Our third stop is McCarthy, Alaska, and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. One of us earns a certificate for outstanding will, bravery, and thermoregulation—while the other learns to use a shared outhouse with a screen door. Oh, and we finally cross a big item off our bucket list!

Things are touch-and-go as we aim to visit parks #4 and #5 on our Great Alaskan Road Trip. This leg includes an ice bar, a detour to the North Pole, and our own version of the TV show Alone—when we’re dropped off solo in one of the most remote national parks in the U.S.

Imagine a wild, open zoo—home to thousands of brown bears, where you can often spot a dozen or more at once. This is Katmai National Park, the sixth park of our trip and our home sweet (camping) home for the next two nights.

We're heading to Alaska's most popular and accessible national park. Along the way, we solve the mystery of the missing memory card, meet the cutest national park employees in the world, and take on the challenge of joining Denali’s 30% club.

We’ve reached our final park, but celebrations are subdued as we can’t take our eyes off the view outside. Lake Clark's coastal mountain scenery is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. On the ground, we watch brown bears digging for clams and grazing in meadows—at one point, we spot 27 bears at once!