Ascending Path

Joe took myself and three other folks from Australia on a nice hike to Rabbit Lake, he was a great guy, very friendly and didn’t let me wander off to far.
A reminder: it is the female mosquitoes that bite, not the males!

I took my parents Glacier Hiking at Spencer Glacier via Ascending Path and the entire experience from reserving to the actual hike itself was positive.
Our guides were Matt and Kaitlin. Both of whom were extremely experienced and made the trip enjoyable for everyone which ended up just being my parents myself and Matt and Kaitlin.
The Spencer Glacier hike involved a train trip from Anchorage to the glacier which also went through Girdwood, Portage and Whittier, so you got to see a lot!
From the train stop we kayaked to the glacier, Matt and Kaitlin gave us our crampons at the glacier and they coached us throughout the hike as it was our first time wearing crampons.
Because of our skill level we didn’t make it very far up the glacier but the cost of the trip was completely worth the entire experience. I’d love to do another trip with Matt and Kaitlin!

I signed up for the Rainforest Hike on the Winner Creek Trail that this company offers because I was travelling alone and wanted to go hiking in the area. I have no real experience with Alaska’s wildlife, so I wanted to be safe and use a guide that had the knowledge.
Pro: These people are great. I dealt with Molly over the phone and in person a couple of days before my hike and then again the day of. She was really friendly and helpful. My guide for the day was Gunner. He, too, was great. More on Gunner later…
Con (I cannot fault The Ascending Path for this): When signing up for guided adventures, you never know who will be joining you. There were three other people in my group, two of which showed up completely unprepared. I’m not too sure that those two had any idea of what this hike was about. One of the two actually lit a cigarette at the trailhead (had three more that I’m aware of by the time we got back). Due time permitted and to the physical abilities of the group as a whole, we didn’t get as far into the hike as I had liked. This is the only reason why I rated it 4 stars instead of 5.
Back to Gunner: I’m really glad that he was my guide. He is very experienced in the outdoors, knowledgable, and personable. Towards the end of the «hike» Gunner gave me some really good pointers/​examples on how to hike safely on my own in bear country. He was genuinely interested in helping me out and I totally appreciated it. Thanks Gunner!