Utqiaġvik and Nuiqsut. June of 2018

The Arctic Ocean meets Utiqiagvik (Barrow)

This June I signed a short contract to work with the Village Health Team at the Samuel Simmons Memorial Hospital in Utqiaġvik, AK (formerly Barrow). This was my first time to Utqiaġvik and when asked how was Barrow my first instinct was to say "really flat." For sure I was struck by this topographic feature. Others might first notice there are no paved roads, the unique architecture of the village homes.

Typical street in Utqiaġvik.

Most of the homes are on stilts to prevent the heat from the home from melting the ground and causing structural damage.

View of town from the Samuel Simmons Memorial Hospital entrance.

Standing water everywhere as the surface ice melts. Enjoying the dialy fog.

Climbing wall at Piuraagvik Recreation Center.

When doing contracts in new places the first things I look for are gyms. The rec. center has a pretty decent climbing wall with auto-belay that I was surprised and excited to find. The rec center also had everything I wanted in a weight room. Though the high school weight room is open to the public for free it tended to be too busy at the times I was there. This is also a great running town. I was able to come up with several good 6-8 mile loops.

View of the Arctic Ocean at around 1:00 AM

Beach Bonfires are another form of entertainment in the summer. With many bonfires to choose from bonfire hopping is a fun way to spend the weekend. This photo was taken while at a bonfire.

A skyline view of the native village of Nuiqsut. A few hundred people live here.

I spent a week living at the clinic in Nuiqsut. In the summer this village is only accessable by plane or boat. In the winter the ice road goes through Nuiqsut to Alpine. Alpine is an oil drilling town that to my understanding is not populated year round.

Everyone meets the plane on the runway, excited to catch the plane back to Utqiagvik.

Lucked out with perfect weather for the flight back to Utqiagvik. Surface ice melts for the endless lakes seen above. To me it looked like mosquito heaven and I was glad to miss out on mosquitos this trip.

There were a few whaling boats out on the ice. Whaling season is spring and fall so not sure what these were doing out there. I can not imagine trying to get close to a whale in such a tiny boat let alone try to catch one. Amazing.

After 3 weeks I headed back to Fairbanks. It was amazing to see green and trees again!

Kodiak

Fourth of July week this year brought me to Kodiak with friends. This trip was a spontaneous decision for me made two weeks prior while completing a short contract in Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow), AK. The tip brought me from Utqiagvik to Fairbanks to Kodiak.

The main city on Kodiak Island aptly named Kodiak.

After one night in Kodiak we took an unplanned flight out to Larsen Bay for some Fourth of July festivities yet to be planned. So short was then notice for me I didn't even have time to buy booze. Fortunately Steve and Kassie had purchased some in Anchorage so we for set for a day or two. Kassie and Denise seem pretty stoked about this.

Anook. who flew out as well, enjoys the great weather as she studies Larsen Bay patiently on our first day.

Larsen Bay day two brought Steve, Kassie, and I out to Shelikof Strait. Thanks to the lodge folk who shared their holiday working with us.

We fished for pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis ) and black rockfish. Here we limited out on black rockfish (Sebastes melanops). We didn't catch any keeper halibut and head back towards Larsen Bay to empty the crab pots. 

Tanner crab (Chionoecetes bairdi ) harvested in the Uyak Straight near Larsen Bay.

These guys were keepers and would be come the evenings dinner. This was my first experience eating tanner crab. I would describe it is similar to dungeness crab but tastier. No way to beat fresh caught crab.

After filling up on crab it was beach bonfire time under the beautiful sunset. Hard to beat this sunset!

The last day of the trip brought the crew back to Kodiak. A short drive latter we had found our way to Fossil Beach. From bluffs above Fossil Beach we were able to enjoy the view of Ugak Island and explore bunkers  built during WWII.

Savage To Sanctuary Packraft

Savage River to Sanctuary River in Denali National Park was the first packraft trip Denise or I had done. We found the beta from other blogs to plan our trip and decided to sleep in the Subaru outside the park to get an early start. We were unable to find good pull-offs near the park that allowed over night parking. We managed to find a spot. Being close to the Highway and Midnight sun lead to poor sleep. Quite happy to start out around 5:00 am on our trip. We arrived at the Mountain Vista Trailhead at around 5:30 am. Time for the real adventure to begin.

Denise crosses the Savage river to gain the excellent trail on the other side.

Stoked about beaver dams!

Moose and Caribou sheds littered the river bed. Very cool but suprised we did not run into a moose on the river.

We lost the great trail around the beaver dam lakes but found the river bed to be great for travel.

Here we are headed up to the pass. Conditions were perfect for off trial travel.

Coming of the pass there are still a few miles of travel. It is best to stay left. Dropping down into the ravine to the right leads to more bushwhacking than anyone deserves. Turns out you can stay way left and avoid all the brush. We dropped into the riverbed a bit early and got really friendly with the local willows.

Exited for a short rest. Finally got to inflate the rafts. It took about 9 hours to get to this point.

Finally in the water!

Denise having a good time. Two and a half hours of wonderful floating was worth battling all the willows.

View of the river about halfway out.

Wade it to the bridge just before Sanctuary Campground at about 5:00 PM. We hopped out, changed into dry clothing. and waited for the next bus. This time of year buses were running until about 9 PM about 30 minutes apart. After a short wait we caught a bus back to the car. Ready for burger time we tried for 49th State in Healy but with a 45 minute wait we head back to Fairbanks to have food at Ivory Jacks.

Thanks to Northern Alaska Packrafts for the rental Alpacka Yak. Perfect boat for this trip!

https://www.facebook.com/Northern-Alaska-Packrafts-121867047845024/