A Lifetime of Experience
Your Organizer
We have a deep passion for Alaska and the most enjoyable times in our lives are spent traveling to the remotest places in The Land of The Midnight Sun. After spending many years in these travels via every imaginable mode of transportation we have decided to share these extraordinary experiences with a few select individuals. Join us on a Private Elite Adventure!
Meet the Team
Your Pilot
Dr. Randy McKinney has been an Alaska resident since 1972 and has lived and worked in the remotest regions of Alaska, off the road system, for most of those years. He has traveled extensively in Alaska by helicopter, dog team, snowmobile, jet boats, ocean going boats, horseback, Rolligons, snowcats, and airplanes. He thrives in the bush! But don’t worry…he is house broke (well almost), takes showers, and eats with a fork…usually.
Randy has a postgraduate degree in homeopathic medicine from the prestigious British Institute of Homeopathy and has traveled extensively with his wife ("the love of my life!") on medical missions in
11 African countries.
A Personal Note From Your Pilot:
Today many things around us seem damaged; damaged by the pandemic, social unrest, lock downs, sickness, and a growing polarization in society. And whether we want to admit it or not, this stress has taken a toll on all of us. But there is something truly wonderful growing out of that. I see it growing like a tornado in the hearts and minds of people. It is this unquenchable, primal desire to get away from their daily routine, this damaged society, and surround themselves with beauty, with wilderness, with wild animals, with nature, and with peace and quiet. In short, people want to relieve their stress and anxiety and fill a void in their hearts with nature…and not just at their city park…but real nature that is found in the Alaska wilderness, far from cell phones, emails and their daily grind.
In order to be able to cope with what is happening in the world and around you, you MUST have more beauty and stillness in your life than stress, anxiety, and heartache. Whether it be fly fishing in and unnamed stream or river, viewing Alaskan wildlife in its natural environment, and just soaking up the stunning beauty of the Alaska wilderness, we want to help you with that. I look forward to exploring Alaska with you and seeing your stress melt away and your heart soar!
"Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." Robert Frost
I pray that God Blesses you and yours,
Randy
Your Organizer
Lana McKinney is a third generation ranch and dairy owner where she learned how to work hard…very hard. When she is not out in the Alaska bush Lana takes care of all of our scheduling, paper work, accounting, answering multitudes of emails, returning phone calls, and….well you get the idea. Without her, Explore Alaska would not be able to operate. Her attention to detail is the glue that holds it all together.
To say that Lana has an adventuresome streak would be a gross understatement. She has traveled with her husband Randy to the remotest parts of Alaska, and with him on medical missions in Africa. She rode her own motorcycle on an 10 month trip from Alaska to Toronto Canada, then flew the bikes to Paris and rode through France, Spain, and 11 African countries. Some of the African countries were so dangerous that they are on the U.S. State Department “don’t go there list”!
Besides being so wildly adventuresome, Lana is far more sophisticated than her husband Randy, and that is a good thing. She plays the violin, and enjoys ballet, symphonies and the opera.
Lana deep in terrorist held territory in the northern part of the Central African Republic during the civil war in 2017
A Personal Note From Your Organizer:
“Not all those who wander are lost.” JRR Tolkien
I was blessed with a wandering spirit. Randy (my loving husband of 25 years) and I absolutely love to travel. There is just something about going and experiencing some place new for the first time, as if viewing life through the eyes of a child. Here at Explore Alaska we appeal to the wander lust in you, to share our love of adventure and travel with you while viewing the staggering beauty of our Alaska. The only thing better than experiencing all the incredible sites that Alaska has to offer, is to share them with someone new, and watch their heart soar. That someone could be you. I look forward to seeing you in Alaska.
God Bless you and your family,
Lana
Our Airplane
Since its introduction in 1949 the Piper PA-18 Super Cub has been (and continues to be) the aircraft of choice for short rough airstrips and off airport operations worldwide. No other airplane in the world performs like a Super Cub, period. It is hands down the “go to” airplane for off airport bush operations in Alaska. In fact Alaska is the Super Cub capital of the world. Our new Super Cub (seen in the video above) was custom built in 2020 from the ground up, in Alaska, by an A&P / IA mechanic that is a living legend in building Alaska Super Cubs. During the build process it was highly modified to enhance it’s off field operational capability and to expand its overall mission profile.
No money was spared installing the latest safety features including, among many other things, four point seat belts, extra structural bracing, heavy duty landing gear, 31 inch tires, inReach tracker, satellite phone, and a state of the art suspension system. We always carry enough survival gear on board for two + weeks.