1) Don’t overload your plane. I know it seems like the extra 5 pounds won’t matter, but it does.

These weights (in pounds) are a good reference points for packing. Remember that aircraft capacity varies hugely depending on fuel-load, length of strip, quality of strip, temperature, etc. Consult with your pilot before the trip and never ask your pilot to overload the plane.

• Beaver (wheels): 1100-1250
• Helio: 750
• C-185 (wheels): 750
• C-185 (floats): 625
• Beaver (floats): 1100- 1400
• Otter (floats): 2200
• C-206 (wheels): 900- 1100

2) Pack hazardous materials carefully and tell your pilot about them. Bear-Spray, Fuel and Firearms all require special precautions.

• Pack your pepper-spray in a clear water-tight bag and make sure you show it to your pilot. Most pilots want pepper-spray on the outside of the airplane. All of them want to know where the pepper-spray is so they can handle it appropriately.
• Fire-arms should ALWAYS be unloaded prior to flights.
• Ask your pilot how best to secure your fuel and remember that pressurized fuel is not allowed on some flights.

3) Plan for delays. Your pilot will work hard to get you where you want to go in a timely manner. You can make everyone’s life easier and more relaxed by planning for the inevitable delays associated with small plane travel. Leave yourself 48 hours after a pick-up before you try to fly out of state or need to be somewhere important. Especially in the fall you should expect delays. Carry a good book and your binoculars so you can make good use of the time you have waiting for your flight.

By packing carefully and communicating clearly with your pilot you can ensure that flying into your next rafting, backpacking, or canoe trip will be almost as much fun as the wilderness trip its self.

Happy Packing, Stay Safe, and Have Fun!

by Michael Wald

Let me explain; German cinematographer Uwe Anders hired Arctic Wild to support him during filming for a German TV program on the National Parks of the US. He is filming the Gates of the Arctic National Park segment. This is a 2-year project and his goal for this trip was to film porcupines in winter. OK, I can hear you chuckling from my desk in Palmer, AK, but I’m here to tell you that porcupines are fascinating critters. “How so?” you ask? You’ll just have to watch the program, but I will tell you that they go to extreme measures, hanging on by one arm and stretching as far as they can just to pick that one spruce tree sprig that they have to have, only to get it and eat the top few needles!

Uwe has more patience than any human I’ve ever met. Picture sitting with your camera pointed up a porcupine at-10 in chilling wind for HOURS. It gave me a whole new appreciation for what wildlife film makers have to do to catch a 10 second amazing clip of that animal you saw on TV.

Working with Seth was equally as amazing. Seth grew up in a sod house with his “ back to the land’ hippie parents in about as remote country you can get in Alaska. I learned a TON from Seth, including how to find porcupine. Oh yea and we found some musk oxen and a lynx to film too. I love my job.

by Bill Mohrwinkel

Uwe Anders, on location in the western Brooks Range

Seth and Uwe filming muskoxen

Seth Kantner cooking up some caribou steaks

Seth and Uwe film a lynx

]]> http://www.arcticwild.com/blog/2013/05/shopping-for-porcupine/feed/ 0 http://www.arcticwild.com/blog/2013/04/winter-camping-in-the-brooks-range/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=winter-camping-in-the-brooks-range http://www.arcticwild.com/blog/2013/04/winter-camping-in-the-brooks-range/#comments Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:07:39 +0000 Arctic Wild http://www.arcticwild.com/blog/?p=1140 Spring is late this year across Alaska, and our Gates of the Arctic Base Camp Adventure got to experience full winter conditions in the Arctic. Strong winds and sub-zero temperatures didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of our party as we explored the area around Itkillik Lake last week. With woodstove-heated tents, a well provisioned kitchen and plenty of warm weather gear, we experienced the solitude and beauty of Gates of the Arctic in winter. In addition to the scenic beauty and satisfaction of learning to comfortably camp in the winter, we saw hundreds of ptarmigan, had a golden eagle land near us during lunch, were visited by a beautiful fox, and noticed the first ground squirrels emerging from their burrows after 9 months of hibernation. When not out snowshoeing we busied ourselves around camp, trying our hand at building an igloo, ice-fishing in the lake, gathering firewood and studying animal tracks. “Extreme” sledding, snow-block snowmen, and mukluk ice skating kept us laughing and the warmth of new friendships kept us toasty even when the wind was howling.

