The return of the stars. Usually, when that happens, it’s a welcome time of year: the best for backpacking, hunting, no bugs, and less brush. Blueberries! The nights are cool but not cold (by Alaskan standards), and it’s dark enough to see the stars and aurora again. It also means winter’s close; best enjoy nights in the backcountry as much as possible because they’ll be too long and cold for most of us soon.

Still warm and sunny days with crisp, clear, star-filled nights make the backcountry sublimity second to none. Even hunting for days without success, it’s easy to remember that it can’t always be about harvesting an animal. The potential to harvest an animal is what gets us out here, and getting out here is what’s important.

Later in the fall, when rain subsides and a window of opportunity presents, the Coastal Chugach is the best place to be. Late September and early October, when the interior mountains are getting quite cold (and may be quite snowy), chances are the lower elevation coastal mountains are still mostly snow-free and habitable.

A short drive, ATV, or bike ride from CMI’s base exists the most incredible alpine wonderland in North America. The best part: it’s empty (of humans) and very wild. If you want access, you must find it (and bushwhack or cut a trail to it) yourself.

CMI offers custom outdoor education and guided mountain adventures in the Central Chugach (Valdez, Thompson Pass, and Tiekel Valley areas) in the fall and year round. As with CMI’s guided backcountry skiing and snowboarding and avalanche education, a unique aspect of choosing this area for a wilderness adventure is the three different climatic regions nearby. If it’s rainy on the coast, we can go further interior for drier weather. If it’s too cold and windy inland, we can adventure nearer the coast at lower elevations (typically beginning with a wonderful approach through old-growth temperate rainforest to reach the alpine).