plank trails to milling lumber is possible. You will use hammers and power drills, circular saws and shovels. Bridges and playgrounds, community buildings and a basketball court, extensive wood plank trails, a fitness park all have been built by past participants. We often organize day camps for the local children. Your summer work is determined by the needs and the requests of the community and accomplished with the blessing of the residents.

Day hikes to surrounding mountain peaks and backpacking trips inside the Wrangells feature dramatic vistas and wildlife viewing. You will walk on and inside the Root Glacier, and climb its ice faces under supervision of the St. Elias Alpine Guides. We will visit Kenicott, once home to the richest copper mines in the world, now an abandoned collection of immense mining equipment and brooding structures.

You will be immersed in the daily lives of our native Athabaskan hosts. Play basketball with local kids. Attend a picnic laid out with everything from potato salad to smoked salmon and rabbit, hot dogs to moose and fry bread. Learn how to clean and cook salmon in the traditional way. Seek out village elders and spend a quiet evening learning beadwork while listening to stories of life in Alaska. Ladle water onto hot rocks in an Athabaskan steam bath.