Utukok - Kokolik Float 2015
In July 2015, Armando Menocal, Brian Elliott, Craig Miller, and I floated two rivers in the North slope of Alaska, way north of the Arctic Circle. First we took a bush plane to the headwaters of the Utukok River. Nine days later, a bush plane retrieved us and took us to the headwaters of the nearby Kokolik River along with a resupply of food. After paddling for 16 more days, we reached the native settlement of Point Lay on the Chukchi Sea just below the Arctic Ocean. After spending 2 nights there, we flow home on commercial air via Barrow, the most northern settlement in the USA.
No we didn’t fish, which surprises most people. We went for the wilderness solitude, and the opportunity to see caribou, wolves, and a multitude of birds. We were a couple of days late for the huge caribou migration we had hoped to see. But we did see quite a few. We saw only two other small groups of people while floating the rivers. We paddled in 2 inflatable SOAR canoes and brought all our equipment and food from home.
Visiting Point Lay was very interesting. The native people try to live a subsistence lifestyle although it is possible only via large monetary subsides. Their annual beluga hunt is a highlight of their lives. Although it is difficult for me to accept the killing of whales, their hunting is sustainable and provides a major food source for them.
The photos below are all annotated and can be considered a mini-slide show. The captions will be visible in either the journal mode or slideshow mode. My Smugmug site also contains a separate gallery titled “Utukok - Kokolik Camps” which shows all our campsites.
ITINERARY
Day 1 - Commercial air from LA to Kotzebue, Alaska
Day 2 - Bush plane to headwaters of the Utukok.
Days 3-9 - Floated 67 miles on the Utukok River.
Day 10 - Bush plane from Carbon Creek on the Utukok to the headwaters of the Kokolik.
Days 11-25 - Floated 210 miles to Point Lay on the Kaseguluk Lagoon on the Chukchi Sea.
Day 26 - Visited Point Lay
Day 27 - Commercial air to Barrow and then home.
Day 28 - Arrived home
Read MoreNo we didn’t fish, which surprises most people. We went for the wilderness solitude, and the opportunity to see caribou, wolves, and a multitude of birds. We were a couple of days late for the huge caribou migration we had hoped to see. But we did see quite a few. We saw only two other small groups of people while floating the rivers. We paddled in 2 inflatable SOAR canoes and brought all our equipment and food from home.
Visiting Point Lay was very interesting. The native people try to live a subsistence lifestyle although it is possible only via large monetary subsides. Their annual beluga hunt is a highlight of their lives. Although it is difficult for me to accept the killing of whales, their hunting is sustainable and provides a major food source for them.
The photos below are all annotated and can be considered a mini-slide show. The captions will be visible in either the journal mode or slideshow mode. My Smugmug site also contains a separate gallery titled “Utukok - Kokolik Camps” which shows all our campsites.
ITINERARY
Day 1 - Commercial air from LA to Kotzebue, Alaska
Day 2 - Bush plane to headwaters of the Utukok.
Days 3-9 - Floated 67 miles on the Utukok River.
Day 10 - Bush plane from Carbon Creek on the Utukok to the headwaters of the Kokolik.
Days 11-25 - Floated 210 miles to Point Lay on the Kaseguluk Lagoon on the Chukchi Sea.
Day 26 - Visited Point Lay
Day 27 - Commercial air to Barrow and then home.
Day 28 - Arrived home
