We did not plan on doing another backpack trip in the Arctic but I read about this trip with Arctic Wild: mountains to the sea and it sounded really good, MARKETING!.
The route starts in the Sadlerochit Mountains heads down to Marsh Creek and the follows the creek to the Beaufort Sea (Arctic Ocean).
Another bush flight and due to group size it will require 2 trips. Leann and I were on the first plane. The guide was with us and is always in the first group to land. Many times the weather goes bad and the second group can’t land so they want to make sure clients are not out there alone. Good to know since we had plenty of food but no stove. Weather started out perfect, would it last?
Not sure this is the best thing to see on your first day, maybe somebody is trying to send us a message and we are just not listening.
Bush pilots fly line of sight only since they don’t have the instruments required to land during bad weather. We planned to fly through the pass, left of Camp 1 but there was no visibility. Pilot dropped us off in a nice meadow and went back for the rest of the group.
Camping did not look very good here, we hiked around while the pilot went back for the rest of the group.
We decided this was the best place to camp, AKA the guide said we are camping here
The pilot was awesome or maybe he just liked the fact there were 5 women in our group. He said throw in your packs and I will fly them to the camp site. Tt was 1/3 of a mile away but I was not going to argue. He ended up spending the night and slept in his plane. He did a few scouting flights with various women to check the weather, yeah right
Auf Eis that is close to collapse
Weather cleared and we were able to fly over the pass, on to camp 2 which was the original camp 1
Apparently we lucked out and landed at the beginning of the Caribou migration, one of the great mammal migrations of the world.
They are just getting warmed up, plenty more to come
http://www.fws.gov/refuge/arctic/caribou.html
One of the guests hurt her back so we based camp for a few days to lighten the load and give her a chance to recover.
We did a hike up this ridge to get a view of our final destination
You can see Marsh Creek and the Bay in the background, looked pretty easy to me, not so much. Old family saying: it’s all downhill from here. It never is.
Leann was not a fan of this steep descent back to camp
Of course she flew down it
Another lay over day which means another day hike with light packs.
My favorite time of the day, lunch! Not sure what Dori (guide on far right) is yelling at me.
Nice view for lunch.
Lots of interesting rock formations at the top of the climb
Leann sitting on a tussock, not sure why she is smiling. This does show the challenge of these damn things, miss the top of it with your foot and you are going down
Caribou migration is on, guided estimated 1500 Caribou walked by our camp
This many Caribou and something is going to be following them. Grizzly are powerful looking animals. Best way to tell a black bear from a grizzly is the hump on the grizzlies back.
There were 3 grizzlies either having a fight or being very friendly, ladies took turns looking through Leann’s binoculars but could not come to an agreement on what was happening. We just called it grizzly porn.
We packed up which meant we were back to carrying heavy backs, on to camp 4
Long gradual climb out of the valley
We are being followed! You want to keep checking behind you because you never know what you might see!
This was a younger bear but he was way too curious so guide had us all stand side by side so we looked bigger
Wind shifted and he got our scent and off he went. First time I have seen a grizzly in an all out run. They are fast, hard to believe given how big they are.
Interesting sky before we got to camp.
This is not really what the creek is called but I named it and you will see why
Another beautiful day in the Arctic.
We hiked on lots of snow today, it was packed which made for easy walking
Hiker sign for Caribou
There was a late melt so creeks were running higher and faster than usual. Guide said to strip down to our under wear since the water was so deep. Leann asked if she could wear her rain pants, guide said no way. Water can catch your pants and drag you down the creek, not good. Off came the pants, and we got into the creek that was take your breath away cold. We worked our way across and then had to climb out on the snow. Creek crossings are the most dangerous thing you face in Alaska, more people die crossing creeks than by bears. Fast moving cold water is not a good combination.
Next to last camp.
Headed to the Bay on the last day, set up camp and hope the bush pilot can land the next day
Scrambled eggs anyone?
Marsh Creek
Boot comparison
The Whyte’s made it from the mountains to the sea. The weather made a turn for the worse and the wind started to howl.
The next day the weather was still bad and we didn’t think the pilot would show up. 30 minutes later, we heard the engine and he appeared out of the low hanging clouds. It was good to be heading back to civilization.
We discussed backpacking in Alaska over dinner and agreed this was going to be our last one. The weather can be awful, the terrain can be brutal and the packs weigh a ton. We are getting too old for this crap….. Well we just got back from another backpack trip to Alaska and maybe this will be our last one? Stay tuned for that adventure, AKA worse weather ever…
HAPPY TRAILS, STEVE