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Kokolik and Kukpowruk Rivers: Canoeing in the Wake of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd

Location: Western Arctic, National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A), Western Arctic What is the National Petroleum Reserve?
Trip Length: 10 days/9 nights camping
Activities: Arctic canoeing and day hiking over treeless tundra and small ridges.
Dates: Custom for 2010
Price: $2600 from Kotzebue, Alaska, plus $1960 air charter fees

Join us on one of a pair of extremely remote (even by Alaskan arctic standards) rivers in the far northwestern Brooks Range. Paddle a beautiful river, experience the timeless caribou migration and have a wilderness all to yourself in one of Alaska's most remote regions. Here, the mountains fall northward into the Utukok Uplands, birthplace and nursery for 377,000 caribou comprising the Western Arctic herd. The region is like the Great Plains of 250 years ago; the land is vast, and caribou pour across the tundra like streams of water. This rolling and rugged landscape is a true sanctuary for arctic flora and fauna.

In early June, the land explodes with life. We have chosen this time of the year, as the caribou have just calved; the herd will be gathered in the Utukok Uplands, then migrating along the river corridors. On past trips, we've encountered thousands of caribou--bulls, cows, and small calves. Female caribou drop their antlers around the time they give birth. In places the tundra is littered with lovely antlers of all shapes and sizes.

The Kokolik and Kukpowruk rivers wind through a vast region of sweeping ridges and steeply folded valleys, with gorges and canyonlands reminiscent of the American Southwest. Rich in archeology and paleontology, the area escaped the last Continental Ice Age. Herds of woolly mammoth, saber-toothed tigers, and horses roamed these lands when much of the rest of North America lay beneath glaciers. Today, we find evidence of their existence in eroding cutbanks, along with archeological evidence of hunters of the Arctic Small Tool tradition.

If the paleontology doesn't grab your interest, the wildlife will. We find caribou, grizzly bears, muskoxen, wolverine wolves, and a host of waterfowl and raptors. This land is quiet and huge, offering total immersion in wilderness. Days are spent paddling or hiking, or just enjoying the vastness of the landscape, the miniature details of the tundra. Each hill opens up a sweeping vista; each bend in the river may reveal another passage of caribou. For those with a truly adventurous spirit, desirous of seeing lots of wildlife, this is a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

The Kokolik and Kukpowruk rivers are part of the 35-million-acre National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, set aside in 1923 for future mineral needs. Get to know the region now, and become a voice for its protection, for it is threatened by mineral development, as part of the Bureau of Land Management's NPR-A Integrated Activity Plan, fast-tracked by the Bush Administration.

Our Kokolik River trip was named the Polar region "Trip of the Year," by Outside Magazine, featured in the March 2007 issue: On this 10-day trip, you'll follow the herd by foot and in tandem canoes on the untamed Kokolik River, hiking where wolly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers once roamed.


Itinerary
Day 0 Arrive in Anchorage and stay overnight. Pre-trip dinner meeting this evening.

Day 1 Travel to Kotzebue on your own. There may be time to explore, but first we check in with our bush pilot. Our pilot will take us in groups of 2 or 3 to the river, over the lower Noatak River, and across Noatak National Preserve to the western edge of the DeLong Mountains. We fly over the the Noatak River and up some of the more spectacular tributaries of the Noatak, and over Arctic Divide to the North Slope, landing on a gravel bar beside the Kokolik River. We set up camp and explore the area.

Days 2-6 We assemble our portable canoes, pack up, go over river safety, and head downriver. The upper Kokolik valley embraces not only an abundance of wildlife, but also fossils, both marine and terrestrial. Coal beds can be seen along the river. The Kokolik carves its way through the mountains, hugging first the east bank, and then the west. Gravel and sand bars fill the broad floodplain valley. We establish a rhythm of hiking and paddling. On layover days, we can range far afield to explore the landscape. Rough-legged hawks and golden eagles nest in cliffs above the river. The Western Arctic caribou migration is underway, and we are likely to see thousands of animals while we're here. Young calves, just born, cling tenaciously to their mothers' heels, even while swimming across the river.

On the river, we use 2-person Norwegian Ally folding canoes, which are stable and easy to paddle. The Kokolik offers no particular obstacles, save the wind, which is common in this part of Alaska.

Day 10 Pickip on the Kokolik near Avingak Creek by bush plane and return to Kotzebue. Back to Anchorage.

Included in trip costs
  • All transportation beyond Kotzebue
  • All meals in the field
  • Use of One Large Dry bag and life jacket
  • Group cooking, camping, medical and safety equipment (We bring such items as a kitchen shelter, emergency radio/Satellite phone, firearm, bear repellent spray, water filter and first aid kit, as well as boats, paddles)
  • Expert leadership
Not included in trip costs
  • Air Transportation to Kotzebue
  • Lodging in Anchorage or Kotzebue
  • Any extra meals you might choose to purchase in Kotzebue while we are awaiting air transport
  • Sleeping bag and pad, and personal equipment, tent (we have 4-season tents for rent)
  • Excess baggage charges
Call or E-mail us for the complete packet on this expedition.




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