Hendrick posted my trip report about five days with Andrew Skurka in the Gates of the Arctic National Park. Here are some more pictures of the traveling.
Put-in on the upper John.
Avoiding the meat to stay happy, if not warm and dry.
Packraft camp.
Anticipation.
High water on the John.
20 minutes from wake-up to lace-up to go.
Following everybody else up Wolverine Creek.
Good gravel: smooth, dry, and firm. Low on Wolverine Creek.
Typical woodland walking.
Crossing lower Wolverine.
Boulder hopping along mid-Wolverine Creek.
Cris-Cross-Recross-Cross.
Big load but light.
Bar hopping on Wolverine Creek.
Notes on the map.
Grizzlies mark there territories by biting bark as high as they can reach. It shows everybody how big they are. The bear that marked this tree is over seven feet tall.
Andrew working on his gear book, upper Wolverine.
Upper Wolverine.
These are hummocks, not tussocks, although they likely have tussocks at their core.
Two nervous animals, circling, bluffing, hoping.
The bluffing game winner.
I'd rather be packrafting, but the walking was great, too.
At least most of the time.
Trophy sized tussock head in the Pingaluk drainage.
Willows (yellow), resin birch (red), sponga, on this side and f*%#-sticks on the other.
Staying high dry and smart above the S Fork Pingaluk canyon.
Animal communication.
Finally! Lower Pingaluk, Alatna Valley in the background.
Cowboy coffee on a cat food can.
Waiting for the resupply and Michael.
A pair of readers of this blog flying in to give "Arctic Circle" a go.A bunch of these (and other) photos are geo-referenced here.
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