We are very excited to announce our first Alaskan wildlife expedition! In partnership with Chulengo Expeditions, we are offering wildlife lovers an opportunity to backpack with us in the heart of Alaska’s spectacular Brooks Range.
EXPEDITION VISION
Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve, encompassing 8.4 million acres of roadless wilderness, lies entirely above the Arctic Circle, at the heart of the wild Brooks Range mountains. With the adjacent Noatak National Preserve and Kobuk Valley National Park, Gates of the Arctic comprises one of the world's largest parkland areas, a vast expanse of wilderness where humans have lived with the land for thousands of years. Herds of hundreds of thousands of caribou migrate through this landscape, while Dall sheep, grizzly bears, grey wolves, wolverines, lynx and moose call this landscape home. While remote and wild, this area faces unprecedented threats, such as the proposed construction of the Ambler mining access road cutting through the southern end of the Preserve. Our expedition aims to encounter and relish some of the Brooks Range’s wild, challenging, spectacular landscapes while illuminating the complex pressures facing this region.
Flying into the heart of Gates of the Arctic, to a remote cabin at the Continental Divide, allows unique immersion in this very remote landscape. We’ve designed this expedition as a hospitable welcome to the Arctic, through using this simple but tasteful cabin as our base to get settled, before setting out on a several-day backpacking trip to the headwaters of the Nigu River, across the sweeping, treeless Arctic tundra. We’ll fly out from a small lake near the headwaters of the Nigu.
This expedition will be run as a partnership with the Alaska Wildlife Alliance and Chulengo Expeditions, to provide an opportunity to learn more about the context of AWA’s work, build community among supporters, and meet current staff and Board members.
Photo by Chulengo Expeditions
EXPEDITION DETAILS
Key Points:
When: Last week of July, 2021
Expedition begins and ends in Fairbanks, Alaska
Hiking in the central Brooks Range, in Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve
Access via substantial float plane fly-in, from Coldfoot on the Dalton Highway
Fully off-trail hiking, entirely above treeline
Notable hazards include grizzly bears, river crossings, and rockfall
We’ll ask participants to bring personal gear; gear list here
Estimated pack weight: 15 - 20lbs (dayhikes); 25 - 30 lbs (backpack)
Cost: $5,000, including two lengthy float plane trips, travel up and down the Dalton Highway, four nights in a remote cabin, and all food, guiding and logistics
In addition to a Chulengo guide, you will be joined on this expedition by AWA’s Vice President, Dr. John Morton. John first came to Alaska in 1984 to work on the Coastal Plain studies on Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. As an itinerant field biologist, John flew whale surveys out of Utqiaġvik and Deadhorse, observed marine mammal and foreign fisheries harvests on Japanese fleets in the Bering and North Pacific, and surveyed geese on Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge before completing his M.S. research on American black ducks. After earning his Ph.D. studying sanderlings on Assateague Island, John spent the 1990s researching endangered fauna in the Mariana Islands. John returned to Alaska in 2002 as the supervisory biologist at Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, where he has focused on novel approaches to monitoring biodiversity and adapting to a rapidly warming climate.
In short, John really knows his stuff and is excited to share this special place with you.
Photo by Chulengo Expeditions
I’m interested in joining! What should I do now?
Read the full expedition overview here, or scroll down to see the itinerary below. (Note, you may have to refresh the page to see the document.)
If you’re ready to commit to the trip, please complete our online interest form. We will screen applications, then accept participants on a first-come- first-serve basis, and will update this form as the trip fills or moves to "waitlist only."
If you have any questions, call Nicole at 907-917-9453, or email her at nicole@akwildlife.org!
