There are few places left on earth as wild the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It is a symbol of our natural heritage, a yet-pristine remnant of the wilderness that once covered all of North America.

Early summer (the spring awakening) in the Arctic is special. Wildflowers bloom and birds wing in from five continents to nest. Arctic wildlife viewing is at its finest. Over 120,000 animals in the Porcupine caribou herd migrate from wintering grounds in Canada to calve on the coastal plain in May and June. We have an opportunity to observe the great Porcupine caribou herd close up, as the animals are constantly on the move, north and west across the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The animals shed their winter coats, and revel in this time of mosquito-free living. Landing near the confluence of rivers and streams in the Arctic Refuge, we set up a base camp from which to explore. Our tiny tents blend into the landscape, and we take hikes in the hills and valleys, or out on the coastal plain hoping for encounters with caribou. Large groups of caribou may pass through our base camp vicinity. Attracted by herd, grizzly bears, wolves, wolverines, arctic and red fox, and golden eagles inhabit the area. Occasionally, we spot musk oxen browsing on the tundra.

As the mercury climbs under 24 hours of daylight, snow and ice rapidly melt away and grasses, sedges and wildflowers burst from a long, cold, dark dormancy into lively color. About 74 species of birds migrate from far reaches of the globe to the Arctic Refuge each summer to nest; Yellow Wagtails travel from Africa, the American Golden Plover from Argentina. We regularly spot more than forty species, depending upon the location of our base camp.

This mini-expedition offers great flexibility in terms of interests you'd like to pursue, and even our exact destination. Often, we camp at the edge of the Brooks Range foothills. Traveling to our wilderness camp, we may visit a small Gwich'in village en route to the Arctic Refuge, or an Inupiat village on the Arctic coast at trip's end. Each village offers a unique cultural perspective--the Athapaskan "caribou" people of the boreal forest, and the Inupiat whaling culture along the Beaufort Sea. We take a spectacular bush plane flight over the Brooks Range or arctic coastal plain to a location along the caribou migration route.

Locations of our base camps can change each season, and even from trip to trip, depending on the caribou migration and environmental conditions. Sometimes we set up our base camp in the "biological heart" of the Refuge, or near the shores of the Beaufort Sea, where we have time to explore the fringe between the land and sea, and observe many bird species not found inland, as well as optimal conditions for encountering the caribou herd. We may encounter arctic fox and grizzly bears. Birds we hope to see include rock and willow ptarmigan, red-throated, yellow-billed, and Pacific loon, three species of jaegers, lapland longspur, American golden plover, and eiders. Other locations find us in the mountains or at the edge of the foothills, where we can explore the wildlife activity in this interface between coastal plain and mountains. We tend to move north with the caribou throughout June. Early trips focus wildlife in the in the mountains and foothills of the Brooks Range.