Brooks Range, Alaska

Kongakut River in June

In June it’s back to Alaska.  The Brooks Range is the place.  We're headed back to the ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) and the Kongakut river.  We floated this river a few years ago... it was one of the great trips of my life.  I can't wait to get back.  This region is very unique with the rivers flowing north toward the Arctic Ocean… one of the last true wild corners of the globe.  This is the true northern exposure!

The snow melts in early June and by mid August it is freezing up again.  So we'll be there during nature's greatest window of opportunity... it's incredibly full of life... everything with the will to bloom is getting after it.  Wildflowers covering every square foot, wildlife everywhere sheep, fox, bear, Musk Ox, and the possibility of catching the annual Caribou migration, which can number in the tens of thousands.  The last of the big Caribou herds frequent this section of the ANWR, and although I have not yet seen this spectacle, I am told amazing stories by those who have been lucky.  The fish and birds thrive in this magic land and like all the wildlife in the Brooks….live naturally as they have for eons.  It is the biggest, wildest region I seen. 

This is a river trip where we travel light with paddle boats to get down stream.  Yet, the emphasis is on hiking. The country is wide open with unlimited opportunities for foot travel.  We’ll try to do lots of layover days so we can explore.  Sure we’ll spend time on the boats they will provide access into this untapped country, but these trips are about walking and being in the wild north…in an unhurried manner.  I was hooked after my first trip to the Brooks and I am swore to go back year after year. 

This trip does have it’s difficulties, however.  Remember we are flying in and out of Northern Alaska in small planes landing on small remote airstrips. The conditions can, and likely will, vary from wearing shorts to long underwear, gloves, and fuzzy hat.   Normal weather patterns for June call for warm days with lots of fast moving thunder storms.  This is a recipe for rainbows and outrageous, moving, changing light conditions.  The other thing to consider are the bugs.  The mosquitoes are thick at times.  Often.  We bring a large “bug proof” dining fly, which offers sanctuary, but bugs are part of the equation.  Personally, I thought I would hate the bugs, but they hardly bother me.  You get used to it like heat in Grand Canyon or rain in Oregon…you look past it to the beauty everywhere and the absolute magic of the surroundings.

The midnight sun is in full effect since the Brooks Range is well above the Arctic circle and we'll be there over the summer solstice.  The days and nights blend and become one.  Imagine getting into camp when without worrying about it getting dark, eating a leisurely dinner, then taking a midnight hike in full daylight, and finally bedding down somewhere into the new day.  The time of day becomes somewhat irrelevant, so we set whatever pace the group naturally settles into.  The Kongakut is a place not to be missed and a trip of a lifetime. 

Again this year I will have the pleasure of traveling into the Brooks with Julie Boselli and Jimmy Hendrick of Too’ loo’ uk River Guides.  The are long time Alaska residents who live the lifestyle and are as original and competent as they come.  Their winters are dedicated to running sled dogs and racing in the Yukon Quest, known as “the World’s Most Difficult Race.”  The race is a thousand miles, in the dead of winter, from Fairbanks, AK to Whitehorse, Yukon.  There boating experiences go back decades further from South America to Grand Canyon up to Idaho and north...  They know Alaska inside and out…to spend 10 days in the Alaska wilderness with them is a treat and something you’ll never forget.

$3000 per person

For more information on Too’ loo’ uk River Guides,
check out their website at www.akrivers.com