Kobuk Valley Canoeing and Kobuk Dunes Hiking- Trip Itinerary

Kobuk Valley National Park- Canoeing and Hiking beyond the Arctic Circle

• Dates: September 1- 10, 2012
• Region: Western Brooks Range, Kobuk Valley National Park.

• Cost: $4,300 / person from Kotzebue

Sketch of the Kobuk Canoe and Hiking trip…

Located entirely north of the Arctic Circle in Alaska, Kobuk Valley National Park is the least visited park in the nation. Though totally unknown the park is full of interest. Kobuk Dunes is like the Sahara but with wolves, moose and cranes. Onion Portage is an archeological district with evidence of use for the past 12,000 years!

And the Kobuk River itself is a magnificent river rich with wildlife and broad vistas. This canoe and hiking trip will take us down the Kobuk past Onion Portage and on to the great Kobuk Sand dunes for 3 days of hiking and exploration. Late August is a great time to see the park while fall colors are prime and caribou are beginning to swim the river in numbers. With luck they may surround our canoes as we paddle down river.

Clear waters flow past dark forests and emerald lakes supporting a tremendous variety of wildlife. The Kobuk is a meeting place for wildlife and cultures from both north and south. Moose from the interior feed alongside caribou migrating south from the northern tundra. The inhabitants of the watershed are Eskimos with relatives scattered across the arctic but their local name translates into "almost like Indians" because of their forest lifestyle. The Kobuk resists classification but all agree that it is rich country. The Kobuk is one of a handful of rivers in the world where sheefish can be found, often exceeding 4 feet in length! Onion Portage in Kobuk Valley National Park is a world renowned archeological site and a reliable place to see thousands upon thousands of caribou swimming the Kobuk each fall.

The Kobuk Sand Dunes are a sea of sand in the Arctic wilderness formed during the last ice age as winds tore through the region. We will explore these seldom visited sand dunes for the last three days of the trip. This is the largest dune complex in arctic North America and it is both fascinating and beautiful. The eastern side of the dunes are vegetated. There are ponds, wolf and fox dens, and fingers of spruce forest which extend in to the dunes. As one travels west, the dunes get larger and larger. Some of the sand ridges are over 200 feet tall! There are vast areas where a hiker cannot see the edge of the dunes anywhere and one can imagine himself in the Sahara Desert until a sandhill crane flies by with its prehistoric sounding call. Or a moose trots off over the sand. On the West side of the dunes sand blows off the sand ridges and into the woods and creek. It is easy to visualize how the forest is being swallowed by the advancing dunes.

The Dunes are about 3 miles from the Kobuk River and we will leave the canoes at the river and don packs for our hike into the dunes in search of oasis. We will set-up our camp at the edge of the dunes and spend our days exploring unencumbered. The sea of sand makes for great “sledding”, animal tracking, photography, and some of the best hiking around. It is a unique and inspiring environment full of surprises.

Backpacking in Alaska is an off-trail experience, but hiking in the Kobuk Dunes is relatively easy for Alaskan backpacking. The sand is soft in places but generally it is firm enough that we can take full strides. Weather in the central Kobuk Valley is warmer than most of the arctic. Sunny skies are the norm. Temperatures in the seventies are possible. Snow is also possible but I’m bringing sandals and a beach towel just in case.