ANWR Float 2011
In August 2011, Craig Miller and I returned to Alaska for another float trip . This time the destination was the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). It is adjacent to the Arctic Ocean near the Canadian border (see map in the photos below). The largest wildlife refuge in the world, it is about the size of South Carolina and is visited by less than 2,000 people annually. We floated two rivers, the Kongakut and the Sheenjek (not shown on the map). The headwaters of both are very close together on opposite sides of the Continental Divide. Access is via small bush planes from Fort Yukon.
Two friends, Jeff Fisher and Robert Somoano joined us for the Kongakut leg. We met in Fairbanks and spent a night at the Go North Hostel. The next day, two of us flew to Arctic Village and the others to Fort Yukon, both small Athabascan villages that are connected to Fairbanks by daily scheduled air flights. No roads. Bush pilot Kirk Sweetsir flew all of us to the headwaters of the Kongakut the next day.
We spent 10 days floating 45 miles along the north flowing Kongakut, alternating hiking days with float days. The paddling was interesting and fast and included a two-mile stretch of class 2 and 3 rapids. While most visitors come early in the year to see the caribou migration, we chose August to avoid high more difficult water and the major mosquito season. We ended this leg within sight of the Arctic Ocean. First time seeing it for me. We were near Area 1002, the section of the Arctic Plain in the news all the time because of potential oil there. This is also where the 125,000-strong porcupine caribou herd goes to calve every Spring. They migrate 1,500 miles each year, the longest of any land mammal on earth. The debate is whether a potential 6-month to 1-year supply of oil for the US is worth causing environmental problems for the caribou, the native people who depend upon the herd, and the other wildlife that use this area.
We called day 11 "transition day". Kirk flew Craig and me to the Sheenjek and Robert and Jeff back to civilization. He also delivered two more friends, Rich Mikita and Mark Viele, to join us on the second leg, a 20-day float covering 300 miles. The Sheenjek, a south flowing tributary of the Yukon River, is a larger but gentler class 1 river. But we had to navigate tight turns and occasional sweepers. We hiked to the Continental Divide on our first day. We also visited Last Lake where Olaus and Mardy Murie camped in 1956 on their historic expedition to the Upper Sheenjek. Also on that trip was 23-year old George Schaller who has since become a world-renowned naturalist with the Wildlife Conservation Society. Their expedition was the start of a growing movement to protect this wild area from development. President Eisenhower eventually set aside 8 million acres as a reserve in 1960. The Carter administration increased this to 19 million acres in 1980.
We experienced world-class solitude and wildlife viewing. In 30 days on the two rivers, we met only 2 hunters who were after Dall sheep. We saw and photographed caribou, moose, eagles, wolves, Dall sheep, and grizzlies. We had little rain, minimal mosquitoes, and no adverse winds. Nighttime temperatures were seldom below 40 degrees F.
Considerable time was required to coordinate the bush plane flights, boats, equipment, and food. We used my two inflatable SOAR canoes. Everything ran smoothly except that we burst a tube on the first day of the Sheenjek leg and had to paddle 300 miles with a tube inflated only to shape and held together by emergency glue and duct tape (still another use for duct tape).
Going without a guide and doing your own planning is cost effective. A June 2011 commercial Kongakut trip starting in Fairbanks cost $5,500 per person for 10 days on the Kongakut or about $550 per person day. We spent a total of 30 days on the Kongakut and Sheenjek. Our average cost for both trips was $2,250 per person or about $75 per person day (About $9,000 total divided by 120 person days).
The photos all annotated and can be considered a mini-slide show. We named every camp in a way that helped us to remember the camps after the trip.