A beautiful camp in the Brooks Range

Snow-block walls protect our camp from the arctic winds

Breaking for lunch while out snowshoeing

Wood-heated tents make winter camping comfortable.

Coyote Air’s ski-plane dropped us off at Itkillik Lake

Fresh water spring

This boom and bust cycle of lemmings and owls affects more than my birding success; the variability in lemming numbers has profound effects on many types of arctic wildlife. Studies from across the arctic have shown that high lemming years are good for nesting waterfowl such as geese and ducks too. No, the geese haven’t given up pond weeds for a life of lemming hunting, but the hyper-abundance of lemmings affects arctic foxes in two very interesting ways, both of which are beneficial to waterfowl.

Foxes are the primary nest predator of ground nesting ducks and geese on the arctic tundra. Adult geese can protect their nest but the foxes still get a significant percentage of eggs. This dynamic changes on high lemming years. For one thing, foxes are preoccupied with hunting lemmings and largely satiated by eating rodents. This must be a great relief to eiders and geese who need not be quite so vigilant about the foxes. The other part of the dynamic involves the nesting owls. One study near Barrow found that in protecting their own nests from foxes and other nest predators, the owls inadvertently protect other bird nests nearby. The endangered Steller’s eider, won’t even initiate nesting in low lemming years. Apparently they “know” it isn’t worth the effort if the foxes are looking for eggs and there aren’t any owls to chase the foxes away.

This spring when I’m out walking the tundra or canoeing in Kasegaluk Lagoon, binoculars at the ready, part of me will be hoping I get too see “Ukpik” the snowy owl perched on a tussock, but the other part of me hopes the owls will on their breeding grounds near Barrow eating scores of lemmings and keeping the eiders safe from the foxes.

By Michael Wald

This photo was taken last week near the Nadahini River in British Columbia, just an hour north of Haines. It looks a lot like the Brooks Range in spring, a special time of subtle change and brilliantly sparkling snow.

By Sally Andersen

Ron Yarnell started guiding in the Brooks Range before Gates of the Arctic National Park was created, before the Dalton Highway (Haul Road) was built, and long before anyone outside of Alaska’s arctic-slope had even heard of places like the Kongakut. We are privileged to have Ron as one of our lead guides and his 40 plus years of guiding experience are a huge asset to Arctic Wild.

Though I have been guiding in northern Alaska for 15 years now and have endeavored to travel the Brooks Range widely, there are still huge swaths of land I have never hiked, boated or even flown over. Fortunately whenever I have a question for a new trip, Ron is available to fill in the blank spot on the map for me with vivid anecdotes from his vast experience. Whether his story is about camping near what is now the Prudhoe Bay oil field, or how the Nigu River once rose 6 feet overnight forcing them to relocate camp, Ron’s stories are rich with love for and knowledge of arctic Alaska.

Ron’s tenure as a guide is long enough and his impact on his guests deep enough that we are now seeing “second generation” clients signing up with Ron. Several people who were under ten when they first went on a trip with Ron are now returning as adults to enjoy another wilderness trip with Ron as their guide.

Ron recently told me he didn’t want to guide quite so much anymore and I feared he was slowing down or not feeling so young. Not a chance! He is simply planning more personal trips in the Brooks Range and wants to leave time for exploring the wilderness on his own. I expect Ron’s enthusiasm for wilderness will keep him hiking, boating, and skiing in the Arctic for decades to come.

If you are eager to travel with Ron this summer he will be guiding our National Parks Explorer trip July 27 – 31 and our Wind River Rafting trip September 1 – 9. With Ron there are always plenty of great stories around the fire.

