Floating Aichilik River June 2010

This is not the Aichilik River; I believe it is the Yukon River we crossed on our way to the Aichilik, but it gives you an idea of the braiding of the Arctic rivers and how you weave your way through the ice!

First morning, and Bill is giving us his bear talk.

Bill is demonstrating position to take if attacked by a bear. Protect next and most important organs.

Although most people know to curl up in a ball, Bill prefers the above position. Thankfully we did not have to try out any of these positions.

Intrepid Heidi --with her "nobody bothers me" look right after the bear talk.  We always had our bear spray with us, Heidi always left it at camp.  She somehow lived to tell a tale.

Little Tammy- a powerhouse hiker and an amazing eater! What a metabolism. Our 6" 4" guide was envious as Tammy ate more than he could. She was fueling up for forty!

First day hike. Wildflowers absolutely everywhere. I saw Arctic poppies during this hike. Those hummocks can be very challenging to walk on yet grizzly bears and caribou can run at 35 mph across hummock laden tundra.

Bill is demonstrating the tundra latrine. Dig a hole, stop about 6 inches down when you hit SOLID ice, then deposit, then toilet paper deposit, then spray with lighter fluid and light, burn, and then pack the hole with tundra you took out. No trees! Great opportunity to scan for predators while doing your business!

Tammy watches the grazing streams of caribou.

We  saw thousands of caribou during the first few days of the trip. Really fun to watch.

Arctic Avin found all the way to the Coast.

Summer solstice--ice  fog creeping in from the Arctic Sea. Went to bed early, though, of course the sun never went down, but we were blanketed with ice that night.

Caribou antlers-found a short walk from our tent.

Hiking- Day 2 to the top of a mountain, so that we can over look the Coastal Plain and see what's in store for us as we float down the river.

Yeah-- the hike was pretty much straight up, and when you got to the top of this, well, there was another climb to go. Bill and Tammy were like the caribou-they went up to the top at a steady pace, few stops. Three of us followed--huffing and puffing a bit.

Finally --the top!

The Aichilik River -- we will float through river , ice, and tundra tufts for 45miles to the Arctic Sea.  Windy up here, so we found a lower plateau for lunch.

Rest for lunch.

Typical lunch: Cheese, crackers, dried fruit, dried meat, chocolate.

Everyone but me fell fast asleep in the sun  after lunch, but I got the picture. :)

Next day we begin our float. Bruce paddled the kayak, and Bill, Heidi, Tammy , and I paddled the rubber raft.

Ice along the river.

More river ice.

Heidi works on moving a large block of ice that is in our way! Just kidding. :)

You can't tell, but the wind is blowing 30 mph and it is ice cold. We had been paddling into the wind for hours. Here we are all hunkered down in a tundra trench in an attempt to get warm--for a little while anyway......

Tammy trying to  stay warm during one of our lunch breaks.

Sand camp-- we are close to the Arctic Sea now. 

I didn't get the name of these flowers, but was amazed at how there were sparks of colors anywhere and everywhere in the Arctic.

Our final camp site--the Barrier Islands. Pack Ice on one side and the Arctic Ocean, and on the other side--brackish water lagoon.

Enjoying a fire--this narrow strip of land was littered with driftwood --trees that drifted here from Canada's Makenzie River.

Geese, fox, human, swan prints --along the sands of the Barrier Islands...soon an airplane will be making its track when it comes to get us to take us back to Fairbanks...

We were SO  fortunate not to have wind while we camped on the Barrier Islands. You can see here the wind makes sculptures in the sand. Some serious winds blow here most of the time. We had sun and calm winds-- a serious miracle. Wonderful.

The pack ice--loaded with Bearded Seals. Looked for Polar Bears heads as they swam through the leads in search of seal--thank heavens did not see a polar bear out here. Bill saw a wolverine on the beach during one of his hikes! It must have swam over here or crossed on ice.

The goal-the Arctic Ocean. It's me! Can you tell?  Two layers of long underwear, a down jacket, two full rubber Helly Hanson rain suits, a personal floatation vest, waterproof gloves with gauntlets, rubber gloves over those with gauntlets, cashmere scarf, felted wool hat, sun glasses to keep out sun and ice glare! Yep, that was me on the last day.

Good bye until we see you again... another 3. 5 hour ride is a small plane.  I noted all the barf bags had been used since my last trip with this pilot. And thankfully I didn't need them on my way home to Fairbanks...

Isn't it amazing this plane did not sunk into the sand!

Views of the Brooks Range on the way back. 

Glacier---wooooo--hoooo--thanks for coming along with us!