ITINERARY
Day - Date - Activity - Camp
1 - 7/28 - Fly LA to Fairbanks - Go North Hostel
2 - 7/29 - Fly Fairbanks to Fort Yukon, bush plane to Arctic Village - Arctic Village
3 - 7/30 - Bush plane to Upper Kongakut River - Fly in Camp
4 - 7/31 - Paddle - Drain Camp
5 - 8/1 - Layover day, Climb Point 4440 - Drain Camp
6 - 8/2 - Paddle, scout rapids - Canyon Rapids Camp
7 - 8/3 - Layover day, hike - Canyon Rapids Camp
8 - 8/4 - Paddle rapids - Whale Mt Camp
9 - 8/5 - Layover day, climb Whale Mt - Whale Mt Camp
10 - 8/6 - Paddle, see wolf, sheep - Caribou Pass Camp
11 - 8/7 - Layover day, climb Pk 2730 with view of Arctic Ocean - Caribou Pass Camp
12 - 8/8 - Hike in morning, paddle in afternoon - Landing Strip Camp
13 - 8/9 - Bush plane to headwaters of Sheenjek - Continental Divide Camp
14 - 8/10 - Layover day, hike to Continental Divide, repair damaged SOAR - Continental Divide Camp
15 - 8/11 - Paddle - Double Mountain Camp
16 - 8/12 - Layover day, hike - Double Mountain Camp
17 - 8/13 - Paddle and hike around Lost Lake - Lost Lake Camp
18 - 8/14 - Paddle, repair SOAR again - Island Camp
19 - 8/15 - Paddle - Creek Camp
20 - 8/16 - Paddle - Slippery Moss Camp
21 - 8/17 - Paddle - Sunny Beach Camp
22 - 8/18 - Paddle - Koness River Camp
23 - 8/19 - Paddle - Windy Camp
24 - 8/20 - Paddle - Bear in Evening Camp
25 - 8/21 - Layover day - Bear in Evening Camp
26 - 8/22 - Paddle - Bear in Morning Camp
27 - 8/23 - Paddle - All Stones Island Camp
28 - 8/24 - Paddle - Football Field Camp
29 - 8/25 - Paddle - Porcupine River #1 Camp
30 - 8/26 - Paddle - Porcupine River #2 Camp
31 - 8/27 - Paddle to Fort Yukon, fly to Fairbanks - Go North Hostel
32 - 8/28 - Visit Cramers Field, museum - Go North Hostel
33 - 8/29 - Pioneer Park, visitors center - Go North Hostel
34 - 8/30 - Fly Fairbanks to home
Read MoreTwo friends, Jeff Fisher and Robert Somoano joined us for the Kongakut leg. We met in Fairbanks and spent a night at the Go North Hostel. The next day, two of us flew to Arctic Village and the others to Fort Yukon, both small Athabascan villages that are connected to Fairbanks by daily scheduled air flights. No roads. Bush pilot Kirk Sweetsir flew all of us to the headwaters of the Kongakut the next day.
We spent 10 days floating 45 miles along the north flowing Kongakut, alternating hiking days with float days. The paddling was interesting and fast and included a two-mile stretch of class 2 and 3 rapids. While most visitors come early in the year to see the caribou migration, we chose August to avoid high more difficult water and the major mosquito season. We ended this leg within sight of the Arctic Ocean. First time seeing it for me. We were near Area 1002, the section of the Arctic Plain in the news all the time because of potential oil there. This is also where the 125,000-strong porcupine caribou herd goes to calve every Spring. They migrate 1,500 miles each year, the longest of any land mammal on earth. The debate is whether a potential 6-month to 1-year supply of oil for the US is worth causing environmental problems for the caribou, the native people who depend upon the herd, and the other wildlife that use this area.
We called day 11 "transition day". Kirk flew Craig and me to the Sheenjek and Robert and Jeff back to civilization. He also delivered two more friends, Rich Mikita and Mark Viele, to join us on the second leg, a 20-day float covering 300 miles. The Sheenjek, a south flowing tributary of the Yukon River, is a larger but gentler class 1 river. But we had to navigate tight turns and occasional sweepers. We hiked to the Continental Divide on our first day. We also visited Last Lake where Olaus and Mardy Murie camped in 1956 on their historic expedition to the Upper Sheenjek. Also on that trip was 23-year old George Schaller who has since become a world-renowned naturalist with the Wildlife Conservation Society. Their expedition was the start of a growing movement to protect this wild area from development. President Eisenhower eventually set aside 8 million acres as a reserve in 1960. The Carter administration increased this to 19 million acres in 1980.