By Michael Wald

I am reminded of the Chinese proverb that, “the best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The next best time is today.” One of our clients, a 79-year old who has just signed up for his fourth trip with us is regretful that he didn’t start coming earlier. He writes in an article he published about his trip on the Noatak River, “For myself, I had mused about heading up to the Brooks Range for about 40 years…’if I don’t go now,’ I often said to myself, ‘I’ll never go.’ When I finally arrived in the Brooks Range, I realized I should have made that decision and pursued that course of action years ago. I had waited far too long.” Well, he is doing his best to make up for lost time, following the spirit of  this poem from my favorite poet, Mary Oliver.

GREEN, GREEN IS MY SISTER’S HOUSE

Don’t you dare climb that tree

or even try, they said, or you will be

sent away to the hospital of the

very foolish, if not the other one.

And I suppose, considering my age,

it was fair advice.

But the tree is a sister to me, she

lives alone in a green cottage

high in the air and I knew what

would happen, she’d clap her green hands,

she’d shake her green hair, she’d

welcome me. Truly

I try to be good but sometimes

a person just has to break out and

act like the wild springy thing

one used to be. Its impossible not

to remember wild and want it back. So

if someday you can’t find me you might

look into that tree or- of course

it’s possible- under it”

Mary Oliver from A Thousand Mornings

Arctic Tern in Alaska

On my recent trip to the Antarctic Peninsula I was fortunate to see an old friend. It is always a pleasure to see other Alaskans traveling the world, and seeing these Arctic Terns in the southern hemisphere was a highlight of the trip.

Like most naturalists in Alaska, I admire Arctic Terns for their tenacious defense of their nests and for their famous pole to pole migration. But though I have have told hundreds of people about how each fall Arctic Terns fly from Alaska all the way to Antarctica, I'll admit I didn't understand the details of that astounding aerial feat nor the complexity of the journey.

Arctic Terns in Antarctica (Kathy Richardson Photo)

Arctic Terns are small birds with a wingspan barely over two feet, but during their often 30 year life span, they can fly 1.5 million miles. That is as far as from the earth to the moon and back 3 times. Efficient flight mechanics and rich feeding grounds make these astounding migrations possible. And even more remarkable, despite the long journey and many dangers encountered along the way, adult terns have a 90% annual survival rate. Their epic journey halfway around the world appears to be no big deal for these tough little birds

While less is known about Arctic Terns from Alaska which apparently fly along the west coast of North America en route to the southern hemisphere, there was a widely publicized study in 2010 in which researchers attached transmitters to 10 adult terns in Greenland. This study found that after spending several weeks foraging in the rich waters of the North Atlantic that the terns then flew south along the European coast, but that some of the birds then recrossed the Atlantic and followed the South American coast to Antarctica. Once in Antarctica, terns feed on abundant forage fish in the Weddell Sea.

When spring returns, terns tend not to dally and will fly up to 300 miles per day on the northward migration. The timing of breeding is critical and terns that intend to breed in a given year, (Terns occasionally skip a year of breeding) make a B-line for their breeding colony and arrive just as the snow melts in the spring.

So next time you are strolling along a gravel bar and a tern dive bombs towards your head, turn around and give the poor bird some space. My old friend likely just flew more than 10,000 miles to get there.

Learn more about the migration research in this video:

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

By Michael Wald, Co-owner and Guide

I was too busy driving a zodiak to take many pictures. Fortunately our friend, who also joins us in Alaska each summer, took this great video one evening at an enormous penguin colony near Antarctic Sound.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

I’m back in the Arctic Wild office and busy planning next summers trips. We just have a few spots left on our June trips. Call soon and we can find you the perfect trip for next summer.

By Michael Wald

I am managing the Arctic Wild telephone so there is no need to wait to telephone, or if you’d like to email me directly, you can do so at sally@arcticwild.com. Trips are filling early this year. The Hulahula River in June and the Aleutian Hot Springs Adventure will likely be the next to fill, along with Bears of the Katmai Coast in early July. I am eager for summer in the Brooks Range, dreaming of that golden light…