Overview: 

A vast rugged landscape of impressive proportions located in northeastern Alaska and home to iconic species such as Caribou, Moose, Dall Sheep, Muskox and Grizzly Bears. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge encompasses over 19,000,000 acres with over 8,000,000 acres designated as wilderness.  

Our trip was a mixed Caribou / Dall Sheep float hunt of the Atigun and Sagavanirktok (Sag) rivers in August 2015. Our group of seven included Barry Whitehill who's extensive knowledge of the area and rivers was very welcome. Also included in the group were noted writer and conservationist Hal Herring and his son Harold, Steve, Kyla, Manny and myself. Our trip in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was mostly devoid of trees, but rich in dramatic mountains, wild rivers, and native cultural sites. Despite the incredible beauty, this area, is also a point of contention when it comes to oil reserves and drilling.

Cooking by our first camp

Side hike exploration from camp one 

The path of the Atigun River

The weather started to turn wet and cold. After a hard day of rafting, we made camp two, where we stayed for a few days as the weather had us mostly socked in. 

Exploring cultural sites 

Hiking the arctic tussock tundra 

Portaging Big Ugly 

Campfire and camp three 

Camp three 

Hal fly fishing the sag during a break in the weather 

Campfire cooking a large squirrel 

Camp near the river 

Steve and Barry avoiding the weather 

An attempt to dry gear using the wood stove and lots of willow 

More rafting / kayaking 

Camp four location 

A grizzly bear feasting by the river 

Looking for Caribou at almost midnight 

Blueberries were abundant 

Caribou head gear Kyla found 

Muskox 

Summary: 

The rivers were intense, the wilderness vast, the mountains dramatic, the weather mostly poor, and the game we were primarily hunting was minimal. However, the experience itself was incredible and certainly classifies as bucket list material. 

Gear Thoughts: 

My gear generally worked well for me, with the only obvious oversight being some neoprene gloves. I repurposed a pair of neoprene socks and they worked for what I needed in place of gloves. Sleep system under performance seemed to be a fairly common theme with some people and resulted in me getting a tent mate that offered to run the stove (I was happy to oblige). The tent I used was a Cimarron and it was just about perfect for the trip, although when the weather turned really sour, I am sure many in the group would have appreciated a larger shelter that could house everyone and a sizable amount of wood for drying gear.