Words, pictures, stories of this adventure will never do justice to the wonderful adventure we just completed. It was indeed a TRIP OF A LIFETIME! It was a rugged trip, with more whitewater than I have ever paddled in, that includes Ned, he said now I can do the Wolf River and it will be easy!!! We had all kinds of weather, except snow, from warm the first few days to rain, 30 mph winds blowing us up stream, to cold fog off the Arctic Ocean. The river ran swift, totally clear and very cold. It comes out of ice. The Brooks Range was totally AWESOME! We started in a narrow canyon the paddled 40 or so miles down to where the mountains broaden out and the river became braided with many channels and gravel bars, about 20 miles from the Arctic Ocean. This is the land of nameless mountains and tundra. Hiking in the tundra is like walking across an alpine flower garden with every step impossible to avoid crushing something beautiful and in full bloom. The animals are there but hiding most the time, most the space is a vast emptiness of sky, green tundra and rock. The perpetual light, with the sun circling the sky, is a phenomena to behold. I loved it, Ned and the guys took a midnight hike to the top of a mountain to over look the Arctic Ocean on the Solstice. The pictures are awesome!
Animal life did make appearances on their terms. The most unexpected species was the Muskox, we saw two on a gravel bar along the river. When we arrived closer to the coastal plain, we did see waves of Caribou traveling in groups of 30-40 males, heading to the coast. They were magnificent animals in full dark brown velvet. At times we would see the tops of the antlers moving across the landscape. We spend part of an afternoon sitting high on a rock outcrop and watched several groups of caribou pass below us. We also watched a Grizzly wondering around a willow water way looking for food from there.
The flights in and out of the Kongakut River basin were what Alaska is all about. We went from Fairbanks to Arctic Village, a first nation village with an air strip, by small 7 passenger airplane. From there we transferred to a small bush plane with big soft tires that can land on a gravel bar. These landing strips are hardly noticeable on the landscape! It took 4 flights to get us all to the starting point on the river, we went in three and gear at a time.
Now it is off to Valdez and the Copper River. We get to ride on this trip!!
Carol and Ned
