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ALASKA’S GATES OF THE ARCTIC NATIONAL PARK
Hunt Fork of the John River to the Arctic Divide
August 13-23, 2010 (11 days, 10 nights)
Gateway City: Fairbanks, Alaska. Please arrange your flight to arrive in Fairbanks by early evening of August 12. We’ll stay in a Fairbanks campground that night. We’ll then take a commercial flight to Bettles the following morning. That afternoon we’ll be treated to a spectacular bush flight across the rugged Brooks Range to the starting point of our backpack expedition. We’re planning to get back to Bettles on August 23. We’ll book the return flight to Fairbanks for the morning of August 24 arriving there before noon. Bill and Bryn will meet everyone at the campground in Fairbanks on August 12 around 5pm for pre-trip logistics, safety and Leave-No-Trace ethics along with food distribution and equipment check.
Price: $2795 all-inclusive from Fairbanks. The price includes all food during the backpack, campground fees, roundtrip commercial flight between Fairbanks and Bettles along with excess baggage fees, roundtrip bush flight from Bettles, bunkhouse accommodations in Bettles after our trip before flying back to Fairbanks, dinner and breakfast in Bettles before returning to Fairbanks, community gear, permit fees, route maps, guiding, trip and equipment information, and a DVD of our trip. A nonrefundable deposit of $400 is needed to hold your reservation. We recommend booking early because of our small party size of only 5 guests.
Trip Description: The Brooks is the northernmost mountain range in the world -- an untamed land where the forces of wind, water, temperature extremes, and glacial action have sculpted a wildly diverse landscape. Our route passes by tundra hills, limestone and granite peaks over 6,000 feet, broad U-shaped valleys, glacial tarns, and rushing arctic streams. The valleys are mantled with thickets of dwarf birch, alder and willow on a floor of heath, moss and fragile lichens. At times we’ll encounter wobbly sedge tussocks that will slow our pace, giving us pause to revel in our vast, wild surroundings.
The expedition begins near the mouth of the Hunt Fork of the John River in the remote north-central reaches of the 8.4 million acre Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve. Our pace will be moderate, yet challenging, averaging about 6 off-trail miles per pack day. The overall distance is about 40 miles so we can anticipate 2 or 3 non-pack days for day hiking, non-technical climbing, fishing for arctic grayling and just plain relaxing. We’ll explore country rarely, if ever, visited by humans. We’ll likely see some of the western arctic caribou herd during early fall migration as well as a variety of arctic birds, Dall sheep, fox, grizzlies, and perhaps wolves and wolverines. Our route to the arctic divide winds generally to the northwest across rounded saddles and lofty plateaus bracketed by chasms enclosing foaming streams.
Bob Marshall explored some of this fascinating region during the 1930s and described the country vividly in his classic book, ALASKA WILDERNESS. He was overwhelmed by a “vast panorama of the Brooks Range with its black summits and sparkling green slopes tumbled around in wild confusion as far as we could see in every direction—endless mountains rising and falling as if the waves of some gigantic ocean had suddenly become frozen in full motion.”
Map: For the best overview of the Gates of the Arctic and our centrally located Brooks Range route we recommend the 1:400,000-scale National Geographic Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve topographic map ($11.95). Call 1-800-962-1643.
Difficulty: Strenuous. Minimum age: 14. Backpacking experience necessary.
Guides:Bill Cunningham (406-466-5699, email: billpoll@3rivers.net) and Bill’s son, Bryn Cunningham (406-241-2492, email: wildebryn@yahoo.com).