 |
 |
|||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
JUNE 25 - JULY 8, 2006
$2999
Mike Barnard, leader
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 This wilderness
adventure is located in the remote Arctic National Wildlife Refuge of
Alaska's North Slope. We will paddle rafts on 90 miles of the
Hula Hula River as it flows north to the Arctic Ocean. This is
typical "high-latitude" country: sparsely populated with native people;
grand vistas; unusual wildlife and plants; tundra north of the
treeline; icebergs; big, braided rivers; perpetual daylight in the
summer; weather-controlled travel and a vastness that can make you feel
lonely. A small group of 10, 2 leaders and 8 participants, will
get to experience this together.The trip begins and ends in Fairbanks, Alaska. After meeting there, the group will fly together to Arctic Village, a small native community in the interior. From here, a bush plane will fly the group in shifts to the gravel banks of the Hula Hula river where the rafting will begin. This can take some time and people soon learn the need for patience in the arctic. The flights out from civilization to the rafting start and back from its end are a unique part of this trip. You get to see the country you travel through before you start and after you finish. It is an entirely different view than the one you get from the river. Once the bush plane leaves, we are on our own for 9 days. We will get organized, assemble our rafts and explore our surroundings on foot. The next day we set off, down the river. The river starts in the mountains with class II rapids and gravel bars. The water is clear and fast. Each raft will have an experience guide aboard. The glaciers we see in the mountains feed the side streams emptying into the Hula Hula. Next, the river leaves the mountains by way of a scenic gorge as it enters the foothills and heads to the sea. This is a stretch of class III water. In this area, vast caribou herds have just birthed their young. We may also see wolves, musk ox, eagles and grizzly. Finally the countryside flattens into coastal plains and a delta. Here the river is large and braided with many channels. There is a resident band of musk ox often seen in this area which is special because musk ox are rarely seen today. At the end, there is a 1/4-mile carry to another river which ends in the Arctic Ocean. Here there may well be icebergs floating in the sea. If you haven't been in the far north, all this is hard to picture. Now it's bush-plane time again. We will be picked up from a narrow spit of gravel extending a 1/4 mile out into the Arctic Ocean and flown to Barter Island. We will spend the night in this Inupiat Eskimo community complete with whale carcasses and the occasional polar bear. The next day we fly back to Fairbanks. (Tentative Itinerary) With the help of your guides, neophyte and experienced paddlers alike will complete this run and enjoy themselves along the way. The level of difficulty of this trip is controlled by the water level and weather. This is ice-out time and usually the water is fast. Sometimes we can make 10 miles per hour in the raft. The water is cold, there are rapids and you will be paddling 6 hours per day. We will have to set up and take down camp most days and cook meals. Still, we expect to have time to explore the land on foot. If the weather is good, we will stay in camp a couple days to climb mountains and hike into valleys. Walking can be difficult as the terrain is uneven. Weather can delay us, especially the bush-plane part of the trip. Sometimes it is impossible or unsafe to fly. We put safety first and build in some extra time for possible delays. You must be prepared for the unexpected and be good-natured about it. Give yourself some extra time at the end of this trip in case we are delayed. We have tried to avoid "bug season", but you never know. Having told you all this, we hope you will join us. Only a few people get to do this each year. To summarize-- Trip highlights include:
|