We experienced world-class solitude and wildlife viewing. In 30 days on the two rivers, we met only 2 hunters who were after Dall sheep. We saw and photographed caribou, moose, eagles, wolves, Dall sheep, and grizzlies. We had little rain, minimal mosquitoes, and no adverse winds. Nighttime temperatures were seldom below 40 degrees F.
Considerable time was required to coordinate the bush plane flights, boats, equipment, and food. We used my two inflatable SOAR canoes. Everything ran smoothly except that we burst a tube on the first day of the Sheenjek leg and had to paddle 300 miles with a tube inflated only to shape and held together by emergency glue and duct tape (still another use for duct tape).
Going without a guide and doing your own planning is cost effective. A June 2011 commercial Kongakut trip starting in Fairbanks cost $5,500 per person for 10 days on the Kongakut or about $550 per person day. We spent a total of 30 days on the Kongakut and Sheenjek. Our average cost for both trips was $2,250 per person or about $75 per person day (About $9,000 total divided by 120 person days).
The photos all annotated and can be considered a mini-slide show. We named every camp in a way that helped us to remember the camps after the trip.
ITINERARY
Day - Date - Activity - Camp
1 - 7/28 - Fly LA to Fairbanks - Go North Hostel
2 - 7/29 - Fly Fairbanks to Fort Yukon, bush plane to Arctic Village - Arctic Village
3 - 7/30 - Bush plane to Upper Kongakut River - Fly in Camp
4 - 7/31 - Paddle - Drain Camp
5 - 8/1 - Layover day, Climb Point 4440 - Drain Camp
6 - 8/2 - Paddle, scout rapids - Canyon Rapids Camp
7 - 8/3 - Layover day, hike - Canyon Rapids Camp
8 - 8/4 - Paddle rapids - Whale Mt Camp
9 - 8/5 - Layover day, climb Whale Mt - Whale Mt Camp
10 - 8/6 - Paddle, see wolf, sheep - Caribou Pass Camp
11 - 8/7 - Layover day, climb Pk 2730 with view of Arctic Ocean - Caribou Pass Camp
12 - 8/8 - Hike in morning, paddle in afternoon - Landing Strip Camp
13 - 8/9 - Bush plane to headwaters of Sheenjek - Continental Divide Camp
14 - 8/10 - Layover day, hike to Continental Divide, repair damaged SOAR - Continental Divide Camp
15 - 8/11 - Paddle - Double Mountain Camp
16 - 8/12 - Layover day, hike - Double Mountain Camp
17 - 8/13 - Paddle and hike around Lost Lake - Lost Lake Camp
18 - 8/14 - Paddle, repair SOAR again - Island Camp
19 - 8/15 - Paddle - Creek Camp
20 - 8/16 - Paddle - Slippery Moss Camp
21 - 8/17 - Paddle - Sunny Beach Camp
22 - 8/18 - Paddle - Koness River Camp
23 - 8/19 - Paddle - Windy Camp
24 - 8/20 - Paddle - Bear in Evening Camp
25 - 8/21 - Layover day - Bear in Evening Camp
26 - 8/22 - Paddle - Bear in Morning Camp
27 - 8/23 - Paddle - All Stones Island Camp
28 - 8/24 - Paddle - Football Field Camp
29 - 8/25 - Paddle - Porcupine River #1 Camp
30 - 8/26 - Paddle - Porcupine River #2 Camp
31 - 8/27 - Paddle to Fort Yukon, fly to Fairbanks - Go North Hostel
32 - 8/28 - Visit Cramers Field, museum - Go North Hostel
33 - 8/29 - Pioneer Park, visitors center - Go North Hostel
34 - 8/30 - Fly Fairbanks to home
